New hype to old news
What is it with some reporters and their need to breathlessly create, enhance, and otherwise infuse their stories with false drama and tension? We saw it the other day with Paul Harris and his ridiculous attempt to portray the appearance of comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam as a troubling new development and an indicator of how bad things are have gotten for the president. Never mind the fact that comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam have been ubiquitous almost since the day the allies set foot on the sands of Iraq.
Today we get Matt Frei from the BBC giving us not only his usual "objective" (cough, cough) look at Washington, but also teeing up this howler about Iraq:
In March 2003, before Saddam had even lost power, this report from the Sydney Morning Herald warned that an uprising against Saddam:
Three months later, Paul McGeough was telling us that "US exit may lead to Iraqi civil war."
In July '04, in an article titled "Civil War in Iraq?", William S. Lind brushed aside the "continuing" question of whether a civil war would occur in Iraq by claiming that it was already occurring.
All this, by the way, from a 5 minute search through Google. Once deemed unthinkable? By who and when? I'm guessing that sometime next summer Frei will note the sudden and ominous new development of accusations that Bush lied us into war.
BTW, also included in Frei's latest is a bizarre reference to "America's obsession with bipartisan politics - an instinct rooted in the devastation of the Civil War." Does anyone have the slightest idea what he is talking about?
Today we get Matt Frei from the BBC giving us not only his usual "objective" (cough, cough) look at Washington, but also teeing up this howler about Iraq:
There is no obvious exit strategy, and the spectre of civil war, once deemed unthinkable is now considered probable.I'm hardly in a position to place odds on an Iraqi civil war breaking out, but the notion that such a thing has ever been "unthinkable" is ludicrous. Warnings about a looming civil war were wheeled out even before the Vietnam comparisons were, and have been with us ever since.
In March 2003, before Saddam had even lost power, this report from the Sydney Morning Herald warned that an uprising against Saddam:
...has the potential to explode into a civil war between the Shiite and Kurdish majority ethnic groups and Saddam's minority Sunnis, which many analysts fear could erupt before the coalition can impose law and order on Iraq."In August 2003, Frei's fellow British journalist, America-hating Robert Fisk, wrote an article headlined "Unless The White House Abandons Its Fantasies, Civil War Will Consume The Iraqi Nation."
Three months later, Paul McGeough was telling us that "US exit may lead to Iraqi civil war."
In July '04, in an article titled "Civil War in Iraq?", William S. Lind brushed aside the "continuing" question of whether a civil war would occur in Iraq by claiming that it was already occurring.
All this, by the way, from a 5 minute search through Google. Once deemed unthinkable? By who and when? I'm guessing that sometime next summer Frei will note the sudden and ominous new development of accusations that Bush lied us into war.
BTW, also included in Frei's latest is a bizarre reference to "America's obsession with bipartisan politics - an instinct rooted in the devastation of the Civil War." Does anyone have the slightest idea what he is talking about?
2 Comments:
Here's a suggestion for an exit strategy for the coalition
Build up the Iraqui security forces so that they can take an increasing share of the law and order and anti-insurgency duties.
Get the Iraquis to define a constitution and put it to a referendum to ensure the vast majority of people are happy with it.
Hold elections to create government institutions that reflect the wishes of the Iraqui people and govern under their new constitution.
Draw down coalition forces as and when the Iraqui government feels confident that their own security forces can handle the security situation.
I mean it's so simple. I can't understand why Bush'n'Blair and the warmongering meocons haven't thought of it already.
Oh wait. They did.
Frei is obviously not reading his history right (why am I not surprised?).
He seems to have it in his penut sized brain that Dems are all Southerners under the yoke of the nasty (mostly white) Northern Yankees.
Man is a buffoon
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