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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Monday, August 08, 2005

Great paragraph from the Tom Dispatch

The rest of the article contains no real surprises, but this is a great paragraph.

This was not long after other officials in the Bush administration, who had been arguing fiercely since Sept. 11, 2001, for a series of deep links between terrorism and Iraq, strove hard to deny that the terrorist bombings in London's subways had anything to do with Iraq. So the message was clear: Don't leave home because… uh, they hate us (but Iraq has nothing to do with it).

Brilliant logic.

UPDATE:

American attitudes toward the war in Iraq continue to sour in the wake of last week's surge in U.S. troop deaths, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows. (Related: Poll results)

An unprecedented 57% majority say the war has made the USA more vulnerable to terrorism. A new low, 34%, say it has made the country safer. The question is critical because the Bush administration has long argued that the invasion of Iraq was undertaken to make the USA safer from terrorism.

posted by mikevotes at 8:50 PM

1 Comments:

  • I think the public is sufficiently jaded, (and this goes back at least to Watergate in modern times), to ignore such messages. I don't believe the vast majority of us even really "hear" claims that there is "no connection to Iraq" with the London bombings. We may be shocked and outraged by outlandish political statements, but when they venture to a place so far from reality ("the sun has nothing to do with daylight"), we ignore them like we might a small child. Interesting phenomenon in itself -- because it's frightening, insulting and outrageous that anyone would float such thoughts about the London bombings. Not connected to Iraq? Oil acquisition and global conquest aside for a minute, for terrorism is a reaction to, not a drive for these items; I suppose a good debator could make a case that this is still much about the Knights of Templar and Saladin and such. As we know, though, the origins of feuds eventually become lost and hazy. It's the most recent violation that is the impetus for the cycle of revenge... be it Hatfields and McCoys, Israel and Palestine, "Muslims" and "Christians." Unless we (the U.K./U.S. coalition) have done something since Iraq that I've missed, "It's Iraq, stupid."
    Wild Bill

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:37 AM  

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