Sorry about my usual paucity of postings, but I can plead that I have been active locally on the anti - rail front. I have been busy both at work and on my off time.
The news came through the other day that two of America's top Generals, Gen. John Abizaid and Peter Pace (Chairman of the Joint Chief's of Staff), testified that it was quite possible for Iraq to slide into civil war. Well, all I can say is that yours truly said on April 30, 2004 that perhaps the Arabs should be allowed to slug it out amongst themselves and let a new political reality emerge. This echoes Britain's outgoing ambassador to Iraq who told British Prime Minister Tony Blair that a defacto partition of Iraq was more likely than a transition to democracy.
It's pretty sad when I wrote this 28 months ago, but that the political classes - as heavily educated as they are - could not bring themselves to state this after all that taxpayer money and lives were spent in pursuit of imposing democracy from afar.
But the real "surprise" over the past few weeks has been the outbreak of war between an inflamed and rejuvenated Hezbollah and the state of Israel. If nothing else has been driven home by this conflict, then the generally unattentative world at large now knows that:
1) How small physically the State of Israel is. Israel is on a small strip of land. The news that Hezbollah has been firing rockets far into the country has been - I would submit - a real shocker to many, not the least the Israelis.
2) The fact that Hezbollah has been able to fire missiles dozens of miles into Israeli territory raises questions along the line of a) how did they get ahold of such weapons? and b) how did they get the funding to buy such weapons? The usual suspects in the matter are Syria and Iran.
Still, I have written before that this is nothing for the U.S. to get worried about. After all, it is Israel that is being attacked, not the United States. But oh those interest groups and moralists...
Politics, sigh...what a joy.
Posted by The Mighty Wizard at August 6, 2006 12:37 AM