GEORGE AND HUGO
When our President spoke at the U. N. he was met with polite indifference. Who needs a lecture on justice and the rule of law from a lawless torturer? (O. K., what international law does he recognize and honor?) The standing ovation for Hugo Chavez said it all! Apart from H.'s "devil" bit, which was silly and out of line, his remarks about U. S. policy reflected the opinions not only of most Latin Americans, but most of the Muslim world as well.
The spurious charge by some of our pundits that "he hates the U. S." is not an argument: it's just a lie. Chavez (and Ahmadinejad, for that matter) expressed his affection for the American people. It is some of our government's policies that he (and many Americans) find odious. 60% of us now oppose the Iraq war (that number is due to rise shortly). Chavez understands that our people and our policies are separate and distinct entities. Why can't Fox News understand that?
Chavez backed his argument with a formidable authority when he held up one of my favorite books: Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky. "Judged in terms of the power, range, novelty, and influence of his thought, Noam Chomsky is arguably the most important intellectual alive." ---The New York Times Chomsky's books are as jam-packed with documented facts as the auditoriums are whenever and wherever he speaks. You can't quarrel with his facts (which are often unflattering to current policies). His interpretations of the facts are, of course, debatable, and I sometimes disagree with him (usually not.) "Chomsky . . . is a major scholarly resource. Not to have read [him] is to court ignorance." ---The Nation One of the major plusses from Chavez's speech was the resulting boost in sales of Chomsky's book. It immed. shot to #1 in Amazon sales. It's a message that needs to be pondered and discussed in every coffee shop, bar, church, and legislative body in this country.
TURNING TO OTHER MATTERS:
In August U. S. forces shifted 10,000 troops from Anbar province (which they have given up on politically) to address the mounting sectarian violence in Baghdad. At the end of the month our military announced a 52% drop in the murder rate there, and we all felt encouraged. That is until the Iraqi Health Ministry released its figures for August, showing 1,536 violent deaths in the Baghdad area, about the same as the previous month. It turns out that our folks got their favorable numbers by simply omitting deaths by mortars, rockets, bombs and suicide attacks.
The latter aren't considered murder, I guess. Are they just "collateral damage"?
DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU!
The Iraqi public want us out of there ASAP, according to a new poll that shows 65% of those asked favor immediate withdrawal of U. S. troops, while 71% want us out within a year. But 77% think we won't leave, no matter what they say, that we intend to hold permanent bases there.
While our government has repeatedly said it "has no plans" to remain in Iraq, it is building very expensive permanent bases there, and steadfastly refuses to state categorically that it will leave.
Of course it has no plans. That's been the story all along. It had no plans to deal with looting, the insurgency, sectarian violence, you name it! Anyway, we've bungled so badly for so long, they just want us out. They understand better than anyone else the consequences of that. Let's
see if their majority will is honored or ignored.
What's your guess? jgoodwin004@centurytel.net
When our President spoke at the U. N. he was met with polite indifference. Who needs a lecture on justice and the rule of law from a lawless torturer? (O. K., what international law does he recognize and honor?) The standing ovation for Hugo Chavez said it all! Apart from H.'s "devil" bit, which was silly and out of line, his remarks about U. S. policy reflected the opinions not only of most Latin Americans, but most of the Muslim world as well.
The spurious charge by some of our pundits that "he hates the U. S." is not an argument: it's just a lie. Chavez (and Ahmadinejad, for that matter) expressed his affection for the American people. It is some of our government's policies that he (and many Americans) find odious. 60% of us now oppose the Iraq war (that number is due to rise shortly). Chavez understands that our people and our policies are separate and distinct entities. Why can't Fox News understand that?
Chavez backed his argument with a formidable authority when he held up one of my favorite books: Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky. "Judged in terms of the power, range, novelty, and influence of his thought, Noam Chomsky is arguably the most important intellectual alive." ---The New York Times Chomsky's books are as jam-packed with documented facts as the auditoriums are whenever and wherever he speaks. You can't quarrel with his facts (which are often unflattering to current policies). His interpretations of the facts are, of course, debatable, and I sometimes disagree with him (usually not.) "Chomsky . . . is a major scholarly resource. Not to have read [him] is to court ignorance." ---The Nation One of the major plusses from Chavez's speech was the resulting boost in sales of Chomsky's book. It immed. shot to #1 in Amazon sales. It's a message that needs to be pondered and discussed in every coffee shop, bar, church, and legislative body in this country.
TURNING TO OTHER MATTERS:
In August U. S. forces shifted 10,000 troops from Anbar province (which they have given up on politically) to address the mounting sectarian violence in Baghdad. At the end of the month our military announced a 52% drop in the murder rate there, and we all felt encouraged. That is until the Iraqi Health Ministry released its figures for August, showing 1,536 violent deaths in the Baghdad area, about the same as the previous month. It turns out that our folks got their favorable numbers by simply omitting deaths by mortars, rockets, bombs and suicide attacks.
The latter aren't considered murder, I guess. Are they just "collateral damage"?
DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU!
The Iraqi public want us out of there ASAP, according to a new poll that shows 65% of those asked favor immediate withdrawal of U. S. troops, while 71% want us out within a year. But 77% think we won't leave, no matter what they say, that we intend to hold permanent bases there.
While our government has repeatedly said it "has no plans" to remain in Iraq, it is building very expensive permanent bases there, and steadfastly refuses to state categorically that it will leave.
Of course it has no plans. That's been the story all along. It had no plans to deal with looting, the insurgency, sectarian violence, you name it! Anyway, we've bungled so badly for so long, they just want us out. They understand better than anyone else the consequences of that. Let's
see if their majority will is honored or ignored.
What's your guess? jgoodwin004@centurytel.net
posted by John Goodwin at
10:09 AM
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