THE MOTHER OF ALL BIO-WEAPONS

belated thanks to drew for the image

It has been said that George H.W. Bush failed because he didn't know how or wouldn't spend the political capital he gained through the prosecution of the first gulf war.

George W, it seems, is determined not to repeat his father's mistake. Unfortunately, it appears he can't count.

While the father had personally experienced real combat, and had vigorously and persuasively plied diplomatic channels and gained widespread support, junior fronts a flimsy, shifting argument and a belligerent deaf ear to the concerns of other Nations and our own citizens.

 There is no real argument in favor of Hussein that I know of. But by refusing to acknowledge realities of the past including our own and others errors and complicity, by using 9-11 as a cover for an issue that can stand on it's own merit, and the use of bullying in place of Diplomacy, Bush has alienated  those nations who's support could help fashion this effort into something that would not resemble a wholesale recruitment effort for alQaeda. Multiple arguments put forward for initiating military intervention have been discredited, the world protests, yet the attack will still come.

Yet one more sad, missed opportunity to do a difficult but necessary thing the right way. Hussein will never change, and his nation suffers daily for his judgment. What will come of the inevitable, at this point, increase of violence in that land is yet to be seen. But expect something resembling a tightly coiled spring being suddenly released. Which way will it bounce? Once in motion, it will follow it's own unpredictable path and not come to rest until it's energy is spent.

I'm afraid that at this point, we won't have to wait long to see.  

The Eve of Destruction

It looks like we are about to begin bombing Iraq to 'protect the peace' and 'liberate' the country.

It strikes me as strange, that if just under 100 people are senselessly roasted to death in a nightclub, the whole nation knows about it, everyone grieves the loss....while we're planning to drop the biggest incendiary bombs ever constructed (moab) over a country with a shattered economy, weak militarily and already under the thumb of daily UN disarmament efforts. And none in the media bother to tell us that if we want to understand what is about to happen, maybe even tomorrow, will be ten thousand times worse, only small kids and old people will be in the mix as well.

This morning, I heard the news that ABC has pulled it's news crews from Baghdad. Americans in Middle east countries have been told to leave the area. UN inspectors have been told to leave the area. George Bush is determined to have his war, any and all objections, calls for reason be damned.

And all this while ignoring the largest genuine, clear and present threat to international security- a North Korea busily on the path towards building a Nuclear arsenal, which it is as certain to share as Pakistan was and is. So much for priorities. So much for Reason.

Forgive us lord, we know what we do but are powerless to stop it.

History will not be kind to us for what is about to happen. That is, providing we're not entering into a conflagration that will engulf the globe.

But, then again, Bush is a subscriber to the philosophy that it's a good thing to hasten the arrival of Armageddon. Great. That's not the kind of bold we need from the leader of the most powerful nation on earth.

Again, may God forgive us.

Interesting Times has among the usual many interesting items this_one:

Perhaps that is the difference between the liberal hawks and the liberal hawks but-for-Bush: the latter are those who realized a long time ago that the case for taking out Saddam would be damaged irreparably by the mere identity of the person who was making it. The hawks with-no-qualifiers were willing to look past Bush's faults because the goal was worth it. However, the last few weeks and months have built up such an increasing pile of offal that even they can't ignore the smell anymore.

'nuff said.

A week's Reprieve?

Well, I'm ever so happy to be proven wrong on the timing.

Unfortunately, it looks like a couple week's reprieve at best. And I was glad to see at least some real questions asked instead of the usual leading, softball fluff.

The problem was, no matter what question was asked, the answer was Iraq, WMD, Saddam's not disarming. It was like a loop tape. It was like a surface film, impenetrable to deeper thoughts or arguments of cause and effect. As if insulated by some kind of mental prophylactic against complexity, he had made up his mind and that was that.

And seeing a man in control of nuclear weapons who's incapable of properly pronouncing what they are still scares me stiff. I'd like to see the camera shot over his shoulder when he does that...actually, no, I don't.

While I don't disagree that Saddam must be disarmed, how that policy is conducted, and how it is justified, affect it's credibility. Credibility affects the viability of every endeavor. It's sad, but Bush is basically trashing 50 years worth of Diplomatic credibility by the goals and policy he's set and the means used in their pursuit. Prior history seems to be totally off the table when it comes to our involvement in how Hussein and Osama became so dangerous. These histories are not unknown abroad, and are finally becoming more known here at home.  To make regime change at will the centerpiece of American policy, and then to pursue it in a fashion that guarantees mass destruction and death, we are told this is done to "preserve the peace".

The same way Bush has  motivated America's friends to complain and protest, and they're our allies and trading partners, how much is he motivating those who already dislike us?  It seems as if this calculation is not just ignored, but ridiculed.

The fact that so much energy must be expended trying to restrain W is a loss to efforts that could be focused on more pressing threats,.

Hello, NORTH KOREA?