The Flashlight, July 7-14, 2007
THE FLASHLIGHT, July 7-14, 2007
[Editorial Note. Az-Zaman, founded in 1997, is owned and edited by a wealthy Iraqi, Saad al-Bazzaz, who is based in London. He employs a team of outstanding writers. This is the best-known Baghdad daily paper.]
Iraq
NYTimes 7-13, Lead editorial. The Bush Administration, refusing to acknowledge failure, is twisting the facts about the situation in Iraq. Eight months ago CIA Director Michael Hayden said the situation was hopeless, and it still is.
As in the case of the Viet Nam War, the US has no effective government partner there that it can back. Nor is there an Iraqi military that can act independently of US troops.
New intelligence shows that al-Qaida has rebuilt itself and is fortified in a safe haven in Pakistan.
George Bush is dangerously delusional and delaying any change in policy.
` Az-Zaman, 7-10. Since 2003, five hundred Iraqi scientists have been killed. They came from all ethnic groups. A total of 17,000 scientists, doctors, and other professionals have left Iraq.
CNN, 7-8. Madeline Albright says the political bottom is falling out in Iraq, and it has become a failed state. A three-way division of the country is likely between Sunni, Shia, and the Kurds. Iran has been greatly strengthened by this US disaster.
CNN 7-9. It is reported that Iraqi politicians are telling civilians to arm themselves. The Maliki government is on the brink of collapse.
CNN 7-10. Michael Ware in Baghdad said that no reduction in the militias is possible, since they constitute the basis of political power, such as it is. PBS. 7out of 10 Americans want the troops out Iraq by April, 2008. The Democrats in Congress propose bills to do just that. But not enough Republicans have joined them yet to pass the bills.
US News
Origins of the Iraq War
New York Review of Books. 7-19. Thomas Powers, “What Tenet Knew.” Tenet claims that the false report issued by the CIA on the presence of WMD in Iraq was not an “honest error” as he claims. The report disguised shaky sources, minimized doubts, excluded alternative explanations, and exaggerated the significance of trivia.
As a result, Colin Powell’s famous speech to the UN asking for support for the Iraq War was based on a pile of falsehoods. There were no aluminum tubes for nuclear weapons, no yellowcake uranium from Niger, and no connections between al-Qaida and Saddam. There were no weapons of mass destruction at all in Iraq.
Michael Moore’s Sicko
This effective documentary has received mostly good reviews. [I have seen it and recommend it. It compares well with Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. ]
Retired Bush Surgeon General Speaks Out
PBS 7-10. Dr. Richard Carmona said that the Bush administration marginalized him. They refused to listen to his scientific advice on birth control and stem-cell research, saying that the policy had already been decided upon. They tried to make Dr. Carmon a propagandist for positions in which he did not believe.
Egypt
The Economist, 7-7. Female genital mutilation (surgical removal of the clitoris), usually performed on twelve-year olds to “purify” them and make them more eligible for marriage, has now been banned by the government with the support of Muslim and Christian clergy.
The Arctic
Guardian 7-11. Now that global warming has opened a slender Northwest Passage across the far north of North America briefly in the summer, there is growing competition for positions and resources there. Canada, the US, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland are active competitors. The area may be rich in oil, gas, diamonds, silver, copper, zinc, and fish stocks.
International Progress
CNN 7-11. Japan Airlines (JAL) has installed combination toilets/bidets on its liners, in order “refresh the parts that other airlines cannot reach.” [A sneaky trick to crush the competition.]
[Editorial Note. Az-Zaman, founded in 1997, is owned and edited by a wealthy Iraqi, Saad al-Bazzaz, who is based in London. He employs a team of outstanding writers. This is the best-known Baghdad daily paper.]
Iraq
NYTimes 7-13, Lead editorial. The Bush Administration, refusing to acknowledge failure, is twisting the facts about the situation in Iraq. Eight months ago CIA Director Michael Hayden said the situation was hopeless, and it still is.
As in the case of the Viet Nam War, the US has no effective government partner there that it can back. Nor is there an Iraqi military that can act independently of US troops.
New intelligence shows that al-Qaida has rebuilt itself and is fortified in a safe haven in Pakistan.
George Bush is dangerously delusional and delaying any change in policy.
` Az-Zaman, 7-10. Since 2003, five hundred Iraqi scientists have been killed. They came from all ethnic groups. A total of 17,000 scientists, doctors, and other professionals have left Iraq.
CNN, 7-8. Madeline Albright says the political bottom is falling out in Iraq, and it has become a failed state. A three-way division of the country is likely between Sunni, Shia, and the Kurds. Iran has been greatly strengthened by this US disaster.
CNN 7-9. It is reported that Iraqi politicians are telling civilians to arm themselves. The Maliki government is on the brink of collapse.
CNN 7-10. Michael Ware in Baghdad said that no reduction in the militias is possible, since they constitute the basis of political power, such as it is. PBS. 7out of 10 Americans want the troops out Iraq by April, 2008. The Democrats in Congress propose bills to do just that. But not enough Republicans have joined them yet to pass the bills.
US News
Origins of the Iraq War
New York Review of Books. 7-19. Thomas Powers, “What Tenet Knew.” Tenet claims that the false report issued by the CIA on the presence of WMD in Iraq was not an “honest error” as he claims. The report disguised shaky sources, minimized doubts, excluded alternative explanations, and exaggerated the significance of trivia.
As a result, Colin Powell’s famous speech to the UN asking for support for the Iraq War was based on a pile of falsehoods. There were no aluminum tubes for nuclear weapons, no yellowcake uranium from Niger, and no connections between al-Qaida and Saddam. There were no weapons of mass destruction at all in Iraq.
Michael Moore’s Sicko
This effective documentary has received mostly good reviews. [I have seen it and recommend it. It compares well with Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. ]
Retired Bush Surgeon General Speaks Out
PBS 7-10. Dr. Richard Carmona said that the Bush administration marginalized him. They refused to listen to his scientific advice on birth control and stem-cell research, saying that the policy had already been decided upon. They tried to make Dr. Carmon a propagandist for positions in which he did not believe.
Egypt
The Economist, 7-7. Female genital mutilation (surgical removal of the clitoris), usually performed on twelve-year olds to “purify” them and make them more eligible for marriage, has now been banned by the government with the support of Muslim and Christian clergy.
The Arctic
Guardian 7-11. Now that global warming has opened a slender Northwest Passage across the far north of North America briefly in the summer, there is growing competition for positions and resources there. Canada, the US, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland are active competitors. The area may be rich in oil, gas, diamonds, silver, copper, zinc, and fish stocks.
International Progress
CNN 7-11. Japan Airlines (JAL) has installed combination toilets/bidets on its liners, in order “refresh the parts that other airlines cannot reach.” [A sneaky trick to crush the competition.]
posted by THE FLASHLIGHT at 10:01 AM
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