Today’s best headline:
No, seriously. That is the headline. Go check the link.
This post is in: War
Today’s best headline:
No, seriously. That is the headline. Go check the link.
This post is in: War
Col. A. James Bacevich, one of the finest officers the military has ever seen (and I can say this, because he was my Regimental Commander in Germany) writes in the National Review online:
Those opposed to the prospect of a U.S.-led intervention in Iraq are unlikely to change their minds based on Secretary Powell’s remarkably detailed report to the U.N. Security Council. Indeed, anti-warriors will cite the specifics provided regarding Baghdad’s deception and obstructionism to support their own conviction that inspections will, if given sufficient time, succeed in disarming the regime. Given the breadth and depth of the intelligence available, they will ask, what chance does Saddam Hussein have of keeping the weapons inspectors at bay?
But Powell’s true purpose was not to turn around public opinion, either at home or abroad. His purpose was to provide the so-called international community with one last chance to join Washington in doing what the Bush administration has long since concluded that the United States must do.
That is, Powell’s purpose was to make unmistakably clear that the United States intends to proceed with plans to forcibly disarm Iraq and of equal, if not greater importance make an end to the Baathist regime. The countdown to war is well underway and will soon reach zero.
In that regard, the identity of the messenger was at least as important as the words he spoke. The announcement that war is now all but unavoidable came not from the cowboy in the White House or his surly secretary of defense but from the senior official widely seen as this administration’s voice of reason, moderation, and prudence.
Go read the entire thing.
Also, John Hawkins presents some interesting poll numbers.
by John Cole| 8 Comments
This post is in: Foreign Affairs
Yes, it is a provocative title, and I hope to show you why it is justified. I am really starting to think that the French are not merely stupid or willfully blind, but actual accomplices of Saddam Hussein. Let’s start with several basic premises:
1.) Saddam Hussein is evil, and Iraq must not be allowed to possess or develop WMD.
2.) Iraq lost the Gulf War, and some of the conditions for surrender included weapons inspections.
3.) There are successful models for weapons inspections and appropriate disarmament.
4.) UN Resolution 1441 was the absolute last chance, and it was up to Saddam to prove he is disarming, and not for us to search and find hidden WMD.
If you accept those premises, you are a resident of the Planet Earth. If not, the Democratic Underground can be found here. Today, Colin Powell has outlined, in excrutiating detail, how Iraq is not complying with the current resolution regarding disarmament.
The French response? Here it is, in all its glory:
Given the choice between military intervention and an inspections regime that is inadequate because of a failure to operate on Iraq’s part, we must choose the decisive reinforcement of the means of inspection. This is today what France is proposing.”
France has been the leading opponent of using military force in Iraq now and has suggested it might veto a resolution that could lead to war.
Mr. de Villepin said the council should work with the chief inspectors to find ways to strengthen their mission.
“Let us double, let us triple the number of inspectors. Let us open more regional offices. Let us go further than this. Could we not, for example, put up, set up, a specialized body to keep under surveillance the sites and areas that have already been inspected? Let us very significantly reinforce the capacity for monitoring and collecting information in Iraq,” he said.
Get that? The problem is not that Hussein is not complying. We just don’t have enough inspectors, and they are not coordinated enough. You guys remember how Hans Blix stated the other day that the main problem was that Iraq was handing over the contraband materials too quickly for the inspectors to verify, right?
The French simply do not get it. If Saddam is complying, why do we need to set up surveillance for sights that have already been inspected? If we can trust him and the current inspections, why keep watching those sights? Why ramp up the inspections?
Simple answer- because he is not complying, he still possesses the weapons, and he is still attempting to develop new ones.
Are the French really this stupid?
*** Update ***
Mark Steyn gets it:
A few days ago, I said this thing was getting like Monica: by the time you’re in Year Two, no smoking gun is ever quite smoking enough. It’s perfectly obvious from Colin Powell’s presentation what’s going on. Ten minutes before the flatfoots show up, the bootleg liquor is whisked away, replaced by teacups and the gaming table gets dropped through the trapdoor and replaced by an ornamental fountain. If you think Saddam Hussein is a lovable rogue
by John Cole| 7 Comments
This post is in: Foreign Affairs
If Colin Powell’s presentation did not convince the French, the Germans, and the Democrats running for President, can we change the name from “Axis of Weasel” to “Axis of Stupid Ignoramuses Who Are Willfully Blind and Deserve to be Ignored and Relegated to the Foreign Affairs Equivalent of Latrine Duty?”
I know it doesn’t rhyme or sound as pleasing, but I am tired of slandering weasels.
*** Update ***
Did France really suggest setting up a PERMANENT inspection regime in Iraq?
by John Cole| 3 Comments
This post is in: General Stupidity
Are you going to make me call your daddy?
Trying whois -h whois.arin.net 209.68.69.49
OrgName: GV/WFL BOCES Educational TechnologyService
OrgID: GBET
NetRange: 209.68.64.0 – 209.68.127.255
CIDR: 209.68.64.0/18
NetName: EDUTECH
NetHandle: NET-209-68-64-0-1
Parent: NET-209-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Assignment
NameServer: EDNS.EDUTECH.ORG
NameServer: NS1-AUTH.SPRINTLINK.NET
Comment:
RegDate: 1997-04-16
Updated: 1999-09-01
TechHandle: JG454-ARIN
TechName: Ginsberg, Jeffrey
TechPhone: +1-315-332-7262
TechEmail: [email protected]
# ARIN Whois database, last updated 2003-02-04 20:00
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN’s Whois database.
by John Cole| 5 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
It seems Paul Krugman’s pessimism knows no boundaries- now he is shitting all over manned space flight. He may be right in that there need to be changes, but does this guy capture the CAN’T attitude of the Democrats, or what? Why does everything have to be so negative- and Paul, how about we get what remains of the bodies in the ground before you unleash this on the families- that in your estimation, they Columbia crew threw their lives away in a failed mission. Cripes.
*** Updated ***
What happened to my spelling and grammar? Ack. I had fifteen mispelled words out of about 40. Impressive. At any rate, compare the attitude of Krugman with Krauthammer’s. Why is Krugman so negative about everything?
by John Cole| 4 Comments
This post is in: Outrage
After the Columbia disaster, I asked this question:
How long before the lunatic fringe is pointing out that this is a sign from God, as the crew with the first Israeli astronaut died over Palestine, Texas?
There are numerous examples all over the place, but this one is the most fitting what I thought would come from the real morons with an ax to grind:
THERE were renewed calls for the deportation of Abu Hamza al-Masri yesterday after he said that Allah had destroyed the shuttle because it was a