I guess we’ve all been having some nervous attacks about this war. My own amount to a nagging fear that the administration is not as serious as it says it is and that Americans may get faint-hearted when the going gets tougher. The president’s constant reiteration of the importance of this war and his crystal-clear moral understanding of the stakes involved have more than allayed my worries on the former front. I’m also cheered by Time Magazine’s poll, showing increasing support for military action, rising levels of approval for the president’s conduct, and only mild panic about anthrax. “Seventy-one percent of those polled October 12th favor the use of U.S. ground troops versus the 64 percent who favored the idea on September 27th,” reports Time. Better still, over half of Americans support ground troops even if it means 1000 casualties. A full third are happy to see ground troop action, even if it means 10,000 casualties. So long, Vietnam Syndrome, I hope. The only thing as heart-warming as these numbers is the heart-burn they are giving Barbara Kingsolver.
IRAQ AGAIN: No-one seems to know whether Iraq is involved in the anthrax outbreaks. But here’s what we do know. According to Jane’s Defense Weekly, “It is known that Iraq obtained anthrax cultures, for example — quite legally — from the American Type Culture Centre (ATCC) in the 1980s at a time when the West tacitly supported the regime. No questions were asked.” And someone’s been leaking to the Guardian that some in the administration suspect an Iraqi link. I don’t trust everything in the Guardian’s story, but the possibility of some state sponsorship of this operation has to be considered. The Wall Street Journal has an eminently sensible editorial making this point today. It seems to me this doesn’t have to lead to a conventional war against Iraq. But couldn’t it lead to a war-like inspection regime for Saddam’s biological and chemical warfare plants? As one reader has suggested, why couldn’t we cite our suspicions about biological warfare to demand immediate access to Saddam’s suspicious bio-cehmical installations? If he refuses, why not destroy them from the air? Give him 48 hours notice and then annihilate them, rather as Israel did to prevent his earlier attempt at nuclear capability. It would be better if we could get hard evidence. But even without it, it’s justifiable. In my view, it’s self-defense. Do we have to wait for the worst to happen in a major U.S. city before we take action?
Q & A: Who said the following: “We Americans have every right to be bitterly angry against the terrorists. But we also must go one step beyond our anger, for when something goes terribly wrong in an individual’s life or even in the life of a nation; it is time for introspection. We must courageously ask ourselves what we might have done that has made us vulnerable to such ferocious attacks. That kind of thinking sometimes takes courage.” Edward Said? Susan Sontag? Alice Walker? Nah. It’s our old friend, David Duke. And who says there isn’t a political realignment?
LETTERS: From a former attack pilot on bomb-messages, white-washing Islam, nasty atheists, etc.
RUDY’S GOOD CALL: Rudy Giuliani’s disgusted return of Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal blood money donation to New York City is another sign of his sanity. It’s clearer than ever that the extremist Wahhabist form of Islam that fuels Osama bin Laden’s terror has been aided, abetted, and appeased by the Saudis for years. They haven’t given us their bases; they haven’t shut down bin Laden’s finances; the prince even voiced a belief that the United States played a part in inviting the attacks. The Saudis’ only purpose right now is to prevent Wahhabist forces taking over their satrapy completely and providing a fig-leaf for further U.S. action. Why we need to suck up to them beyond that defeats me. They are a central part of this problem, and they refuse to be an active part of the solution. In fact, a firm sign of our seriousness might help bring about a better outcome in the succession struggle now underway in the Saudi royal family. A further sign of Rudy’s justified outrage is the response of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. McKinney sucks up to bin Talal by criticizing Israel and then not-so-subtly makes a pitch for some of the money for her own causes. McKinney watchers have known her to be biased against Jews for years, but this piece of opportunism is breath-taking even for her.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“DOC HOLLIDAY: What do you want, Wyatt?
WYATT EARP: Just to live a normal life.
DOC HOLLIDAY: There is no normal life, there’s just life.”
– Kevin Jarre, Screenplay for “Tombstone” (1993).
KUMBAYA WATCH: The Unitarian Universalists have managed to put together a war aim: write to Barbara Lee to tell her how much you support her. I prefer the peacenik approach outlined in this amusing web-cartoon (be aware you need a macromedia plug-in).
FAGS AND ATHEISTS: Some of you have taken issue with my statement that I trust an atheist more than a religious fundamentalist in matters of politics. I should have been clearer that I meant this in the context of American domestic politics at this particular time. Stalin wasn’t a nice fellow and he sure was an atheist. Point taken. As for writing “fags” on missiles, I’m aware that this kind of bravado is not exactly absent among the manly culture beloved of Peggy Noonan et al. If it didn’t also lead to the murder of American soldiers in their beds, and the vicious waste of resources of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” I’d be less squeamish. And I’m not reassured by the notion that “fags” doesn’t simply refer to homosexuals but to any low-lifes. Stand in a gay man’s shoes for a second and you’ll see why. In the last resort, it’s hardly good propaganda to photograph this obscenity and send it around the world. Not exactly on message. I might also point out that no-one’s tougher on fags than the people we’re attacking. And part of the reason we’re attacking is a defense of freedom which includes a defense of the freedom of sexual minorities. The military’s message is about as appropriate as a bomb dropped on Berlin during the Second World War with, “Screw You, Kikes,” written on it.
The Dish 