Category: Internet

These remarks of Tony Blair’s were quoted by Sullivan, but I want to save them so here you are:

Yes, there are consequences of war. If we remove Saddam by force, people will die and some will be innocent. And we must live with the consequences of our actions, even the unintended ones.

But there are also consequences of “stop the war”.

If I took that advice, and did not insist on disarmament, yes, there would be no war. But there would still be Saddam. Many of the people marching will say they hate Saddam. But the consequences of taking their advice is that he stays in charge of Iraq, ruling the Iraqi people. A country that in 1978, the year before he seized power, was richer than Malaysia or Portugal. A country where today, 135 out of every 1000 Iraqi children die before the age of five – 70% of these deaths are from diarrhoea and respiratory infections that are easily preventable. Where almost a third of children born in the centre and south of Iraq have chronic malnutrition.

Where 60% of the people depend on Food Aid.
Where half the population of rural areas have no safe water.

Where every year and now, as we speak, tens of thousands of political prisoners languish in appalling conditions in Saddam’s jails and are routinely executed.

Where in the past 15 years over 150,000 Shia Moslems in Southern Iraq and Moslem Kurds in Northern Iraq have been butchered; with up to four million Iraqis in exile round the world, including 350,000 now in Britain.

This isn’t a regime with Weapons of Mass Destruction that is otherwise benign. This is a regime that contravenes every single principle or value anyone of our politics believes in.

There will be no march for the victims of Saddam, no protests about the thousands of children that die needlessly every year under his rule, no righteous anger over the torture chambers which if he is left in power, will be left in being.

I rejoice that we live in a country where peaceful protest is a natural part of our democratic process.

But I ask the marchers to understand this.

I do not seek unpopularity as a badge of honour. But sometimes it is the price of leadership. And the cost of conviction.

But as you watch your TV pictures of the march, ponder this:

If there are 500,000 on that march, that is still less than the number of people whose deaths Saddam has been responsible for.

If there are one million, that is still less than the number of people who died in the wars he started.

I don’t sense that these facts even register with the demonstrators, who seem to be fighting an anti-Bush battle instead of a legitimate anti-war battle; you can see this from the signs they carry and their reports of the demonstrations at Stand Down and elsewhere.

There are consequences of inactivity, and there are consequences of joining a movement predicated on hate (in this case, for Bush) instead of a genuine concern for The People — and they aren’t good.

How amazing is this?

In case you don’t happen to know where the phrase “Peace in our Time” comes from, Little Green Footballs can explain it for you.

Hint: Here’s what peace looked like in France from 1940-44:

Surprisingly sober editorial in the New York Times today: Disarming Iraq

The only way short of war to get Saddam Hussein to reverse course at this late hour is to make clear that the Security Council is united in its determination to disarm him and is now ready to call in the cavalry to get the job done. America and Britain are prepared to take that step. The time has come for the others to quit pretending that inspections alone are the solution.

I fail to see how anyone who saw the UN session Friday can’t be prepared to go to war with Iraq (and with France, China, and Russia if need be, the weasels).

What’s happening is clear: all of these countries want Iraq to disarm, but they don’t want to get stuck with the tab, so they hide behind the pretence of waiting for inspections to force Saddam to disarm. They know that the US and the UK and our allies will at some point blow off the UN and go do the dirty work, allowing them to enjoy the benefits of a world without Saddam without paying the price financially, militarily, or politically. That’s the mindset of politicians of the welfare state.

Bloggers should please see Dean’s World: Campaign for Democracy and Human Rights in Iraq! for instructions on putting the “Support Democracy in Iraq” logo on their blogs.

bq. Talking to sailors and other naval personnel here, Bush enumerated the countries and groups that have expressed support for military action against Iraq, and dared the U.N. Security Council to authorize military force or become an “ineffective, irrelevant debating society(tm).”

bq. “I’m optimistic that free nations will show backbone and courage in the face of true threats to peace and freedom,” Bush said. “The decision is this for the United Nations: When you say something, does it mean anything? You’ve got to decide: If you lay down a resolution, does it mean anything?”

Bush Challenges U.N. to Confront Iraq

This article by Barham A. Salih, co-prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Goverment in Iraq, is worth re-posting: Give Us a Chance to Build a Democratic Iraq

The only way for Iraqis to escape their nightmare is for the international community to help us liberate Iraq and build a postwar democracy that is peaceful, stable and based on the rule of law.

He says Iraqis will dance in the streets when liberated from Saddam.

Experts Confirm New Iraq Missile Exceeds U.N. Limit

Mr. Blix has already told the Council that the missiles, with a range of about 180 kilometers, or 114 miles, appeared to be a “prima facie” case of a violation by Iraq of the range limit of 150 kilometers, or about 90 miles, established by the Council. The missiles have already been given to the Iraqi armed forces, he said. The panel did not reach a conclusion about a second missile, Al Fatah, but said it required further study.

Any questions?

This retires the third canard of the pro-appeasement side of the Iraq argument, the claim that “the inspectors haven’t found anything.” The unilaterism argument was retired by the letters from the Wall St. Journal 8 and the Vilnius 10, and the pre-emption charge by the seventeen UN Security Council resolutions ordering Iraq to disarm. This leaves us with “I don’t trust the Bushies” and “eewww, it might cost some money” as the sole remaining arguments against the liberation of Iraq.

storySouth / southern barbecue BBQ culture and foodways tells how to make BBQ spaghetti, more or less:

But the curious highlight was the spaghetti, of which I was initially skeptical. Quite simply, this was large vermicelli, cooked well past al dente (but not mushy at all) and sauced with the Cozy Corner formula we’d enjoyed on the ribs. I tasted out of pure curiosity, but I finished the cup with sincere fascination.

Don’t read if you’re hungry.

I’m going to have to re-evaluate my criticisms of France now that IRA supporter Peter King of New York is bashing them. Click Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Rod Liddle: We’re their allies – so why aren’t they ours? for details:

And then, rather disconcertingly, it suddenly occurred to me that this was the same Pete King who has spent the past 15 years similarly eviscerating the British, or the “Bruddush”, for “centuries of oppression” inflicted upon the Irish people. Pete could always be relied upon to say a few words in support of Martin Galvin’s evil Noraid organisation, or to wade into some delicate and confusing conundrum of Northern Ireland politics with his size 12 cowboy boots, ready to give succour to the IRA for the sake of securing a few more votes from his Irish and faux-Irish constituents. He always did so with a mixture of brio and crass ignorance. It is the same Pete King, isn’t it?

King, like Teddy Kennedy and Tom Hayden, has a long history of supporting the terrorist IRA. His views therefore don’t matter.

Hillbilly Reynolds, BTW, disregards the article on King since it mistakenly identifies him as a Senator rather than a Representative. That’s not too bright.

Link via Dr. Frank, who’s not soft on the IRA.

It turns out that German foreign minister Joschka Fischer has a long and checkered history of beating and burning police officers, and of harboring terrorists. See Germany’s Mr. Tough Guy for details.