Category: Politics

Well it appears that more evidence has been found that Iraqis were tortured and raped by American soldiers. Ordinarily I would try and find some news links, and describe how the American administration has so grossly mishandled the situation there. However in this case, partly because I’m feeling tired, and partly because I think there is no point, I’m not going to. I mean really, the facts pretty much speak for themselves.

All of the news outlets seem to be trampling all over Bush and Rumsfeld, and are giving them both a really hard time about it. This makes me happy. I hope that this news haunts them come November.

I know I said no links this time … but I can’t help myself from posting just one. Everyone should watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. His shows are priceless, and really bring out the ridiculousness that is George W. Bush & Co. In my opinion, he is the best political commentator out there today. Not just because he’s funny, but also because he speaks (for the most part) the truth.

I just though I’d prepare a short checklist of things that the US-led ‘liberators’ were supposed to have provided in Iraq:

1) Security…….not quite.
2) Water……not really.
3) Stable electricity……maybe later.
4) Freedom of speech…..I guess not.
5) Democracy…..you must be kidding.
6) Rule of law…..laws? what laws?

So what have the Iraqis gotten from their liberators?

1) A new flag.
2) They now know how to make naked human pyramids.
3) Training in the art of being a wired up scarecrow.
4) Lessons in various kinds of humiliation.

So if they’re not getting their basic needs, at least they’re getting a taste of some of these other fine arts that the American and British troops seem so well versed in. So yeah, thanks America. The Iraqis love you. Or not.

Writing about this blog brought back memories of My Lai, another example of American soliders at their finest.

So the United States is going to pull out of Falluja, and leave its protection to the ‘Falluja Protection Army’, comprised of Iraqis. What this effectively means is that the United States thinks it has no prospects of successfully controlling the city, so instead, they’re just going to cut and run and let the locals deal with the mayhem they created instead.

I guess the Bush administration is at least smarter than the Vietnam-era administrations, in that they know when they’ve lost and when to pack up and run away. Having said that, I still think its amusing that the most powerful nation in the world is having such huge problems maintaining security in Iraq. Cakewalk indeed. God forbid, should Bush be re-elected (please no!), at least he’ll think twice before trying to flex America’s muscle elsewhere in the Middle East. Bush and the brain behind him (Rumsfeld) certainly get failing grades for their performance in Iraq. Pretty sub-par, guys. Don’t you think?

Okay, so I was about to walk out of the door to go for a swim, but I saw this on BBC and I just couldn’t let myself go anywhere without blogging about the idiocy of this statement by a demonstrator in the Gaza Strip. So there are some Isreali settlers protesting planned withdrawls from the Gaza Strip. One of them says (I shit you not) “Imagine living in a place your entire life and then being asked to leave – it is our land, it hurts, it hurts…” And these are the same people who wonder why the Palestinians are upset. The same Palestinians who were told to get lost when some British diplomat decided that it might be a good idea to displace all these Arabs because he was friendly with a few Zionists. So yeah, this guy is pissed that he is being told to move from a place where he chose to settle knowing full well that it was in a disputed zone. Well, I’ve got news for him. There are a few million Palestinians who are also pissed at being told that they and their families no longer have any real prospect of returning to their homes.

So, I hear the Iraqis got a new flag. Does it really surprise anyone that they don’t like it? I mean, there are so many reasons not to like it, and very few to favour it. Let’s go over them, shall we?

Reasons to dislike it:
a) The Iraqi people had no say in what it looked like (erm, what happened to promoting democracy?).
b) It has obvious political overtones, with the Kurds getting their own stripe. Flags should not generally be used as political instruments.
c) The Bush administration approved it (lets admit it, this is a good enough reason at face value).
d) THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE OLD FLAG. It didn’t have any connection to Saddam, and was there long before he was.
e) People say it looks kind of like the Israeli flag, which lets face it, it does. Big surprise that no one is happy about this.
f) What the hell does a blue crescent signify?
g) The flag looks like a company logo, not a representation of a country’s identity.

Reasons to like it:
a) ??????????????? Help me out here……. I can’t think of anything.

Well, this pretty much confirms what we knew all along: that promises from Ariel Sharon are worthless. Accoring to this BBC article, Sharon previously made a commitment not to harm Arafat. However, he now says that “I am released from this commitment. I release myself from this commitment regarding Arafat.” And this is the guy who promises to gain peace for Israel? Give me a break. And Bush, thanks a lot for giving this fanatical lunatic a free hand to wreak whatever havoc he sees fit. I guess it’s only fitting, since you’re not all that different either. It’s pretty clear that the United States stands alone in supporting Israel’s extrajudicial killings.

Personally, I find it ironic that Sharon, a Jew, should have so much in common with Hitler. Both of them seem to have an affinity for walling off populations who cannot defend themselves, and for taking unilateral action that flies in the face of common sense and international law (and at the same time doing this as if it was something to be proud of). If the two ever met, I’m sure they’d have a lot to discuss about strategies of oppression.

I should probably note that I don’t have any problems with Jews per se, just with the current Israeli leadership. Yitzhak Rabin got it right, and after his assassination things really started falling apart because of people like Netanyahu and Sharon.

I saw an article on CNN.com a few days ago, and I must admit that I’m quite confused after reading it. In particular, it says:

“The United States has virtually cut off information-sharing with the IAEA since invading Iraq in March 2003 on the premise that the country was hiding weapons of mass destruction.”

So …. because Saddam Hussein was allegedly hiding WMD (which by the way, despite their best efforts, no one has found) the United States has stopped sharing information with the IAEA now? Where is the cause and effect? Do you see it? I certainly can’t. It really sounds kind of like me saying that I’m going to sleep early tomorrow because last Tuesday I ate a cheeseburger.