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Tuesday, February 18, 2003
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How crazy? This crazy! U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton is telling Israeli officials that once Iraq is finished, the U.S. will then "deal with" Syria, Iran, and North Korea.
"Bolton said in meetings with Israeli officials on Monday that he has no doubt America will attack Iraq, and that it will be necessary to deal with threats from Syria, Iran and North Korea afterwards. Bolton, who is undersecretary for arms control and international security, is in Israel for meetings about preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. In a meeting with Bolton on Monday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that Israel is concerned about the security threat posed by Iran. It's important to deal with Iran even while American attention is turned toward Iraq, Sharon said."
Is anyone safe? Hey John, while we're at it, why don't we do something about Afghanistan? You remember Afghanistan, right? Well, the promised age of peace, harmony, and prosperity has yet to break out there, according to a Chicago Tribune story. In fact, it looks like Afghanistan is becoming prey once again to the Taliban and their allies. Note to Iraqis, Syrians, Iranians, North Koreans, Germans, French, Martians, etc: This is what your country will look like after we "liberate" you.
- Consider Arms
12:00:47 PM 
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Who's your favorite Iraqi pop star?
That's the question which occurred to me when reading the above article on MTV.com (yes, I am including a link to MTV.com. Please relax). Although the two Iraqi teenagers quoted in the story are probably more cosmopolitan than average, with a father who worked in Britain, it still gives pause to think that they could say something like "The United States are awesome" while denouncing Bush. How many American 16 year olds would say "Iraq is awesome" while being as critical of Saddam as these kids are of Bush?
Much of the "global village" nonsense we had to endure in the 1990s was based on the assumption that when markets had stretched their power across the face of the world we would all share in the cultural diversity of the planet's many cultures. What this has meant in practice is that the United States exports its culture (Iraqi teens who love Britney Spears!) while importing nobody's. How many American teenagers even know who David Beckham is? And yet he's easily one of the most popular sports figures on the planet. Far more people care about David Beckham than about Barry Bonds or Warren Sapp or Kobe Bryant, but you'd never know it from talking to Americans.
Anyway, please excuse this philosophizing. To make up for my lapse in taste, I present you with this wonderful article about Madonna's unintentionally hilarious new "pro-peace" video. She plays a "female superhero"!
- Consider Arms
10:31:29 AM
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Good morning, snow folks! While digging out here at Monster Limo HQ, I somehow found the time to provide today's AP Roundup. As usual, if you are so paranoid and suspicious that you don't believe a source as trusty as a web log, you can find all this yourself on http://www.ap.org I don't need to because they beam this stuff into my place of business (a car wash).
The Big News is that North Korea threatened today to pull out of the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War in 1953. The thinking seems to be that the North is bluffing. Let's certainly hope so: It's worth remembering that most of the stuff the Bush administration is accusing Iraq of doing is being done by North Korea. The North is building nukes (or has nukes), kicked out UN weapons inspectors (they left Iraq on their own in 1998), and is threatening a neighboring country (a U.S. ally with nearly 40,000 American troops stationed there). Still - is there anything like the unprecedented and insane U.S. drive to war with Iraq on the Korean peninsula?
The Roundup
Despite 1 million+ peace marchers in London on Saturday, Tony Blair continues to believe that "public opinion" will "come around" to his position that Britain should be a mindless lap dog of U.S. policy. Good luck Tony!. . . Nobody seems to know whether France will veto a second UN Security Council resolution authorizing war with Iraq. . . 120 people died in the Daegu, South Korea subway system when some nut lit a "milk carton containing flammable material". . . A strike by oil workers entered its second day in Nigeria. Think you'll see David Horowitz get apoplectic when the Nigerian government sends in replacement workers a la Hugo Chavez? Me neither. . . Fallout from the Bolivian police strike continues as demonstrators march in La Paz and demand the resignation of the president. . . The "Joe Millionaire" show came to an end last night with Evan Marriot and his chosen contestant being awarded $1 million by host Paul Hogan, who is the current owner of the Only Famous Name Australians Are Allowed to Have. Good luck in Japan, Joe.
- Consider Arms
9:14:06 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Marc Hatfield.
Last update: 02/28/2003; 9:38:55 AM.
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