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Saturday, February 15, 2003
posted by gbarto at 11:53 AM:
NATO Working on Iraq PlanMembers hope to settle bitter dispute over defense of Turkey by next week
It's evident that we should simply have those member nations that are interested send support, and maybe sign provisional mutual defense pacts on a nation to nation basis. Then if France and Belgium - even Germany was sending help, last time I looked - want to game NATO, we can just sidestep the group. As we should, if it won't even provide for the defense of one of its members, the purpose of the organization. France and others think they're very clever with their manipulations at the UN and NATO, but they'd best be careful. These fora are the only places they have a voice since they cannot lead on their own strengths. If they wish to play games in camera, we should step out of chambers and directly onto the international stage in a direct contest for leadership of the international community. France would round up the most countries - for inaction, of course - but the Anglosphere would easily triumph in strength and will.
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posted by gbarto at 11:41 AM:
Five Arrested on Terror ChargesBahrain breaks up alleged ring planning Gulf attacks, report says
Hopefully some progress is being made.
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posted by gbarto at 11:40 AM:
Why we fight:
So these idiots can go home satisfied with themselves for "standing up for what I believe," rather than ending up in a dark basement cell, being asked unpleasant questions by unpleasant people.
Wonder if they'll remember to be grateful. Or if they'll just take for granted the right to protest their own governments in a way that would get them shot in the Iraq they're so vociferously defending.
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posted by gbarto at 11:36 AM:
Nice editorial from the New York Post: COLIN IN U.N.-LANDIt hints at a mad tea party Lewis Carroll would have dubbed too absurd to offer as fiction. But with the UN, all things are possible. Well, except justice and action. But you knew that.
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posted by gbarto at 2:44 AM:
Here's Lawrence Kaplan at TNR on Deaf Ears at the UN:The conceit of Powell's presentation was that it could budge the likes of Germany and France from their official stances opposing war and thereby extricate the Bush team from its inspections trap. But that opposition has nothing to do with the merits of America's case against Saddam. It has to do with the self-interested motives of Paris, which will do anything to frustrate U.S. policy, and of Berlin, which after supplying Saddam with much of his deadly chemical inventory now fears the domestic political costs of supporting a war to rid him of that inventory. The United States is not dealing here with individuals but with governments--and rapacious ones at that. The United Nations is simply a collection of sovereign states. And different states have their own reasons for being less than resolute in the face of evil.
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posted by gbarto at 2:20 AM:
We know how that came out. Sad to say, the Post made an awful mistake. They thought the Weasels would listen. (via Common Sense and Wonder)
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posted by gbarto at 2:09 AM:
Should we have to go it alone in Iraq, let this be our rallying cry:No Oil For France!
No Oil For Germany!
No Oil For Belgium!
Let them fuel their economies with their non-existent principles.
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posted by gbarto at 2:06 AM:
The Washington Post, at least, is unimpressed with the efforts by world sit-arounders (leaders would be inaccurate) to shut down action against Iraq. It's important, because if - probably when - we go it alone, we at least want reasonable people in the US to be agreed upon basic principles and the WaPo, unlike Raines' NYT can make at least some claim to offering reasoned and principled liberal opinion. Here's the final graf:Yesterday's session diminished hope that the council will face up to the responsibility of implementing its resolutions on Iraq. Mr. Blix did report that Iraq has produced dozens of illegal missiles that should be destroyed; if Iraq refuses orders to do so in the coming weeks, the council could feel compelled to respond. Both the inspectors and the French also contended that inspector-managed disarmament could be completed quickly. If that's the case, then they should be prepared to set a deadline for full Iraqi compliance. The Bush administration still intends to seek another council resolution, and it should do whatever it can to prevent the Iraq debate from damaging the United Nations and the NATO alliance -- including curbing the intemperate rhetoric it has directed at Paris and Berlin. But the United States cannot again join the Security Council in backing down from a confrontation with the Iraqi dictator, as it did repeatedly during the 1990s, also under pressure from France and Russia. Saddam Hussein was offered a "final opportunity"; no member of the council contends that he accepted it. Even if others lose their nerve, the United States must ensure that this time the dictator suffers the "serious consequences" that are due.
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posted by gbarto at 1:53 AM:
Shifting Sands at the U.N.Council Resistance Forcing U.S. to Alter Approach
The administration's mistake is revealed in the first paragraph:
The Bush administration went into yesterday's U.N. Security Council meeting believing it was poised to shift the chamber's attention from diplomacy toward imminent war against Iraq. Instead, it was hit by demands for more time and more talk.The chamber is not paying attention to anything because it's already decided. Nothing short of proof Iraq had a nuke pointed at France could have moved France to pay an iota of attention, because it's got its eyes on oil deals. For all its pompous blather, self-interest has always been where it's at for France, which is why they're always so suspicious of our motives - they can't conceive of anything nobler. A nuke pointed at Germany? One hates to be too cynical or sarcastic, and yet one can't help thinking they'd want to know if it was pointed at a Jewish ghetto or a nice Aryan neighborhood before deciding on a reaction. They certainly don't give a sh-- if Israel's in the crosshairs, even if the Jewish people wound up there only because - history shows - even the Arabs are more civilized toward the Jews than the Germans. You think I'm over the top, but compared to what European newspapers say about us, I'm tame.
Anyway, bottom line, Western Europe would rather see the Middle East nuked and gassed off the face of the earth than give up a chance to reassert itself over the US. We're all New Yorkers now, said Le Monde. But if the Frenchies had been on Flight 93, they'd have been debating the ontological significance of it all as the plane flew into the Capitol.
The question we hoped we'd put to rest with the twentieth century thus returns: How long will it take before the US has to come to the rescue of the doddering old fops of Europe, cleaning up the mess where they've shat upon themselves - and everything else in the vicinity - again?
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posted by gbarto at 1:33 AM:
Regarding the post below, a question: When are going to try Kofi Annan for war crimes for his complicity in the slaughter of thousands of Muslims?* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:32 AM:
Den Beste reminds us of the sh-- peddled by the noble UN:The ultimate tragedy was the Srebrenica "safe zone", a place of refuge for Muslims supposedly guaranteed by the UN. But when hostile troops showed up, in the end, and made clear by their actions that they didn't believe that the UN troops there would really be willing to defend it, they were proved right. The Dutch troops on the spot stood back and did nothing while the Serbs proceeded to slaughter thousands of Muslim males that the Dutch and the UN had promised to defend. Had the troops been from almost any other European nation, the result would have been the same. They were there not because they were ready to fight if need be, but because they desperately hoped that they would not be asked to. When they finally faced that eventuality, they backed down, and 7500 Muslim men and boys paid the ultimate price for that failure.Let's repeat that:
Thousands of Muslims died for the UN's lack of will in Yugoslavia.
It appears now that the UN is heaving a sigh of relief that it may get a chance to heave its principles, its committments and the value of its words overboard again.
One wonders. One ugly scenario: Saddam gets a weapon of mass destruction and uses it against Israel in an effort to rally for a new Arab empire. Is the UN prepared to sacrifice thousands, even millions, of the Jewish people so it can pretend to world leadership without doing anything?
Duh.
It's par for the course for the current head of the Security Council.
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posted by gbarto at 1:26 AM:
Here come your French news headlines:Le Monde's headline du moment is The Planet Mobilizes Against War. Notes the article, French Foreign Minister Villepin is looking forward to hosting a bunch of the marchers. But not to worry. France listened impartially to the evidence today before taking any decisions vis-à-vis Iraq. Oh, and I also waited for the report before drawing my own conclusions. At best, France is plainly at least as guilty of forming an opinion before all the facts are in. It's bad enough when the TurkeyBlog does it. But we expect better from the frogs.
Le Figaro is spinning hard for the Chiraquean camp: Blix gives ammo to the peace camp. Says Le Figaro, the peace camp is celebrating that with a little more time and Iraqi cooperation, war shouldn't be necessary. It's the Iraqi cooperation thing that's the sticking point. I read the same report they did and couldn't help but notice that said cooperation had not been forthcoming. Those who think if we just wait long enough, all this can get settled, remind me of the old exec whose company lost a penny on every item but hoped to make it up in volume: Continued excuses for Saddam and continued remonstrations against those who would hold his feet to the fire will not suddenly back Saddam into a corner of niceness where he says, "I love you guys, let me tell you some of my secrets." It will - as it already has - encourage him to give the useful idiots just enough that they refrain from removing their rose-colored glasses. Rose-colored glasses of the sort that had been kept on the American people regarding terrorism... until 9/11. I fear the world will get its rose-colored glasses smack right of its face if we play at this game much longer.
Libé leads with A chance for peace. You've already seen the arguments elsewhere.
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posted by gbarto at 1:08 AM:
'The Threat of Force Must Remain'Secretary of state Colin Powell says continued inspections aren't enough to bring about Iraq's disarmament, predicts White House will come to decision on Iraq issue within 'weeks'
Weeks? Is that five or six weeks? Or one or two? It should be the latter.
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Friday, February 14, 2003
posted by gbarto at 5:16 PM:
The headline should read:American citizens killed by leftist rebels in South America
Instead, it says:
Bullet Wounds in Bodies at Crash Site
Colombian president: Passengers on downed U.S. plane were 'murdered'
Even that, though, is a pretty good headline. Is Chris Dodd watching this? What's he think? When Otto Reich was going to be our expert for the region, he knew that Reich's antipathy to leftists made him unsuitable for the post. Where does Dodd stand now?
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posted by gbarto at 5:13 PM:
Powell: 'Inspections Not the Answer'Although U.N. chief inspectors report Iraq has made strides toward disarmament, secretary of state maintains world should not fall for Hussein's 'tricks'
Absolutely. But, you'll be astonished to learn,
International Community Still Split on Iraq ReportExcuse me if I fail to fall over in my chair. And you won't be astonished to find France at the top of the shirkers list:
"No one today can claim that the path of war will be shorter than the path of inspection" nor that it will lead to a "safer, more just, more stable world … for war is always the sanction of failure," de Villepin said. "The use of force is not justified at this time."The Letterman quote the other day wasn't nice, but it was accurate. The last time the French perceived the need for military action, tanks were rolling into Paris. Well, that's not fair. When the French wanted to move into the Ivory Coast, first they sent troops and then they asked the UN to sanction it. We should have vetoed the resolution. And we should have acted in accordance with French wisdom - sent troops first and asked the UN once it was a fait accompli. Of course there is a difference. We're just cowboy Americans. They're the French, vanguards of civilization... of course they're judgment can be trusted.
The French minister called for the ministers to convene again on March 14 for another update.
Incidentally, let's look at this: "war is always the sanction of failure." Indeed. The resolutions ending the first Persian Gulf war failed. The inspections regime up to '98 failed. The latest inspection regime failed. By the logic of the French, we should have let the Germans do whatever the f--- they wanted with Paris, because going to war to save their sorry asses was admitting the failure of the League of Nations. B---S---!
Alternatively, of course, we could have - and did - acknowledge the failure of the League of Nations and go to war to save them. Just as we must know acknowledge - even sanction - the failures of the UN to deal with Iraq and face the matter squarely.
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posted by gbarto at 10:16 AM:
Here's Blix's report, by the way. A quick read suggests what we've been hearing right along. Iraq has been doing the bare minimum to appear to go along but has only failed to directly oppose inspectors; it has not cooperated in the larger task of demonstrating that it is disarming and actually doing so and has not cooperated in helping the UN learn what it might need to know to do its work more effectively. Considering that this violates not only 1441 but a couple earlier resolutions, it looks like, as Hitch says, Iraq has been in material breach a long damn time. It's time that the regime part, making way for one which will not take upwards of 12 years to resolve these matters.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:03 AM:
Blix: No Smoking Gun, But Plenty MissingChief inspectors say Iraq needs to show what happened to weapons 'not accounted for'
May we just note that in any society that valued words, principles, truth or even process, Saddam would be in trouble. Since this is the UN, we'll have to wait and see.
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posted by gbarto at 2:52 AM:
hmmm... 586 hits from the IAEA so far this month. Must be the guy who isn't investigating North Korea anymore.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:40 AM:
Japan threatens force against N Korea - if it looks likely that North Korea will launch a missile. (found over at Cicero's place where all the foreign media seems to get read - it's a bbc story)* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:35 AM:
Blix Plans Mixed Criticism Of Iraq at Security CouncilHe will stop short of saying Baghdad has been totally non-cooperative.
My sources tell me he will make special mention of how the inspectors were given all the ballpoint pens and toilet paper they asked for.
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posted by gbarto at 1:33 AM:
Germany to Ship Missiles to TurkeyMaybe Herr Schroder is starting to figure out where he's headed if he sticks to his approach from the past few months.
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posted by gbarto at 1:28 AM:
Here come your French news headlines:Le Monde leads with a Crucial Day for Iraq at the UN. The Security Council is as divided as ever, on the eve of reports that quite plausibly have Iraq in material breach and at best show it to be awfully well-armed for a state committed to disarmament. Meanwhile, the US has started talking about Saddam's regime in the future perfect - i.e., it'll be done soon.
Le Figaro is in much the same vein: Decisive Day at the UN. Figaro also quickly gets to the latest failed attempt to get all of NATO singing from the same sheet music, and runs a secondary article, The Crisis Does Grave Damage to NATO.
Further down, we get this: Gerhard Schroder Seeks Allies. He went before the Bundestag and cited the caution of France and Belgium in an attempt to assure that his anti-American, and no-war-no-matter-what rhetorical postures haven't isolated Germany from the world community.
Libé leads with The Inspectors Report before a Divided UN. They also hit on one of the economic impacts of the war-talk and France's approach: Americans Turn Up Noses at French Products. This is known in the blogosphere, but it's one of the first times I've seen it discussed in French media. Of course this comes up because some of our representatives are talking about tariffs, etc, which would be stupid. The American consumer is perfectly capable of reading labels and shying away from those that advertise France as their provenance. In fact, I've seen quite a few anecdotes about people doing just that.
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posted by gbarto at 1:11 AM:
U.S. Plane Down in ColombiaTwo bodies spotted at crash site; survivors possibly captured by rebels
No need to worry. I'm sure Chris Dodd has this all under control.
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posted by gbarto at 1:09 AM:
Showdown at the U.N.Report from chief weapons inspectors will be crucial in determining whether Security Council calls for more inspections or supports U.S. calls for force against Iraq
So... why is there a showdown when
Experts Find Iraqi Missile Exceeding Range Allowedaccording to Fox News? If you answered, because the UN is just a game played by nations pretending to belong to a non-existent civilized world - with France as the leading light of the faux civilization - you guessed right.
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Thursday, February 13, 2003
posted by gbarto at 11:46 AM:
Just a reminder:Panel: Iraq Broke U.N. Limits
Chief inspector Blix is told a ballistic missile program violates mandates.
So what are we waiting for?
France.
But as David Letterman said the other night (paraphrasing), the last time France woke up to the realities of a dangerous regime, the Nazis were already pulling into Paris.
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posted by gbarto at 11:41 AM:
From Libération:«Nos missiles ne sont pas dangereux», affirme l'Irak
("Our Missiles Aren't Dangerous," Iraq affirms)
I hope they've asked for a refund.
How ridiculous can one get?
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posted by gbarto at 11:38 AM:
Here's Instantman: They found a guy with a grenade in a London airport. The government says it would be premature to assume he's a terrorist.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:16 AM:
Pat Robertson Has Prostate CancerReligious broadcaster to undergo surgery soon; prognosis good
There he goes, stealing John Kerry's limelight... We wish both well in their recoveries. We hope almost as fervently that the two will nonetheless see their influence decline and that they will maybe take the experience as a sign it's time to spend more time with their families.
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posted by gbarto at 11:12 AM:
U.S.: No North Korea SanctionsPunishing Pyongyang for violating nuke rules not option, diplomat says
Even the Bush team does some idiotic things in the international arena. North Korea needs to be isolated and while they may be tempted to lash out, I suspect that a good percentage of their huffing and puffing is an attempt to bluster us into helping. We ought let Kim Jong-Il's problems mount but prepare to help the people but not the government on our own timetable. If the government prevents us from helping... well, people do sometimes pay a price for their governments and we're limited in what we can do about it, as the Ethiopians and Somalis can tell you.
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posted by gbarto at 11:09 AM:
NATO Cancels Turkey-Iraq MeetingStandoff on hold until inspectors report to Security Council tomorrow
So... are France, Belgium and Germany going to continue to stonewell. They'd best be careful. They think they're being cute, but Turkey's concerns are real -
Iraqi Missile Exceeds Allowed Range- and playing games with Turkey's safety is something that nation is likely to remember.
Experts: Weapons surpass OK limit
Sad to say, France, Belgium and Germany are no longer serious nations - their leaders blew the chance to play a real and important role in how things unfold with their inflexibility - Bush went to the Security Council but they weren't prepared to play their roles honestly - and their people have gone along with it.
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posted by gbarto at 11:03 AM:
U.S. Plane Down in ColombiaCessna carrying up to five Americans crashes in rebel territory
Hey everybody, no need to worry. I have here these assurances from Chris Dodd that any and all communist-leaning rebel groups down there are good and friendly people.
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posted by gbarto at 2:43 AM:
Why we have to do something with Iraq: Joanne Jacobs has some ghastly details about things that make nukes seem like a minor element in the evil of Saddam.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:33 AM:
Common Sense and Wonder also calls for us pulling our troops out of Germany.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:24 AM:
Leonard Pitts has the darker side of the net. While the blogging community watched the recovery of Daniel Taylor after various problems, sending prayers and wishes, while millions clicked Amazon buttons to help after 9/11, the net does also allow assholes - and that is the word. One group of them watched a young man commit suicide on his webcam about a week ago. Looking at the transcripts, it looks like the last words he read were those of fellow chat-room participants urging him to take one more batch of pills, one more hit on the rum. Whether they thought it would be cool to watch him die or just wanted to watch him trip out and were too stupid to figure out what was going on is hard to say. An ugly story, regardless.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:16 AM:
WaPo: Experts Say Iraq Violated U.N. Mandates on MissilesPanel's finding may lead to tough Blix assessment of Iraqi cooperation.
Here's Powell's take:
"Nobody wants war, but sometimes it's necessary when you need it to maintain international order," Powell told the House International Relations Committee. "There are some of my European colleagues right now who are resisting the natural flow of this resolution. They want to have more inspectors. More inspectors aren't the issue. The question I put to them is: Why more inspectors and how much more time? Or are you just delaying for the sake of delaying in order to get Saddam Hussein off the hook?"Goodness, can diplomats openly say such things? Especially when they're true?
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posted by gbarto at 1:53 AM:
Here are your French news headlines:Le Monde: Prohibited Missiles Discovered in Iraq. The French New York Times notes that its journalistic cousins across the channel are taking this as material breech and predicting it will be enough for the balance to tip in favor of war.
And here is an article called Questions on the Franco-American fracture. Among the questions:Les relations franco-américaines sont-elles en voie de détérioration durable ?
Are Franco-American relations headed for enduring deterioration?
Therese Delpech (researcher for the French Center For International Research and Study): Franco-American relations have never been simple, but they're becoming execrable. You only need read the papers on both sides of the Atlantic to be convinced of this. This reality and the consequences that flow from it are, to my thinking, underestimated in France. After the great success of the unanimous adoption of resolution 1441, to which France had usefully contributed, there was a period of detente. The true point of departure of this new drama too place in New York with the threat of a French veto that literally rejected Colin Powell as part of the camp of "hardliners" in Washington. Was this necessary? And who believes the French will veto? The stated desire of Washington to make France bend to its will isn't contributing to a calm debate between the two countries either.
Pierre Lellouche (UMP deputy and president of the parliamentary assembly of NATO): Everything depends on the dynamics in play. French military participation in a war against Iraq seems heretofore excluded. So, use the veto? I know that all the left, the Greens, the National Front [Le Pen's isolationist, anti-immigrant party - ndTB] and part of the UMP [Chirac's party] want France to use its veto. I'm opposed because that would have considerable consequences. First, a French veto wouldn't stop the US from going to war: they'll do it within the framework of resolution 1441. Thus, a veto would considerably weaken the Security Council and would create a very grave precedent. I'm just back from Washington: the Americans explain that if there's a French veto, then they will push for a reform of the Security Council, changing France's seat into a seat for the European Union. Finally, the reprisals would be immediate: One the economic front, France would be pulled off the rebuilding of Iraq and the new geopolitical deals.
Richard Holbrooke: Franco-American relations have known their highs and their lows over the last 200 years. But we have a common civilization and common values: the ties that bind us are stronger than our differences. This doesn't mean that in this moment both Washington and Paris don't have to calm down. We have a common problem in Iraq, and the United States will advance with other countries. If the French don't want to be among them, that's their sovereign right. But I think it's a mistake, because Saddam Hussein is a threat to the stability of our common space. France also made a mistake in undermining the coalition. This can only encourage Saddam. I'd add, however, that the American government has made the problem more difficult with its manner of directing its relations within the Alliance.
Guillaume Parmentier (French Center on the US): The crisis of confidence is real and all the more so since we're coming out of a period of rapprochement: Dominique de Villepin and Colin Powell had cooperated in a very careful manner from May 2002 to January 2003, and France had brought welcome support when to Mr. Powell and to the moderates in the Bush administration when the decision was made to use the UN rather than attacking Iraq unilaterally. Today, the French have the sentiment that the US used the UN to attract the good wishes of a certain number of countries, without however wanting to submit to international controls. One sees the proof of this in that the concentration of American military forces in the Gulf is now presented in Washington as meaning war is inevitable. The Americans, themselves, have the impression that the French made them believe they really cared about disarming Iraq in order to bring them to the UN, with the real goal of preventing recourse to force. This feeling is widespread among the elites and in American circles of influence; the press has been unleashed against our country. A poll taken this week shows that the image of France has greatly deteriorated in the US. This trend will be difficult [to reverse], at least quickly.
Le Figaro leads with How the World Judges France's Position. Le Figaro does its level best to present France as a country with supporters as well as detractors, but one sense we wouldn't be seeing this article if they weren't nervous in Paris.
Libé leads with The sounds of boots bring the economy to a stop. France, too, is not having a great time waiting to see what will happen in Iraq, even if they're unlikely to be there.
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posted by gbarto at 1:05 AM:
Promising, at least: Reynolds says the Total Information Awareness program is about dead.* * *
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
posted by gbarto at 11:43 PM:
A crappy idea for the economic policy mix: I once upon a time took economics. In it we learned a wonderful expression, ceteris paribus. My prof, a guy by the name of Abdollah Ferdowsi - cool prof, by the way - told us that was Latin for "all things being equal." He then told us something more important: it's bunk. In a closed system, it may be possible to make certain adjustments to variables discreetly isolated from other variables. In practice, it doesn't wash, because every change alters people's calculations, expectations, etc. Anyway, that's why this idea (it's coming soon, really!) won't work, though it would be cool if it did.We keep reading about the tax cuts, can we afford them, will they just help the rich, will they increase employment debate. Howzabout this? If you want to reduce tax burdens and increase employment, slash the taxes on employment. You could reduce employer kick-ins for FICA, worker's comp pay-in, increase business protections for problems with "difficult" hires. Or, you could waive corporate taxes for companies that took on a certain number of new workers - net. Would it be abused? You bet. Would there be shady hiring practices and strange shufflings of people back and forth to maximize tax savings if things were done on a per hire basis? Absolutely. So no, I won't recommend this. But if you're in Congress and reading this, I know of a certain amateur polemicist who could generate crappy economic policy ideas for you - cheap. Or you might simply see if something in here isn't a total mess. End blather.
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posted by gbarto at 11:31 PM:
Officials Mull Impact of Terror WarningsShell, Chevron and Exxon-Mobil should appreciate 'em.
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posted by gbarto at 11:28 PM:
NATO Still Deadlocked on Turkey DealEmergency talks to resume Thursday
Remind me, again, why didn't we veto France's plans for the Ivory Coast? Oh yeah - because we're not a pissy little country struggling to still matter.
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posted by gbarto at 11:26 PM:
U.S. Braces for Possible AttackTerror precautions being taken nationwide, one day after new message attributed to bin Laden urged Iraqis to stage homicide attacks against Americans; possible new terror tape found
I dunno. I'd head for the hills, but I already live there.
And here's the North Korea thing I discuss below:
North Korean Missile Could Hit U.S.
CIA: Intelligence shows threat; nuke dispute goes to Security Council
I hope they don't. For one thing, the valley isn't that far from San Francisco, the most commonly suggested target the last time we had disturbing revelations about the possibility North Korea could drop a missile on the continental US.
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posted by gbarto at 11:22 PM:
I see on AOL news that among today's shocking revelations, it was revealed that North Korea could drop a missile on the West Coast. Ari Fleischer says this is "old news." Not very comforting to think about, but yes, it is old news. It seems to me that among the reasons the Clinton administration gave for handling North Korea with kid gloves was this ugly tidbit. So... what are we going to do about it? If only we knew, but the time to act was during the Clinton years, which are now long gone. Hence the negotiating/not-negotiating muck we're slogging through now.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:07 AM:
S.C. Governor's Mansion May Close Due to $150,000 ShortfallBut will the sheriff actually deliver eviction papers?
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posted by gbarto at 10:06 AM:
Kerry Has Cancer SurgeryDemocratic presidential candidate recovering after prostate removal
May health be his, but not electoral victories.
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posted by gbarto at 10:05 AM:
Just what we need:India Test Fires Cruise Missile
Weapon jointly developed with Russia, is capable of hitting Pakistan
So here we are with our on-again/off-again problems with the world's largest democracy and our friends the Pakistanis.
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posted by gbarto at 10:04 AM:
Tenet: Al Qaeda Targeting U.S., GulfCIA chief tells Senate 'specific' information indicates attack could come this week
Don't like this kind of news, but it's hard to say whether these sources are giving us real info or trying to pump up Al-Qaeda's abilities and importance. Of course there's also the possibility that because of what we know, the attacks won't come, either because 1) we actually get in the way of steps of the plans or 2) Al-Qaeda scotches its operations, unsure how much we know and whether we'll just get more people to grill in intercepting their operatives.
Which is why I'm most nervous when we're at the threat level we were at on 9/11 - 0, or whatever color goes with it.
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posted by gbarto at 2:29 AM:
Ouch. Leno made nasty comments about France too. They're quoted at Common Sense and Wonder.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:00 AM:
Dear, dear. Le Monde is greatly upset that us cowboy hicks (they didn't mean to call us that, really) aren't more open to France's positions. Here's the editorial; my commentary is in red:FrancophobieGoodness, they're certainly in a kerfuffle over whether they've been dissed. Pretty peculiar for a nation that is supposed to be so strong and proud. But as Hitch points out, it's a little embarrassing when your president hangs on to power mainly to avoid prosecution. That after a likely felon, the next best choice seemed to be Jean-Marie Le Pen can't have been reassuring. France is old. And tired. It needs a rest from the international scene, for like the aging prima donna, it is crossing the line between hanging on a little too long and becoming an embarrassment. Le Monde's defensiveness shows that they know something's amiss, else they could ignore us as the ignorant little savages they sometimes like to believe us to be. Interesting. Also interesting that the "it's not oil" was offered rhetorically, not with reassurances that TotalFinaElf and friends aren't getting rich off the Iraqi people's pain. Wonder what they'd say if the Wall Street Journal dumped the oil argument with a similar rhetorical flourish. I imagine they'd be skeptical. We are too.Francophobia
Let us summarize, in order to avoid the effects of repetition. We the French are deeply cowardly, "Munichers" at heart, singularly venal, seemingly antisemitic [Temples suddenly start going up in smoke in your country and people are bound to talk.] and, it goes without saying, ardently anti-American. We forgot: We're also "old." [Unquestionably; whenever I've been there, you've boasted about this while dismissing my country as too "green" to know how civilized nations deal.] This is how a certain part of the American press sees the French. One of the most famous Washington Post commentators wrote that France has cultivated but one art since 1870, retreat. Great line!
The New York Post accuses France of ignoble ingratitude: Forgotten is the sacrifice of the GIs in the Second World War! On its Opinion Page, the Wall Street Journal publishes a British journalist, Christopher Hitchens, who qualifies Jacques Chirac as a "roaring rat" in the process of transforming France "into Saddam's procurer." [Here's the must-read article.] All this for what crime? Paris dares to not follow the Bush administration's Iraq policy... [Nor the UN resolutions you voted for, suggesting that France is not a nation to be taken seriously.] The commentary of the press is broadly that there could be only one explanation for the position of Paris: base material interests, the stink of gasoline. [Den Beste (link at left) and others have offered some fairly troubling info regarding that accusation.]
There is no consolation in bringing up that this portrait is like the pot calling the kettle black. That would just be the reply of an America too often presented on this side of the Atlantic as a band of cowboys, finger on the trigger, led by a simplistic fundamentalist preacher. [But why is it that Americans don't generally seem to lose sleep over what's said about them in the French press? We resent being portrayed as simplistic, but know this comes with being a real force for good at a time when France merely dreams of glories past.] There's a similar lack of comfort gained in bringing up that Francophobia is, as the American researcher, Simon Serfaty, reveals, a sentiment widely felt in the party of President George W. Bush. In the same vein, it would be useless to observe that France is a country where books denouncing anti-Americanism are big successes in the bookstores. [As are books denying 9/11, which really got us p---ed off with you some time ago.] And without a doubt in vane to bring up that two key elements of Paris's position deserve at least to be debated: 1. Iraq doesn't present sufficient danger to warrant a war [Letterman is apropos here in noting that the last time the French perceived a threat worth war was when the German tanks arrived in Paris.]; 2. a war against an Arab country is exactly what Osama Bin Laden wants. [We can be most obliging. The French have certainly wanted us to make every other Arab tyrant around happy, so why not Osama?]
Now's the time for caricature. And that which could be only bad press is all the same revealing: the tone of the media across the Atlantic often captures what one says in private about France (and Germany) in certain official circles in Washington. Not all. In public, Tuesday, President Bush appeared calm, desiring to relativize the differences between France and the US. And Jacques Chirac reminds those to whom he's speaking that the conflict over Iraq must not obscure what unites the US and France. [A history of supporting democracy and freedom, which France has thrown overboard for a client state.]
We'll offer a final conclusion with respect to the broadside of "clever" commentaries launched by the American press vis-à-vis France's intentions. At the moment of globalization of information, the multiplication of exchanges, of instant communication, of CNN and the internet, the 24 hour "news" channels, the stereotype is not dead. To the contrary, the "global village" is still the realm of the cliché. [If the shoe fits, baby...]
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posted by gbarto at 12:47 AM:
Here come your French news headlines:Le Monde leads with Osama: Osama calls for defense of Iraq. He says Iraqis and others should bring holy war (jihad) to the Americans.
Le Figaro leads with Bush: Washington decides to ignore the peace camp. Also important, NATO's crumbling with respect to Turkey's defense.
Libé, meantime, fronts domestic political news: UMP's flagrant electoral hold-up. M. Chirac's party, called upon to do something about the way Le Pen surged in last spring's election, has crafted a piece of "reform" judged extremely self-serving. Whatever one thinks of the charge, it is interesting that the Raffarin government has decided to pass the legislation on a fast-track party-line plan rather than allowing any debate.
Libé also offers this piece, suggesting that for the US and France, "The worst is before us." The article paints a picture of Paris and Washington at odds, suggesting both have their problems but the most likely casualty in all this is a UN that, it seems, isn't big enough for the US and France. Surprisingly, the tone of the article is matter of fact and relatively neutral. If only Figaro could manage such level-headed balance (we won't even bother with such hopes for Le Monde).
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Tuesday, February 11, 2003
posted by gbarto at 10:37 AM:
Updated Book Review (original review here): Faster Than the Speed of Light: The Story of a Scientific Speculation, by Joao Magueijo. I earlier noted:[The book] has gotten decidedly mixed reviews, the most charitable saying that the introductory part on the history of the theory of relativity was pretty good but the part about academic backbiting and the process of getting something published in academic journals was too bitter, sarcastic, etc.Having now finished the book, I would say that the academic backbiting rests with the reviewers, whose nitpicking seems of a piece with Magueijo's criticisms of academe. Magueijo says he wanted to give us a picture of what really goes on in science, and he seems to have done his best. If the petty squabbling of big egos, etc., is a part of his story, it ought be recorded. Grownups can decide, in reading, whether they buy his version. I can't vouch for science, but I didn't hear anything that seemed to me implausible in a university context, and I have been around universities more than a little bit.
However, you don't buy this book for the academic dramas, but for Magueijo's love of the science, delight in seeing what crazy idea just might work for figuring out just what Einstein meant and if it was right, and impatience with anything that gets in the way of that, and the way they all come through loud and clear. A nice effort.
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posted by gbarto at 10:21 AM:
For the record:14 Trampled to Death During Hajj
Worshippers trip amid jostling crowd during annual Muslim pilgrimage
Though no fan of Islam, the TurkeyBlog finds this truly sad, depressing even. There has to be a better way to meet God. Though it still looks better than the path of co-religionists 2 1/2 years ago.
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posted by gbarto at 2:25 AM:
Massive Den Beste post trying to figure out what the French and Germans are up to and how far they'll run with it. It's beginning to sound like Saddam's isn't the only government in danger and there's some really ugly stuff to be learned.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:00 AM:
Good for John McCain. He gave an excellent speech on the American street. (via, of course, Instantman). Our favorite part, though, is a wonderful coinage, "Franco-German unilateralism." Funny how these two think that if they agree with something the world can get on board or shove off. It suggests a certain... arrogance.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:58 AM:
Wouldn't it be funny if, after all the worrying about Blair, the first government to collapse in the run-up to war were Gerhard Schroeder's? Here's the scoop, via Instapundit.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:40 AM:
Here come your French headlines:Le Monde: Electoral Reform: The Battle is Joined. No, it's not Florida. They're trying to figure out what to do so they don't wind up with another Le Pen in a run-off. Here's a piece of advice. The parties and the people could grow up. Some may not know it, but the US two-party system is not in the Constitution. It evolved on its own as the two prominent factions figured out that ideological purity and its virtues have limits and started working with smaller voices to put together not just coalitions but parties that could govern more effectively. And when new parties have emerged, they have either died back down (the Bull Moose party) or driven out an old party (the Republicans emerging as the Whigs went away). Some complain about America's two-party system. But if they can convince enough like-minded people to act, they can actually make a change, though it only happens rarely. But it's still better than the French system, with its odd methods of allocating seats, thus allowing more voices, to be sure, but squelching effective governance while not actually giving the others a means of doing anything about their minority position, but only a platform to rant about it.
Le Figaro: The Peace Front defies the US.
Libé: At Nato, first veto against the logic of war. The article addresses, of course, Belgium and France's veto of sending defense equipment to Turkey.
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posted by gbarto at 1:31 AM:
Wow. Looks like we weren't the only ones left out of the loop. Das Bild is reporting that Joschka Fischer, Germany's Foreign Minister, was not included in the Franco-German discussions about a counterproposal to the US initiatives on Iraq. Whether true or false, it highlights the fact that some of Germany is nervous about the strident anti-American tone emerging in some quarters. Here's the Fox story.Btw, while we debate if Saddam is linked to Al-Qaeda, we would remind that he is linked to terrorism. He gives the Palestinians money every time they kill Israeli Jews. The $64,000 question: How is it that Germany, the number one killer of Jews in the last century, and France, its top collaborator, are so insensitive to this simple glaring sign on the man's evil?
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posted by gbarto at 1:25 AM:
Iraq Agrees to U-2 Surveillance FlightsHmm... but it wouldn't have happened without a bunch of US soldiers and equipment on all sides.
A proposal for the French - if they can get UN troops in there, we'll let 'em stay so long as the UN is admitted to any site it chooses - immediately. But the first time access is refused or a UN trooper gets attacked, the US is going in.
By the way, we won't be going in to save the UN troops - they'll be on their own and if caught in the crossfire or taken hostage, that's too damn bad. They've wanted us to act like Iraq could be viewed as acting in good faith. Let 'em put their money where their mouths are, but be forwarned that they'll only be indulged, not encouraged, and that if things get ugly, well, they're supposedly a military force and will have to handle these things the same way the US will have to handle its problems - on their own.
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posted by gbarto at 12:29 AM:
Got this riddle in the e-mail the other day:It is greater than God.For those of you who haven't seen it before, here's a page with the answer (the same site has the question here). Btw, you can go here to find out why none of us will ever make any money.
It is more evil than the devil.
Poor people have it.
Rich people need it.
If you eat it, you will die.
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Monday, February 10, 2003
posted by gbarto at 9:55 AM:
Instapundit mentions the American street here and here. I've heard that there are "First Iraq, then France" bumper stickers floating around. And this page has been a most unfriendly part of the American street - and we've got a masters studying the people!* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:42 AM:
White House: Saddam Will Use 'Human Shields'Iraqi troops said to be taking positions in civilian areas; Bush to speak on issue later today
How brave, how mighty, the Iraqi army and the Iraqi government. Hiding behind the UN, hiding behind small children. What courage! If I were an unkind person, I might make a crack about this being where the French get their sympathies for the country. But in fact this is just about how an ugly tyranny hangs on to power when it knows it has neither the means nor the right to continue to exist.
Innocents who are hurt are on Saddam's head. To draw a fitting analogy, while you're more careful with bank robbers who take hostages, this makes them more despicable, not less guilty, and their punishment must in the end come not to freedom but to incurring extra penalties for the twin offenses of acting wrongly and endangering innocents in the process.
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posted by gbarto at 12:24 AM:
Instapundit has stuff on how South Korea would feel if we left. Do the rumors we might have anything to do with the pro-US demonstration the other day?* * *
Sunday, February 09, 2003
posted by gbarto at 11:55 PM:
Here come your French news headlines:The French and Germans had their shot with their big plan, but they don't win the headlines game. Bold American speech dominates the headlines:
Le Monde: Bush: The UN's "Moment of Truth".
Le Figaro: Donald Rumsfeld: "Saddam Hussein must disappear!" Still, ya gotta feel for Saddam. It's unpleasant when someone says that sort of thing about you. But when that guy has the largest army in the world at his disposal, it's downright dispiriting.
Libé, however, does give Old Europe its moment in the sun:
Libé: Paris-Berlin: A peaceful battle plan.
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posted by gbarto at 11:42 PM:
NATO Rift Widens Over IraqBelgium says it will block military aid to Turkey planned for Iraq action.
It's not an accident that in the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy series, "Belgium" was universally held to be an unspeakably vulgar word. The world's on to you, Belgium. Even earth may catch on!
In all seriousness, this is the latest sign of the lengths to which Europe will go to try to regain the upper hand. But Turkey isn't taking this lying down:
On the matter of Belgium's veto, Turkey is "strongly likely" to follow it with an invocation of Article 4 of the NATO treaty for the first time in alliance history, a NATO official said. The article allows a country to say that it is under threat and compel its allies to begin consultations on mutual defense.It could be that this whole exercise proves quite salutary, expunging once and for all Cold War traditions no longer applicable and which have been being used to get cheap defense for Europe on the US's dime while the US has gotten less and less in return in terms of cooperation.
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posted by gbarto at 11:33 PM:
Inspectors Fail to Win Key Concessions From IraqBaghdad meetings yield little as U.S. pushes force over U.N. inspections.
The two chief U.N. inspectors, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, failed to achieve three top goals during two days of meetings with senior Iraqi officials: the disclosure of significant new evidence about Iraq's past weapons programs, safety guarantees from Iraq for reconnaissance aircraft to aid in inspections; and a high-level declaration criminalizing the production of nuclear, chemical or biological arms.So they won't cooperate with inspectors. They might shoot at them. And they reserve the right to make WMDs. But other than that, the talks went well. Maybe they complimented Blix on his hair.
Surely good things must have come out of the meeting:
"I would say I'm beginning to see a change of heart on the part of Iraq," ElBaradei said.Too bad the story doesn't offer any evidence for that characterization. If there is, the inspectors are keeping it close to the vest in a way that makes the US's early detailing of evidence against Iraq seem positively burbly.
Hmm...
Saying they were hopeful Iraq would offer more concessions, Blix and ElBaradei called for a continuation of the inspections. "Inspection does work," ElBaradei said. "Inspections are making progress and, in fact, inspection is -- and can -- provide an alternative to war."Capitulation? What have the inspections accomplished so far? Other than delaying action against Iraq. If this is the UN's aim, it should say so candidly, lest the US be unfairly singled out for having an agenda and sticking to it.
And check this out:
The inspectors want guarantees from the Iraqis that they would not attempt to shoot down U-2 surveillance aircraft flying under U.N. orders and marked with U.N. insignia. Iraqi officials have insisted they cannot assure the safety of the high-altitude planes if U.S. and British fighter jets do not cease patrols over portions of northern and southern Iraq designated as "no-fly" zones. Iraqi antiaircraft guns and missile batteries routinely target the U.S. and British planes, and officials here have warned that a U-2, even if it was flying under U.N. authority, could be mistaken for a warplane.Ummm... aren't the American and British planes enforcing the terms of Iraq's surrender to a UN force after the Gulf War? Shouldn't the Iraqis be damn quiet about shooting at planes rounding up the UN's last piece of business with it as they negotiate the next? Answer: Only if the UN is something other than an embarrassing joke.
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posted by gbarto at 11:14 PM:
Blix Holds Out HopeChief weapons inspector says he believes Iraq is starting to understand it must seriously observe U.N. demands for disarmament
Following two days of weapons talks in Baghdad, U.N. inspectors said they saw the "beginning of a change of heart" but no breakthroughs with Iraqis on the topic of disarmament.In other words, Saddam recognizes a sucker when he sees one and is delighted to maybe have another stooge. But unless we see something real, something of the sort that indicates not starry-eyed hope but the genuine achievement of war goals without war, the US must be ready to act. And must do so sooner, not later.
Mr. Blix and others may be rooting for their chance at oblivion - an utter uselessness and failure of purpose - but while they coo at Saddam's nuance, President Bush's speech is both plain and accurate:
"It's a moment of truth for the United Nations. The United Nations gets to decide shortly whether or not it is going to be relevant in terms of keeping the peace, whether or not its words mean anything."If it opts for oblivion, that wish will be granted, but by the UN's supplantation by the US-led coalition, not by the Iraq matter quietly going away.
I think it is at this point clear that the President will act, with or without the UN, and rightly so. The only question now is whether the UN will choose oblivion and self-satisfaction while trying to score points against us, or whether it will realize that its colossal failure of will to date can only be atoned for with a humbling submission to the US's point of view.
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posted by gbarto at 2:43 AM:
TurkeyBlog parting shot for the night:As we watch events unfold, it becomes ever less surprising that the UN Inspector who handed the Iraqi would-be defector back over to Saddam's minions was German. The only thing that could have been less surprising is if he had been French.
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posted by gbarto at 2:42 AM:
Sharp observation on Kofi Annan's appeasing ways at Common Sense and Wonder.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:38 AM:
Here's the latest from Den Beste on Franco-German perfidy. Given the high-toned rhetoric from the French Defense Minister below, it looks like regardless of who started any of this, the US is no longer allies with France and Germany. A damn shame, but so long as they are more interested in positioning themselves as leaders while avoiding real action than actually ameliorating the problems to which the US points, they are necessarily the enemies not only of American interests but of truth, justice and progress.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:55 AM:
Headlines from the land of puffery... Yes, it's your French news update:Here's the lead-in for Le Monde:
Irak : le désaccord franco-américain / Iraq: French-American Disagreement
Les divisions entre Américains et Français ont été plus fortes que jamais, samedi 8 février lors de la 39ème Conférence internationale sur la sécurité à Munich (sud), tandis que l'Allemagne a baissé le ton et accepté notamment l'envoi de missiles "Patriot" à la Turquie. Quelques heures avant, le secrétaire général de l'ONU, Kofi Annan a déclaré à Williamsburg (Virginie, sud-est) que seule l'ONU était habilitée à avoir recours à la force. / The divisions between the Americans and the French were stronger than ever, Saturday, February 8, at the 39th International Security Conference at Munich (south), while Germany took a softer tone and notably accepted the sending of Patriot missiles to Turkey. A few hours before, the Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan, declared at Williamsburg (southwest Virginia) that only the UN was suited for having recourse to force.Curiously, the inside story refers to Germany's action as "appeasement." Meanwhile, the French Defense Minister says:
to be allies... implies dialog and respect for one's partners... It's knowing to consult among one another to find a consensus. It is not saying: my idea is simply the right one and all those who don't agree with me must be pushed to the side or excluded.Curiously, the minister did not demand that Europe take more time to hear the US out before pushing a resolution through the EU opposing war; we similarly don't recall her insistence that all voices be heard when it seemed that Germany and France were leading world opinion while Blair and Bush made their case alone. Le Monde, incidentally, characterizes her response as the firmest given to Rumsfeld's latest remarks, which must leave Secretary Rumsfeld with a certain sense of smugness if this is all the better a reproach one can muster. And check this out:
Pour Mme Alliot-Marie, "les coalitions ne peuvent remplacer l'Alliance" atlantique. / For Mme Alliot-Marie [the Defense Minister], "coalitions cannot replace the [Atlantic] Alliance."Where, one wonders, was France in the years it opted out of NATO? A simple nothing of no consequence? And what were her predecessors thinking in reducing France to a mere sharer of interests when it had the illustrious position of Alliance membership before? When France starts celebrating its love of NATO, you know it's really backed into a rhetorical corner.
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On this Saturday night, as with so many Saturday Nights, there's nothing new from Libé or Le Figaro.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:29 AM:
Report: Turkey to Accept 38,000 U.S. TroopsGermany, France Working on Plan to Avoid Iraq War
It would be fitting to pull the troops we've got stationed in Germany and move them to Turkey, maybe leaving a note that the Germans can have the land back as soon as we've collected our stuff.
Wonder how the anti-American locals would react to the loss of all those American dollars.
Wonder how Germany would react to learning that being a US ally requires that one be a US ally.
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posted by gbarto at 1:26 AM:
Round Two BeginsAfter 'substantial' first round of talks, Blix and ElBaradei press on for more concessions, hard information from Iraq
Says Blix, "If these talks get any more substantial, we should know Saddam Hussein's middle name within a matter of months."
Maybe not.
Alas, for all their puffery, they didn't even get that far.
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posted by gbarto at 1:25 AM:
France doesn't care about these people:Kuwaitis Remember Gulf War POWs
Families of 600 people taken by Iraq still waiting to hear fate of loved ones
At least not as much as it cares about sticking it to the US.
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posted by gbarto at 1:23 AM:
Rumsfeld Tells Europe That Delay Increases Chance of WarHe says that what little chance there is of Iraq coming around depends on it facing a united international community, while the posturing of France and Germany give Iraq hope that it can avoid war and keep its weapons. Says Rumsfeld, this encourages Iraq to raise hell with inspectors and increases the chances that we'll have to go to war to contain Iraq sooner or later.
Damn straight. Of course this is irrelevant to the French and Germans, who are less interested in responsible policy-making or the people of Iraq than they are in trying to assert European domination over the international scene.
Screw 'em both.
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