Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Ignoring The Danes & How To Make An American Quilt *
I know that Denmark is a small country, and best known for a famously indecisive Prince unable to take action against the something rotten therein, but even so, isn't it interesting to note the differences in reaction to the news on Monday that Danish troops had found mortor rounds that appeared to be "chemical, i.e., blister gass" in nature?
The Danes released the information in a straightforward manner; the possibility was "news," but one could find no hint that whatever the tests showed, it would have much relevance to arguments about American use of pre-war intelligence, especially since even if the rounds showed actual evidence of chemical residue, they would hardly count as WMDs.
In contrast, the Bush administration pretended not even to notice this new "find," in the treasure hunt for Iraqi WMD.
From David Kay's quietest leave-taking in the history of the world (will there even be an annoucement, or will Kay's public image just fade away, like old Generals, or that image of his parents in Marty's snapshots in Back To The Future), to the attempts at refiguring the reason d'etre for the war to Saddam's ties to terrorism and the pure human rights need to free the Iraqi people from Saddam's tyranny, and now this non reaction to the highly credible Danes, isn't it clear that this administration is giving up on the WMD argument?
Good move.
Anyone embarrassed yet? Not in this administration; they don't "do" embarrasement; to be fair, they do, occasionally, do feigned embarrasement, usually at the outrageous behaviors of other Americans with whom they don't agree.
Perhaps we should start another national quilt-making project, each square immortalizing either an initial headline announcing an initial "find" of evidence of Saddam's clever horading of WMD and/or the matching headline announcing the "turns out not so" followup.
Lest I be accused of "raping dead soldiers,' please note I am not suggesting any of the names be included in the quilt of the young men and women of our Armed Services who have perished, or been wounded in Iraq. Just as every war deserves its own rational, every war deserves it's own memorial, and every American quilt deserves a better creative impulse than that of a preventive war of choice in the face of other options to accomplish the same goals, (which will be the subject of a series of coming posts).
*Just wanted to mention that the book, "How To Make An American Quilt" by Whitney Otto was far superior to the movie; to those who've not yet read it, I recommend the book, to those who didn't manage to miss the movie, I offer my condolences.
The Danes released the information in a straightforward manner; the possibility was "news," but one could find no hint that whatever the tests showed, it would have much relevance to arguments about American use of pre-war intelligence, especially since even if the rounds showed actual evidence of chemical residue, they would hardly count as WMDs.
In contrast, the Bush administration pretended not even to notice this new "find," in the treasure hunt for Iraqi WMD.
From David Kay's quietest leave-taking in the history of the world (will there even be an annoucement, or will Kay's public image just fade away, like old Generals, or that image of his parents in Marty's snapshots in Back To The Future), to the attempts at refiguring the reason d'etre for the war to Saddam's ties to terrorism and the pure human rights need to free the Iraqi people from Saddam's tyranny, and now this non reaction to the highly credible Danes, isn't it clear that this administration is giving up on the WMD argument?
Good move.
Danish Tests Show Arms Found in Iraq Not Chemical
Anyone embarrassed yet? Not in this administration; they don't "do" embarrasement; to be fair, they do, occasionally, do feigned embarrasement, usually at the outrageous behaviors of other Americans with whom they don't agree.
Perhaps we should start another national quilt-making project, each square immortalizing either an initial headline announcing an initial "find" of evidence of Saddam's clever horading of WMD and/or the matching headline announcing the "turns out not so" followup.
Lest I be accused of "raping dead soldiers,' please note I am not suggesting any of the names be included in the quilt of the young men and women of our Armed Services who have perished, or been wounded in Iraq. Just as every war deserves its own rational, every war deserves it's own memorial, and every American quilt deserves a better creative impulse than that of a preventive war of choice in the face of other options to accomplish the same goals, (which will be the subject of a series of coming posts).
*Just wanted to mention that the book, "How To Make An American Quilt" by Whitney Otto was far superior to the movie; to those who've not yet read it, I recommend the book, to those who didn't manage to miss the movie, I offer my condolences.
