The US, UN & Iraq II

I do like the BBC website a lot. I've been turning to it often of late.

I don't go near CNN and Fox, NIMH, but I do listen to NPR on the radio a lot -- public radio, higher level news reports -- and note that, even there, they use dramatic, ominous, then optimistic "bumper music," gilding the news with entertainment and fluff. The Beeb, when it comes on (FM) at night, is a great relief. French (and other) women used to take highly perfumed hankies with them when they went out into the street -- to keep from having to suffer the odors of the masses. I do much the same thing (though not with a perfumed hankie), avoiding wherever possible the joy and fervor of aggression, its music, its brilliant colors and lights. We have to acknowledge that the Dow shot up today and, much as I'd like to recoup my retirement fund, I nearly retched when I made the connection.

tartarin, I agree that npr isn't as low-drama as I wish it was.

Architecture!?

I find it interesting that the connection between the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism is so rarely questioned and seems to be taken for granted by majority. Then again i haven't looked at the polls lately.
<timber, not sure if you were joking, as a foreigner i don't always get it, but if not, well my humble opinion is that the present international law is being designed rather flexibly, in a way of international regimes that can and do operate quite independently of each other and thus are well suited for present times of technological change and fluidity (?) of goods, money and services. and people. UN documents are but one part of international law. i can't quite see any feasible significantly different alternative to what we do have.>

Blatham

No need to apologize for our "White House"----- perhaps we can return the favor in the future.

As usual your comic wit is much keener than your logic. Your concern for Anti-American sentiment is touching but not needed. It seems France is attempting to "jump on the wagon"-----they now want to be part of the effort to rebuild Iraq----what do you think of their chances?

The UN will always have a role in peace-keeping but we are not likely to ever consult them prior to military action. We wouldn't have this time but for throwing PM Blair a life preserver. The only real danger for the US is to have a "Muff diver" like Gore as president.

You know I think the real trouble with you Canadians is "you've got too many trees in your forest"

Cheers Bernie old chum

Tartarin wrote:

"We have to acknowledge that the Dow shot up today and, much as I'd like to recoup my retirement fund, I nearly retched when I made the connection".

You may have retched but my guess is you'll go ahead and take the money. Oh well so much for lofty ideals but not much integrity.

Dag -- Illegitimi non carburundum! Your point of view is invaluable.

I guess you're speaking for yourself, Perception, because you don't know what I'm doing, right?

<grin> you beware of them yourself! but you seem to be able to stand up for yourself more than just fine, very suavely too!

I must admit my gut reaction, emotional-simplistic as a gut reaction tends to be, is indeed to think: OK, the US insisted on creating this mess, against the advice of all the other countries - let them clean it up, too, when they're done.

But considering that Bush c.s. have already oftentimes made it clear that they do not consider it their job to do "nation-building" - with which they refer to post-war reconstruction efforts like, for example, creating and facilitating a national army or police force in Afghanistan - I guess the EU and UN will have to jump in to do the humanitarian and reconstruction bits after the fight. Again.

It is not so much France trying to "get in" on what wll be an expensive deal, but rather the US already trying to woo European parties to get them to foot at least part of the post-war peacekeeping, refugee aid and reconstruction bill. Considering it'll be the bill for a war these parties considered unnecessary, my instinct is to cry out to them, "don't do it!", but I guess that would be all too cold-hearted in its resentment; after all, somebody will need to feed those post-war Internally Displaced Persons, and if you look at the billions of dollars the US still owe the UN, you have to be sceptic about whether it will be Bush.

Tartarin

Well I suppose I wouldn't have ordinarily but your many posts have exposed your lack of integrity.

Why can't you argue the issues, Perception? Why do you always have to resort to personal attack? It doesn't bolster your argument!

I think if france is willing to help in the after-math of this war that's great. They didn't want it because of the destruction it would cause, they would, therefore want to help rebuild after the fact. Makes sense to me. What are they going to "get out of it" that you think them weasles for wanting to help?

NIMH -- I just heard an impassioned caller to a talk show, someone who evidently once supported Bush, and loyal, anguished son of a tri-plegic (?) military veteran, pleading for sanity and a return to the values which built the UN, international cooperation and justice which, he says, Bush is out to destroy.

Also, with respect to humanitarian aid and reconstruction, MoveOn, a group which has been very successful in rallying support for antiwar activities and against Bush, has emailed its members that we should asap help by sending contributions to humanitarian aid organizations. Which of course many of us are doing. MoveOn suggests OxFam. Now, Oxfam is an organization which I once supported wholeheartedly but which had some trouble some years back. Any news on that anyone? Is OxFam still reliable?

With the exception of Chirac's idiotic handling of the squabble within the EEC, I am proud of France's stand on the war and grateful that they are going to pitch in and help in the reconstruction. Our hands are certainly not clean -- given the fact that we're doing the destroying and setting up private contractors -- with ties to the administration! -- to reconstruct what their Bubba Buddies are bombin'.

Nimb

I hope Bush does not allow France to participate in anything---can you imagine Chirac demanding to pick the new Prime Minister of Iraq as he insisted on choosing Dr. Blix.

Regarding using US troops as peace keepers----Hell no we don't want to place our troops in positions where they can be picked off by cowardly snipers or spat upon by some lunatic vanquished foe. You don't use your varsity team to carry water or hold doors open for parasites.

perc, you're something else.

I repeat...Architecture!?

Blatham - what?