h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Not wishing to perpetuate a stereotype of Canadians as well meaning nosey parkers, and with a great deal of trepidation about stepping between persons involved in a recent discussion on this thread, I never had the impression that anyone was labeling all people of a certain nation-state as victimizers. There have been statements (including from me) in a more general sense that a great many well meaning people have inherited the benefits, and a number of others the disadvantages, of past victimizations.

but I really wonder why I stepped into this discussion. I think I might have some regrets in a minute.

Getting right back on topic, I wonder how this latest Al Quaida captive will play? I wonder, specifically, if he'll provide the badly needed links to Baghdad that have been previously sort of thin?

Fatboy, my erstwhile admirer with severe Bushite tendencies, thinks thumbscrews should get him in the right frame of mind to provide these needed links. I think Fatboy knows something about how the CIA works, although they don't use anything as medieval as thumbscrews and they don't usually do the dirty work themselves.

It'll be interesting what revelations are presented in a couple of weeks.

jwf - I am so interested in your comments about Israel/anti-semitism! For years I would not criticise either Israel or Jews, because of guilt over criticism and the sympathy they had garnered during and after WWII. Yet it's necessary to criticise behaviour that any other race/nation would be condemned for! I have finally realised that. Things are well different in NZ, there are no (apparent) public consequences to criticism of Israel.

Della, did you see the news last night. The greens may be planning a walk-out on John Cowa... I mean Howard

Absotively, Peachy! That's appalling, and typical - I don't have a lot of faith in the vote anyway... we've heard about bribes/threats here. I cheered when we heard on the World Service on Sunday, that Turkey had voted against allowing Americans free rein - but I fear they may be going back on it.

"I cheered when we heard on the World Service on Sunday, that Turkey had voted against allowing Americans free rein - but I fear they may be going back on it."

They won't. The Turks don't seem to be happy about US troops massing in their country and the Turkish PM ultimately answers to the people who elected him - not the United States. Judging by the Americans surprisingly accepting attitude to this, they seem to realise they have to fight the war on a single front from Kuwait.

Afrabian, excellent - I am and will come back and read properly later! More power to your keyboard!

The diplomat's letter is interesting (I'll assume it's genuine - there is a real glut of fake stuff of this type at the moment).

I think he sums up the problems of the Bush administration quite well. Whilst I think that action must be taken to remove Saddam from power, and that the USA is the only instrument that will achieve it thanks to a hopeless UN, the Bush administration is arguably the worst government to do so.

The most interesting point is about the isolating of allies. After 9/11 countries that rallied to America's side (namely France and Germany) and that continue to assist the USA against terrorism and in Afghanistan are derided as virtual traitors for not following them into Iraq. Personally I think they are wrong, but they are not "traitors" nor are they enemies of the USA. There is something half-witted and childish about anyone who thinks they are and it sends the wrong message to the USA's allies - support us for decades and it's cool, but disagree with us once and you're the enemy. Respect is mutual, and why bother supporting a country if it doesn't count for anything later on. I am under no illusion that Britain would become anything but "Limey b**tards" to Rumsfeld if Blair stepped out of line.

Zagreb, you post echos an article from the Washington post that was linked to here last year.

The print media seem to have the jump on everybody.

>> "...until this Administration it had been possible to believe that by upholding the policies of my president I was also upholding the
interests of the American people and the world. I believe it no longer." <<

Oh I do hope this letter of resignation (posted by ?) is genuine!
I will be watching the news to see if it gets reported elsewhere. But somehow I doubt it will, even if it is true, perhaps especially if it is true.

The former Ambassador to Afghanistan is also 'no longer with the program'. He is among those participating in Hollywood's anti-war tv ad campaign. Surely both these ambassadors know something; certainly more than we are being told.

As I read it, I heard echoes of the America and its love of 'truth' I remember from my youth. He expresses, with straight shooting honesty many of the values I had always associated with America. This was an America I respected and was glad to have as a neighbor. An America with human interests and values. A bit greedy and arrogant, but then so were its baseball heroes, and we overlooked this minor character flaw.

The America I respected used to make movies about how they saved the world from the Axis powers (not entirely true but again we overlooked their arrogance) and they stood ready to defend liberty and justice for all (again not entirely true but we overlooked their sins in Vietnam, South and Central America). The classic American war films honoured truth, honesty, fair play, justice, love and mercy. Now they are about fire-power.

The America I remember sponsored a United Nations dedicated to sharing all these values. America seemed willing to share the rewards of its honest toil and invention. They even seemed glad to share the spoils of the victories over facism but I didn't realise that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank would soon morph from being a kind and generous big brother into a villainous silent movie banker, intent on driving widows into the workhouses.

The America I remember would have seen the incomprehensible hypocrisy of failing to enforce dozens of UN resolutions against Isreal while using others as an excuse for military aggression.

All those old American values no longer seem to be on the table.

If the ambassador's letter of resignation is genuine, then America should read it and react - sooner rather than later - to the obvious (to me) evil that has gained power in Washington.


~jwf~

>> jwf - I am so interested in your comments...<<

Thank you Della. I think most of us have that same uneasy feeling as we watch young Isrealis with guns behaving like jack-booted fascists and dragging weeping widows from their homes, which are then bulldozed along with the family car and the corner store. The infrastructure of 'Palestine' has been systematically dismantled. I fail to see any difference between Gaza and the ghettoes of Warsaw.

The United Nations has long (at least since 1957) issued resolution after resolution against Isreal for its treatment of the Palestinians, its invasions into Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza regions. But nothing ever comes of those resolutions.

Is it any wonder that most nations have lost faith in the UN's abilities to enforce peace. The current zeal by the US to enforce 1441 against Iraq, with or without UN approval, is just so obviously wrong.

In case it hasn't been reported elsewhere, let me tell you all that Canada's Prime Minister maintains that we will not support a US invasion of Iraq without a UN resolution. We are still committed however to peacekeeping in Afghanistan even though the Yanks have bombed our troops there 'by mistake'.


~jwf~

"Oh I do hope this letter of resignation (posted by ?) is genuine!
I will be watching the news to see if it gets reported elsewhere. But somehow I doubt it will, even if it is true, perhaps especially if it is true. "

hey, jwf. I was sure I read about this resignation a few days ago on CBC news' webpage, but I can't find it anymore. That's weird.

Hey, here's a surprise! The diplomat's resignation was covered by CNN. I guess it officially happened:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/02/27/sprj.irq.diplomat.resignation/

>>Blair is past his sell by date and he won't survive the next election and should there be a disaster from this war then it could come even sooner. <<
I am sure I am with many, many people in the UK in saying that it can't come soon enough! (Not that we want someone like Maggie Thatcher back, either...)

*I think, Starbirth, Analiese has made it pretty clear that the victimizers are the government and those who support it's policies relevant to the issues of treaty violations and encroachment. So if the moccassin fits, I'm sorry, but I'm not the one who can do anything about that.*

No Analiese you have not that is precisely the point. You have repeatedly made blanket statements about americans in whole as if they were some collective intelligence.

Hey jwf: maybe you should mention that not only has our Prime Minister said we won't be going to Iraq without a UN resolution, but that our Prime Minister is deperately trying to work out a compromise resolution that would get all sides in the Security Council reading from the same page, a page that has specific targets and dates. Oh, I guess I just mentioned it.

I heard about that Apparition, another cheer!

Starbirth - "No Analiese you have not that is precisely the point. You have repeatedly made blanket statements about americans in whole as if they were some collective intelligence."

Gee starbirth. Now where are you?
When it was my country you called it tactics reversed and added "". I guess it came around huh?