You can tell which they think is the right answer -- and which I think is the right answer. [via
BBC bias: Come on in, the brine's fine
: I haven't joined in the BBC bashing that has become common sport hereabouts -- I find bias watches tedious, unfulfilling, and often the fruit of paranoid imaginations -- but now I think I'll jump into this cesspool thanks to today's BBC compilation of "unanswered questions" -- that is, things that at one time or another were reported but not necessarily definitively, things that if debunked could make the Coalition look bad. For example: donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
:We said Scuds were launched to Kuwait (which would have violated U.N. rules); then we say they didn't. [But what about the range of that mall missile?]
: We said that Umm Qasr fell on the 21st. But now it's said that fighting continued for two more days. [Well silly us, war does have its surprises, don't it?]
: We heard reports of an uprising in Basra. Those reports haven't been confirmed yet. [Well, shucks, it wasn't exactly as if we had Peter Arnett inside Basra to give us an eyewitness account. It was a frigging war zone behind enemy frigging lines. Of course, we're not going to know exactly what's happening there. Of course, there are going to be reports and every one I heard was couched as such: "reports of..."]
: There was a report of a big tank column coming out of Basra. It was later corrected. [And your point, BBC?...]
: The market bombings are still the subject of much speculation, reporting, and investigation. [You could look at this another way: This still has not been definitively pinned on Coalition forces. And let's say it was a Coalition missile: You really think a market was targeted? Come on, let's hear you say it out loud.]
: There were reports of chemical weapons found. Upon testing, this turned out not to be the case. [Well, as we've heard often, the tests used in the field often give false positives -- so as to play safe for the troops, who need to put on their gas masks just in case, you see -- but further testing brought out the truth, which was duly reported.]donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
... And so on.
Now wouldn't it be nice to see some of the other reports, assumptions, and speculations that have also been debunked or assertions by the Coalition that have proven true, for example: The quagmire that never did quite quagulate.... The cheering Iraqis who did, in fact, welcome Coalition troops... The discovery of torture chambers, mass graves, imprisoned children.... The sabotaged oil wells... The power that was turned off not by Coalition bombs but, clearly, by Saddam's henchmen -- causing the humanitarian crisis the Red Cross bleats about via the BBC (below>...
... And so on.donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
If the BBC had attempted to look at all the stories that were reported too quickly and didn't pan out and all the assertions that didn't end up holding water -- no matter whom they made look good or bad -- then I wouldn't be joining in this pool party right now.
But the BBC only went after things that would make the Coalition look bad.
That's called bias. Yup, I can smell it an ocean away. donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
A way to help the troops
: Thomas Nephew points us to a program that lets us contribute to help the troops call home.donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
Russians learn greed
: Greedy Russia says at Tass that Iraq has enough money to repay the debt Saddam built. But what else could they do with that money? Build a successful economy and democracy, perhaps? Oh, but remember: Iraq's allies dont' give a damn about Iraq. Russia acknowledges the possibility of debt restructuring -- so this is all negotiation.
: Meanwhile, the Straits Times reports: "Oil-rich Iraq may be one of the world's most indebted developing nations and the billions it owes must be cleared before its shattered economy can recover fully.... While no one is sure just how deep in the red the country is, estimates range up to US$200 billion."
donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
Bad neighbor policy
: Europe is playing games with ending the trade sanctions against Iraq and now, too, are Iraq's neighbors. With friends and neighbors like these...donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
Eloquence
: Prince Charles praises as "stirring, civilised and humane" a British colonel's eloquent speech that he gave as he went with his troops into battle. Lt. Col. Tim Collins said:
"We go to liberate not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country...
"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 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....
"As for ourselves, let's bring everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there. Our business now is north."
donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
Kuß und make up
: Gerhard Schroeder backpedals:
"I deeply regret there were exaggerated comments -- also from cabinet members of my previous government," Schroeder told Der Spiegel magazine when asked if there were "grounds for self-criticism" for damage he caused to U.S.-German relations.
The declaration was the furthest Schroeder has gone in trying to mend fences with the U.S.
Schroeder
auf Deutsch -- posted, interestingly, on the German government web site. [via
Command Post]
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Well, gee, thanks for the reminder
: One of the great "uh, duh" leads I've read in awhile, courtesy of the BBC:
The International Red Cross has urged US forces to restore the Iraqi capital's power supply and other basic services as the threat to public health grows daily.
As if we haven't thought of that. As if we're not trying to get power and water back.
donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
Somebody send out a search party...
: ...Glenn Reynolds is missing.donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
The Jersey connection
: I can't remember where I got this link (sorry to the linker) but here's a page that says that's an New Jersey connection not only in Jersey City and Patterson but also online; it says terrorist-related web sites, such as Jihad Online, are hosted in the Garden State.donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
Keeping the peace
: The other night on 60 Minutes II, I was surprised and impressed watching a military man administering a town in Iraq, meeting with the local leaders, explaining what was happening. He was town hall, the cops, the courts, and the newspaper all wrapped up in a guy with a buzz cut. I thought these guys were just trained to shoot guns. But as was quite clear from watching at least this guy, they are also trained to keep the peace.
And that's the point Gen. Wesley Clark makes in a piece in the Times of London:
The best peacekeeper is a good soldier. We have proved this again and again, everywhere from Sinai and Lebanon to the Balkans. And now we are moving to peace operations in Iraq....
Many US and British soldiers now consider peace operations familiar ground. Manning checkpoints, conducting patrols, settling civil disturbances without excessive violence, guarding key facilities, supporting civil and political activities — all thought through, trained and practised. The operations have a rhythm, and a certain boring quality — like war, either boring or incredibly terrifying, except in peace operations there is less of the terror. Usually. But in peacekeeping you get the bonus of helping people and sensing their appreciation....
[The] commanders will be working with local leaders. There will be meetings to arrange humanitarian support, strengthen security and address grievances such as the noise of tanks and helicopters moving at night. All this is pure municipal politics, and the commanders are better at it than you might think. They will be working hard to win hearts and minds.
Yes, that's exactly what I saw on
60 Minutes.
But Clark warns that there are those in Iraq but more importantly, those in neighboring countries, who will seek to destabilize this with attacks not just on Coalition forces but on Iraqis as well; the target doesn't matter when destabilization is the goal. And so Clark concludes:
But the countervailing powers in the region, countries such as Syria and Iran, have already been warned: they will seek disruption in Iraq at their own peril. And that is one more reason why the best peacekeeper is a good soldier!
donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
The world moves on
: The top stories on Google News have been the disease of the moment, SARS, and the murder of the moment, Laci Peterson's, no longer the war of the moment, in Iraq.donwload DotA Allstars v6.12
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