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5-4-03. In spite of continued problems stability, freedom
and prosperity are blossoming in Iraq, as evidenced by the return of prostitutes to
the streets of Baghdad. We have problems in the North, where Turkey is trying to infiltrate troops and smuggle arms into Kurdish areas in an effort to annex that part of the country. In Fallujah our troops have twice fired on demonstrators after receiving fire themselves. Local leaders say that the demonstrators were peaceful, and may well believe this. It is likely that Baath Party loyalists fired on US troops with the specific purpose of drawing return fire in order to engender opposition to our presence. The news media persists in calling the deaths that resulted “civilian casualties.” A person who is shooting at soldiers gives up his civilian status regardless of whether or not he is wearing a uniform. These problems are being worked out and there is little doubt that Iraqis are already far better off than they were two months ago.
Political opponents of this administration are confused about what to do in the aftermath
of so definitive a victory. Before the war Tom Daschle said that military action was ill advised and the result of a “miserable failure” of diplomacy. Faced with the reality of the day he now is celebrating “a great victory.” More persistent critics are focusing on the failure to turn up any vast stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Accepted thinking is that we had better find some by the end of the month. The easiest solution to this is to just rename the teams searching for the weapons. If we were to call them “Weapons Inspectors” the international community would be happy to grant them infinite time and would expect no results, ever.
In the meantime we have formally announced that we are
cutting military ties with Saudi Arabia and are removing all troops from that country. We also will be pulling our troops out of Germany and dispersing them throughout the “New Europe.” These moves are looked upon as a punishment for failing to support us, but they are really just practical responses to current political realities. There is hardly any point in having bases in Saudi Arabia if we cannot use them, and we no longer need to protect Germany from Eastern Europe. (Germany will soon need economic protection from Eastern Europe, but that’s not our concern). In any case, there is a difference between punishment and declining to continue to reward bad behavior.
Belgium has announced that it wishes to try Tommy Franks
as a war criminal. Belgium has expressed no interest in prosecuting Saddam, Castro, Kim Jong Il, Idi Amin, or any of the other notorious butchers that populate this planet. This type of nonsense is exactly why, much to the dismay of the internationalists, we did not join the World Court. This incident also gives rise to some thoughts on the influence of language on national character. Linguists have long argued that language both reflects and influences a people’s character. Eskimos, for example, have over a dozen words for “ice,” while we have only one. Some Amerinds have no native word for “lying.” Is it just a coincidence that the language of Belgium is French, that Chretien is a native speaker of the language, and that French is the language of international diplomacy? Is it possible that the use of French leads to arrogance, duplicity, cowardice, and appeasement? A question worthy of research.
Overall the international community reminds one of the
story of the Little Red Hen, who could find no one willing to help her plant the wheat, harvest it, grind it into flour, or bake the bread, but had plenty of offers to help her eat the bread.
In England Prince Charles took time off from what he
knows best (polo, ribbon-cutting ceremonies and chasing Camilla around the palace) to formally join the ranks of the Luddites. He announced his opposition to further research in the field of nanotechnology, citing his fear that these microscopic robots will take over the world and turn everything into an amorphous gray goo. It is to his credit, however, that he realizes it’s too late to repeal the Industrial Revolution. Charlie isn’t the only ineffectual leader in England. The city fathers of Derbyshire have announced a plan to spend more than $100,000 to inspect all street lamps after one person died and another was seriously injured when struck by falling lampposts. It seems that the posts’ bases have rotted from constant bathing in dog urine.
Here at home, while celebrities warn that our recent
actions in Iraq and Afghanistan will inspire new terror attacks, and while Democrats accuse the President of ignoring the war on terror, it was announced that worldwide terror attacks last year were the fewest since 1969. The realities of life keep interfering with the beloved theories of some people, but that doesn’t seem to dampen their enthusiasm for them. Just this week, in the midst of one of Castro’s worst fits of political repression, a group of “intellectuals,” consisting mainly of avowed communists and including such emphatically non-intellectual persons as Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte, published a letter of praise and support for the dictator. This is the crowd that blames Cuba’s poverty on the US embargo. In their “intellectual” view the US is the only country in the world that has food, medicine and oil to sell, and it is our refusal to sell them to Cuba that is responsible for the shortages. (In the case of medicine, at least, they should be thanking us. After all, it is a matter of faith among these folks that medications are too expensive in the US. By not buying from us the Cubans can get all the medicine they need at discount prices from Canada or Mexico).
President Bush drove his opposition crazy when he landed
in a jet on the Abraham Lincoln. The genuinely affectionate reception he received, and his reciprocation, stood in stark contrast to Clinton’s perfunctory appearances before the troops. Critics were reduced to calling him a coward for not serving in Viet Nam, a curious condemnation coming from those who worship Clinton. The President’s speech was occasionally eloquent in content, reminding one of Churchill’s “End of the Beginning” speech during WWII, though delivered with somewhat less than Churchillian eloquence. He also reaffirmed the “Bush Doctrine.” This always brings howls from the UN crowd, but they have yet to explain what the alternative is. If we allow terrorists to have safe havens in sponsoring countries we have already lost the war.
Politicians of every persuasion were dismayed by the
predictable finding of a federal appeals court that the Incumbent Politician’s Job Security Act (AKA the Campaign Finance Reform Act) is unconstitutional. This will go to the Supreme Court where it is hoped and expected that this assault on the First Amendment will be killed once and for all. Our Senators and Congressmen are not the only crooks who worry about their futures. In Austria Mr. Ernst Walter Stummer is a man who takes the title “career criminal” seriously. He is claiming that his thirty years in jail for more than nineteen convictions constitutes a full career and is suing the state for a pension. Union officials in this country are following the case closely.
In Oklahoma City a
man forfeited 30,000 mice after he was charged with keeping them in unhealthy and cruel conditions. The benevolent city will turn the mice over to the zoo where they will be fed to the snakes in a healthful and kindly manner. If only the rescued mice could express their gratitude! And while we’re on the subject of food we can report that a 70-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman were arrested for having sex in a Hardee’s restaurant in New Philadelphia. No mice or snakes (or gerbils) were involved.
PTB
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