Monday 22 July 2002

Europeans Split With U.S. on Need for Iraq Attack. There is a striking agreement in Europe that Saddam Hussein's government is dangerous, but any agreement breaks down over strategic priorities in the Middle East. By Patrick E. Tyler. [New York Times: International] Turkey Warns U.S. of Difficulties in an Assault on Baghdad. Turkey's Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit warned the United States that it faced a long war if it decided to topple President Saddam Hussein by force. By Daniel Simpson. [New York Times: International] We need more of this reasoned consideration of the broader implications of the US obsession with Saddam Hussein. It is so ridiculously simplistic to myopically isolate Iraq from its wider regional position that it is difficult to believe that the 'advisers' to the government of 'the world's most powerful nation' persist in subscribing to this policy. And this is quite apart from the question of the basic morality of the mere intention of arbitrarily deciding that the leader of another country is a legitimate target for 'ousting'.       The other aspect of media coverage of all these issues is the resorting to convenient, catchy phrases to convey deeply serious ideas: 'weapons of mass destruction', 'war on terror', 'axis of evil' -- these are trotted out so often that it has now become embarrassing to hear senior politicians slip them into speeches and statements with monotonous regularity as if to suggest that everyone accepts their legitimacy. This is (or should be) far from being the case. 4:06:37 PM  Your view

NY Times: "President Bush is off to the worst start of any president in 75 years as measured by the Standard & Poor's 500 index."  [Scripting News] This 'analysis' neatly serves to prove the old theory that there's always a 'silly season' in media coverage during the summer months. Using stock market performance as an indicator of the likelihood of re-election (which, in Dubyoo's case, God forbid!) is a ridiculous example of statistical analysis gone mad. Hopefully the New York Times had its tongue firmly in its cheek when it decided to publish this nonsense. 3:59:02 PM  Your view

		© Copyright 2002 Jim MacCormaic . Last update: 29/09/2002; 06:04:26 am .