This whole affair has nothing to do with a threat from Iraq - there isn't one. It has nothing to do with the war against terrorism or with morality. Saddam Hussein is obviously an evil man, but when we were selling arms to him to keep the Iranians in check he was the same evil man he is today. He was a pawn then and is a pawn now. In the same way he served western interests then, he is now the distraction for the sleight of hand to protect the west's supply of oil. And where does this leave the British government? Are they in on the plan or just part of the smokescreen? The government speaks of morality and the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, but can they really believe it?

Interesting point of view from a former member of Tony Blair's cabinet.  Maybe the goal isn't to invade Iraq, but to be ready in case the House of Saud falls.

"The President's two highest ranking cabinet members, Colin Powell and Dick Cheney, seem to be involved in a potentially costly game of "chicken" between themselves rather than with the dictator of Baghdad. Mr. Cheney's allies in the media have relentlessly assaulted Mr. Powell as an "appeaser," while Mr. Powell has stood up against their pressure (even as damaging news of his possible early resignation leaked in Time magazine.) "

Salon's own Joe Conason weighs in on Powell vs Cheney.

[via Smirking Chimp]

""Where's Osama?" has become America's favorite parlor game. My theory is that he is no longer with us; it's not like the sad-eyed egoist to skip his regular appearances on Al Jazeera TV. My friends think he's laying low in Kashmir or Yemen. We discuss this topic frequently. Wondering about Osama is a lot more fun than whining about the fact that the economy sucks, that everyone we know is getting laid off, that we're losing our civil rights, that we'll be paying off those $300 tax cuts for the rest of our lives. The search for bin Laden keeps us distracted, and that's just the way our leaders like it. "

Interesting article by Ted Rall on the usefulness of Bin Laden as Bush's Emmanuel Goldstein.  A bit more paranoid then I'm willing to subscribe to, but there's definately some truth to it.  Why is that finding Bin Laden turned into such a low priority? 

[via Smirking Chimp]

"In addition, Adobe has asked the court to declare that Adobe's popular Acrobat product does not violate certain provisions of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) as claimed by ITC and Agfa Monotype. Adobe believes these claims are being made to gain ITC and Agfa leverage in the contractual disputes. Adobe strongly disputes this claim and is asking the court to rule that there is no violation of the DMCA. "

Hah!