Thursday, September 21, 2006
Worst case scenarios abound
I would dearly love to put a happy spin on what's happening in Iraq
and the war on terror in general. I would also have to be certifiably nuts if I did. The latest news coming out of Irag is that the rate and extent of torture
of innocent Iraqi citizens is worse than it was under Saddam if such a thing can be imagined. It seems that every sect and every faction in the country is equally guilty of exacting such horror, including army units of the newly established government.There just is'nt any credence in George Bush's insistance that only a handfull of fanatics are responsible and things are startng to look up. As for our allies in the war on terror, we can write Pakistan off as of now after the president of Pakistan, in an interview, accused the United States of threatening to "bomb Pakistan back to the stone age if it did'nt help us in destroying the Taliban". Pakistan is now releasing Taliban prisoners and refusing to join in the hunt for Ossama Bin Laden. Once again our heavy handed, shoot from the hip approach is proving us to sometimes be our own worst enemy. Then there's is Iran,
daring to call our bluff in front of the whole world. How is it reasonable that the nation with the most nuclear weapons has the gall to
demand another country to abstain from building them, particularly when
there is no proof that they are in fact doing so?
Need anyone be reminded that it was a "slam dunk" that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Has there been any evidence that our intelligence has
gotten any better? I see no path to redemption other than a complete
replacement of the players in Washington who continue to muddle through
this mess. Of course the threats and actions of the terrorists are real and need to be dealt with. We just need new actors on the stage if the show
is to go on. No "slam dunk" that.
George Morin
Auburn
and the war on terror in general. I would also have to be certifiably nuts if I did. The latest news coming out of Irag is that the rate and extent of torture
of innocent Iraqi citizens is worse than it was under Saddam if such a thing can be imagined. It seems that every sect and every faction in the country is equally guilty of exacting such horror, including army units of the newly established government.There just is'nt any credence in George Bush's insistance that only a handfull of fanatics are responsible and things are startng to look up. As for our allies in the war on terror, we can write Pakistan off as of now after the president of Pakistan, in an interview, accused the United States of threatening to "bomb Pakistan back to the stone age if it did'nt help us in destroying the Taliban". Pakistan is now releasing Taliban prisoners and refusing to join in the hunt for Ossama Bin Laden. Once again our heavy handed, shoot from the hip approach is proving us to sometimes be our own worst enemy. Then there's is Iran,
daring to call our bluff in front of the whole world. How is it reasonable that the nation with the most nuclear weapons has the gall to
demand another country to abstain from building them, particularly when
there is no proof that they are in fact doing so?
Need anyone be reminded that it was a "slam dunk" that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Has there been any evidence that our intelligence has
gotten any better? I see no path to redemption other than a complete
replacement of the players in Washington who continue to muddle through
this mess. Of course the threats and actions of the terrorists are real and need to be dealt with. We just need new actors on the stage if the show
is to go on. No "slam dunk" that.
George Morin
Auburn
