Volume 2 Issue 49

April 10, 2003

This War Ain't Over Yet

There's still the North to win, will General Clark switch hats, and the end of the Concorde

Wow...the sun is shining today in Washington. This is unusual, considering it's been raining here since Sunday. But, alas, it's just a temporary break, as a No'reaster is on its way for this evening into the weekend. But at least the snow is done! I hope...

Well, a few notes on the fall of Baghdad yesterday. I noted that while the Iraqi people seemed very happy that the Hussein regime had fallen, I also noted that many of them were worried about how long the US troops would stay in the country. It really seems that the US is going through a "honeymoon" now, but if things don't get better in Iraq quickly (after the fighting ends, of course), then the US could be in trouble as they begin to be attacked as occupiers. The Wall Street Journal today said it best in its headline "Bush Faces Critical Choices Over US Role in World...After War, America Must Decide what kind of Power to be." Despite all the talk leading up to the war, Bush really still hasn't answered that question. Hopefully, the reconstruction of Iraq will go well, and we will be remembered fondly by the Iraqis. But then again, anyone heard about how things are going in Kabul lately?

To sum up the fall of Saddam, the London Times today noted a comparison with the Shelly poem "Ozymandias"...I think its a good one -

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things.
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

More to come: Many areas of the North are still controlled by pro-Saddam forces, and even the cities haven't been totally secured yet. It's important to remember that the war is not yet over -
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/04/10/MN226364.DTL

And Baghdad isn't totally secure yet either, as 4 Americans were wounded by a bomber today -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/international/worldspecial /10WIRE-BOMB.html

Though Kirkuk fell pretty quickly -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2486-2003Apr10.html

Where's Saddam? Will the US let the Iraqi leaders slip away, just as they did with Osama Bin Laden?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1391-2003Apr9.html

Rumors that he's in Russia are said to be untrue -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5944-641271,00.html

The Regime's last day in Baghdad: A fantastic article from The Guardian about how some parts of the regime functioned up until the very last minute...and about how the US, welcomed now, may not be welcomed for very long -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,933577,00.html

Where is Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed Sahhaf? A bunch of PR guys in DC want to hire him. I love this quote - "In all my years in this business, I have never seen anyone handle himself with such 'skill' as he demonstrated during his press briefing yesterday -- with his Ministry of Information building literally on fire, causing him to move his news conference to the sidewalk, and with the flames visible behind him, saying with a straight face that they had 'the infidels' on the run, that the Iraqis are winning this war. They just don't teach you that in college. This is a PR guy who may give new meaning to 'knowing how to take a bullet' for a client. Literally." -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1012-2003Apr9.html

Reaction in the rest of the Arab world: How did the Middle East react to the pictures from Baghdad? Reaction mixed from surprised, to happy, to concerned about the future -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A829-2003Apr9.html

Happy Saddam is gone, sad the US had to do it -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/international/worldspecial /10ARAB.html?pagewanted=all&position=top

The Iraqi's...do they love us or hate us? While the Iraqi's are obviously elated to be rid of Saddam, they are a but concerned about what our role will be in the nation's future -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5944-641496,00.html

American troops have been ordered to cut down on displays of the American flag in favor of the Iraqi one, so we don't look like conquers -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/international/worldspecial /10CND-FLAG.html

But what ever they think, at least Iraqi's can discuss it in public now -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A669-2003Apr9.html

Hey! Who's in Charge Here? Oh wait, we are... Um, do we plan to ever stop the mobs and looting, or are we just going to let the country implode?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2862-2003Apr10.html

The Turks and the Kurds: As Kurdish forces help the US take the northern city of Kirkuk, the US-Turkey relations are getting nasty again -
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/5553487.htm

The Puppet Ruler? Is Ahmad Chalabi really the best man to take over Iraq?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2081360/

The Oil: So, will the US join OPEC?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2081361/

The GOP - The Party of Exclusion: A Republican Congresswoman yesterday said that all African-Americans were drug addicts, and the party refused to repudiate her -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1249-2003Apr9.html

Look Who's Running for President: Now that his stint as a CNN commentator on the war is nearing an end, the "draft Wesley Clark" websites have started up -
http://www.wesleyclark.us/
http://draftclark.com/
http://extremecampaigns.com/draftwesley/

Look Who's Running for President 2: The Dem ballclub made a joint appearance last night for a Q&A session -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1106-2003Apr9.html

With 9 candidates, it was kind of unwieldy-
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/politics/10DEMS.html

Bad John Edwards Photo of the Day:

That boy can sure whistle...

A side note...John Kerry and Don Graham look pretty bad here too...

Flying into the Sunset: The Concorde, the British-French plane that is the only passenger liner to fly faster than the speed of sound, will be retired this year for economic reasons -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4161-641640,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/business/worldbusiness/10C ND-CONC.html

From the "People with rooms ready in Hell" department: NJ Rabbi Fred Neulander tells Barbra Walters that he didn't have his wife killed so he could continue an affair with a local radio personality -
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/5596120.htm

Oh Boy... From IMDB.com -
The creators of adult cartoon South Park have made the controversial decision to include the subject of the Iraq war in an upcoming episode. In the animated feature, fourth-graders Stan, Butters, Kyle and Cartman join an anti-war demonstration - so they can skip school. This sends their pro-war teacher Mr. Garrison into a rage, and he responds by giving them a project to do about America's founding fathers. Cartman subsequently travels back in time to 1776 to wreak havoc during the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Have a great day!