Believing that the US will win this war may well be believing in
Anglo-American war propaganda. (I assume people understand that
propaganda is the art of telling lies, otherwise known as public
relations, as I was taught to do it.) The first article below from the
New Yorker details some of the fuck-ups which are happening in the US
administration. It is worth reading in full. Also, a Fisk article,
reporting from Baghdad, which seems to counter if not destroy Henry's
and Frederick's arguments that the war is justified to overthrow the
Iraqi government.
best
Chris Jones.
OFFENSE AND DEFENSE
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
The battle between Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon.
(http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030407fa_fact1)
“It’s a stalemate now,” the former intelligence official told me. “It’s
going to remain one only if we can maintain our supply lines. The
carriers are going to run out of jdams”—the satellite-guided bombs that
have been striking targets in Baghdad and elsewhere with extraordinary
accuracy. Much of the supply of Tomahawk guided missiles has been
expended. “The Marines are worried as hell,” the former intelligence
official went on. “They’re all committed, with no reserves, and they’ve
never run the lavs”—light armored vehicles—“as long and as hard” as they
have in Iraq. There are serious maintenance problems as well. “The only
hope is that they can hold out until reinforcements come.”
THE MONSTER OF BAGHDAD IS NOW THE HERO OF ARABIA
This is now a nationalist war against the most obvious kind of
imperial power
By Robert Fisk
[The Independent - UK - 01 April 2003]:
{excerpt of concluding par; cj]
Yet there is one achievement we should note. The ghastly Saddam, the
most revolting dictator in the Arab world, who does indeed use heinous
torture and has indeed used gas, is now leading a country that is
fighting the world's only superpower and that has done so for almost two
weeks without surrendering. Yes, General Tommy Franks has accomplished
one "truly remarkable achievement''. He has turned the monster of
Baghdad into the hero of the Arab world and allowed Iraqis to teach
every opponent of America how to fight their enemy.
|