The Bush (Neo-Con) Fiascoes?
This morning I distributed an all too persuasive article pointing out in effect that we have blown it in Iraq:
...................................
http://www.vanityfair.com/features/general/061004fege01
Rules of Engagement
On November 19, 2005, in Haditha, during Kilo Company's third tour of duty in Iraq, a land mine planted by insurgents exploded beneath a Humvee, killing a 20-year-old Marine. What happened next—the slaughter of 24 Iraqi men, women, and children—was not entirely an aberration. These actions were rooted in the very conduct of the war. As the men of Kilo Company face investigation, the author exposes the political, military, and human realities that now make such carnage routine
By WILLIAM LANGEWIESCHE
...................................
Presumably the Iraqis -- probably now divided into their 3 disparate communities -- Kurd, Sunni, and Shiite -- will be left to determine their own destinies -- where they should have been in the first place according to the only age old formula that works for human communities. It looks as though the Brits will be out of there before much longer and with them probably U.S. troops as well.
And the news that the Canadians are not worried about a North Korean nuke heading towards Toronto (which I read somewhere sleepily scanning the headlines here and there) is probably reassuring for us and others as well. Even such an horrendous regime is wise enough not to risk massive retaliation simply to express itself as a world force by sending missiles errantly here or there.
Iran now looks to have gotten a similar free pass, given the disarray demonstrated now by the coalition of the (for less) willing assembled by Bush to launch his mindless attack on Iraq. Probably we shall see some sort of standoff in the area between the Israeli military and the rest of the Muslim wannabe suicide club members.
Perhaps some sane ones down the line will even manage to redirect attention to restoring Afghanistan -- the weapons testing turf of the Soviets as well as us for too many decades -- to some hope of a future less mindless than that of a Taliban fix? And there remains Dafur to recapture from the renegade Sudanese regime that is practicing the most blatant racism being currently manifested globally?
Another few weeks to go to the U.S. election and then some determination as to whether the boy chasing Republicans will be tossed out of office and and a chastened Bush administration left to wither whither?
Perhaps sanity will return to the U.S. as the Fox News ratings begin to slip beneath the waves? Or should one say into the quagmire they and others of their ilk have created? Where will Rummy go? Will Cheney do his party a favor by managing a terminal heart attack, allowing his replacement by a conveniently situated ex-prisoner of the North Vietnamese?
Whatever. Things seem to be changing and any change most likely will be for the better -- am I too much the optimist? For the sake of the next generation I hope not.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
...................................
http://www.vanityfair.com/features/general/061004fege01
Rules of Engagement
On November 19, 2005, in Haditha, during Kilo Company's third tour of duty in Iraq, a land mine planted by insurgents exploded beneath a Humvee, killing a 20-year-old Marine. What happened next—the slaughter of 24 Iraqi men, women, and children—was not entirely an aberration. These actions were rooted in the very conduct of the war. As the men of Kilo Company face investigation, the author exposes the political, military, and human realities that now make such carnage routine
By WILLIAM LANGEWIESCHE
...................................
Presumably the Iraqis -- probably now divided into their 3 disparate communities -- Kurd, Sunni, and Shiite -- will be left to determine their own destinies -- where they should have been in the first place according to the only age old formula that works for human communities. It looks as though the Brits will be out of there before much longer and with them probably U.S. troops as well.
And the news that the Canadians are not worried about a North Korean nuke heading towards Toronto (which I read somewhere sleepily scanning the headlines here and there) is probably reassuring for us and others as well. Even such an horrendous regime is wise enough not to risk massive retaliation simply to express itself as a world force by sending missiles errantly here or there.
Iran now looks to have gotten a similar free pass, given the disarray demonstrated now by the coalition of the (for less) willing assembled by Bush to launch his mindless attack on Iraq. Probably we shall see some sort of standoff in the area between the Israeli military and the rest of the Muslim wannabe suicide club members.
Perhaps some sane ones down the line will even manage to redirect attention to restoring Afghanistan -- the weapons testing turf of the Soviets as well as us for too many decades -- to some hope of a future less mindless than that of a Taliban fix? And there remains Dafur to recapture from the renegade Sudanese regime that is practicing the most blatant racism being currently manifested globally?
Another few weeks to go to the U.S. election and then some determination as to whether the boy chasing Republicans will be tossed out of office and and a chastened Bush administration left to wither whither?
Perhaps sanity will return to the U.S. as the Fox News ratings begin to slip beneath the waves? Or should one say into the quagmire they and others of their ilk have created? Where will Rummy go? Will Cheney do his party a favor by managing a terminal heart attack, allowing his replacement by a conveniently situated ex-prisoner of the North Vietnamese?
Whatever. Things seem to be changing and any change most likely will be for the better -- am I too much the optimist? For the sake of the next generation I hope not.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
posted by Ed Kent at 7:57 AM
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