Saddam's Statue

Margaret writes:

Wasn't today magnificent? So moving to see the Iraqis learning that they don't have to fear Saddam and his crew anymore. One of those riveting scenes that will live forever in history's annals.

Today was worth enduring all the anti-war hate march coverage to see the faces of some of the TV talking heads having to pretend joy when they hate the military, the US and Bush. Wish I could see Peter Jenning's head explode!

Thank you for the link to the military dead. I would like to propose that grateful Americans send a note and $1 to each family. Maybe if they received $1 million or more, their economic futures would be secure and they would be piled high with good wishes and gratitude. No bureaucracy, just simple swamping with cash and gratitude.

Maybe we could do something similar for the injured some of whom may not be able to work again or who may struggle with disability for the rest of their lives. Those who mailed to the families of the dead could do the same for the injured who share their surname initial. Just a thought.

Okay. Just don't put me in charge. :)

Actually, O'Reilly has a list of military relief societies here. Sometimes, a little bureaucracy is necessary. But just a little.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 09:04:53 PM
Categorized as Other.

Why They Hate Us — the Europeans, That Is

A cool essay by Janet Daley in The London Telegraph today:

.... I am off to Washington at the end of the week, where a think tank has invited me to discuss European anti-American attitudes. What shall I say to them?

That the obvious truth - America is resented because of its enormous power - is only a fragment of the picture? That the foundation of anti-Americanism lies deep in the pathology of a Europe that has never recovered from its own guilt and self-loathing over the two great wars of the past century?

How to make Americans, most of whom are descended from the most despised and wretched of the populations of the Old World - poor southern Italians, landless Irish peasants, ghetto Jews of eastern Europe - understand that much apparently political resistance to them is grounded in pure snobbery? The great American virtues - self-improvement, ambition, individualism - are, in European establishment eyes, the characteristics of vulgarity.

The consumer-led culture of America, so embarrassingly coveted by the poor peoples of the world, is crass, sentimental and socially gauche. Of course it is. It is the only popular culture there has ever been that is cosmopolitan and affluent, as opposed to the folk cultures of Europe, which dwell in provincial poverty but have their own "integrity" in patronising bien-pensant terms.

I shall have to explain, too, that none of this is very consistently held. The demonised America of the imagination has little to do with the actual one that many of those same intellectuals know well from their book-plugging tours and their visiting professorships. The same people who ridicule American culture will tell you that The Sopranos is the best drama series on television and that Philip Roth is the greatest living novelist.

But how much reality can the ideologically committed be expected to digest? And when has self-contradiction and incoherence ever been a problem for the Left?

(Thanks, Charles.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 07:39:17 PM
Categorized as Social/Cultural.

A Tale of San Francisco and Baghdad

A photographic essay.

At Balloon Juice today.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 07:15:52 PM
Categorized as Political.

Congressman vs. Columbia

A very good article by Congressman J.D. Hayworth at TownHall today:

.... As for academic freedom, Samuel Johnson said that, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel;” but for scoundrels like DeGenova the last refuge is now academic freedom.

But if DeGenova’s comments are to be protected under that principle shouldn’t there be some academic aspect to what he said? I can’t find one. Maybe Bollinger can explain exactly what is “academic” about wanting to see a bunch of young Americans slaughtered in battle and equating the flag and overt acts of patriotism with white supremacy.

DeGenova was not discussing some new anthropological theory or defending the unconventional or controversial work of some other academic; it was hate speech, pure and simple. And I shudder to think that racist rants and willfully wishing the deaths of millions of our young men and women in uniform apparently have now become protected categories under our long-established tradition of academic freedom – at least at Columbia University.

In his last two statements on the issue, Bollinger cites a new justification for not taking action – “freedom of thought and expression.” But Bollinger wasn’t always an advocate for such freedoms. He was Dean of the Law School at Michigan University when it imposed its notorious speech code on students that was later found to be unconstitutional. Despite being an expert on the First Amendment, Bollinger did not use his lofty position to fight the code, choosing silent acquiescence instead. Apparently Bollinger believes freedom of expression applies only to professors, not students.

Bollinger’s final cop-out is that DeGenova’s comment weren’t made in a classroom, but at a teach-in, which is “not an authorized or officially sanctioned classroom experience.” But if DeGenova had called for, let’s say, a million Oklahoma Cities at a KKK rally, I’m sure my letter would not have been necessary, and rightly so.

One of the many ironies of this sorry episode is that the first time one of America’s greatest military leaders, Dwight Eisenhower, was addressed as president was when he was President of Columbia University in the late 1940s. And if there is a shred of decency left in the academy, Bollinger will act as Ike no doubt would have and fire DeGenova.

Despite the mounting pressure, Bollinger will no doubt continue to reject that recommendation because he doesn’t want Columbia to be seen as caving into outside pressure. However, I predict that when the time is right, Nicholas DeGenova will be quietly denied tenure. At that point, the academy will regain some of the legitimacy it has lost in this sorry episode.

(Thanks, Jonathan.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 02:39:15 PM
Categorized as Social/Cultural.

An Open Letter to Our Troops

From Barbara J. Makuch.

At OpinionJournal today:

.... As I look upon the faces of our military today, these courageous men and women, brave, compassionate yet fierce in their cause to liberate the Iraqi people, I pray for them all. American, British, Australian, Polish and the scores of others who are facing yet another tyrant. My heart swells with pride and love for those who have given up so much to make this world a better place.

There is no country in the world that can say Americans, when they came to liberate a land, forced our language, culture or religions on anyone. Those of us who chose to embrace this wonderful land do so wholeheartedly, without coercion or force. We do it because we are true patriots. We know what sacrifices were made for our freedom.

May God protect and keep you in his care so that you return to your loved ones. May your families have the support and love of this country we call land of the brave and the home of the free, and may the people of the world never forget the ultimate sacrifice of our troops.

(Thanks, Peter.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 12:53:14 PM
Categorized as War.

The Beeb's Treachery

"Bizarro Broadcasting Company"

Read about it here:

.... I decided to try an experiment- kind of a private Reed Irvine science project. I have a friend in a neighboring village here in France who gets most of the English-language TV news channels - not Fox, but CNN, BBC News, ITV, Euro News, Sky, the usual - on a satellite dish. So I gave him a ring, invited myself over and walked the three or four kilometers to his house, listening to the [BBC's] World Service on a pocket radio as I went. The afternoon of April 5 was a beautiful one in northern France - bright, crisp, clear. But it was dark and gloomy in Baghdad, I was sure. "The Americans are bombing again." I imagined angry swarms of citizens gathering in homes and cafes to listen to World Service reports about the duplicitous Americans and their phony incursions.

When I arrived at my friend’s house, I set up my little test. I watched the TV while listening to the World Service on my hand-held radio. It was a startling multimedia event. I could listen to the BBC’s Paul Wood telling me once again that there was no sign of the American incursion into Baghdad. Yet on the screen in front of me there was the 3rd Infantry. They were cruising through Baghdad, driving down the highway, turning into the streets. Along the sidewalks, there were waving children and adults, cheering them on. Men in passed by in trucks and cars crying out, "Saddam down!" and giving the soldiers big smiles and waves. I finally turned off the World Service and turned up the television. At the airport, a correspondent was asked about the Iraqi claim that the Americans had been driven out of the airport and were being "pounded" by Republican Guards. He looked around, mystified, then replied that he’d been at the airport for two days, that it was securely in Coalition hands, and that the only Iraqi challenge he had noticed had been a couple of small skirmishes that were quickly quelled by Coalition forces. "Maybe that’s what he meant," he said, generously. Behind him, soldiers lounged around like the stranded tourists they were.

On the BBC News channel, the anchors got Wood on camera and very gently pointed out to him that they were getting a lot of video in showing the Americans had indeed taken a drive deep into Baghdad and that the information minister’s odd claims didn’t seem to be holding up. Wood was kind of chubby, younger than I expected. He seemed obviously pained. But he had his story - no Americans in Baghdad as far as he was concerned - and he was sticking to it.

But of course he didn’t have the story. One of the war’s turning points had taken place under his nose and he and the rest of his BBC colleagues in Baghdad had missed it, simply because they were convinced of American deceit and could not bring themselves to look for what they refused to believe had taken place. I turned off the TV, had a cup of coffee with my friend, and returned home. After a half hour or so – call me crazy – I once again tuned into the World Service. By now, I wasn’t so much interested in how the war was going. I knew American troops weren’t trapped anywhere. But the BBC had dug itself a big hole, and I wanted to see how they’d get out of it....

(Thanks, PO.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 12:35:03 PM
Categorized as Media.

See What the Lying Communists Are Saying Even Now

At International ANSWER:

.... On Saturday, April 12, join the tens of thousands of people of conscience who will surround the White House. The whole world is watching to see if the people of the United States can intensify the power of the anti-war movement at the moment that the Bush Administration is intending to slaughter tens of thousands of Iraqi people and occupy their country. We urge every anti-war organizer and concerned person to bring your friends, neighbors and family members to this all-important mobilization on April 12.

The world is in a state of Shock and Revulsion as the murderous Bush Administration follows through on its promise to "Shock and Awe" the Iraqi people by dropping thousands of bombs and missiles on their capital, a city that is home to 4.5 million human beings. Baghdad has been bombed relentlessly, terrorizing the occupants of that city and of the entire country. U.S. "precision" bombs have slammed into poor residential neighborhoods in Baghdad and a busy shopping street. U.S. and British troops are leaving a "trail of death" in their wake as they invade and bomb Iraq and reporters describe charred corpses littering the roads to Baghdad as well as in its streets. U.S. and British forces have laid siege to Basra, bombing and destroying the electrical supply to the main water plant and blocking the Iraqi food distribution system into Basra. The people of Basra are now starving and without water; various U.N. agencies state that Basra is in humanitarian crises and on the verge of a major cholera outbreak and massive child mortality. This crisis is caused by the U.S. attack coupled with the effect of 12 years of U.S.-led U.N. economic sanctions. The United States government is telling the people of Basra that they may only have food and water if they rise up against the Iraqi government and accept the U.S. occupation.

The Iraqi people and the U.S. GIs who have been killed and wounded and are suffering are the casualties of George W. Bush's unprovoked war of aggression. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families of all those who have been killed and wounded as a consequence of this illegal imperialist war.

This horrific unprovoked attack on Iraq must be understood as one of the extreme terrorist acts of modern times. Cruise missiles launched from submarines and aircraft hundreds of miles away and 2,000 lb. bombs dropped from 30,000 ft. up are the latest example of the Bush administration's criminal resort to limitless violence and terrorism in order to achieve its objectives of conquest and occupation. The hypocrisy of the war against Iraq is extreme: the most powerful military in the world waging first strike war with the most advanced weapons against an impoverished country on the pretext that it someday may possess such weapons.

The world has entered a new phase. The Bush Administration is hell bent on world domination. The war on Iraq was meant to signal that the U.S. use of raw military power will be the means to create a new era of Empire. We understand that the war on Iraq is only one of the fronts on which the United States government is determined to build a world empire. The U.S. is also waging war in Colombia, training future death squads at the dreaded School of the Americas/WHISC, and waging economic war through the IMF, World Bank, and free trade treaties such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement.

To the shock of the warmakers, their plans have ignited a world movement of opposition and solidarity. In addition to the well publicized demonstrations in Europe and the Middle East, nearly every country in Latin America has participated in massive street demonstrations and the continent has nearly unanimously rnjected Bush's "Coalition of the Willing." For months this movement has delayed and restrained the war plans for Iraq. Bush and Co. have lost all legitimacy and they are isolated. The people's movement has deprived them of the any threadbare claim to legality....

Yes, the world is watching. But it's not seeing what the lying Communists are fantasizing about.

(Thanks, PO.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 12:15:01 PM
Categorized as Political.

Fallen Warriors: the Price We Have Paid to Get This Far

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Here is the roll, as of now, of American servicemen who have died:

Operation Iraqi Freedom

U.S. Army

U.S. Navy

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Marine Corps

May they rest in peace — and (if such can be among the blessed) with pride in what they have helped to accomplish.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 11:17:51 AM
Categorized as War.

Feel-Good Real Reality TV!

All the big TV networks are carrying live the jubilation in Baghdad, especially the attempt to bring down a bronze statue of the Butcher of Baghdad. I understand, too, that the scenes are being broadcast around the world, even in some Arab countries.

There are feel-good movies. And there's Reality TV. But this is feel-good real reality TV, the likes of which we seldom see.

There! The statue has been pulled down!

Bravo! To our marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and special ops forces! Bravo! This is a great symbol of what you have been fighting for. Bravo!

See also Noose Round Saddam's Neck. Words to warm anyone's heart. :)

And here's a still-image sequence of the toppling (with sarcastic commentary).

P.S. Hey, Mike Farrell, Ed Asner, Martin Sheen, Janeane Garofalo, and Susan Sarandon: up yours!

Update! Here it is:

(Thanks, MCNS.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 10:49:27 AM
Categorized as War.

Seen on the Streets of Baghdad

FNC just broadcast a live shot of two Iraqi men walking down a street in Baghdad carrying the following sign:

I have to say, that made my day. :)

P.S. I think that was the last line: my view was blocked by some of the crowd.

Update! Here are a couple of images of the sign, from One Hand Clapping. The first image is the better view, and the second image is from about the time I saw it.

Note how the US soldiers are arm-in-arm with Iraqis in the second picture. I figure if Baghdad Bob saw that, his head must have exploded.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 09:27:44 AM
Categorized as War.

Patty Bonds Writes to CARM

Vide.

.... What I discovered is that everything I had been taught about the Catholic Church as a Baptist had been erroneous. Every objection that I had been engrained with since childhood was a falsehood about the Catholic Church and was easily refuted by an honest look at Church history....

See Patty Bonds' Conversion Story II.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 09:00:05 AM
Categorized as Religious.

Apple Slicing and Dicing

Looks like loads of fun with Jack Shafer at Slate, Monday. He gives us a good look at the mental machinations of somebody in the America-Loses-No-Matter-What crowd — which is closely aligned with, or actually a subset of, the Blame-America-First crowd.

(Thanks, MM.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/09/03 08:51:08 AM
Categorized as Media.