"Alas, to wear the mantle of Galileo it is not enough that you be persecuted by an unkind establishment, you must also be right."
---Robert Park
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MentalBlocks
Throwing Mental Blocks at Glass Constructions
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Friday, April 11, 2003
Staff Sgt. Nick Popadich from Indianapolis, Ind., of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, enjoys a cigar standing on top of his tank, as he arrives at a main crossroad in downtown Baghdad, Wednesday, April 9, 2003. A statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) is in the background. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours)
1:33 PM
By way of just about everybody in the blogosphere, infamous Scott Ritter quote:
TIME: You've spoke about having seen the children's prisons in Iraq. Can you describe what you saw there?
RITTER: The prison in question is at the General Security Services headquarters, which was inspected by my team in Jan. 1998. It appeared to be a prison for children — toddlers up to pre-adolescents — whose only crime was to be the offspring of those who have spoken out politically against the regime of Saddam Hussein. It was a horrific scene. Actually I'm not going to describe what I saw there because what I saw was so horrible that it can be used by those who would want to promote war with Iraq, and right now I'm waging peace.
As I have worried about in the past, the anti-war left has immolated itself on a bonfire of lies and crappy biased analysis. So much for deadlocked government. Who's going to believe them anymore? So now there will be no one with the credibility to sound the alarm when the neocons get in over their head. We're doomed to go one more time 'round the merry-go-round of history.
12:46 PM
By way of Instapundit, a transcript of an interview with Eason Jordan from a few months back where he pretty much says he wasn't doing what his NYT column now admits to. Talk about shooting your credibility.
BOB GARFIELD: I'm sure you have seen Franklin Foer's article in The New Republic which charges that the Western press is appeasing the Iraqi regime in order to maintain its visas -- to be there reporting should a war ultimately break out. What's your take on that?
EASON JORDAN: The writer clearly doesn't have a clear understanding of the realities on the ground because CNN has demonstrated again and again that it has a spine; that it's prepared to be forthright; is forthright in its reporting. We wouldn't have a team in northern Iraq right now if we didn't want to upset the Saddam Hussein regime. We wouldn't report on the demonstration if we didn't want to upset the Saddam Hussein regime. We wouldn't have been thrown out of Iraq already 5 times over the last several years if we were there to please the Saddam Hussein regime. So the story was lopsided, unfair and chose to ignore facts that would refute the premise of the article.
Glenn also brings up the question of where else they might be doing this. Say, maybe, Cuba for example. I've never liked the embargo against Cuba, on the grounds that it was ineffective. But now I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't right all along. I mean, at least we can say we didn't actively support the dictatorship. What sorts of depraved things are going on that we don't know about, for fear of offending el jefe excellente?
12:29 PM
This makes me sick. I mean, I physically want to throw up. This is from a NYTimes column by Eason Jordan, CNN chief news executive. How could this guy keep this under wraps, leave his people in there under these conditions, and not tell anybody about it? For God's sake, at the very least he should have pulled everybody out and publicized this stuff during the debate about whether or not to go to war. I mean, it would have been relevant to know exactly how thorough a dictator Saddam was.
We also had to worry that our reporting might endanger Iraqis not on our payroll. I knew that CNN could not report that Saddam Hussein's eldest son, Uday, told me in 1995 that he intended to assassinate two of his brothers-in-law who had defected and also the man giving them asylum, King Hussein of Jordan. If we had gone with the story, I was sure he would have responded by killing the Iraqi translator who was the only other participant in the meeting. After all, secret police thugs brutalized even senior officials of the Information Ministry, just to keep them in line (one such official has long been missing all his fingernails).
This also makes me question what else they're keeping from us, for similar reasons, in other locations. Read the whole thing.
11:13 AM
Thursday, April 10, 2003
This explains an awful lot of what's been going on. They just weren't organized or motivated to fight against an enemy like us.
Marines receive welcome surprise in ''enemy'' town
After a little research, Grunwald discovered what had happened.
``There is no enemy,'' Grunwald said. ``The general got shot yesterday and they quit.''
American airstrikes on the tank division outside town had killed or wounded its general and persuaded the soldiers to desert. About the same time, the townspeople apparently had thrown out the ruling Baath party officials.
12:35 AM
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
11:07 PM
Tuesday, April 08, 2003
That's strange, where are the people? Another article from Matthew Fisher talks about the Baghdad neighborhood he's in with the Marines. He says it's absolutely empty of its residents. I have heard some stories about refugees, but not all that many, and nothing about where they're going. it's good that they've gotten away from the battle, but I hope they're getting some help wherever they've gone to.
It's been a grey day under a leaden sky in the Iraqi capital. The air is hazy because of the fires from buildings ignited by the U.S. bombs and the oil in trenches set on fire by the Iraqi authorities in the hopes of foiling the bombing campaign. As dusk fell, an intermittent light rain started to fall.
The neighbourhood is completely deserted -- it's a residential area, home to perhaps 5,000 to 10,000 people, but now there is absolutely no one left in any of the houses or apartments. There are only scavenging dogs.
3:33 PM
I can't top this:
From Day By Day.
2:53 PM
By way of Stratfor, some indication htat Hussein is not only alive, but still in command:
Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, vice director of joint operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reported that some key elements of Hussein's Republican Guard were still operating under possible Iraq military leaders. "The Republican Guard are receiving instructions, but in many cases not following them and not capable any more, so they're not an effective fighting force. But he (Hussein) still controls elements of the Special Republican guard and death squads," McChrystal said.
2:13 PM
Wow, sounds fairly convincing. As usual, I'll want to see some more confirmation, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
U.S. officials told Fox News they were able to learn that those present at the meeting were discussing how to get out of the city and they were standing within 4-6 meters of each other at the time of the strike. The officials said the location is now a huge crater, and that "whoever was in there is dead."
1:52 AM
Monday, April 07, 2003
Yet more evidence of the uselessness of the UN. By way of Instapundit
The United Nations has sent a team to the area to investigate the reported massacre.
9:19 PM
A proposal for the future of Iraq by Michael Barone. By way of Instapundit.
2:31 PM
Lileks is on a roll. As usual.
Suicide bombers, armies of boys - took Tojo and Hitler five years to get to that point. Took Saddam two weeks.
2:00 PM
The first specific report of special forces operations in Baghdad that I've seen.
1:47 PM
Been wondering where the Iraqis have been getting their suicide bombers? Check this out.
1:26 PM
Sunday, April 06, 2003
Global warming? Yeah. Man-made global warming? Yeah, whatever.
4:03 PM
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