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03/31/2003 Archived Entry: ""

On the Political Front:

Flipper is back after 2 days AWOL! On a more serious note...a review of military events of the weekend. And the featured link of the day: Reporters Without Borders.

Of necessity, I must blog lightly today.

In the wee hours of the morning, MSNBC announced that the bombing of Baghdad had knocked Iraqi state TV off the air. This was a prospect that Reporters Without Borders strongly condemned as a violation of the Geneva Convention, saying, "Military bombing must be limited to strictly military targets. The Americans cite the Geneva Conventions when it comes to pictures of US prisoners of war in Iraq but then immediately forget them when they bomb a TV building which is civil property and therefore protected under those conventions. "

The media is all abuzz and outraged over Peter Arnett's interview on Iraqi TV in which he made such statements as, "The first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they are trying to write another war plan. Clearly, the American war planners misjudged the determination of the Iraqi forces." How did the man do anything but state the obvious?

And on the theme of US having to change strategy midstream, here's an interesting prediction from nowarblog. "Here's my next prediction: when a scapegoat is needed by Bush & Co, Rumsfeld will be the first to be thrown to the dogs. Already you hear the whispers about how the war plan was his idea with all its shortcomings. The military brass hate him, State hates him, Blair hates him. When things go bad, the one with the most enemies is the first to be sacrificed. Cheney, on the other hand, is the President's mentor, and Powell is the honest front man to rally the people behind the administration. So again, Rumsfeld is the expendable one."

As a final thought: Charley Reese is becoming one of my "must read" columnists, one of the conservative voices that have been surprisingly solid on the war. His latest is entitled "Support Troops, Not Politicians."

Best to all,
mac