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Friday, February 21, 2003
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Who gets that Iraqi oil? Let's hear no more nonsense about France opposing our invasion of Iraq because trade with them is such a huge part of the French economy.
Eat your heart out, Pericles! President Bush says that post-war Iraq will become a "model of democracy." That's such a neutral term, don't you think? After all, the German nation that gave Hitler an overwhelming electoral victory in 1933 was a "model of democracy," too, just a bad model. Well, I'm sure there are all kinds of safeguards to ensure that the Iraqi democracy will be just dandy!
War in the Philippines? I mean, again? The Filipino defense minister is contradicting assertions by the US government that American soldiers are going to be engaged in combat against Muslim rebels. Quick history lesson: After decades of occupation, the Philippines finally kicked us out for good in 1991. Then we came back after September 11, sending 1,300 "military advisors" to help fight Abu Sayyaf (shades of Vietnam). At the time, the government insisted that these troops would not be in any combat at all - after all, the Filipino constitution prohibits that. Now we find out that 1,700 more troops are coming to the islands specifically for combat purposes. Any guesses on whether these troops will be used against the much-larger MILF guerrillas once the 250 Abu Sayyaf bandits are put away?
- Consider Arms
2:11:43 PM 
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The results of a new poll came out today which shows that more people are starting to believe that the U.S.’s grounds for a war are shaky and the sentiment that we ought to get overwhelming international support before we do anything is becoming more widespread. However, there is one excerpt from this story that troubles me: "The number of people who believe Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had any connection with terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 dropped from 66 percent in October to 57 percent now."
While the number is dropping, 57% is still high. You have to wonder what that majority of respondents is basing their belief upon. All attempts to link Al Qaeda and Iraq have been thoroughly debunked, and the only "proof" that has been offered by the Administration thus far has dealt with weapons of mass destruction, not links to terror.
This illogical consolidation of enemies is indicative of a larger problem in the collective psyche of America: our culture of paranoia has changed us. Rather than looking to assess credible threats, we seem to be more interested in hunting boogeymen whom we assign credit for all of our problems. Hussein is not necessarily judged based upon what he’s done (which by itself is a solid case to prove he’s a bad guy), but rather he is judged based on the inaccurate picture that is painted by officials’ rhetoric comparing him to all of history’s monsters. Indeed, the "Butcher of Baghdad" is not just a megalomaniac, murderous dictator, but rather the most current embodiment of the Devil – less a person than the personification of evil itself. I am reminded of that fabricated story of Iraqi soldiers throwing infants out of incubators which stirred war fever prior to the first Gulf War – we are not dealing with facts but rather emotional hot points. And its effectiveness is downright scary.
- Marcus-Marcus
1:13:55 PM
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From our "Photo Ops They'd Rather Forget" Dept:
An old photo of Saddam Hussein and Jacques Chirac has been getting a lot of play in the pro-war camp lately, after it appeared on the Drudge Report. This site (scroll down) has a nice counterpoint: a 1984 photo of Donald Rumsfeld being warmly greeted by the Butcher of Baghdad. Since I've been criticized for linking to this site before, I'll just say that What Really Happened blurs the distinction between "anti-Zionism" and anti-Semitism to a very uncomfortable degree, and that just because there's a link from this blog to that site doesn't mean I condone everything that appears there.
Apport alert!
An apport is a term used in parapsychology to indicate the appearance of something anomalous - say, thinking of a deceased relative and suddenly finding their watch in your pocket. Even if you don't believe in parapsychology, it's a useful concept. Today's apport is the number of detainees at Camp X-Ray who have attempted suicide. In the BBC link above, from October 2002, they give the number as "at least 30." In this AP article from yesterday, the total is given as 19 following three recent attempts. However, in THIS AP story from earlier this month, the number is given as 11. So what's the story?
Anyone for Liberty Bread Pizza? Unity kissing?
More on the freedom fries madness. Nothing new, but CNN has a wonderful graphic of an order of fries superimposed over a majestically rippling Old Glory. The spirit of George Creel lives.
Tony Blair has his work cut out for him.
The Vatican isn't going to support war with Iraq, Mr. Prime Minister. This is one of the news agencies that covers the Vatican, and they do a pretty good job.
US to take "total control" of post-invasion Iraq
The government's going to be run by American civilians. If they offer a better health plan than my current employer, I'm sending in a resume. After all, how many chances do you get in a lifetime to live George Orwell's essay "Shooting and Elephant"?
JR Ewing Speaks Out Against War
Larry Hagman says Bush is an idiot leading the country into fascism. The revision of opinion on "Dallas," suggesting that it was in fact a brilliant satire of American capitalism, gets another boost.
- Consider Arms
10:44:15 AM
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I’m willing to put my cynicism, skepticism and pessimism aside for one moment to say this: if the Bush Administration is using the threat of war only as a threat to get Hussein to disarm, I’d give him a lot of credit. That said, I think that is a conspiracy theory more far-fetched than suggesting that Bush was operating those 9/11 planes by remote control from that Florida classroom.
I and the millions of protestors worldwide are not alone in our reluctance to buy Bush’s bullshit. In addition to the dozens of governments internationally that see Bush [rightfully] as a madman, the U.N. Inspectors are also starting to grow agitated. This is a good story and, surprisingly enough, it comes from CBS – that bastion of the So Called Liberal Media (I borrow this from Eric Alterman’s What Liberal Media?, which I am currently reading and enjoying) that has become, along with most of the major news media, a de facto state propaganda factory and yet is still perhaps the largest target of Bernard Goldberg’s simple-minded rants in last year’s Bias.
Basically, the story indicates that U.S. intelligence is leading the inspectors to all sorts of dead ends, from satellite photos of buildings found by the inspectors to be full of all kinds of nothing to specific coordinates of development sites that have come up empty. I guess it’s an illustration that the Administration’s standard of proof (that is to say, no standard whatsoever) only flies with the credulous American public who, in their defense, are probably only so gullible because of the constant specter of terrorism that is waved in their face by the President’s obedient lapdogs – namely, the press. But I’ll be damned if terror coverage doesn’t sell advertising. We’d need weekly shuttle tragedies to keep up!
- Marcus-Marcus
10:19:41 AM
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We are trying to keep our eye on the international ball this morning, even though the natural impulse is to spend a lot of time ruminating about the horrible fire in West Warwick. Preferring to be stunned into an honorable silence on that score, here is today's AP Roundup (http://www.ap.org)
The Big News: Donald Rumsfeld says there are now enough US and British troops in the Middle East to invade Iraq. The number is somewhere between 160,000 and 200,000. Meanwhile, "Turkey's top politician" says he won't order his party's lawmakers to vote for US troop deployment in that country, raising the possibility that the Turkish parliament will actually reject that proposal. That would certainly be nice: if they do, does that mean we won't allow them to slaughter the Kurds in Northern Iraq once the war starts?
The Roundup: Treasury Secretary John Snow tells European leaders that the economy is "roiling" from uncertainty over Iraq. Also that tax cuts are what's needed to pull the world out of its economic slump. . . A British citizen was shot dead in Riyadh, and a Saudi citizen is in custody. . . Hugo Chavez is tempting fate by claiming credit for the recent arrests of coup plotters and strike leaders in Venezuela. . . The fallout from Africa's first World War continues, as Congolese rebels sentence two of their own commanders to prison terms for killing civilians during the war. . . War in Colombia? Right wing Congressman Tom Davis (D-VA) is threatening "grave retaliation" against the Marxist guerrilla group that has taken US spies hostage. . . Air Force Sgt. Brian Regan was convicted of spying for Iraq and China, and may be executed. . . A tip of the cap to US Rep John Larson (D-CT) who gave a talk in West Hartford last night condemning Bush's war with Iraq.
- Consider Arms
9:00:39 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Marc Hatfield.
Last update: 02/28/2003; 9:39:00 AM.
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