Stoopid Stuff

All the News that's Fit to Print

Lots of things in the news this week, running the gamut from crazy to sad. Let's take a look at the paper, shall we?

Scooter Libby Trial
Poor Scooter. Talk about taking one for the team. Oh, they're sweeping out his cell, make no mistake. The only mystery left is whether there's a deal in place to pardon him. I mean, think about it. His entire story, so ridiculous, so ham-handed, so easily refuted - and by so many different, highly credible people. He's almost acting as if he's playing it out, knowing he'll be pardoned in the end. I originally thought this was crazy talk. I was excited about the possibility that once convicted, facing lots of federal time, he could make some sort of sentencing deal and roll over on Cheney. But now, more and more, I'm coming to the realization that this entire process has been choreographed from the beginning. It's not like bush/cheney have to worry about public opinion, right? To doubt this scenario may well be to take an insufficiently cynical view of this administration.

Blair's Timeline for Withdrawal
As with many political events, I think there may be more here than meets the eye. Tony Blair still holds the prime spot on GW Bush's lap, and will continue to perform tricks when instructed to do so. But one must factor in the fact that Blair steps down as prime minister in just three months. I think it's at least reasonable that he put this timetable in place to try to prevent he successor, Gordon Brown most likely, from just bowing to intense political pressure and withdrawing all the British Troops immediately. It is, in any case, amusing that cheney says this is a sign of progress. Ok. Britain withdrawing troops is progress. America withdrawing troops is surrender. Once again, life can be good in an alternate reality.

The Iraqi Rape Crisis
It's hard to tell about these things. Not whether it happened or not. No, just read Riverbend to understand how little doubt there can actually be. But with Maliki's bizarre reaction, to label the Sunni woman a criminal and reward the Shiite Police/Rapists, one wonders if this might turn out to be a very big event, like the battle of Faluja and the bombing of the Samara Mosque. The Shi'a militias had for the most part stood down during the surge, and the Sunni insurgents were being fairly effectively impeded. Now, the prime minister himself has drawn a line in the blood. He has clearly supported sect over law, without even the slightest pretense or window dressing. The Sunnis may well now determine that they have no hope of getting a fair deal from this government, and now will simply fight to topple it. Rest assured, the Kurds are watching this decision-making process with concern. They are beginning to understand that their interests will not be well-served by this government, and the best option for them might well be secession.


Condi and The Russians
So our well-dressed but sadly ineffective Secratery of State is once again bumbling around with her international blinders on. Does she honestly believe that you cannot have interests that do not coincide with America's interests? Does she not understand that another nation will act in what it perceives as it's own best interests, regardless of what she says? Anyway, here's the deal. General Nikolai Solovtsov, the commander of Russian Strategic Forces, made a remark that really should not have surprised anyone. He said that if America installs missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, those nations should expect to be targeted by Russian missiles. If the Russians installed missile defense sites in Mexico, would anyone be surprised if America targeted them? Of course not. But the esteemed Ms. Rice took exception to those remarks, calling them "extremely unfortunate". Condi Rice is a tremendous disappointment. She is a smart, worldly, educated person and I believe she is far less likely to support military solutions over all others as her colleagues in the Administration do, but she has been oddly ineffective in her role at State. She seems unable to broker agreements, bring about compromise and move negotiations forward.

The Iran Nuclear Deadline
The UN Security Council deadline for Iran to cease enrichment of Uranium is today. The IAEA will report to the Council on Thursday on Iranian compliance. If the US follows the script, they will seek another UNSC Resolution, this one with Chapter Seven teeth built in. If they get it, they will use some kind of trumped up "non-compliance" issue to attack Iran. If they don't get it, they will "grudgingly" be forced, once again, to act unilaterally to "bring Iran into compliance". There is nothing at this point that Iran could do to prevent the coming American attack. With the US and Iranian navies very active in the tiny Persian Gulf, it will not be dificult for the US to create another "Gulf of Tonkin Moment" and use that as the pretense for launching strikes. It is unlikely that the administration will want to start this war in an election year, so it's likely to happen sooner rather than later. Are you ready for ten dollar gasoline?

posted by mikey @ 8:50 AM