licentious radio

Monday, August 12, 2002
[11:08:15 PM]

Search Google for "thyssen iraq" and "Bush fortune".

[11:01:37 PM]

But what about the Bin Laden family's stake in Carlyle? How much did they make off of Osama's September 11 attacks, even though they sold out early? How about Poppy? How much richer is Poppy because he and his son blocked the FBI etc. from investigating Osama?

[10:48:40 PM]

Just a bit of logic: if Saddam really had scary weapons -- but he hasn't used them, up until now -- and you attack Iraq for the explicit purpose of "regime change"... does Saddam use the scary weapons? All Colin Powell's men couldn't stop the SCUDS in the last war -- only the fact that the SCUDS didn't work stopped the SCUDS back then. There's no reason to think we could do better now.

The good news is that Saddam probably doesn't have many scary weapons. The bad news is that if you know you're going to be killed, you go ahead and use everything you've got, as best you can.

In other words, attacking Iraq increases the probability that the weapons will be used. Remember deterrence? Attacking Iraq is the opposite of that.

For example, there are some clues that Cheney & company threatened the Taliban with destruction several months before September 11, and so the September 11 attacks may well have been a reaction to American threats. Alas, citizens may never know for sure -- given the absolute cover-up by the Bush junta -- but September 11 could well be a model for the effectiveness of Bush's "first-strike" policy.

[9:52:24 PM]
Ordinarily in democratic governments, the appearance of improprietary is a significant problem, and results in resignations among bureaucrats and politicians. The current Bush junta's primary innovation is a "zero tolerance" for resignations due to impropriety. The corruption is so widespread at the top, that impropriety among bureaucrats is treated as a diversionary tactic.

As Krugman pointed out, you need dirty politicians, and a dirty press corps to pull that off.

But of course if you are president because of outrageous voter fraud by your brother's cronies, and a treasonous coup d'etat, a little impropriety is nothing. You either wind up hanging from a tree or you don't. Thomas White is just a skirmish: no accountability.

(Democracy is about accountability -- far more than about voting. Fascism is rooted in a lack of accountability.)

[2:03:46 PM]
What I like about 'Now watch my drive' is that it was a really bad drive. It's like 'watch me git Bin Laden'.

[1:35:42 PM]
Wouldn't it be interesting if Krugman pointed out that one of Bush's early investors is a big-time backer of Osama Bin Laden?

[1:26:13 PM]
The U.S. government should bail out the airline industry.

I'm not usually big on bailing out corporations, but these companies -- and the people who work(ed) for them -- were mainly screwed by Bush's militarism.

Instead of pointing out that airline travel was still safe, Bush purposefully played up fears, in order to get his anti-civil rights and militarist agenda through Congress.

In fact, putting National Guard soldiers in airports was only for show. The huge lines at airport security checkpoints are only useful as state-sponsored terrorism against flyers. No attacks would be prevented. A child could defeat the security measures. The last-minute checks at the gate are also easily defeated. The key security measures that *would* be helpful have never been usefully implemented.

In the wake of September 11, there were copycat attacks by various whackos, and the outcome of every attack demonstrated the source of the safety of flying: the attacks were defeated by civilian passengers and the flight crews -- not the security checkpoints, the National Guard troopers, the non-existent air marshalls, the too-late vigilance of the Air National Guard, the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, or any of the incompetent fools Bush has placed in positions that should protect us.

The good news is that there are only two or three hundred Al Qaeda terrorists, and that Bush's pre-September 11 ban on investigating Bin Laden is off.

But we're left with a crippled airline industry; crippled to keep Bush's popularity high and to force through his (prior) agenda. The airlines should be compensated. It would only require a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of billions squandered or given to Bush's cronies since September 11.

[12:55:50 PM]
Congratulations, Little George. You can't find Osama, but you've raised $100 million for the Republican party.

Suggestion: make the Republicans give back all the money they've received from crooks and corporations run by crooks.

[12:32:45 PM]
"He was robbed, and that's a fact," Terry McAuliffe said.

[12:10:23 PM]
The American military should think long and hard before letting itself be drawn into a full-scale war in Iraq.

In the first Gulf War, at the point where Americans were technically committing war crimes -- bombing retreating soldiers who's government had surrendered -- Colin Powell was able to insist on stopping hostilities. A few hours of war crimes were so innocuous compared to carpet bombing conscripts, that it was hard to complain. The story that the Iraqis all just ran off into the desert was good enough.

Generals, do you think the Bush people will let you stop this time?

It's also true that Bush is working to prevent any foreign government from charging you with war crimes. The urgency of this effort should give you pause. The human beings on this planet believe many of your tactics are war crimes. You should reconsider your weapons systems and tactics.

You should also remember that times change, regimes change, and sometimes there is accountability in the long run. While Bush's cronies are in power, you will surely not face criminal charges in America. But Bush cronies may not remain in power forever.

If you allow war crimes in Iraq, you may find yourselves on trial in the United States in five or ten years. Americans are patriotic, and we appreciate the sacrifices military personnel make for the rest of us. But we also have beliefs regarding the rule of law and justice. If you allow war crimes, you may well be held accountable.

The scale of tragedy in Iraq from the first Gulf War suggests that the scale of potential war crimes will also be vast. As far as I can tell, carpet bombing in the first Gulf War resulted in tens of thousands of casualties -- especially among teen-aged Iraqi conscripts. The deliberate inclusion of water-purification technology in the embargo after the war created immeasurable misery -- among Iraqis who are not members of Saddam's elite.

Saddam will make it difficult to avoid committing war crimes in attacking Iraq. That does not absolve you of responsibility.

You should insist that all strategies and tactics -- including contingency plans -- involve no potential for war crimes.