Quote of the day:

"Can we be sure that terrorism and weapons of mass destruction will join together? Let us say one thing: If we are wrong, we will have destroyed a threat that at its least is responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering. That is something I am confident history will forgive." -Tony Blair, July 17, 2003 (Washington Post)

My my.

As S. asked when I read him this quote, "So do they think that the fact Hussein was a tyrant would have been enough to bring our countries into war?"

Obviously not.

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"Even if there were no weapons of mass destruction, we removed the tyrant from Iraq." -- Tony Blair. (spiegel.de)


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Do you remember the principal of American justice, that one is innocent until proven guilty? Bush doesn't.

QUESTION: Do you have concerns that they'll get justice, the people detained there?

BUSH: "No, the only thing I know for certain is that these are bad people.

...

QUESTION: Mr. President, do you realize that many people hearing you say that we know these are bad people in Guantanamo Bay will merely fuel their doubts that the United States regards them as innocent until proven guilty and [due] a fair, free and open trial?

BUSH: Let me just say, these were illegal combatants. They were picked up off the battlefield aiding and abetting the Taliban. I'm not trying to try them in front of your cameras or in your newspaper. (CNN)

Of course, many of the so-called 'illegal combatants' were actually picked up in Pakistan, far from any battlefield, going about their daily business. And some of the 'illegal combatants' are just 13 years old. Some 'illegal combatants' were 70 years old (who were released -- there may be others still in custody of that age).

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Heard about the suicide attempts by these illegal combatants recently? (unknownnews.com). I didn't think so.

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There is skepticism, disgust, and celebration over the deaths of Hussein's sons on a comment board(BBC). Some, especially Americans, hail their killings; others ask why they couldn't have been arrested and tried; others doubt that they are Hussein's sons at all.


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I hope I am not the only one who sees something wrong with this title: "Stocks Rise on Earns, Saddam Sons' Deaths" (Yahoo!/Reuters).

I forgot to add this summary of Darn good intelligence and the Bush Administration's many inconsistencies in defending its decision to emphasize Iraq's nuclear ambitions. (Washington Post) For those of you who haven't heard enough about those 16 words.

... senior administration officials acknowledged over the weekend that Tenet argued personally to White House officials, including deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley, that the allegation should not be used in the October speech, four months before the State of the Union address.

[I still have a hard time blaming other countries for having nuclear ambitions. I mean, WE the U.S. did, right? And every country that gets them is suddenly treated with considerably more respect from us, right? Knowing that, it's hard to take our government's many "do as we say, not as we do" lectures to other countries seriously. If the U.S. won't sign a landmine treaty or destroy its anthrax collection or stop using radioactive materials in battle, why should anyone else? (There are reasons, of course, but they fail to be as convincing as they could if the U.S. had some sort of moral authority in such matters.)]

But back on topic: Bush Aide Steven Hadley is now taking the blame for the discredited uranium assertion (Yahoo! news).

...deputy national security adviser, said he should have deleted the reference from the January speech because the CIA had asked him to remove similar language from an October speech by the president... He said he had failed to recall the CIA objections, which were included in two memos and a telephone conversation with Tenet in the days before Bush outlined his case against Iraq in an Oct. 7, 2002 speech in Cincinnati.

Hadley said the CIA memos which had been sent to him were found over the weekend. White House officials had previously said they had not been informed of CIA doubts over the claim.

How many people will the Administration offer up as sacrifice? Stay tuned!

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Dr. David Kelly, who had spoken to the BBC about the UK's case for war, was found dead on July 20th (BBC) with a slashed wrist and a package of pain killers. He had admitted to having had an 'unauthorized' conversation with the BBC, who had refused to name sources for stories that were damaging to the government.

He's the first 'fall guy' to turn up dead over the WMD issue.

Perhaps I shouldn't say first. It implies too much. Hmmm.

While the Blair government has accused the BBC of improprieties, the BBC apparently has a tape recording of Mr. Kelly making statements damaging to the Blair government (Guardian UK).

Add this to your "Why do they hate us?" file: a photo of a U.S. soldier drinking Coke and watching over Iraqi prisoners with bags tied over their heads (SFGate.

For your "Why does Turkey hate us?" file: a discussion of how the U.S. interrogated Turkish soldiers for 60 hours, which has caused a souring of relations with Turkey.(BBC)

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This is only marginally on-topic, but the special 'Land of The Free' issue of the Stranger. No, it's not about the U.S. -- "It's America's Independence Day, and to celebrate, we're dedicating this issue to the greatest, most freedom-filled nation on Earth: Canada!" The essays associated with the issue, some of which are pure humor, others opinion, point out some differences about our nations that have influenced our differing paths, including our differences over attacking Iraq.

I especially find interesting the observation that the U.S. has formed a national religion, making things such as the flag sacred, which is apparently unfathomable in Canada. They also very strictly believe in the separation between church and state, and their leaders never pray in public.

Wow.

This issue also includes articles with titles like, "Canada's Biggest Idiots Are Your Biggest Stars"