UPDATED - ColdType

EMBEDDED: WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION
“mother of all bombs,” the 2,500-pound MOAB
that is being called operation “Desert Stun.” This
is the closest thing the Pentagon has to a nonnuclear
nuclear bomb. It even leaves its own
mushroom cloud for effect, and threatens mass
destruction with the power to flatten everything
in its path for one mile around its epicenter.
Including people. The New York Post sings its
praises this morning. It is being used as a
weapon of intimidation before it sees action.
Meanwhile in Iraq, the BBC’s John Simpson
was asked about Iraqi soldiers expected to surrender
to get out of the way of the onslaught of
what’s to come. Simpson who covered Gulf War
I reminded his viewers that many Iraq soldiers
were mowed down by U.S. troops as they tried to
give up. He called it a “tragedy.” He expressed
the hope that it won’t happen again. File this
away for future reference.
As for the U.N., The New York Times reports:
“The White House also said President Bush
would force a vote by the end of the week on an
American-backed resolution.” Over on Fox, we
had the assurance this morning that the U.S. had
every right to do whatever it will in Iraq, and that
the law was with us. Da Judge, who started as a
guest on the News Channel, may soon be traded
to Comedy Central, as he mocks international
law and cites as the rationale for attack, the standard
of self-defense. And never mind, he adds, a
nation doesn’t have to be attacked to defend
itself. It can act before such an attack occurs.
Never mind that there has been not even a
threat of such an attack or any serious evidence
linking Saddam to the attacks of 9/11.
Finally, but perhaps\ too late, Kofi Annan is
speaking up in defense of the U.N. and its charter
– which has all but been ignored. (The argu-
66
ment is that the Gulf War resolution of 1991 is still
in effect and permits U.S. unilateral action.
Huh?). Annan is saying if the Security Council
fails to come to an agreement, “and action is
taken without the authority of the Security
Council, the legitimacy and support for any such
action would be seriously impaired.”
As I pondered all the talk of the Council and
the hostility being directed towards France for
threatening a veto, (You know, French fries to be
replaced by “freedom fries,” even as the fries
were always of Belgian origin, never French, but
no matter) I flashed back to an earlier moment
from the annals of that august body in light of all
the denunications of threatened vetoes that flout
the majority’s supposed desires. The year was
1988, and the Security Council was debating sanctions
against South Africa. Ten members voted
yea, a few abstained but two vetoed. At a time
when the people of South Africa were being terrorized
by the thugs upholding apartheid, The
U.S. and Great Britain cast vetoes. The U.S. delegate
said sanctions would hurt the people they
were intended to help. Ah, what we forget in
these United States of Amnesia. Have you seen
this referenced anywhere on TV?
Under assault
FORGET facts. America is under ideological
assault from within, from the Fog machine and
the whole echo chamber that resonates with the
same arguments around the clock, 24 hours a
day, just shoveling it out, with know-it-all prettyboy
anchors and sarcastic mini-skirted blondes
and military experts and selective polls. I am less
upset about Fox, which has repackaged Murdochitis
while hiding behind a claim of “real jour-