RE: Crocodile Tears and Bankrupt Politics (#11016)
by Stephen McIntyre on April 16, 2003 at 11:31 PM

First of all, there is nothing after the fact about the warnings. There were repeated and specific warnings - amply documented and even numerous media reports from major press on the warnings in the weeks leading up to the sack of Baghdad. Google "baghdad museum mcguire gibson" and you'll see many of them. Or google "baghdad museum gerstenblith". They petitioned the Defence Department and gave them listings; reportedly the Defence Department seemed to understand - adding to a sense of betrayal to the sense of loss.

Your characterization of the behaviour of the military is false. They did not get help; they abandoned the scene. Meanwhile Rumsfeld is accusing the media of exaggeration - "how many vases can there be in Iraq?" - to laughter from the supine press corps. Pretty funny - Don, you're a real card.

One gets the impression that U.S. military had no idea what to do when they actually won. Not simply the soldiers, but the commanders. It's as though the entire military was made of idiot savants, whose idea of high culture was a meal at Arby's instead of MacDonald's. At the end of the day, there was a colossal failure on Rumsfeld's watch. The breach of the Hague and Geneva Conventions is a war crime. The poor planning, inaction and negligence have created a cultural My Lai, that will be the defining moment of the Bush Presidency.

More longwinded, but still obfuscation (#11018)
by R. Kurdlion on April 17, 2003 at 1:02 AM

"Phil" would have us blame the whistle blowers for not blowing more loudly.

Against the better judgement of many in their own political party, and against the advice of seasoned diplomats of varying ideologies, Rumsfeld and his cronies hatched this war, got it past a weak president and a spineless Congress, and launched it. Even if the Iraqi masses had called for it, even if the American public had clamored for it, even if Rumsfeld & Co had kept it as a last resort rather than pursuing it as an obsession, it would STILL have been THEIR responsibility, as leaders of an invasion, to protect significant world historical sites. Instead, the troops went around knocking down statues for TV cameras, taking naps with their souvenirs from the palaces, and scouring the country for one old Palestinian terrorist (so that our politicians could "prove" that Osama, Saddam, and Arafat were in league, perhaps).

Give up, Phil Lloyd. The cat is out of the bag. The chickenhawk blunderers have caused a shameful disaster they will not be able to sound-bite their way out of. Americans have to move on now, and the first step is to liberate ourselves from the arrogant fools who have hijacked our foreign policy.