Monday, March 17, 2003

Bush Gives Saddam 48 Hours to Flee Iraq [AP World News] Well, at least that gives a fairly good idea of when the war will start, since countries generally don't surrender unconditionally before the shooting starts. Although at this point I suspect the war would begin on schedule even if Saddam actually did leave. 7:35:20 PM    comment () Cook gets Commons ovation. Robin Cook explains to MPs why he quit the government over a looming war with Iraq and wins an unprecedented standing ovation. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] Robin Cook has told MPs the reason he resigned from the government was that he could not back a march towards a war with Iraq that did not have international and domestic support. Unfortunately, like Clare Short, Mr. Cook seems to think it's perfectly acceptable to go around conquering other countries as long as you do have international support. 2:29:03 PM    comment () 25 Years to Life In Iraq. The Turkish paper Sabah and, in slightly more detail, the Malaysian site Malaysiakini, both report that Robert Pearson, the U.S.... [Hit & Run] The Turkish paper Sabah and, in slightly more detail, the Malaysian site Malaysiakini, both report that Robert Pearson, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, told officials last week that "we are going to Iraq to stay at least 25 years." This story is a little too neat to be readily believable, but it's interesting to see even a rumor of a U.S. official acknowledging what should be obvious to everybody: that we're about to tie ourselves to Iraq for a long time. I would consider 25 years to be an unreasonably optimistic timeframe. After all, World War Two ended almost sixty years ago and we still haven't withdrawn from Germany, Italy, and Japan. 11:50:57 AM    comment () U.N. to Pull Inspectors From Iraq [AP World News] Secretary-General Kofi Annan ordered U.N. employees on Monday to leave Iraq, after the United States, Britain and Spain abandoned efforts to win U.N. backing for military action. President Bush gave Saddam Hussein an ultimatum to get out of his country or face a U.S.-led war. So much for the "weapons of mass destruction" charade. 11:46:52 AM    comment () No Puzzle. On Fox News last night, a couple of the stupid assholes political pundits were wondering why Britain, Spain and Italy were proving to be such staunch allies in Gulf War II. Three acronyms: IRA, ETA and BR. Today, Al-Qa'eda and Hussein, tomorrow the Provos, Basques and Red Brigade. Works for me. Terrorism is terrorism. [Kim du Toit] I certainly hope they don't decide to go after the countries most responsible for supporting those terrorist groups. It would be a little awkward if Britain attacked the US for supporting the IRA. 8:57:37 AM    comment ()

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