Time for Germany to move out and get a job

The Observer reports that we’re pulling our troops out of Germany: America is to punish Germany for leading international opposition to a war against Iraq. The US will withdraw all its troops and bases from there and end military and industrial co-operation between the two countries – moves that could cost the Germans billions of … Continue reading “Time for Germany to move out and get a job”

The Observer reports that we’re pulling our troops out of Germany:

America is to punish Germany for leading international opposition to a war against Iraq. The US will withdraw all its troops and bases from there and end military and industrial co-operation between the two countries – moves that could cost the Germans billions of euros.

All this punishment talk aside, isn’t it about time Germany started footing the bill for its own national defense? If nothing else, this should put a damper on the German welfare state.

Vaclav Havel on the war of liberation

The New Yorker: Letter from Prague A year after Havel came to power, there was a crisis in Iraq, and now, as he was leaving office, he was involved in another. Earlier in the month, he had spent hours with his aides at his country villa, discussing the problem, and that day, in the Wall … Continue reading “Vaclav Havel on the war of liberation”

The New Yorker: Letter from Prague

A year after Havel came to power, there was a crisis in Iraq, and now, as he was leaving office, he was involved in another. Earlier in the month, he had spent hours with his aides at his country villa, discussing the problem, and that day, in the Wall Street Journal, there was a letter signed by Havel, along with seven other European leaders, which essentially agreed with the Bush Administration’s position. I asked him why.

“I think it’s not by chance that the idea of confronting evil may have found more support in those countries that have had a recent experience with totalitarian systems compared with other European countries that haven’t had the same sort of recent experience,” he said. “The Czech experience with Munich, with appeasement, with yielding to evil, with demanding more and more evidence that Hitler was truly evil — that may be one reason that we look at things differently than some others.”

Clarity in Arab protests

Arabs participating in the Saturday protests showed a unique awareness of the issues: About 10,000 people waving Iraqi, French and German flags and Saddam Hussein pictures marched peacefully but noisily through the Lebanese capital of Beirut. … In Amman, about 5,000 Jordanian demonstrators chanted “Death to the Americans and Victory to Iraq.” Some demonstrators carried … Continue reading “Clarity in Arab protests”

Arabs participating in the Saturday protests showed a unique awareness of the issues:

About 10,000 people waving Iraqi, French and German flags and Saddam Hussein pictures marched peacefully but noisily through the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

In Amman, about 5,000 Jordanian demonstrators chanted “Death to the Americans and Victory to Iraq.” Some demonstrators carried posters of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein urging him to launch missile attacks on Israel.

I’d like some pictures, but so far all I can round up is a man with a kid dressed like Saddam on his shoulders. The Arabs who came out to support the Baathist regime were at least honest about what they were doing.

What the Iraqis want

Michael J. Totten comments on this article from the Independent on what the Iraqis (remember them?) actually want: So did the people of Iraq plead for us to take to the streets to stop this war? No — the opposite. Even in a country where the price for this kind of dissidence is often torture … Continue reading “What the Iraqis want”

Michael J. Totten comments on this article from the Independent on what the Iraqis (remember them?) actually want:

So did the people of Iraq plead for us to take to the streets to stop this war? No — the opposite. Even in a country where the price for this kind of dissidence is often torture and murder, large numbers explained they want the Americans and British to help them dislodge Saddam through war.

I wish more of our “anti-war” people could read the British press.

Blasting the left

Also writing in the Observer, Nick Cohen is also sharply critical of the anti-liberation forces of the left for the damage they’re doing to Iraq with their protests: …The democrats are struggling without the support of Western liberals and socialists because they don’t fit into a pat world view. The conclusion the Iraqi opposition has … Continue reading “Blasting the left”

Also writing in the Observer, Nick Cohen is also sharply critical of the anti-liberation forces of the left for the damage they’re doing to Iraq with their protests:

…The democrats are struggling without the support of Western liberals and socialists because they don’t fit into a pat world view.

The conclusion the Iraqi opposition has reluctantly reached is that there is no way other than war to remove a tyrant whose five secret police forces make a palace coup or popular uprising impossible. As the only military force on offer is provided by America, they will accept an American invasion.

This is their first mistake. American and British power is always bad in the eyes of muddle-headed Left, the recent liberations of East Timor, Sierra Leone and Kosovo notwithstanding.

Then the uppity wogs compound their offence and tell their European betters to think about the political complexities. The British and American governments aren’t monoliths, they argue. The State Department and the CIA have always been the foes of Iraqi freedom. But they are countered by the Pentagon and a US Congress which passed the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998 – a law which instructs the American government to support democracy. Not one Iraqi I have met trusts the Foreign Office. However, they have had a grudging admiration for Tony Blair ever since he met the Kurdish leaders and gave them a fair hearing – a courteous gesture which hasn’t been matched by the Pinters, Trotskyists, bishops, actresses and chorus girls on yesterday’s march.

The Iraqis must now accept that they will have to fight for democracy without the support of the British Left. Disgraceful though our failure to hear them has been, I can’t help thinking that they’ll be better off without us.

The Observer also carries a harsh Op-Ed by one Kanan Makiya on the battle between the CIA and the Pentagon over the shape of the post-liberation government. This is an important struggle, and only those who support liberation have a voice in it.

Jockeying for post-liberation power

The struggle for factional power in a liberated Iraq is moving into high gear as the invasion draws near. One dynamic that’s in high tension right now pits the White House against the CIA and the State Department on the democratic nature of the new government. Some of this comes out in an article in … Continue reading “Jockeying for post-liberation power”

The struggle for factional power in a liberated Iraq is moving into high gear as the invasion draws near. One dynamic that’s in high tension right now pits the White House against the CIA and the State Department on the democratic nature of the new government. Some of this comes out in an article in The Observer:

Chalabi, who lives in London, said demonstrators who attended anti-war protests across Britain yesterday were misguided. ‘I would urge them to think again,’ he said.
‘War is a horrible thing to wish on anyone. But I firmly believe that the Iraqi people want the US to get rid of Saddam. Blair is doing the right thing.’

Chalabi was especially scathing of the German government, which he said was led by ‘ageing German leftists wishing to absolve their conscience at the expense of the Iraqi people’. It was Germany which had supplied Saddam with chemical weapons in the 1980s, he pointed out.

The Pentagon and the vice-president Dick Cheney are broadly in favour of introducing Western-style democracy to Iraq but the State Department under Colin Powell and the CIA believe it could have a destabilising influence on the region.

Chalabi has long been at odds with the CIA, who’ve disregarded 100 of his reports on Iraqi linkage with Al Qaeda which clashed with their view that religious zealots could never cooperate with secular fascists against America. Chalabi has made the CIA look bad, and they want to punish him by installing a Saudi-style government in Iraq. While I’m certainly in no position to say how this will work out in the end, it’s important to realize that the factional power struggles and the debate over the new government isn’t dampening the Chalabi-lead INC’s enthusiasm for regime change.

Out-foxing the French

Moira reports that the NATO allies have out-foxed France and moved to protect Turkey from Saddamite attack: NATO Breaks Deadlock on Iraq in 18-Nation Committee (washingtonpost.com) BRUSSELS – NATO broke its deadlock over planning for the defense of Turkey in the event of a U.S.-led war against Iraq on Sunday after hours of wrangling in … Continue reading “Out-foxing the French”

Moira reports that the NATO allies have out-foxed France and moved to protect Turkey from Saddamite attack:

NATO Breaks Deadlock on Iraq in 18-Nation Committee (washingtonpost.com)

BRUSSELS – NATO broke its deadlock over planning for the defense of Turkey in the event of a U.S.-led war against Iraq on Sunday after hours of wrangling in a committee where France, which had blocked the move, has no seat.

Good move, echoing what they had to do last time France tried to assert herself.

Standing for Democracy

Web designer Kathy Kinsley has made a gracious offer to those who wish to sport the “Support Democracy in Iraq” logo on their blogs, but aren’t comfortable with HTML: I do web design too, and would be quite happy to put that up in a sidebar for anyone who wants it. Free (donations accepted, though). … Continue reading “Standing for Democracy”

Web designer Kathy Kinsley has made a gracious offer to those who wish to sport the “Support Democracy in Iraq” logo on their blogs, but aren’t comfortable with HTML:

I do web design too, and would be quite happy to put that up in a sidebar for anyone who wants it. Free (donations accepted, though).

I urge everybody to support democracy in Iraq, and one easy way to do it is to stand up and be counted. The anti-democracy movement is pulling millions of racists and morons to their rallies, so the rest of us have to work that much harder to liberate Iraq.

The liberation of Iraq

David Pryce-Jones has some words about sis’s old school buddy Chalabi today in opinion.telegraph.co.uk – The marchers are doing Saddam’s work Ahmad Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress and other exiles are now preparing to take over. Kanan Makiya, one of the most brilliant among them, has been drafting a new constitution for sharing power … Continue reading “The liberation of Iraq”

David Pryce-Jones has some words about sis’s old school buddy Chalabi today in opinion.telegraph.co.uk – The marchers are doing Saddam’s work

Ahmad Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress and other exiles are now preparing to take over. Kanan Makiya, one of the most brilliant among them, has been drafting a new constitution for sharing power among Iraq’s disparate elements. Since they cannot liberate themselves, others have to do it for them. That is the point of our invasion.

Iraq can become a democracy, but we have to sweep Saddam, the demonstrators, and France out of the way first. So many idiots, so little time.

Cross-blog debate update

Quote a few people have weighed into the Great Cross Blog Debate on the liberation of Iraq. Here are some of the responses from the pro-liberation side: Richard Bennett Alex Knapp Robin Goodfellow Mike Silverman Derek James John Tabin Wylie Blog Maarten Schenk Stephen Gordon Dean Esmay John Moore Martin Devon John Hawkins J. Belcher … Continue reading “Cross-blog debate update”

Quote a few people have weighed into the Great Cross Blog Debate on the liberation of Iraq.

Here are some of the responses from the pro-liberation side:

Richard Bennett
Alex Knapp
Robin Goodfellow
Mike Silverman
Derek James
John Tabin
Wylie Blog
Maarten Schenk
Stephen Gordon
Dean Esmay
John Moore
Martin Devon
John Hawkins
J. Belcher
Jason Verber
The Weigh In
Giants and Dwarves
Cranky Hermit
Charles (Little Green Footballs) Johnson
Jeff Lawson
Incidental to the Question
Dave Himrich
Legal Bean
Glome
Cold Fury
The Lazy Pundit
Sasha and Andrew’s Roundtable
Matt Johnson
Eric Simonson
Baseball Crank
Counterpoint

and from the pro-oppression side:

Karl-Friedrich Lenz
George Kysor
Anonoblogger Dr. Slack
Anonoblogger Leonard
Outlandish Josh
August Pollack
Frankly, I’d rather not
George Paine
A serving of Crow