Letter Never Sent

The Bush regime would like to bring Russia back in line to support its Iraq resolution in the UN. Israel is, as Noam Chomsky puts it, “an offshore US military base”. I’d imagine the US would now not only be silent if Russia wanted to level Chechnya, but they’re probably now eager to lend a helping hand with the bloody business.

Israel’s outstretched hand: Israel: Chechen Terrorists Linked To Al Qaeda:

How convenient.

Chechen rebels holding hundreds of hostages in a Moscow theater, including Americans and other foreigners, may have links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network of Osama bin Laden, an Israeli expert said here on Thursday, as Israel offered its assistance to Russia. …

There is a feeling that the two countries are opposing the same kind of Islamic terrorism,” Hoffman said in a telephone interview. “This will strengthen those ties.”

I’m guessing the US will attack Iraq at all costs. If the Bush regime loses momentum it’ll be even harder to justify an Iraq attack in the future. Bush says military preparing for Iraq attack

The Russians are having their ugly war brought home to them. It will be hard for the Russian people to pretend like nothing is going on as long as they are vulnerable. That is the threat of terrorism to large states and absolutist governments, and that is why our government in particular is trying to root out armed resistance by guerrilla and terrorist groups. How long could the US kill Colombians, Iraqis, Iranians, Afghans, Somalis if they had to worry about attacks on Americans? Americans must be kept shielded from the brutality waged by American foreign policy. The same goes for other large governments around the globe. The Chinese have their rebel Uighur. The Russians have their Chechens.

…the ‘War’ gets delayed.

U.S. May Have To Slow Gulf Forces Buildup:

Senior defense officials said yesterday they knew of no decision yet to halt this flow. But they said military planners were considering ways of adjusting it to accommodate a new round of U.N. weapons inspections that may begin later and last longer than once envisioned.

“It’s fair to say there’s some recalibration going on,” one senior defense official said.

I thought this next little bit showed how desperate the Bush administration has become to justify this ridiculous war.

“For the sake of peace at home, for the sake of peace in the Middle East, for the sake of determining whether or not that international body is going to be the League of Nations or the United Nations, Saddam Hussein must disarm, and we expect you, the world, to disarm him,” Bush said, referring to the Iraqi president.

“But my fellow Americans, if they won’t act, and if Saddam Hussein won’t act, for the sake of peace, for the sake of our security, we will lead a coalition to disarm that man,” Bush added.

He sounds so pathetic. The coalition is a coalition of the US and its toadies. Nothing more. And ‘disarming’ is the effective deposal of the government (no matter how authoritarian) and the seizure of the natural resources of an entire people.

Military using its promotional arms in theaters:

Aware that Americans’ perception of war gets fuzzier with each generation, the Marines and Navy have joined forces for the first time to produce a polished four-minute, 48-second movie trailer full of Hollywood-style scenes and sound bites from the war on terrorism.

Until the trailer debuted last month at theaters in Southern California, New York and Denver, moviegoers had not seen a rah-rah military booster film since World War II.

“Enduring Freedom: The Opening Chapter” cost the military $1.2 million to make. The high-quality mini-movie is designed to bolster civilian support for the armed forces.

Onward Christian soldiers. What took you so long? Dissent is coming from all quarters – even in Bush’s own church:

But the most dramatic intervention comes from President George Bush’s own United Methodist church which launched a scathing attack on his plans for war.

Jim Winkler, responsible for the application of the church’s teachings to social policy, said war against Iraq was ‘without any justification according to the teachings of Christ’.

After careful study of Christian doctrinal writings on Just War, Winkler said he was ‘told flatly’ by the church’s scholars, ‘that they simply did not apply to this situation’.

Winkler said ‘we keep the lines of communication open’ to the White House, but added: ‘I regret that the lines have been one way. I hope and pray that the President has considered the church’s teachings.’

Winkler’s sentiments have an impact beyond the usual circles of dissent in a church-going society that, for the most part, supports Bush.

Related:

I wonder what will happen with this. If the Kurds try to broaden their power what will Turkey or Iran do? Is the US giving secret support to the Kurds so as not to arouse the ire of Turkey? Or, are the Kurds trying to help Hussein by trying to alter the playing field? Things like this are not expressed publicly without reason.

WASHINGTON – Iraqi Kurdish military commander Hamid Efendi said yesterday that his forces would try to capture nearby oil-rich areas if the United States strikes at Saddam Hussein’s regime.

The Kurdish goal of extending their authority to the prized oil fields around the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul – outside the Western-protected Kurdish enclave – carries military and political risks that could trouble Pentagon planners.

Iraqi Kurdish fighters could face direct combat with the more powerful Iraqi forces and open a new front that might divert attention from the goal of toppling Hussein. It would also enrage neighboring Turkey, which controls crucial trade routes for the landlocked Iraqi Kurds.

The Sniper Problem…An illustration that law-enforcement is not all powerful. This is very bad for the government. They can’t have ordinary Americans being shown day after day that the government is impotent to stop a determined murderer. Another potential problem is the possibility that this sniper could have been someone trained in the US Military. That would be a huge embarrassment to the Bush administration and to the military junta that runs this country.

The threat of continuing embarrassment and the attention of this series of shootings has prompted the Pentagon to approve the deployment of military surveillance to help find the sniper. Maybe also so if it is a member of the military they can take him out on their own? Something is fishy about this. Also, not to mention that this violates the spirit of the Posse Commitatus Act despite assertions to the contrary:

Authorities had considered using a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle but decided to have military pilots fly reconnaissance, a defense official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. A main objective is to improve communication among investigators.
The help will be provided in a way meant to comply with the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 law that bans the military from domestic law enforcement. That means the military will relay data to law enforcement officials and will not decide on its own what targets to watch, the official said.
The Pentagon’s participation also could involve a system of sensors that could detect flashes of gunfire on the ground, the official said.

Related:

I’ve been thinking about why anonymous administration officials would mention this obviously crazy plan at length. Is this some message to Iraq to somehow give the impression that the US is tougher than it really is? I mean, this plan is just arrogant to the extreme. It would drive the mideast into a roiling pit of craziness. The whole region would be destabilized by American occupation. Not to mention the domestic effect. I can’t believe that this is a serious plan. It has to have some propaganda purposes which are not expressed outright. Is it to diminish the effect of what the US might really do if they overthrow Hussein? Is it to scare Iraqi generals? Is it to give the impression of greater strength? Is it to galvanize players in the Mideast? Is it some sort of signal of the impending war? Is it an attempt to isolate the rest of the world especially Japan and Germany? Or, could it be something else…maybe an attempt by government officials opposed to the invasion to somehow plant this story to stir up opposition to the pro-invasion cabal? There is something else to this. It is too huge to be otherwise. I can’t believe they would naively admit to something like this without some other purpose.