Foreign Affairs

Larry Miller has an article on the left and proof that would be rather funny if it were not so tragic:

IN THE COURSE of our adult lives, we all learn lessons about humanity that disappoint us, but, for me, this one has been stunning.

I swear, I cannot fathom the people who insist that Saddam Hussein is not going to merrily kill us and everyone he can reach as soon as he is able. What is it about some people that makes them live in this suicidal denial? I could normally shrug it off, except that now it’s not just suicidal. They’re going to get us all killed, and that makes it homicidal as well.

Go read the whole thing.

This quote about the “No Blood FOr Oil” and “It’s All ABout Oil” crowd is priceless:

Of course, what the “just-about-oilers” mean is that President Bush is going to get a skadillion people killed “just” so he can steal Iraq’s oil; and it may be overstating the obvious, but we don’t do that. The phrase “Spoils of War” is as dead in America as Cotton Mather. In fact, if there’s one thing history has taught us, it’s that the best thing that can ever happen to a country is to go to war with us and lose. This was so obvious after the Second World War that a wonderful satire was made, “The Mouse That Roared,” about a little, impoverished country that decides to declare war on the United States for the express purpose of immediately surrendering and being rebuilt afterwards with foreign aid.

Larry Miller and ProofPost + Comments (2)

Jacques ChIRAQ and Gerhard Schroeder clasp arms after submitting their UN Resolution today, one that stated:

“The military option should only be a last resort,” the document says. “So far, the conditions for using force against Iraq are not fulfilled.”

The memorandum adds that there is “no evidence” that Iraq still possesses weapons of mass destruction or capabilities, although it concedes that “suspicions remain.” As for the United Nations-led inspections, they have “just reached their full pace,” are “functioning without hindrance” and “have already produced results,” the memorandum says.

The document calls for tougher inspections, including precise deadlines for Iraq to disarm, an increase in the number of inspectors, the creation of mobile units to inspect movable targets like trucks, better aerial spying on Iraqi sites and better processing of the spy data. Under this proposal, the chief inspectors would report on Iraq’s progress every three weeks.

In an apparent effort to head off criticism that the three-country initiative is a stalling tactic to avoid a decision on going to war, the declaration states that inspections “cannot continue indefinitely,” adding: “Iraq must disarm. Its full and active cooperation is necessary.”

In the first paragraph of this news story alone, we find four statements that contradict what is commonly known. The “no evidence” is laughable to anyone who watched Colin Powell’s presentation. There is plenty of evidence. How they can claim they have just reached their full pace, when Blix claims the Iraqi’s are playing games with the inspectors is beyond me- perhaps this is full throtttle obstruction? As Blix stated:

Iraq appears not to have come to genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that was demanded.

How is that for cooperation? My favorite part is this the line claiming the inspections are functioning without hindrance.

The Iraqi government, he added, has been behind “disturbing incidents and harassment” of inspectors, including raucous, staged demonstrations aimed at interfering with their work.

The final line is a real peach too- the inspections have “already provided results.” Translation- we have found things they were hiding, a clear breach of the UN resolution, and instead of coming to the appropriate conclusion- that they have no intention of disarming, we will instead come to our fantasyland conclusion that the inspections are actually working. Does this sound familiar? It should, because Ken Pollack outlined just this scenario in his interview with Josh Marshall in Talking Points Memo:

Blix handed the administration the smoking gun that they were unlikely to get in terms — as you just laid it out — of the Iraqis actually blocking an inspection or we find a Scud or something along those lines. In many ways it’s even better than that in the sense that I think even [if we found] a Scud the people who oppose war would have just latched on to that and said ‘See, the inspections are working.’ In point of fact we’re already seeing that. They did catch this Iraqi scientist with 3000 pages of documents on how to enrich uranium. That should have been a smoking gun. But instead the reaction from the rest of the world was, ‘Good, this is the inspections working.’

How the French and Germans manage to continue fooling themselves that Iraq is disarming, despite the testimony of the Chief Weapons Inspector, Hans Blix, the presentation by Colin Powell, and Iraq’s refusal to destroy the Al Samoud 2 missile program that they have been told to destroy, is beyond me. The last alone is material breach. The French and the Germans are being so cynical about coddling this tyrant that I am more disgusted than I have ever been with them. They know what Saddam is up to, but they are more interested in their oil contracts and the damning evidence of their complicity with Saddam that will be found after the war and liberation of Iraq.

Perhaps we should remind people one more time what happens when we let the French and the Germans determine the fate of the world.

(I can not verify the picture nor have I tried- I doubt it is real- the message is clear, however.)

*** Update ***

The Rev. Chapin states that the picture is 100% authentic.

Appeasers of the World, UnitePost + Comments (4)

Gerhard Schroeder stands on his reputation- and so can you:

Don’t Look Behind the CurtainPost + Comments (2)

I will never understand the homophobia of some in the Republican party. I am not sure why, if two consenting adults love each other, it is any of the business of anyone else what they do. I know that is a simplistic gut feeling on my part- I can provide more nuanced arguments when I feel better, but when I read stuff like this, it just pisses me off.

Republicans and GaysPost + Comments (6)

And this time we really, really, really mean it.

Another ResolutionPost + Comments

This is just too distressing for words:

The North Korean ship that last year delivered Scud missiles to Yemen transferred a large shipment of chemical weapons material from Germany to North Korea recently, U.S. intelligence officials said.

The ship, the Sosan, was monitored as it arrived in North Korea earlier this month carrying a shipment of sodium cyanide, a precursor chemical used in making nerve gas, said officials familiar with intelligence reports.

The same ship was stopped by U.S. and Spanish naval vessels Dec. 9 as it neared Yemen. It was carrying 15 Scud missiles and warheads. After a brief delay and assurances from the Yemeni government, the ship was allowed to proceed to Yemen with the missile shipment.

After unloading the missiles in Yemen, the Sosan then traveled to Germany, where it took on a cargo of sodium cyanide estimated to weigh several tons. The ship then was tracked as it traveled to North Korea. It arrived at the west coast seaport of Nampo on Thursday, the officials said.

The Germans and the French- our partners on the Security Council.

I Want To Break SomethingPost + Comments (2)

The Rev. Chapin presents a diagram of American unilateralism, which he found via Neophytepundit.

UnilateralismPost + Comments