Want War, You Got It: Plus, Fleischer Finally Makes a Call for Americans To Sacrifice--Uh, Hey, Wait! What?
This just came via e-mail from our editor Steve Perry, with the subject head, "it begins."
This is LONDON
19/03/03 - War on Iraq section
The war has started
By Robert Fox, Defence Correspondent and David Taylor, Evening Standard
British and American troops were involved in fierce fighting near Iraq's main port today as the war to topple Saddam Hussein began.
The firefight broke out near Basra as men of the Special Boat Service targeted the strategically vital city and the oilfields in southern Iraq.
At the same time allied troops were flooding into the demilitarised zone on the Iraqi border with Kuwait 40 miles away to take up positions for an all-out invasion.
Etc, etc. So, now we know. It's probably not such a good mission for me, either logistically or mentally, to keep a minute-by-minute account of the war here. And it's certainly not necessary. In fact, I think my wartime slogan for this blog should be: "Your Very Last Source for What the Hell is Going on Over There." At the very least, the war is well beyond the scope of this blog.
But what's going on over here is quite a different story--and it's hard to ignore. And there's so much info out there, maybe we could stter each other towards this or that or the other thing.
At the very least, I did want to point out one thing from Ari Fleischer's press conference this afternoon, which I watched on Fox News, because I was mesmerized by the now-irrelevant countdown clock (7:07:24 ... 7:07:23 ...) in the corner of the screen.
(And while we're at it, here are the archives of Fleischer's press briefings from the White House. These seem to be as accurate as any other transcripts out there, surprisingly.)
Anyway, at some point Fleischer finally fessed up that for the war to be successful, Americans are going to have to learn to live with sacrifice. A White House reporter pressed Flesicher on that. (Paraphrasing for spin purposes here; the exchange can be found on the link above.)
Really? What sort of sacrifice? the reporter wanted to know.
Americans know what kind of sacrifice, Fleischer responded.
But the president has made no direct mention of sacrifice before, the reporter countered, especially not at the last news conference. Where has this kind of talk been from the President in the weeks leading up to this?
The President has spoken of sacrifice Americans need to make during wartime, Fleischer concluded, and Americans know exactly what's expected of them. Next Question.
Ultimately, this is one of the main reasons I'm against this charade. Never have the consequences been fully explained to the American public by the administration. Never has the real aftermath of war been mentioned by the White House. Never once, beyond "liberation," has the Bush administration explained, in real terms, what it plans to do once the entire region is destabilized by our bombs.
And that's too much to just wade into right here, with my head is hanging low with too many dark thoughts. But suffice to say there's a reason this hasn't been talked about much, if at all: The explanations are messy, expensive, and complex. Bad PR for the war. Duh.
More importantly, I will say that, no, Mr. Fleischer, Americans do not understand the kind of sacrifice this will take. Do you mean "surrendering" certain civil rights and liberties, like having your shoes and car searched at the airport? Or does it mean rationing our use of gas and oil? (Heavens no!) Or does it mean sitting in silence while our goverment bombs its way toward an irrevocable economic crisis?
Later in the press conference, Fleischer noted that "an overwhelming majority" of Americans are in favor of liberating Iraq. That may be true, but maybe that's because nobody has really defined the "sacrifice" required.
Finer Point: Remember Turkey
Just quickly here. A lot of talk about the French, Russian and German motives for not playing along with us on Iraq. Not a whole lot about Turkey's motives for not allowing U. S. troops to hunker in the bunker there. I'm afraid it's because Turkey wants a little piece of the "liberating" action--another potentially very bad glitch in the U.S. plan.
Last night, ABC's World News Tonight reported that many Turkish troops were already stationed at the Iraqi border, ready to perhaps move in as soon as the bombing starts. (And, yes, I believe ABC News can sometimes be a good source in matters such as these, with a nice roster of experienced foreign correspondents and an anchor--a Canadian, for criminy out loud--who has a worldview unobstructed by American jingoism).
Feel free to e-mail me at granderson@citypages.com if you want to better inform me and keep me abreast of the Turkey situation. Wait, did somebody just say "Turkey breast?" Gobble, gobble.
1:36:10 PM 
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