COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Story about Six People in Iraqi Bodega?



Forget the merits, or lack thereof, of the story. It is about as silly and irrevelent as if the BBC had interviewed five New Yorkers and a hot dog vendor about a current topic. Talk about theater. This must be by the laziest AFP reporter on the planet. I wonder what he was buying when he uncovered this gem?

Baghdadis dismiss report as 'theater' Washington Times

BAGHDAD (Agence France-Presse) — A group of Iraqis watching the stuttering start of proceedings before the U.S. Congress yesterday, which could influence whether U.S. troops remain in their country, said they were unimpressed.

Student Abdelbaqi al-Shimmari scoffed when the microphones went dead just as the chief U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, was to testify.

"If the Americans can't make their own microphones work, how can they may things work in Iraq?" he asked.

"It is like a theater," said teacher Abdullah Kadhim, 58, who, like others interviewed for this article, was watching the congressional hearing live on Al-Hurra television at a general store in an inner Baghdad neighborhood.

"Each day, they say there is a new report. They say they will bring a new change in Iraq. We can only hope there will finally be progress in security," Mr. Kadhim said.

Saleh Adnan, 34, a car mechanic, also watching the broadcast, was dismissive.

"I don't think this will change anything in our country because the Americans will never leave Iraq. For us, the main point is when the occupation will end," said Mr. Adnan.

"For me, the main report will be the one which announces the American departure."


3 comments:

  1. I stopped watching when success with regards Saudi Arabia was described as Saudi fighters having to take the bus, to Syria.

    But that Iran had to be stopped, they being the "real" threat.
    The Sauds are buying bus tickets, so can be ignored, the Iranians on the other hand ...

    I did not hear much
    "good news" in the other aspecta of the reports, either.
    Whack the mussulman, writ ever larger.

    The 500,000 number, of US troops required, extrapulated from the COIN Manual, with a hat tipped to hermano d-day, based upon the population of Iraq.

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  2. Georg Will saw the same report that I did.

    By Bush's Own Standard, Surge Has Failed>
    by George Will.

    Many of those who insist that the surge is a harbinger of U.S. victory in Iraq are making the same mistake they made in 1991 when they urged an advance on Baghdad, and in 2003 when they underestimated the challenge of building democracy there. The mistake is exaggerating the relevance of U.S. military power to achieve political progress in a society riven by ethnic and sectarian hatreds. America's military leaders, who are professional realists, do not make this mistake.

    The US cannot win, in Iraq, with the military. The Generals say it time and time again.

    But if given more time, the Iraqi may step up, they may not.
    An unknowable.

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  3. But, the oil is safe, and the buses are still running. That's not just the main point; it's the ONLY point. Always has been.

    We "Import" twelve Million Barrels of oil/day. Letting the Mideast go down was NEVER a serious option. Still Ain't.

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