21
Feb
Freedom on the march
Students of ancient history will recall that long-ago moment when president Bush found in Vladimir Putin a kindred soul. Bush said that “I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.”
A man, in other words, with whom you could sit down and drink a beer. That was in July of 2001; since then, Vladimir’s soul has apparently darkened. He’s cracking down on human rights organizations in Russia and has taken dead aim at the concept of a free press as well. He has unobligingly, if reasonably, resisted US efforts to neuter his country’s primary ally in the Middle East, Iran. And, not that this would impact our president’s regard for him, he has embellished upon Russia’s already abysmal human rights record in Chechnya. It all makes one long for the days of Boris Yeltsin, a Russian president with whom it was impossible not to sit down for a drink.
In Iraq, land of the purple fingers, prime minister al-Maliki has just fired a senior official who called for an international investigation into the rape of an Iraqi woman by Iraqi police officers. AP says that Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samaraie, the man who until yesterday ran the government agency responsible for overseeing the country’s Sunni mosques, accused the predominantly Shiite police and military of committing many rapes, not just the one recently publicized on Iraqi television.
Meanwhile, Maliki says the accused rapists in the case will be honored for their service. Perhaps Laura Bush could have a word with him.
I want the women of Iraq to know how much American women stand with them. We want them to be successful. We want the people of Iraq to have peace and to be able to build their country in a good and secure way, so that the children of Iraq have a future that’s free from violence and that’s happy and with wellbeing for all the children and the people of Iraq.
Happy happy …
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I guess this means that al-Maliki has decreed that Iraqi security forces don’t have to wait for that fateful day to get their 7 virgins as long as the virgins are Sunni.
And for this we have sacrificed nearly 3,200 dead Americans. This must make Bush proud.
February 21st, 2007 at 12:44 pmThe story in the Newsweek link below gives new meaning to “freedom on the march”, especially at the barrel of a gun; our gun.
The focus is on Bush’s surge plans that are currently being drawn up.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17282867/site/newsweek/...
That plan calls for hundreds of mini-forts to be set up around Baghdad and throughout Iraq.
I see major security issues with a set-up like this. Either a sizable percentage of troops are dedicated to force protection or these places will be under constant attack. There will still be a need for headquarters operations for vehicle maintenance and storage, supply depots, etc. 21,500 troops will not be anywhere near enough for this kind of set-up. The kindest word I can think of to describe the surge proposal is insane.
Lastly, will Iraq’s neighbors put up with withering attacks on the Iraqi population? The unintended consequences will be huge. Not just in Iraq, but in the whole region. Are we really prepared for $100 oil, just on the outside chance that a legacy could be saved. Somebody needs to do a risk/rewards assessment here. If somebody did, this plan would be deep-sixed in a hurry.
February 23rd, 2007 at 6:28 am