Not Fired -- Firing Squad

This is treason, he is a US citizen, and dismissal is not sufficient punishment:

Constitution of the United States, Art. III, Sec. 3.
Clause 1: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.

Transcript of Peter Arnett interview on Iraqi TV

Monday, March 31, 2003 Posted: 0306 GMT (11:06 AM HKT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. war plan has "failed," veteran war correspondent Peter Arnett told Iraqi TV in an interview that aired Sunday. Following is a transcript of that interview:

IRAQI TV HOST: Welcome in Baghdad, and our people know you, know your reports to CNN in 1991. Let us start with a question about the general image that you look now in Iraq.

ARNETT: Well, I'd like to say from the beginning that the 12 years I've been coming here, I've met unfailing courtesy and cooperation. Courtesy from your people, and cooperation from the Ministry of Information, which has allowed me and many other reporters to cover 12 whole years since the Gulf War with a degree of freedom which we appreciate. And that is continuing today.

HOST: (Translates into Arabic)

ARNETT: In answer to your question, it is clear that within the United States there is growing challenge to President Bush about the conduct of the war and also opposition to the war. So our reports about civilian casualties here, about the resistance of the Iraqi forces, are going back to the United States. It helps those who oppose the war when you challenge the policy to develop their arguments.

HOST: (in Arabic)

ARNETT: One other point. I've been mainly in Baghdad in the past few weeks. But, clearly this is a city that is disciplined, the population is responsive to the government's requirements of discipline and my Iraqi friends tell me there is a growing sense of nationalism and resistance to what the United States and Britain are doing.

HOST: (In Arabic first) What have you seen until now, have you been to some of these places where civilian casualties have been seen during these two days?

ARNETT: Yeah, I think American policy and strategy is the weakest when it comes to the Iraqi people. The U.S. administration is concerned with the possibility of killing civilians, because the international community is very concerned about the Iraqi people. President Bush says he is concerned about the Iraqi people, but if Iraqi people are dying in numbers, then American policy will be challenged very strongly.

HOST: (In Arabic)

ARNETT: For that reason, the Pentagon keeps saying that the civilian casualties, particularly in Baghdad in the last three or four days, at the market places -- the Pentagon says -- well they are Iraqi missiles that land amongst the people. They keep saying that, but of course the Iraqi government says they are clearly cruise missiles that hit the population.

HOST: (In Arabic)

ARNETT: For that reason the Pentagon keeps saying that maybe it is an Iraqi missile that hit the population and not a U.S. Whenever I gave a report on civilian casualties on CNN (in the first Gulf War) the Pentagon and the Bush administration got very angry and called me a traitor.

HOST: (In Arabic)

ARNETT: However, when missiles hit the Al-Maria shelter in early February of 1991, killing nearly 400 women and children, the Bush administration had to admit that they were responsible. And when that happened, there was a different attitude to the war. They had to try and complete the war fast, because the world criticized that bombing very severely.

HOST: (In Arabic)

ARNETT: Clearly, the American war planners misjudged the determination of the Iraqi forces.

HOST: (In Arabic)

ARNETT: And I personally do not understand how that happened, because I've been here many times and in my commentaries on television I would tell the Americans about the determination of the Iraqi forces, the determination of the government, and the willingness to fight for their country. But me, and others who felt the same way were not listened to by the Bush administration.

HOST: (In Arabic)

ARNETT: That is why now America is re-appraising the battlefield, delaying the war, maybe a week, and re-writing the war plan. The first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance now they are trying to write another war plan.

HOST: Yeah. (Speaks in Arabic) Mr. Arnett Thank you very much. (Speaks in Arabic)

Monk

They Dominate the Air, But Still They Can't Win

The inimitable Mark Steyn--particularly trenchant in light of the shoot down of NBC's premier combat system, the GMA (Ground-to-Air Moron)-69D "Peter Arnett:"

"Speaking live from his armchair, General George S. Patton says, "Look, I'm just an armchair general, but, when I lean forward, pick up the remote and switch on the TV, it seems clear these media sonsofbitches pushed ahead too fast in the first 48 hours and then found their supply lines stretched far too thin. The supply of lines just wasn't getting through."

Read the whole thing.

Very Disrespectfully,

Monk

Quotes of the Day

Quotes of the day. These should make you feel good

Monk

HEARD ON SKY NEWS
"Umm Qasr is a town similar to Southampton", UK Defence Minister Geoff Hoon told the House of Commons yesterday. "He's either never been to Southampton, or he's never been to Umm Qasr", said one British soldier, informed of this while on patrol in Umm Qasr. Another added: "There's no beer, no prostitutes, and people are shooting at us. It's more like Portsmouth."

Mark Steyn, in London's Spectator:

"Indeed, given the way [EU 'External Relations Commissioner'] Chris Patten’s ‘smart development assistance’ to Yasser Arafat appears to have wound up funding the intifada, America’s smart bombs now cause fewer deaths than the EU development budget."

[By the way, read the whole thing. It's worth it:]

Conservative Professor (!) David Gelernter, Chief Guru of Artificial Intelligence (!), at a pro-war rally (!) at Yale (!):

"Where do you Americans get the arrogance to believe that no man is an island entire of itself? Who ever gave you the crazy idea that each man murdered, each man tortured, each woman raped diminishes you because you are involved in mankind? Who ever told you that crazy arrogant stuff?

"It IS a radical doctrine and always has been. But America is a radical nation, and has always tried, sometimes successfully and sometimes not -- but always TRIED to see what's right and do it. To do the right as God gives us to see the right.
"I've often been proud of this country in my lifetime, but I've never been prouder of it than I am today. It's never been such an honor and such a privilege to be part of it."

By the way, check out Gelernter, Super Genius

TRB on the Information War

I'm usually no fan of The New Republic, but I think their "war diarist" has it about right, especially concerning Iraqi TV.

Monk


THE NEW REPUBLIC
KANAN MAKIYA'S WAR DIARY
March 27, 2003

Do not believe any commentator who says that a rising surge of "nationalism" is preventing Iraqis from greeting U.S. and British troops in the streets with open arms. What is preventing them from rising up and taking over the streets of their cities is confusion about American intentions and fear of the murderous brown-shirt thugs known as the Fedayeen Saddam, who are leading the small-arms-fire attacks on American and British soldiers. The coalition forces have an urgent need to send clear and unmistakable signals to the people of Iraq that unlike in 1991, there is no turning back from the destruction of Saddam Hussein. And in order to do this effectively they must turn to the Iraqi opposition, which has so far been marginalized.
I pressed this point in a meeting with American officials yesterday. The United States needs to understand that Iraqis do not get CNN. They have not heard constant iterations of how Saddam's demise is imminent. More importantly, they have not seen it demonstrated. American forces so far have been content to position themselves outside southern Iraqi cities; they have only just began to disrupt Iraqi TV, which is Saddam's principal tool of maintaining psychological control over Iraq; and, above all, they have not allowed Iraqis to go in and organize the population, a task which we are very eager to carry out. In Basra, this hesitation has meant tanks sitting on the outskirts of a very porous city whose main arteries to neighboring towns and villages have not even been cut off. Sporadic and faint-hearted British fire was not enough to prevent Fedayeen Saddam from quelling the beginnings of a popular uprising. Moreover, hanging above the head of every Iraqi like a sword of Damocles is the memory of March 1991, when the uprising of the people of southern Iraq, the intifada, was mercilessly suppressed, and in a particularly brutal way in Basra. If Saddam came back from the grave after 1991, Iraqis are thinking, why could he not do so now? Phone calls the opposition has received over the last two days from sources in southern Iraq confirm this sense of ambiguity and hesitation.
Iraqi state TV must be put out of commission, and permanently. One Bush administration official pointed out to me that destroying Iraqi TV will only mean it has to be rebuilt after the war. So what? Money pinching at the tactical level will lead to disaster at the strategic level. Saddam's image and those of his henchmen have been visible all throughout the campaigns in the south and the bombing of Baghdad. Saddam rules through his face, through his ubiquitous presence in day-to-day life. That is what his millions of larger-than-life wall posters are all about. Every day that image is aired reinforces an aura of invincibility. Despite the on-camera speculation of the Western media, not a single Iraqi believes him to be dead. Our phone conversations confirm that, too.
But eliminating his image is not enough. The coalition needs the Iraqi opposition--Iraqis who can sneak into the cities and help organize other Iraqis, men from the same families and social networks that hold these places together, who know how to communicate with their entrapped brethren, who can tell them why this time Saddam is finished, and who are able to root out his cronies when they try to melt away into the civilian population. One cannot liberate a people--much less facilitate the emergence of a democracy--without empowering the people being liberated. Did not a Free France need its wartime resistance to help, partially at least, redeem the nation's sense of self-respect and honor, as De Gaulle demonstrated when he rode into Paris? It is a million times easier for an Iraqi soldier to join his fellow Iraqis in rebellion than it is to surrender his arms in humiliation to a foreigner. To date, however, my meetings with administration officials have given me the impression that some quarters of Washington are at war with Saddam Hussein and others are at war with the Iraqi National Congress. The administration still adamantly refuses to let the Iraqi opposition activate our networks to make the fighting easier for the coalition in the cities, towns, and villages. Why?

Regime Change at CNN "On Track"

Beautiful!

Monk



BREAKING NEWS March 27, 2003
U.S. SUCCEEDS IN TOPPLING CONNIE CHUNG

Regime Change At CNN ‘On Track,’ Rumsfeld Says

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon today that the U.S. has succeeded in removing Connie Chung from the airwaves, a primary objective of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“To those critics who would say that this campaign isn’t moving quickly enough, let me say this: it’s only been a week and we’ve already gotten Connie Chung’s show cancelled,” Rumsfeld said. “Goodness gracious, I’d say we’re on track.”

Secretary Rumsfeld reminded reporters that regime change at CNN was the ultimate goal of the military campaign in Iraq, and that the removal of Ms. Chung from the schedule “goes a long way” towards achieving that goal.

In an official statement, Ms. Chung’s agent said, “We thought Connie was embedded at CNN, but apparently she wasn’t embedded securely enough.”

While U.S. officials were reportedly “elated” over the removal of Connie Chung, France, Germany and Russia called for an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council to discuss what program would fill Ms. Chung’s timeslot in a post-Chung CNN.

The fear among those three countries is that the United States might act unilaterally to schedule a new program of their own choosing, possibly starring Deborah Norville.

“Deborah Norville is definitely the worst-case scenario,” said French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.

In other war news, a U.S. missile over Baghdad reportedly strayed off-course today and hit the filmmaker Michael Moore in Santa Monica, California.

Mr. Moore, who was said to be heavily fortified, was unharmed in the accident.

The Oscar-winning director is currently taking a temporary hiatus from filmmaking and plans to spend the next twelve months wrecking festive occasions across the country with sudden unexpected outbursts.

"Well, That's It"

Another brilliant Bleat from James Lileks--pretty much sums up the foolishness of the media's reaction to the war in the last few days, all in splendid prose.

Monk

Well, that’s it. War’s lost. It’s amazing how fast things change; in Afghanistan, it took three weeks before someone whispered “Quagmire” and all was forsaken; this time it took but five days before an intrepid reporter stood up at a briefing and asked the military spokesman whether the specter of Vietnam loomed again over the swaggering, clay-footed giant of American power. Right now on TV some reporter is interviewing some bulky pink ex-general about BLACK SUNDAY, noting that everything was going magnificently on Friday, and now we’re meeting - are you ready for this? - resistance.

The BBC (about which I will say more later) is reporting that the mood at CentCom is morose and dispirited; I get the impression that Tommy Franks has retired to his bunk in tears, and most of the officers are are 24-hour suicide watch. Ten Marines dead. No one expected that. The plans called for zero casualties, after all. This changes everything. Rip up the war plan.

"We Go To Liberate"

Great words. Can't believe the NYT published it. Can you imagine a US commander saying what he says in the last paragraph?

Monk

New York Times
March 25, 2003
'We Go To Liberate': A Colonel's Address

The eve of battle is a time for commanders to rally their troops. Some do it more memorably than others. Here is an excerpt, provided by the British Embassy in Washington, from a speech by Lt. Col. Tim Collins, commander of the First Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment, delivered on Saturday at Fort Blair Mayne in northern Kuwait, before the battalion left for Iraq.

We go to liberate, not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Show respect for them.

There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly. Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send. As for the others, I expect you to rock their world. Wipe them out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle, remember to be magnanimous in victory.

Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham. Tread lightly there. You will see things that no man could pay to see and you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis. You will be embarrassed by their hospitality even though they have nothing. Don't treat them as refugees, for they are in their own country. Their children will be poor. In years to come they will know that the light of liberation in their lives was brought by you.

If there are casualties of war then remember that when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day. Allow them dignity in death. Bury them properly and mark their graves.

It is my foremost intention to bring every single one of you out alive, but there may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign. We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow.
The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction. There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of hell for Saddam. He and his forces will be destroyed by this coalition for what they have done. As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity.
It is a big step to take another human life. It is not to be done lightly. I know of men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts. I can assure you they live with the mark of Cain upon them. If someone surrenders to you then remember they have that right in international law and ensure that one day they go home to their family.

The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please.

If you harm the regiment or its history by overenthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer. You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest for your deeds will follow you down through history. We will bring shame on neither our uniform or our nation.

Thought Exercise

Here's an intellectual exercise:
- Read the article below
- Take out "Baghdad" and substitute "Berlin."
- For the Khalil family, substitute "the Schmidt family."
- For the Qadisiya neighborhood, substitute the "Hackescher Markt."
- For 1991 and 2003, substitute "1942" and "1944."
- For the global war on terrorism, substitute the global war on fascism.
- Britain and the US, of course, remain the same.
Done?
Now, ask yourself, 'would the byline read, "Washington Post Foreign
Service" or would it more likely read, "Domestic Service of the German-American Bund?"'
Just food for thought.....
Monk

Washington Post
March 25, 2003
Pg. 11

"Missile Strike Shatters A House, And A Family:
Attack on Neighborhood Evokes Anger at U.S."

By Anthony Shadid, Washington Post Foreign Service

BAGHDAD, March 24 -- Breakfast was simple, but late. Days of bombing had left the Khalil family sleepless. When a respite arrived at noon today, a moment of ease in an uneasy time, they sat down, picking anxiously at boiled eggs, tomatoes and bread.

Nine-year-old Shahid told stories, and her 12-year-old brother, Ahmed,laughed. The older family members, with harrowing memories of bombings in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, sat uneasily, their silence an eloquent testament to worry.

Then a whisper sounded, ever so slight. In seconds, the house was shattered by a cruise missile, the family said. Um Aqeel, the mother of five children, and her daughter-in-law, Sahar, were killed. Two sons and a daughter were wounded.

Hours later, weary and angry, Aqeel, the oldest son, looked out at his bandaged siblings laying dazed in their hospital beds. "There are no soldiers in my home, there's no gun in my home!" he shouted. "How can God accept this?"

In five days of bombing, the United States and Britain have hurled hundreds of cruise missiles and bombs at Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. For the most part, their precision is stunning, carving out craters in the domes of presidential palaces and gaping holes in the sides of fearsome intelligence headquarters that dot the capital. Even by the official Iraqi count, hundreds of civilians have been wounded but only a handful killed, despite a furious assault that has left the capital jittery and afraid.

But the arithmetic of war makes mistakes inevitable -- blasts gutted the student union at Mustansiriya University on Sunday and a cluster of homes in the Qadisiya neighborhood last week. Adhimiya, a working-class quarter, may have witnessed another mistake, a snapshot of the horrors of war and the scenes of resentment and revenge that lay in their wake.

In a warren of narrow alleys, perched uncomfortably beside a trench of burning oil that cloaked the neighborhood in a blinding, black haze, at least three houses were destroyed by the blast, which blew out the windows of others in an arc around the detonation. Cream-colored brick and cinder blocks were strewn across the muddy street. Rubble poured forth from a crater that left the homes resembling an archaeological dig. Nearby rested the artifacts of domesticity -- a mattress spring, a brown scarf and a green plastic bowl.

Residents insisted no military or government site was nearby, and none was visible from the limited vantage point of the street. Journalists were accompanied by government escorts to the hospital where the wounded received treatment. Neighbors said that at the sound of the blast and the smell of smoke, they rushed into the houses, pushing aside furniture and rubble to search for those buried by it. Dirt particles were suspended in the air. Five minutes later, sirens announced the arrival of ambulances, which took the four dead and 27 wounded to Noman Hospital.

At the hospital, the head of 14-year-old Ali, another son in the Khalil family, was wrapped in a bandage. He stared blankly at the ceiling. His sister, Shahid, lay motionless. Her fingernails were painted in sparkles and ringed by dried blood.
The face of his brother Ahmed was still bloodied. A bandage sat like a helmet on his forehead.

"We trust in God, what can we do?" Ahmed said softly, curled in a fetal position. "I'm safe and alive. That's most important." A doctor, Abdullah Abed Ali, leaned over to a visitor. He whispered, out of earshot of Ahmed. "He doesn't know that his mother has died," he said, shaking his head. Relatives ran into the hospital ward. Their eyes were red. Aqeel, the oldest brother whose wife's body was in the morgue, rested his head on the shoulder of one. He started sobbing. "It fell on us," he said, his voice cracking. "It fell on us."

In Adhimiya, militiamen and civil defense workers in red helmets picked through the rubble, searching for 70-year-old Khowla Abdel-Fattah. Workers shoveled dirt to the side, and a bulldozer carted away brick and concrete. Sewage from broken pipes poured into the street, lapping at the rubble. Without saying a word, as a baby cried nearby, neighbors passed around gnarled, fused pieces of metal they said were left by the blast of the missile.

Neighbors lined up to watch the workers dig clumsily through the rubble, now a makeshift grave. There were no chants for President Saddam Hussein, as there are in so many officially sanctioned public gatherings. There were no cries of "God is greatest." There was only silence, the shock of the devastation.

As the bulldozer crashed through another crumbling wall of his house, Abdel-Fattah's brother, Thamir Sheikhly, cried out. "Bush is cursed!" he shouted. "This is a civilian building, a civilian building, 100 percent. There are no weapons of mass destruction. He wants to destroy the people. Maybe God will destroy him." For a moment, he was quiet, then spoke again. "We'll have our revenge with Bush."

Update: KAHN writes, "As I recall, the twin towers did not house soldiers either."

White House Changes

Just to confirm this, last October we toured the White House. All the rooms are very stately and beautifully decorated. When we got to the "green room", I noticed among all the beautiful portraits of past presidents, a painting that seemed very out of place. It was an abstract [Georgia O'Keefe] painting that in another venue might have been OK. Also, it was hung in an odd place. I asked the secret service guard about it. We were not shocked when he informed us that Hillary Clinton had picked it out, and had it hung there. She felt it was necessary to have a piece on display by a woman. Everyone in the room pretty much had the same opinion, "it figures". The guard tried to be kind and point out other things Hillary had done to improve the White House. I think her moving out was the biggest improvement!

KAHN

Subject: White House Changes



A lot has changed since George W. Bush became president—executive orders that support a "culture of life," judicial appointees who respect the constitution and members of the Cabinet who are unapologetic about their faith. But perhaps nothing more clearly represents the new leadership we enjoy as a country than that place Mr. Bush now calls his temporary home - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

The president is quick to point out that it is not his house but the American people's house. And, as such, he treats it and the people who work there with respect. >From the Secret Service to the grounds crew, the folks who work at the White House rave about the First Family.

The president and first lady prefer to entertain family friends in their private quarters rather than ask the stewards and waiters to negotiate difficult formal dining rooms.

Harkening back to the days of Ronald Reagan, Bush will not allow any man to attend a meeting in the Oval Office without a jacket and tie. Gone are the days of blue jeans and pizza boxes.

One of the clearest ways to show respect for someone is to respect their time. Everyone who works with and around the president has noted his punctuality. Meetings begin and end on time. This stands in stark contrast to the previous occupant of the White House, who was notorious for keeping visitors and the media waiting.

And speaking of the former president, in his administration more than 500 staffers had access to the White House kitchen. One presidential aide said they turned it into a fast-food restaurant. These days, only 150 senior staff members have meal privileges.

Of course the Clinton years were known for worse things than that. US News & World Report reported recently that it was common for President Clinton to have violent and sex-laden R-rated films playing on Air Force One. Even seasoned reporters would blush at the images being played out before their eyes while trying to question the president on some issue of national importance. A Marine who worked at Camp David publicly stated that pornography was littered all over the retreat. In contrast, President Bush has said that even some of the new major motion-picture releases, which are routinely sent to the White House for viewing by the First Family, are too vulgar for him.

I've visited the White House twice since President Bush moved in. As anyone might be, I was awed by the history of the place. Oil portraits of past occupants reminded me that some presidents have understood the honor of living there and others have wantonly dishonored it. My visits with President Bush at the White House were an opportunity to witness firsthand how much this man respects the office to which he was elected. He arrived at our meetings promptly and took the time to greet every person in attendance.

He was warm and polite to each of us. His manner conveyed the message that he knew he was only a temporary resident and his job is to leave this august home in better shape than he found it. In one of my meetings, I made a point of speaking to a young man who is part of the military service assigned to the White House. His job is to escort guests and to help people find their way through the large hallways. His uniform was covered with ribbons and his shoes were perfectly polished. His face was emotionless and he drew no attention to himself, but for some reason he caught my eye.

"Thank you," I said, "for the work you do. You really represent us all in your service here. It must be wonderful work."

He paused and then allowed a big smile to cross his face. "Oh, yes, sir, it truly is."

Yes, things certainly are different in Washington.

Courtesy of: Rear Admiral Steve Brachet, USN (Ret) & Brigadier General Bob Clements, USAF (Ret)

Nice to share some good things once in a while as well as jokes, scams and stories, enjoy and pass this along.

Outrageous!

In the editorial below, the WaPo implicitly compares our ongoing campaign to the disastrous Operation TORCH (the initial invasion of Vichy-controlled Morocco) in Nov 42. With US men & women dying in combat as I write--executing one of the boldest, most audacious war plans the US has ever undertaken--is morally equivalent to dressing up like a civilian or feigning surrender and then ambushing US troops.
The simultaneous tone of schadenfreude and self-congratulation is not assuaged by the passing reference to "rapid progress."

How dare this filthy fifth-communist opine about "avoidable losses!" Friction is a fact of war, as much today as in 1942. But the military executing today's plan is NOT the military of Operation TORCH. This is a daring and complicated plan, one that is bound to entail losses. To compare it to TORCH breaks faith with those fighting in the field. This article is a disgrace.

Monk

Washington Post
March 24, 2003
Pg. 12
"Grievous Losses"

IN NOVEMBER 1942, U.S. and British forces began a desert war -- the North Africa campaign of World War II -- with a three-day amphibious landing operation against French forces, then aligned with Nazi Germany. Operation TORCH ended in victory, and was reported as such back home. But the three days were marked by confusion, error and avoidable loss, as a recently published history, "An Army at Dawn," makes clear. The narrative (by Rick Atkinson, a Post reporter now "embedded" with the 101st Airborne Division in the battle zone) describes boats capsizing in calm seas, messages to headquarters going unread because signalmen forgot to code them urgent, shells failing to explode because of 35-year-old fuzes. A coxswain mistakes a French ship for a U.S. Navy destroyer and approaches; the French sailors machine-gun his crew, killing or wounding 28 Americans. "TORCH revealed profound shortcomings in leadership, tactics, equipment, martial elan, and common sense," the narrative concludes. Eleven hundred American and British fighters died during the three days.

Yesterday was also a day of painful loss for American and British service men and women, the costliest in combat for the American military since Somalia in 1993 or maybe even since the Persian Gulf War. And whereas Americans 60 years ago learned of setbacks and mistakes long after the fact, if at all, the nation yesterday felt the blows almost as they occurred: a British plane mistakenly shot down by an American missile, U.S. prisoners and bodies displayed before television cameras, a helicopter down in Afghanistan, a fragging suspect hauled away, the videotape replayed again and again. There's no way to know how public support for the World War II effort, and for all the generals welcomed home as heroes, might have been affected by more immediate reporting. Nor is there any call for nostalgia: certainly not for the primitive military technology, which produced far higher casualty totals, but also not for the media technology, so much less capable of bridging time and distance. In the long run, more information surely is better than less, and sooner better than later, as the Pentagon calculated when it allowed so many journalists to travel with fighting units. But the tidal waves of information place a higher demand on everyone for perspective and patience. The war is only in its fifth day. More losses are to be expected, but overall U.S. forces are continuing to make rapid progress toward their goals.

What has not changed in 60 years, or 600, is the anguish of each loss. Some relatives may learn the dreaded news on CNN, instead of by telegram or from the solemn visitor on the front porch; but the sacrifice remains unbearable. "People are [saying] they are sorry," said Michael Waters-Bey of Baltimore, who lost his son, Marine Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Waters-Bey, 29. "But the word 'sorrow' cannot fill my pain." There will again be wreaths and burials and, eventually, monuments to those who gave their lives. Ultimately the monument that matters will be victory and a sustained commitment to a rebuilt Iraq -- a commitment that will leave Americans safer and the Iraqi people better off.

The Chicks with a Guy Named Earl

Paybacks are hell, ladies...

Monk

A Knife in the Back

As US and British soldiers, sailors, and airmen make last preparations to put their lives on the line, the WaPo is still trying desperately to stab them in the back. The freedom to spread lies, calumny, and anti-American propaganda is one of the things we must work to defend, I guess.

The only element of truth in this piece, published as "news," is the bit about Niger and the false rumor of Iraq's Uranium purchases. What the story doesn't tell you is that UNMOVIC initiated the investigation of this rumor, the US government uncovered its falsehood and revealed it freely in the press and on TV. This was picked up by the international press and spread around the world as an example of US government "duplicity" (by Reuters--imagine that). The only organization telling the truth about this matter was the US government. You won't see that story in WaPo, however.

Meanwhile, here is the Post's core constituency in action.

and here.

Too bad all those men and women facing the possibility of death at the hands of a brutal monster's tyrannical regime don't have a voice--too bad our distant, dilettante, armchair-leftist press sees fit to spit it their faces as they prepare for war. You know the protesters and the press will chuckle smugly when they read of our young men and women being killed...

Monk

Isn't This, Like, Bad Karma, Man?

Ahhh, the People's Republic, Land of Free Speech....

They tried this in Texas a week ago. The perpetrators now reside in a shallow mass grave outside Marfa.

Monk

Worse Than Weasels

All jokes about the French and Germans aside, there can be no doubt about these cynical, decadent regimes' complicity with evil. Not only have these countries aided and abetted the enemies of civilization in the past, they are actively doing so today. Good reporting from the Moonie Times (for a change

There are two long articles included; scroll down to read.

America's enemies in Europe accuse us of being "cowboys," as if this is somehow derogatory. We should instruct them to watch Stan Kramer's "High Noon." You remember: the people of Hadleyville NM are threatened and oppressed by a revenge-seeking psychopath & his gang, but the townspeople are unwilling to confront them due to cowardice, infirmity, self-interest, or indecision. It's left to a disgusted Gary Cooper to strap on his guns and vanquish the killers by himself.

Yeah....that's about right. It's 11:59 boys and girls....

Washington Times
March 7, 2003
Pg. 1
"Iraq Strengthens Air Force With French Parts "
By Bill Gertz

A French company has been selling spare parts to Iraq for its fighter jets and military helicopters during the past several months, according to U.S. intelligence officials.

The unidentified company sold the parts to a trading company in the United Arab Emirates, which then shipped the parts through a third country into Iraq by truck.
The spare parts included goods for Iraq's French-made Mirage F-1 jets and Gazelle attack helicopters.

An intelligence official said the illegal spare-parts pipeline was discovered in the past two weeks and that sensitive intelligence about the transfers indicates that the parts were smuggled to Iraq as recently as January.

Other intelligence reports indicate that Iraq had succeeded in acquiring French weaponry illegally for years, the official said.

The parts appear to be included in an effort by the Iraqi military to build up materiel for its air forces before any U.S. military action, which could occur before the end of the month.

The officials identified the purchaser of the parts as the Al Tamoor Trading Co., based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A spokesman for the company could not be reached for comment.

The French military parts were then sent by truck into Iraq from a neighboring country the officials declined to identify.

Iraq has more than 50 Mirage F-1 jets and an unknown number of Gazelle attack helicopters, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

An administration official said the French parts transfers to Iraq may be one reason France has so vehemently opposed U.S. plans for military action against Iraq. "No wonder the French are opposing us," this official said.

The official, however, said intelligence reports of the parts sale did not indicate that the activity was sanctioned by the French government or that Paris knows about the transfers.

The intelligence reports did not identify the French company involved in selling the aircraft parts or whether the parts were new or used.

The Mirage F-1 was made by France's Dassault Aviation. Gazelle helicopters were made by Aerospatiale, which later became part of a consortium of European defense companies.

The importation of military goods by Iraq is banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions passed since the 1991 Persian Gulf war.

Nathalie Loiseau, press counselor at the French Embassy, said her government has no information about the spare-parts smuggling and has not been approached by the U.S. government about the matter.

"We fully comply with the U.N. sanctions, and there is no sale of any kind of military material or weapons to Iraq," she said.

A CIA spokesman had no comment.

A senior administration official declined to discuss Iraq's purchase of French warplane and helicopter parts. "It is well known that the Iraqis use front companies to try to obtain a number of prohibited items," the official said.

The disclosure comes amid heightened anti-French sentiment in the United States over Paris' opposition to U.S. plans for using force to disarm Iraq.

A senior defense official said France undermined U.S. efforts to disarm Iraq last year by watering down language of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 that last fall required Iraq to disarm all its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.

France, along with Russia, Germany and China, said yesterday that they would block a joint U.S.-British U.N. resolution on the use of force against Iraq.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters in Paris on Wednesday that France "will not allow a resolution to pass that authorizes resorting to force."
"Russia and France, as permanent members of the Security Council, will assume their full responsibilities on this point," he stated.

France has been Iraq's best friend in the West. French arms sales to Baghdad were boosted in the 1970s under Premier Jacques Chirac, the current president. Mr. Chirac once called Saddam Hussein a "personal friend."

During the 1980s, when Paris backed Iraq in its war against Iran, France sold Mirage fighter bombers and Super Entendard aircraft to Baghdad, along with Exocet anti-ship missiles.

French-Iraqi ties soured after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait that led to the 1991 Persian Gulf war.

France now has an estimated $4 billion in debts owed to it by Iraq as a result of arms sales and infrastructure construction projects. The debt is another reason U.S. officials believe France is opposing military force to oust Saddam.

Henry Sokolski, director of the private Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, said French transfers of military equipment to Iraq would have "an immediate and relevant military consequence, if this was done."

"The United States with its allies are going to suppress the Iraqi air force and air defense very early on in any conflict, and it's regrettable that the French have let a company complicate that mission," Mr. Sokolski said.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell last month released intelligence information showing videotape of an Iraqi F-1 Mirage that had been modified to spray anthrax spores.

A CIA report to Congress made public in January stated that Iraq has aggressively sought advanced conventional arms. "A thriving gray-arms market and porous borders have allowed Baghdad to acquire smaller arms and components for larger arms, such as spare parts for aircraft, air defense systems, and armored vehicles," the CIA stated.
Iraq also has obtained some military goods through the U.N.-sponsored oil-for-food program.

A second CIA report in October on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction stated: "Iraq imports goods using planes, trains, trucks, and ships without any type of international inspections - in violation of UN Security Council resolutions."


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Washington Times
February 18, 2003
Pg. 1
N. Korea Ship Gets Arms In And Out
By Bill Gertz

The North Korean ship that last year delivered Scud missiles to Yemen transferred a large shipment of chemical weapons material from Germany to North Korea recently, U.S. intelligence officials said.

The ship, the Sosan, was monitored as it arrived in North Korea earlier this month carrying a shipment of sodium cyanide, a precursor chemical used in making nerve gas, said officials familiar with intelligence reports.

The same ship was stopped by U.S. and Spanish naval vessels Dec. 9 as it neared Yemen. It was carrying 15 Scud missiles and warheads. After a brief delay and assurances from the Yemeni government, the ship was allowed to proceed to Yemen with the missile shipment.

After unloading the missiles in Yemen, the Sosan then traveled to Germany, where it took on a cargo of sodium cyanide estimated to weigh several tons. The ship then was tracked as it traveled to North Korea. It arrived at the west coast seaport of Nampo on Thursday, the officials said.

Disclosure of the chemical shipment comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear activities. The North Koreans were found to have violated a 1994 agreement to freeze plutonium production and other agreements prohibiting it from making nuclear arms.

The Bush administration is planning in the coming months to impose sanctions aimed at halting weapons shipments to North Korea and cutting off funds sent to the communist state by Korean residents in Japan, said an administration official. The plans were first reported yesterday by the New York Times.

North Korea's official media have said that any sanctions imposed on the country would be tantamount to a declaration of war.

The official Korean Central News Agency confirmed that the Sosan arrived at Nampo on Thursday.

At a press conference, the captain and crew answered questions for reporters and said that the Dec. 9 incident was an act of U.S. piracy.

The Sosan's captain, Kang Cholryong, told the news agency that the crew, not wanting to surrender their cargo to the United States, tried to set the ship on fire and sink it but were stopped by U.S. commandos who boarded from helicopters.

"The United States should be fully responsible for this piratical act and make a formal apology and due compensation to the [North Korean] government for it," the KCNA report stated.

The action against the ship was "part of the premeditated and brigandish moves of the U.S. imperialists to isolate and stifle [North Korea] and dominate the world with their policy of strength," it stated.

Sodium cyanide is a dual-use chemical. It is used to make the nerve gas sarin, as well as commercial products including pesticides and plastics.

The chemical is controlled by the 34-nation Australia Group, a voluntary coalition of states that agree to curb exports of dual-use chemicals that can boost the chemical weapons programs of states like North Korea. Germany is a member of the group.

A German Embassy spokesman could not be reached for comment.
South Korea's defense ministry stated last year that North Korea has a stockpile of between 2,500 and 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, including 17 different types of agents.

The ministry stated in a report made public in September that North Korea can produce 4,500 tons of chemical weapons agents annually. It also can produce a ton of biological weapons agent a year.

Sodium cyanide is an ingredient of the deadly nerve agent sarin, a small amount of which can kill a human.

The intercept of the Sosan near Yemen in December highlighted divisions within the Bush administration over how to act in curbing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missile-delivery systems, U.S. officials said.

White House National Security Council officials supported seizing the missiles, but State Department officials opposed the idea, saying it would damage relations with Yemen, a growing ally in the war against terrorism.

The Sosan was seized after Yemen's government at first denied the missiles were theirs. The denial led U.S. intelligence officials to suspect the missiles could be headed for another country, such as Iraq, and they were seized.

The ship was stopped after a Spanish warship fired warning shots at the vessel. It then was boarded by U.S. commandos who discovered the missiles, warheads and canisters of chemical used for the missile's solid rocket fuel.

The Yemeni government then acknowledged the missiles had been purchased legally by the San'a government.

Bush administration officials have described North Korea as a major supplier of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons know-how and missile-delivery systems.
Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state, told Congress earlier this month that North Korea's nuclear and other programs relating to weapons of mass destruction are threats to the United States.

"North Korea's programs to develop weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery ... are also a threat to the international community, regional security, U.S. interests and U.S. forces, which remain an integral part of stability in the region," Mr. Armitage said.

"It is time for North Korea to turn away from this self-destructive course. They have nothing to gain from acquiring nuclear weapons - and much to lose. Indeed, every day, the people of that country are paying a terrible price for these programs in international isolation and misspent national resources."

Monk