The US Army's Errand-Boy?

Is that what the police are in Canada under Harper now? Given how bad the situation in Iraq is, can the desire to desert the US Army be anything other than an act of clarity and sanity? Why would Canada be in any particular hurry to round up deserters?

I think deep down, no matter what he says now with the advantage of hindsight, Harper wanted us in Iraq. Not because it was a moral or wise place to send our troops - we can now see that this war was neither moral nor wise - but because Harper's foreign policy priority is to keep Washington happy. Since Harper could not send in troops now without his government falling in a matter of weeks and being reduced to a rump in a subsequent election, he will do everything to provide aid and comfort to those in the US government - let's call them dead-enders - who want to stay in Iraq.

Canada cannot, in Harper's mind, be a haven for deserters - much less a platform from which they may critique their political masters.

More on Cherniak's War

Erik Abbink has a great post on the topic breaking down the rhetoric used in the original. Erik (like me but with better articulation) is aghast that Jason seems to be looking for a war.

The Canadian Observer suggests that Jason sign-up for such a reprisal on Iran himself. This is perhaps a bridge too far. Like I said in my prior post, I'm not sure how bellicose Jason is being here. He hasn't posted any clarification, so let's give him at least some benefit of the doubt. Besides, there are plenty of others who should strap on boots ahead of Cherniak, Ezra Levant, I'm looking at your sorry ass.

The War and Conservatism in the US

It appears that launching an illegal war with no exit strategy tends to be a drag on the rest of your platform. Small "c" conservative views on a whole range of subjects are now profoundly unpopular among the under-25 set.

Of course this forces us to ask the question, if the Iraq war had gone swimmingly, would gay marriage now be less popular in the US?

People tend to sign up for a political party or activist group because they believe strongly in one or two things. The might be ardent about abortion rights, lower taxes, health care, affordable housing, a strong military, family values - anything. What happens though, is that once someone buys into a party because of their stance on one issue, they tend to adopt that party's stances on a variety of issues.

People who were driven from the Republican party by this administration and its war, may now question the entire GOP platform.
Picture: Could the preserved head of Nixon save the GOP?

Just wondering...

Is this what happened to this money?

What would you do with US$2300?

That's what the Iraq & Afghanistan conflicts will have cost every single American by 2008. The rest of Eric Margolis' column basically documents how badly that money was spent. I have to admit that I skimmed, because it's just too depressing to read in detail. Considering that things are going so badly in Iraq, maybe Bush would have been better off just lighting cigars with $1000 bills or something.

More Embarrassing Quotes

Juan Cole has another zinger from one of the Iraq war architects, Douglas Feith as he conversed with an unnamed State Dept. Official:

State Dept. Official: "Doug, after the smoke clears, what is the plan?"
Feith: "Think of Iraq as being like a computer. And think of Saddam as like a processor. We just take out the old processor, and put in a new one--Chalabi."
State Dept. Official: "Put in a new processor?"
Feith: "Yes! It will all be over in 6 weeks."
State Dept. Official: "You mean six months."
Feith: "No, six weeks. You'll see."
State Dept. Official: "Doug."
Feith: "Yes?"
State Dept. Official: "You're smoking crack, Doug."
Feith: "Oh, so you're disloyal to the President, are you?"

This is pathological, this is beyond optimism, this is beyond wishful thinking. Feith was (is?) in some completely other dimension. He thought that he could pull off this whole thing in six weeks?! Most mail-order places tell you to allow four to six weeks for shipping. The other striking feature about this was that Feith seems utterly unconcerned with this whole democracy in the Middle East thing - just replace on thug with another - it's nice to know that freedom was just a marketing thing. I feel sick for every soldier sent to Iraq, for everyone living there.