Thursday 30 August 2007

Bush is Insane

"The United States is rallying friends and allies to isolate Iran's regime and
to impose economic sanctions," Bush told veterans at the American Legion annual
convention. "We will confront this danger before it is too late."
(1)

Bloody Hell. I'm stunned. And frightened. Is he really so crazy that he is going to do it? And who are these friends? Surely, by now, there is no-one left stupid enough to enlist in another Bush military adventure? Does "too late" mean "before everything goes to custard"? In which case, it is already too late. Iraq is doomed to a painful, bloody death. Or does it mean "before the end of my term"? Or does "too late" mean "before I get dragged out of office in a strait-jacket"? Because, based on this, I'm not sure Bush will actually make it to the end of his term.

I wish people like George Bush would remember that "this danger" is made up of lots of people, most of whom aren't too hostil to the United States or the west, and would much prefer to be left alone to get on with their lives. Any effort to "Confront this danger" will mean a lot of these lives being lost.

Bush's adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq have been failures. He has not caught Bin Laden. There is now probably more hostility towards the USA than there was before the invasion of Iraq. In her book, Seds of terror, CNN journalist Maria Ressa quoted statistics from the Pew Foundation, showing how the feelings of Indonesians towards the USA had changed:

In 2000, 75% of Indonesians said they had a favourable opinion of the United States. In 2003, 83% have an unfavourable opinion of America. (2)

That's from +75 to -83 in three years. 2003 was the year the 'Coalition of the willing' went into Iraq. One can imagine the bitterness and anger that will be caused by another invasion of an arab country, based on shoddy evidence mouthed by discredited liars.

1 - "Bush warns Iran against meddling in Iraq," by Jeremy Pelofsky, for Reuters. Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria in Washington. (http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=5985334)
2 - 'Seeds of Terror,' by Maria A. Ressa, published by Free Press, New York, 2003. The quote is from Chapter 10, 'American Missteps,' page 190 of my hardback edition.

No comments:

Unsurprising

 From the Guardian : The  Observer  understands that as well as backing away from its £28bn a year commitment on green investment (while sti...