Sep 16, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From the BBC:
Key states who joined the US-led invasion of Iraq have rejected claims by the United Nations secretary general that the war was illegal. Kofi Annan told the BBC the decision to take action in Iraq contravened the UN charter and should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally. But authorities in the UK, Australia, Poland, Bulgaria and Japan said the war was backed by international law. Australian Prime Minister John Howard described the UN as a "paralysed" body. And a former Bush administration aide, Randy Scheunemann, branded Mr Annan's comments "outrageous".
...Randy Scheunemann, a former advisor to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, accused Mr Annan of trying to influence the outcome of the forthcoming US presidential election. "I think it is outrageous for the secretary general, who ultimately works for the member states, to try and supplant his judgement for the judgement of the member states," he told the BBC. "To do this 51 days before an American election reeks of political interference," Randy Scheunemann said. He said the UN's failure to act in Sudan, and in other areas around the world, was proving that effective multilateralism may be a contradiction in terms. [Iraq war allies rebuff UN chief]
Sep 15, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Moore's latest diatribe just hit theatres--in Tehran:
Cinemagoers in the Iranian capital were given their first glimpse of 'Fahrenheit 9/11' this week, but appeared to enjoy more the rare chance to watch an American movie than its assault on their regime's arch foe George W. Bush..."The authorities obviously gave the film the green light for political reasons, in that anything against the United States must be good," quipped one of the hundreds of mainly young people who flocked to Tuesday night's opening screening..."I love to see foreign films on the big screen, and I never miss Farhang cinema shows no matter what is on," said Sima Gharavi, a 24-year-old dressed in a short bright blue coat rather than the more conservative all-black attire. But she hastened to complain that "out of all the films people would love to see, the authorities had to go for this one -- just because this film is in line with the view of the Islamic regime." And despite sporadic laughs here and there, most of Moore's sardonic humour appeared to fall flat. The end of the film was also greeted with some half-hearted clapping...."It was just too political. I was bored from the middle, and I wished we had gone to see "Kill Bill" instead," said one young man, referring to the trendy Quentin Tarantino flick also being shown. ["Fahrenheit 9/11' gets 'axis of evil' premiere", AFP]
Sep 15, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Here is an old one from the Khaleej Times:
"In its propaganda war Israel has spread many lies particularly using Palestinian children, and it is amazing how gullible some Western media are when it comes to Israel over and over again. … their latest invention is that Palestinians are using their children to carry explosives and commit suicide bombings." (Ali Kazak, "Palestinian children and Jewish state," April 27, 2004)
Also of interest:
Child Sacrifice, Palestinian Style by Reuven Koret
Golda Meir, a former Prime Minister of Israel, once said: "We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us." Tragically, that day seems far, far off. When the Palestinians started sacrificing their own sons and daughters as a matter of policy, as a sacred ritual, they sacrificed their own future as a people and immolated their basic human rights.
Civilian Casualties of War: The Difference Between Israelis and Palestinians by David Harsanyi
The manifest moral disparity between the two sides of this conflict can be seen through the aftermath of the bombing. In Israel, citizens mourn for the loss of life, they have acknowledged their disgust at civilian casualties of war. The government will certainly launch an investigation into the events. Were the situation reversed, Palestinians would take to the streets to cheer the death of Jewish children, as they have so often before.Sep 15, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
Investor's Business Daily has some advise for CBS:It now appears CBS made a grievous mistake or knowingly relayed false information. If so, what credibility does it have left? Even an on-air correction won't undo the damage.
CBS would go a lot further in restoring its credibility if it at least checked into the source and authenticity of the memos.
If it's shown that Democrats or the Kerry campaign are the source -- as suggested by comments to the American Spectator by an unnamed Kerry staffer -- CBS better say so.
If the documents prove to be forgeries, resignations from Rather and CBS News President Andrew Heyward would be in order — along with a sweeping review of ethical practices at a once-proud news organization.
Sep 14, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Upon returning from Communist Cuba after a visit in 1992, beloved TV personality Katie Couric raved about the "terrific health-care system" in that prison cell of a nation. They're certainly going to need it after being hit by Hurricane Ivan. Too bad Florida doesn't have a health care system like Cuba's; just imagine how much better they could weather these disasters.Sep 14, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
In the typical fashion of the press, ignoring real stories that are too "complex" for them to comprehend, or would probably be passed off as "red-baiting," the new book Unfit for Command written by John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi has been the rage of the media for the past week for its various accounts (which differ from John Kerry's) of how candidate Kerry won his medals in Vietnam. Personally I think it's rather irrelevant. The medals Kerry won he obviously thought weren't worth much considering he threw them away, although even this point he belabors with different accounts, saying he also tossed his ribbons aside, or that ribbons are medals and other similar statements violating the law of identity. But one section of the book does tell us something very alarming about candidate Kerry and I have posted the excerpt from the book below.
"The FBI field surveillance reports document a speech that Kerry gave in 1971 in which he praised Ho Chi Minh, the founder of Vietnamese Communism. The occasion was a speech Kerry gave to a group at the YMCA in Philadelphia on June 14, 1971. As reported by the FBI:
'On June 29, 1971, [BLACKED OUT SECURITY EDIT] advised the JOHN KERRY of the National Office of the VVAW, spoke at the YMCA, Philadelphia, on June 14, 1971. In this talk he stated that HO CHI MINH is the GEORGE WASHINGTON of Vietnam. Ho studied the United States Constitution and wants to install the same provisions into the Government of Vietnam. KERRY criticized United States activities in Vietnam, saying we are destroying villages, cities, crops, and the people there and these activities must be stopped.'
Kerry gave many antiwar speeches in 1971. His tendency to idealize the Vietnamese Communists and to demonize the United States was possibly most apparent when he chose to praise by association with America's founding father the man responsible for introducing Communism to Indochina." Page 137
I doubt many have heard of this episode since it hasn't been picked up by the press. It amuses me that President Bush's intelligence (or lack thereof) gets so much play in the media, but I'll never be convinced that Mr. Bush would ever make such a callous, thoughtless, unpatriotic, and incorrect comparison about the man most responsible for the creation of the United States, the greatest (thus the freest) country to ever exist on the Earth. Only a fiend or an uneducated idiot in the extreme could make such a comparison seriously and in either case it indicates an intellect and disposition entirely unworthy of the office of the presidency.
The reasons to oppose Kerry, if not to support Bush, keep piling up.