Brave, Brave, Brave, Brave Sir Robin
Nov. 13th, 2003 11:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
richardf8Thinking about Iraq.
"Bring the troops back home" is very popular with the anti-war crowd. Most democratic candidates are advocating this as the solution to the problems Dubya has created over there. It's a bad solution though, because it ignores the fact that WE made a mess of the place. But as flags that were being waved a year ago get draped over coffins today, more and more people seem eager for a pull out. And now it looks like the Bush administration, always more mindful of the next election than of the Right Thing To Do, appears eager to look for a way to pull out of Iraq in time to get re-coronated, er elected, to the throne, er presidency of the US. That, anyway, would seem to be the latest from a meeting with Paul Bremer.
There are problems with this. The first is that, left to itself, an Iraq that has to be rebuilt by Iraqis after being destroyed by the U.S. is not going to be very friendly to the U.S. Bush began this enterprise having been told by protestors in the streets that we did not have the stomach for such an enterprise, but the time to heed that was then. Now all that pulling out can do is make matters worse, like the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. And the way we have shuffled the deck, we could wind up with something far worse than the secular autocracy that was in place before.
But now that Bush's rah-rah "I'm An American and I Have A Big Penis" war has gone sour, he seems willing to trade in the "Marine Hymn" for the the "Ballad of Sir Robin," who "Bravely turned his tail and fled." But then, it worked for him so well during Vietnam, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
"Bring the troops back home" is very popular with the anti-war crowd. Most democratic candidates are advocating this as the solution to the problems Dubya has created over there. It's a bad solution though, because it ignores the fact that WE made a mess of the place. But as flags that were being waved a year ago get draped over coffins today, more and more people seem eager for a pull out. And now it looks like the Bush administration, always more mindful of the next election than of the Right Thing To Do, appears eager to look for a way to pull out of Iraq in time to get re-coronated, er elected, to the throne, er presidency of the US. That, anyway, would seem to be the latest from a meeting with Paul Bremer.
There are problems with this. The first is that, left to itself, an Iraq that has to be rebuilt by Iraqis after being destroyed by the U.S. is not going to be very friendly to the U.S. Bush began this enterprise having been told by protestors in the streets that we did not have the stomach for such an enterprise, but the time to heed that was then. Now all that pulling out can do is make matters worse, like the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. And the way we have shuffled the deck, we could wind up with something far worse than the secular autocracy that was in place before.
But now that Bush's rah-rah "I'm An American and I Have A Big Penis" war has gone sour, he seems willing to trade in the "Marine Hymn" for the the "Ballad of Sir Robin," who "Bravely turned his tail and fled." But then, it worked for him so well during Vietnam, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
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no subject
Date: 2003-11-13 10:06 am (UTC)The public's losing enthusiasm for this war, but they don't yet totally grasp how we can't leave it a hopeless mess. That's why the only solution is to broker deals with the United Nations, with the Middle East having a big say in the talks, so we can get help. But this appears to be the absolute last item on any neo-con's agenda. No "mea culpas", no matter how many are left to die.
I can't believe how many idiot articles about the UN's "irrelevance" appeared nine months ago. Frankly they're more relevant than ever.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-18 08:05 am (UTC)"Bonjour?"
"Hello, Mister Chirac? It's George."
"George?"
"George Bush. Out of Washington...."
"Ah. Oui?"
"Well, I'm really sorry to have called you a 'cheese-eating surrender monkey.' And to have insulted the plans that Dominic laid out for a fast return of power to an elected Iraqi government -- the plans that, errr, I'm mostly following now."
"Ah."
"And, well, I was wondering... You see, our troops have at least thirty attacks a day; Italy just suffered its biggest troop loss since World War II; and well..."
"Oui?"
"We'd like to replace some of our troops with yours, so that yours die instead of ours. What do you say to that?"
"Non."
"Pretty please?"
"Non."
"Damn. Thanks, bye!"
no subject
Date: 2003-11-19 01:49 pm (UTC)