We got trouble right here in Tigris River City. Margaret Hassan, the director of CARE International in Iraq, kidnapped by militants believed to be associated with Al Zarqawi’s terrorist movement, was seen on a videotape shown on Al Jazeera television, pleading for, among other things, her life, and for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq (and certainly not moved into the Baghdad area, which PM Blair has just agreed to do).
The stakes of our adventure, which is no longer being managed for military or strategic or even geo-political advantage but entirely for domestic political reasons is that more and more of our troops are being killed each month, more contractors are being kidnapped, and at this point, just keep going up. Ms. Hassan is a career humanitarian, and obviously, by far the highest profile kidnap victim. If Mr. Blair allows her to be butchered on video-tape (and I fear he will), one wonders what British public opinion– always against Britain’s participation in the War to Avenge Papa Bush TM, will turn untenable for Mr. Blair. I hope.
It’s astounding just how badly Iraq is going, how widely it’s being reported, and how little regard the American people seem to be showing for it, given that the President isn’t down 40 points in the polls. But then… what do I know.
I agree. You mention Iraq around the office and you get a few shrugs. You mention the latest ball game and a heated discussion, all the pros and cons, erupts.
Conclusion? Sports is more important thana life-or-death issue.
…and now, not getting much coverage in today’s news, is the report about the US-funded poll in Iraq that strongly suggests that the Muslim clerics would be the big winners in the January election. I’m thinkin’ most Americans, were they to ponder this for a moment, might just become a bit peeved that we went to all this trouble just to introduce a Muslin theocracy to Iraq instead of that “bright shining beacon on the hill” secular democracy that Gee Dub says we’re all about….
July, 1964-
Martin Luther King-“I have a dream…”
July, 1974-
Richard M. Nixon-“I have a problem…”
July, 1984-
George W. Bush-“I have a bong…”
July, 1994-
Bill Clinton-“I have a woody…”
July, 2004
John Flipper Kerry-“I have a plan…”
Which one was lying?
Crabcake:
Who cares what Kerry has to say anymore? It CANNOT BE WORSE than what Bush is doing. Period. That’s all we need to know. This is not, and has never been, about Kerry. This is about INCOMPETENCE_- the INCOMPETENCE of an adventurer who can’t ever be told he’s made a mistake (no matter how minor), and who failed– FAILED– in the ONE objective he had: to protect WMDs from falling into the hands of terrorists by guarding the oil ministry instead of the known WMD sites.
The ONLY way Bush’s actions HAVE NOT resulted in WMDs falling into the hands of terrorists is if there were never WMDs in the first place, AND BUSH KNEW IT, in which case, he is a mass murderer, as opposed to simply an obscene incompetent.
your choice.
Mine is Kerry– plan schman.
Plan Schman.
Unusual campaign slogan, but it just might catch on.