By Mikhaela Reid of www.mikhaela.netYou know, I had a long, funny, angry and exquisitely eloquent post prepared on George Bush's new plan for Iraq. But having finished it and read it back, it just didn't feel right to post. I felt that with the announcement today of the names of the British servicemen killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last couple of days, it wasn't really appropriate.
So instead I want to appeal for a sense of proportion and restraint from Bush and his cronies (Karl Rove & Dick Cheney are of course 9/10th Full of Penguins regulars). Statements like these from George Bush in his speech outlining his new plan in Iraq worry me.
"[Stabilizing the region] begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq."
"Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."
"I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region. We will expand intelligence sharing - and deploy Patriot air defence systems to reassure our friends and allies. We will work with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to help them resolve problems along their border."
"And we will work with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating the region."
The implications of these statements, underlined by Dick Cheney's thinly veiled threats to Iran made yesterday, are terrifying. I will leave you to consider those implications....
For those who wish to read the full text of George Bush's statement look here. It makes for illuminating reading.
7 comments:
hey bro,
What would you do different?? do you think that america should tuck tail and run?? or do you believe that the extremist's he is talkin about will be as nice as you and go "oh well live and let live"?? if so bro your bein very naive. If they get a foot hold then they will try and topple governments and then what happens if they infect other muslim nations who are stable at the moment because they are afraid of the military power of the west? it means they will be in a position to attack other countries and gain nuclear weapons and become a threat to evryone. But do we just let them do it and hope for the best? I believe thats what britain did in world war 2 with hitler and look where that took us. appeasement never works. We arent talkin about nice decent folk who have a good living in the west therefore can have whatever views they want, we are talking about people who live by the AK 47 and whatever they want they take and they even stoop so low as to blow up women and children ( our's and theirs!) all in the name of allah and fanatasicism. ( nuts) ( also not all muslims are like this Im talkin about the extremist's hiding in iran and similar such places)
Its easy to sit and say " your wrong" when it isnt you makin the decisions.
Do you think osama bin liner would be so charitable towards you?? dont think so hed believe he was doin the right thing shootin ya. I dont mean to be so disagreeable bro but sometimes I think people can be very critial of foriegn policy when their sat at home in their arm chairs in the comfy west but things are very different in certain areas in the east. and trust me if we werent a milatary power then how long do you think wed last and our allies?? There are plenty of military expansionist governments still out there in the world. the only reason we are still near the top of the pile is that were active in things like makin sure nutter organisations dont get support from countries like iraq and iran etc.
Hey you ever considered joinin the liberal party you'd be in company!! lol!!! Im kiddin.
Take care bro.
Hey daz,
All I want to ask is this...
Is the West simply involved in Iraq and Afghanistan to secure oil supplies and allow companies like Halliburton to make obscene amounts of money from 'rebuilding' the countries that we invade?
Is this an ideological battle, or is about what every other conflict boils down to? Power and money?
Anyways, about the new Bush Plan. I have little confidence at the moment in either the Bush Admin or the Democrat houses, in being able to ameliorate security in Iraq. I hope i'm wrong
As for Iran, yes its a disturbing situation, and the prospect of action against Iran is a gloomy one.. But then so is the thought of an Iranian bomb. At the very least a nuclear bomb would empower the Iranian theocratic regime, at worst it could be targeted against the people of Israel.
The whole thing, on all sides of the dispute, is a poisonous mix of regional power struggle, control of resources, blackmail, and ideology. I love America. But this is one seriously crappy situation
ps. I wouldnt think Rove is exactly flavor of the month following November
blighty
Thanks blighty and welcome.
It certainly is a crappy situation.
And indeed, I take your point about Karl Rove!
hey bro did you watch that dispatches last night on channel 4?? very scary.
I think every conflict right from the beginning of time is about power and money lee. You cant go to war without money and power. and a purpose of war is to extend your influence. I think everyone would agree that war is bad! that the world would be better off without it. But unfortunetly the reason we live in country that is free ( to a point) our lifestyle is very good compared to the east so much so that people want to come here. but the reason we have all this is because we stomped accross the world pushing our ideology onto other countries etc.... now you said is it all about ideology and money and power? yes it is. but power brings influence and with influence we can help other countries ( also not to mention the billions of pounds america and us give to countries who need it.
I don't know as much about the situation as I should, but... Despite some similarities in their extreme nature and attitudes, I don't think the contexts of Hitler's regime and the current situation are similar enough to make such a parallel. Not cogent.
Also, I'll take this moment to say: Don't look at me; I voted against Bush.
Indeed, Nat.
;) I'll forgive you re Bush 2
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