War on Terror I really didn't intend to do multiple postings today but I can't resist. If anyone has glanced over the headlines you'll see how I couldn't refrain from posting my opinion on a couple of stories.
First, CIA director Porter Goss claims to have an excellent idea where OSB is currently hiding. However, we can't just rush in and get him because of the US respect for sovereign nations. Now I'm totally for the war in Iraq, but for some reason I don't remember the US having this much trouble with sovereign nation status when we decided to remove Saddam. If this story is legit, then either the Bush administration has changed its stance on the War on Terror in the face of the most prevalent public opinion (I'm not sure if a majority of the population is against the war yet, but the vocal minority sure is) or OSB is hiding in a country we can't bully such as China, or maybe even North Korea. However, this story strikes me as odd for a few reasons, and I'll give you my theories in no particular order-
1) He is in China, North Korea, or Iran etc...- A military analyst I'm not, but the statement would make sense in that kind of context. Publicizing that we know where he is without revealing the country would pressure either into the chance to hand him up freely- improving their reputation in the world without looking like they are being coerced. Actually, the more I think about it, the more Iran seems like a logical probability- especially if their nuclear program is more advanced than reported...
2) We have no idea where he is- Once again I could see some rationale for the statement as this could be an attempt to get him to move- revealing his position possibly and giving us some actual leads. However, this could be a future public relations backfire as the questions will eventually turn to "You claimed to know where he was, how come we have yet to make any progress?"
3) We already have him in custody- This seems unlikely to me as it implies massive government control of leaks. I don't think there is anyway for a story this big to be kept secret and the political fallout would be disastrous for both Republicans and the military. However, the political advantage of revealing OSB before the next elections could swell the Republican ranks enough to pass some of Dub's initiatives...
4) The story is exactly as it seems- I can't think of any reason or political advantage to be gained from putting us in position to fail... again... especially when there won't be Afghani Troops to blame.
The other story relates to the upcoming book "Tuesday's with Saddam", the effort of GQ journalist Lisa Depaulo (hopefully she has better material than Nick DiPaulo). This book is based on interviews with five soldiers who guarded Saddam for something like 300 days. Some nuggets of joy from the book:
· Hussein says that he is still president of Iraq and is absolutely certain that he will someday return to power.
· He is proud that his sons died for their country.
· While having little positive to say about either President George W. Bush or his father, George H. W. Bush, he expresses a desire to be “friends” with them.
· He also expresses a longing for the days when Ronald Reagan was still president.
· He says that he never had an association with Osama bin Laden.
· Hussein is a “clean freak,” afraid of germs, obsessively washing his hands and carefully wiping his plate and utensils before eating.
· He gave the soldiers advice on how to handle women (“You gotta find a good woman,” he told them. “Not too smart, not too dumb, not too old, not too young. In the middle.”)
· He thinks Dan Rather is “a good guy.”
· He loves Doritos chips and Raisin Bran Crunch cereal…but he won’t touch Froot Loops.
I don't think I have to add a whole lot, it pretty much speaks for itself. However, I for one don't believe that Saddam is as cuddly, incompetent, or harmless as the book seems to make him out to be. For instance, had he wanted to be friends with Bush 41, he could have gone about it another way than an assassination attempt. I don't doubt for a second though that he loved Reagan or the eighties, in the same way American idyllizes (not sure if thats a word) the fifties. I'm sure enjoying the height of my power while America funneled me weapons to fight the Iranians would make me nostalgic also. As for his advice on handling women, I wasn't aware you needed any game in the Middle East other than the back of your hand...
First, CIA director Porter Goss claims to have an excellent idea where OSB is currently hiding. However, we can't just rush in and get him because of the US respect for sovereign nations. Now I'm totally for the war in Iraq, but for some reason I don't remember the US having this much trouble with sovereign nation status when we decided to remove Saddam. If this story is legit, then either the Bush administration has changed its stance on the War on Terror in the face of the most prevalent public opinion (I'm not sure if a majority of the population is against the war yet, but the vocal minority sure is) or OSB is hiding in a country we can't bully such as China, or maybe even North Korea. However, this story strikes me as odd for a few reasons, and I'll give you my theories in no particular order-
1) He is in China, North Korea, or Iran etc...- A military analyst I'm not, but the statement would make sense in that kind of context. Publicizing that we know where he is without revealing the country would pressure either into the chance to hand him up freely- improving their reputation in the world without looking like they are being coerced. Actually, the more I think about it, the more Iran seems like a logical probability- especially if their nuclear program is more advanced than reported...
2) We have no idea where he is- Once again I could see some rationale for the statement as this could be an attempt to get him to move- revealing his position possibly and giving us some actual leads. However, this could be a future public relations backfire as the questions will eventually turn to "You claimed to know where he was, how come we have yet to make any progress?"
3) We already have him in custody- This seems unlikely to me as it implies massive government control of leaks. I don't think there is anyway for a story this big to be kept secret and the political fallout would be disastrous for both Republicans and the military. However, the political advantage of revealing OSB before the next elections could swell the Republican ranks enough to pass some of Dub's initiatives...
4) The story is exactly as it seems- I can't think of any reason or political advantage to be gained from putting us in position to fail... again... especially when there won't be Afghani Troops to blame.
The other story relates to the upcoming book "Tuesday's with Saddam", the effort of GQ journalist Lisa Depaulo (hopefully she has better material than Nick DiPaulo). This book is based on interviews with five soldiers who guarded Saddam for something like 300 days. Some nuggets of joy from the book:
· Hussein says that he is still president of Iraq and is absolutely certain that he will someday return to power.
· He is proud that his sons died for their country.
· While having little positive to say about either President George W. Bush or his father, George H. W. Bush, he expresses a desire to be “friends” with them.
· He also expresses a longing for the days when Ronald Reagan was still president.
· He says that he never had an association with Osama bin Laden.
· Hussein is a “clean freak,” afraid of germs, obsessively washing his hands and carefully wiping his plate and utensils before eating.
· He gave the soldiers advice on how to handle women (“You gotta find a good woman,” he told them. “Not too smart, not too dumb, not too old, not too young. In the middle.”)
· He thinks Dan Rather is “a good guy.”
· He loves Doritos chips and Raisin Bran Crunch cereal…but he won’t touch Froot Loops.
I don't think I have to add a whole lot, it pretty much speaks for itself. However, I for one don't believe that Saddam is as cuddly, incompetent, or harmless as the book seems to make him out to be. For instance, had he wanted to be friends with Bush 41, he could have gone about it another way than an assassination attempt. I don't doubt for a second though that he loved Reagan or the eighties, in the same way American idyllizes (not sure if thats a word) the fifties. I'm sure enjoying the height of my power while America funneled me weapons to fight the Iranians would make me nostalgic also. As for his advice on handling women, I wasn't aware you needed any game in the Middle East other than the back of your hand...
posted by Justin at 4:27 PM 
3 Comments:
did you mean "vocal minority"?
I think you're right about women: saddam's real advice would be more like, "get lots of them, so that when one displeases you by, for example, forgetting to water the camels, you may shoot her, as an example to the others, that women are a lower form of life in the eyes of allah, may his name be praised forever."
oh - and I don't know what to say about where OSB is. I'm amazed that he's been able to hide, if he has. With the intelligence capabilities we have today, it surprises me that anyone could ever hide. The idea that he's in China or NK makes a lot of sense to me. I could also see him hanging out in Europe, perhaps the Netherlands, where you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a militant extremist on his way to the mosque.
I actually hit 5 militant extremists the other day while I was going for my daily dead cat swing. They were cool about it.
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