Tuesday, April 08, 2003

Stop Apologizing for Civilian Casualties. The administration's policy of minimizing harm to civilians is an unwarranted confession of guilt about waging a war strictly to safeguard America. By any rational standard of morality, any wartime harm to the most innocent of Iraqis is entirely the responsibility of their government. Our moral right, and responsibility, is to do everything possible to safeguard American lives, however many civilian casualties that goal may require. We may lament the loss of innocent Iraqis during the war, just as we lament the loss of innocent Americans. But we should not apologize, since the blame, in both cases, rests entirely with the enemy, who made it necessary for us to wage war to defend ourselves against his threat. Indeed. [Counterpoint] Another example of just how nauseatingly evil the Crusaders are. It's not surprising that someone who calls himself Vae Victis (Latin for "woe to the conquered") would think like that, but it's quite appalling to see such bile spewing from a site with Ayn Rand's name on it. But on the positive side (if you can call it that), at least this one doesn't insult his audience's intelligence with that absurd "liberate the Iraqis" propaganda. 5:53:13 PM    comment () Al Faw, Umm Qasr Resistance May Be Thorn in Coalition's Side. If it continues much longer, Iraqi resistance in the Al Faw Peninsula and the port city of Umm Qasr could become a major problem for coalition supply lines, denying them the use of Iraqi ports -- and possibly hindering future oil exports from Iraq. [...] Stratfor sources say that, in addition to the Iraqi threat in the peninsula, the urban guerrilla campaign in Umm Qasr seems to be gaining strength. A majority of the Iraqi fighters in both places appear to be Shiites, led by a female commander. The Shiites there were supposed to back coalition forces. British troops control a new port in the city, but urban guerrilla forces often attack at night in the old port area, according to sources in the United Arab Emirates. The city's residential areas still harbor Iraqi fighters. [Strategic Forecasting, LLC] The fighting in southern Iraq has largely disappeared from the mainstream media, which is preoccupied with Baghdad. I doubt the US and British governments mind, though. Pay subscription required to read the entire article. 2:26:15 PM    comment () The Two-Way Iraqi Street. During the early days of the war, I heard reports from TV correspondents in Baghdad that Iraqi-in-the-street reaction was largely horrified by the invasion. The correspondent pointed out that, well, seeing as how they still considered the dictator Saddam to be in control, one couldn't expect them to say otherwise. Certainly, he had a point. Now Operation: Iraqi Freedom partisans are gladly huzzahing widespread reports of Iraqis-in-the-street expressing loud public support for the armed forces currently running through and ruling their streets. This is heartening for those who want to believe this war will all turn out for the best. It is also just barely possible that this is another round of a perfectly understandable, but not necessarily deep or long-lasting, show of support for the powers-that-now-be on the part of the Iraqi people. Such cheers may not be the sincere beginning and end of the occupying U.S. army's relations with the Iraqi street. We are apparently setting ourselves up as the cop on the beat for the Iraqi street for a long time to come. They may well continue to festoon the cop with flowers. We may also find--even if Saddam is/was as widely hated by non-Ba'ath party members as he undoubtedly is/was--that after a while the cop (especially because we will undoubtedly not be ruling with as efficient and fearsome an iron fist as Saddam) may find himself on the receiving end of bricks or bombs. Like everything about the aftermath, only time will settle the matter. But it seems worth thinking about as we hunker down into Operation: Iraqi Governance. [Hit & Run] I'm reminded of a scene from one of the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, set during the Civil War. Two men in the desert see a cavalry troop riding towards them. The soldiers have grey uniforms, so the two men start singing Dixie. The soldiers stop in front of them and the officer, looking unamused, brushes the dust off his uniform revealing Federal blue. At that point the two men hastily start singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic. 2:08:37 PM    comment () Historian on Chavez' rural outlook and leftist intellectuals.   Interesting interview in today's El Nacional (page A-16) with Venezuelan historian Caroline de Oteysa. Oteysa was born in France but has been living in Venezuela for the last 25 years.   On Chavez' rural fundamentalism: I associate Chavez' preference for things rural with the process that Iran went through with the overthrow of the Shah, because of what it has to do with reacting in the face of modernization.  Chavez' project is conservative to the bone, reactionary, the revolution is an ornament. As an example, that country had sparks of modernization with respect to women and then it was revoked in the name of religion, of tradition. Here the same is happening when the Minister of Higher Education refers to the fact that we should go back to chalk and blackboards. This return to ruralization is very close to fundamentalism, because of what it has to do with the confrontation between oriental and occidental cultures and between modernization and traditions. [Miguel Octavio: Venezuela] This is a little alarming, since it reminds me of an earlier Communist dictator with a preference for things rural: Pol Pot. 8:55:04 AM    comment () Due Process Vanishes in Thin Air. Some U.S. citizens can't fly without being subjected to extra scrutiny, questioning -- and even being held at gunpoint. The only crime these Americans have committed: sharing a name with suspected terrorists. By Ryan Singel. [Wired News] This is hardly surprising (even if it is disgusting)--due process and the rule of law have long since vanished in what used to be America. 6:30:26 AM    comment ()

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