Friedman Aaaarggggg last

To the Editor:

Re "Awaking to a Dream" (Op-Ed. March 28)

I want to wake up and read that Thomas Friedman realizes that freezing settlements will not solve the Israel/Palestine issue. That these settlements are illegal and must be dismantled. That 37 years of occupation may be part of the problem. That the killing of unarmed Palestinians, including more than 500 children, by the IDF is every bit as terrible as the suicide bombing.

I want to wake up and read that Thomas Friedman gets his information somewhere other than from the AOL news page. That he has read the excellent piece by Gideon Levy in today's Haaretz, "A sudden concern for the Palestinian child", who reminds us: "But Israelis have no moral right to criticize the Palestinians for their cruelty toward children; we are no less cruel."

Thomas Friedman Celebrates his ignorance: "I have a confession to make: I am the foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times and I didn't listen to one second of the 9/11 hearings and I didn't read one story in the paper about them. Not one second. Not one story.
Lord knows, it's not out of indifference to 9/11. It's because I made up my mind about that event a long time ago: It was not a failure of intelligence, it was a failure of imagination. "

Bush's Iraq WMDs joke backfires: "At a black-tie dinner for journalists, Mr Bush narrated a slide show poking fun at himself and other members of his administration.
One pictured Mr Bush looking under a piece of furniture in the Oval Office, at which the president remarked: 'Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be here somewhere.'
After another one, showing him scouring the corner of a room, Mr Bush said: 'No, no weapons over there,' he said.
And as a third picture, this time showing him leaning over, appeared on the screen the president was heard to say: 'Maybe under here?' "

HehHehHeh. What a fucking moron.

washingtonpost.com: Memoir Criticizes Bush 9/11 Response: "'It was as if Osama bin Laden, hidden in some high mountain redoubt, were engaging in long-range mind control of George Bush, chanting 'invade Iraq, you must invade Iraq,' ' Clarke writes."

Other 'classics' include:

'Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, Clarke wrote, scowled and asked, "why we are beginning by talking about this one man, bin Laden." When Clarke told him no foe but al Qaeda "poses an immediate and serious threat to the United States," Wolfowitz is said to have replied that Iraqi terrorism posed "at least as much" of a danger. FBI and CIA representatives backed Clarke in saying they had no such evidence.'

'In discussions of military strikes, "Secretary Rumsfeld complained that there were no decent targets for bombing in Afghanistan" -- where al Qaeda was based under protection of the Taliban -- "and that we should consider bombing Iraq."'

Friedman Aaaarggggg last

To the Editor:

Re "Axis of Appeasement" (column, March 18):

The Bush administration justified its attack on Iraq by claiming that Iraq had WMD, was an imminent threat to the West and had links to Al Qaeda. The Spanish public, like that of most of Europe and unlike that of the US, did not believe this, some 90% being against the war. They believed that unprovoked aggression against Iraq would lead to a increased hostility to the US. The Spanish public were right and exercised their democratic right to rid themselves of a government that ignored their views. The Spanish have been fighting terrorism for a long time, and will doubtless continue to do so, but recognize that this fight does not involve attacking and occupying countries which are not related to this terrorism. Most people in the world do not see the US as a benevolent force for good in the world, fighting 'radical evil' and bringing democracy to Iraq. They see a lone superpower using brute force wherever it wants to further its interests. A democratic populace can not condone 'nation-building' imposed at gunpoint. The new Spanish government is respecting both Spanish and Iraqi public opinion in calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops as soon as an Iraqi government is in place.

Aljazeera.Net: "Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski says Warsaw has been 'taken for a ride' about Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. "

The Guardian: 'Referring to prewar Western intelligence assessments of Saddam's arsenal, he told a news conference: ``From the information that we have, the word 'misled' seems to me the right word. This is the problem of the United States, of Britain and also of many other nations.''

``We were informed that weapons of mass destruction are in Iraq, that there is a probability of the existence of such weapons,'' he said. ``Today, this information is not confirmed.'' '

And, ending on a note of comedy The Boston Globe reports:
As he walked the meal line here, Bush brushed off a reporter's question about Kwasnieski's comments. ''I'm here to eat dinner,'' the president said, shaking his head.

US boosts Pakistan military ties: "The US Secretary of State Colin Powell says Washington will elevate its military ties with Pakistan, making it a major ally outside of Nato. "

This is the Pakistan that has served as a noocular bazar (as Miserable Failure would say.)

Powell seems to be schizophrenic:
NEW DELHI, India: Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday he will ask Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf this week whether Pakistani officials aided rogue scientist A. Q. Khan in leaking nuclear weapons technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Al-Quaida endorses Bush: "The email offering a truce, sent to the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade, also endorsed George Bush's election campaign. 'We are very keen that Bush does not lose the upcoming elections,' it said.
'We know that a heavyweight operation would destroy your government, and this is what we don't want. We are not going to find a bigger idiot than you.'"

Spain may withdraw Iraq troops. The new prime minister of Spain says: "The war in Iraq was a disaster, the occupation of Iraq is a disaster...
Wars such as those which have occurred in Iraq only allow hatred, violence and terror to proliferate"

Another great quote from the BBC:
"Mr Blair and Mr Bush must do some reflection and self-criticism. You can't bomb a people, you can't organise a war with lies"

More great quotes in another BBC article.

US sends special forces into north Africa: "States previously shunned by the international community, such as Algeria, are being provided with arms and military training and may become a cornerstone of US military interests in the region. 'We are interested in being able to land at bases in Algeria with our aircraft, or train together,' Gen Wald said. 'We think we have a lot to learn from the Algerians.' "

We have a lot to learn from Algeria? Like what? How to respond to election wins of the oposition?

ends Arab worker 'marking': I'm confused. What's the problem? Surely this economises on amunition?

"Israeli security officials have been told to stop making Arab construction workers at the Knesset wear distinctive identifying marks on their hard hats.
Israeli parliamentary speaker Reuven Rivlin, ordered an end to the controversial policy.

The Arab builders had been made to wear helmets with red crosses on top so they were identifiable to marksmen guarding parliament, the daily Maariv reported."

Kerry on Israel/Palestine:
2004.02.27: We have seen what happens when Palestinian youth have been fed a diet of anti-Israel propaganda.
2004.02.27: Israel's security fence is a legitimate act of self defense...
The fence only exists in response to the wave of terror attacks against Israel.

A new broom indeed. ..