Saturday, July 03, 2004

"We're not Saddam"

That's the mantra of Rummie and Wolfie, when confronted with the prisoner-abuse photos. Well, now it turns out that our military has killed suspects during interrogation, one by stuffing him in a sleeping bag and suffocating him, another by shoving him off a bridge.

And the investigations have just begun.

Thursday, July 01, 2004

The grand manipulation

For a well-written exposition of how we were tricked into attacking Iraq, check out this article by a Frenchman, of course.

Wednesday, June 30, 2004

A bitter pill

I feel so sorry for the Iraqis. I've read post after post on their blogs expressing hope for a new and democratic Iraq, free from terror and violence, governed by the people. And yet we know, because Bush has proudly told us, that Iraq is a haven for terrorists, that it's better to fight them there than in the US, and that he wants to "bring 'em on" in Iraq.

So, we've created in Iraq a battleground for the terrorists, and then have told the Iraqis to govern it, to seek peace and freedom in a battleground we've created out of their nation.

If I were a citizen of that nation, I would be hurling more than epithets at the US. And I wouldn't have much hope.

Ooops

Seems like the Iraqis are taking this sovereignty thing a bit too seriously, whipping and abusing criminal suspects. It seems the US isn't quite finished intervening in Iraq's internal affairs after all.

Monday, June 28, 2004

Not with a bang, not with a whimper

But with a thud, the "turnover of sovereignty" takes place in a hasty, secret meeting, with Bremer on a plane home to the US two hours later.

What a public relations coup for Bush!

And of course the arabs aren't fooled, not for a minute. They've been down this road before. There are still foreign tanks in the streets of Baghdad, and that's what counts.

Iraq Returned to Self-Rule Two Days Early

Cool! Now all our surviving troops can come home and carry on protecting us from real dangers, right? Heh heh. I amuse myself.

Yahoo! News

Sunday, June 27, 2004

Right on, Reaganites

Former international experts under Reagan speak out and have authored a book pillorying the neocons, Wolfowitz, Rummie, Pearle, Cheney, et al., for their idiotic promotion of US imperialism. They take on Condi, too, calling the National Security Adviser ineffective. Their attacks from the right sound like the attacks on Bush from the left. Is there some nexus, some middle ground where these forces can meet and topple Bush?

Good for you, John

For refusing to cross the Boston Police picket line to address the US Conference of Mayors. You showed some class, adhering to your mantra that you don't cross picket lines, even though it cost you a political opportunity to spread your message about aid to the cities. Sticking to your ideals in spite of sacrifice is right on, bro.

Finally

a mainstream publication, WaPo, has discovered that which we bloggers have pointed out long ago, that Tribune Bremer has tried to tie the hands of the interim government in Iraq with a detailed and lengthy series of edicts and appointments that purport to bind Iraq for years into the future. Will there be any fallout from this revelation, in the US or in Iraq? Probably not. This is how an empire works, with impunity, without opposition, regardless of how hypocritical it is.