Archives for 2003

Why are we having trouble reaching a dipomatic solution to the crisis in Iraq?

Well, according to the Washington Post, it isn’t because Saddam Hussein has refused to disarm and has failed to follow any of the 17 resolutions. It isn’t because of French intransigence and French statements that they would veto any use of force (the only threat that can back up a disarmament resolution). In case you are curious what the problem is, the WaPo folks explain it clear and simple:

By the time Bush addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 12, the administration had angered its allies by its dismissal of the global warming treaty, the international criminal court and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia. Even so, diplomats said, the administration likely would have won a second U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing military action if it had shown a little more patience and more willingness to address the concerns of other member nations.

Got it- we withdrew from Kyoto- so therefore Saddam should be allowed to flout International Law. We decided not to sign a treaty that was not in our interests, so we shall be punished by allowing a ruthless tyrant to continue a program to destabilize the middle east and to keep working on a nuclear arms program.

Makes sense, no?

Failed DiplomacyPost + Comments

A shame someone had to die, but what did this fool think she was getting involved in?

An Israeli Army bulldozer today crushed to death an American woman who had kneeled in the dirt to prevent the armored vehicle from destroying a Palestinian home in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses and hospital officials said.

The Israeli military said the driver of the bulldozer had not seen the woman, and called it a “very regrettable accident.”

Regrettable, and completely avoidable. You could avoid it by quit trying to stick your nose into the affairs of nations who are under siege and desparate to defend themselves.

In Olympia, Colin Reese, a student at Evergreen State and a close friend of Ms. Corrie, said she had focused much of her studies on community organizing. Describing her work in Gaza, he said, “She was particularly touched by the Palestinian situation and wanted to use her privilege as an American citizen to help defend against the Israeli occupation.”

One of Ms. Corrie’s teachers at Evergreen was Larry Mosqueda, a professor of political economy and social change, who said her work in Gaza was a reflection of lessons taught at Evergreen that encourage students to put their education to practical use while still in college. “She has a strong sense of social justice,” he said. “Basically, she wanted to do something about it instead of just talk about it.”

In an e-mail message this month, Ms. Corrie described a Feb. 14 standoff in which members of her group “stood in the path of the bulldozers and were physically pushed with the shovel backwards, taking shelter in a house.” She added that “the bulldozer then proceeded on its course, demolishing one side of the house” with the protesters still inside.

If you had any idea bout her politics, the Evergreen State bit should have cleared that up. You remember Evergreen State- the school that convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal as their comencement speaker.

Go check out our now dead ‘peace protestor’ bruning an American flag. Now I feel no sympathy. To hell with her.

Protestors IN IsraelPost + Comments (12)