Perhaps this was merely a very funny bit of self-promotion for Air America Radio, which can usually be heard during The Randi Rhodes Show: “…Promising never to trade nuclear weapons for tropical fruit… (Cut to President Bush audio clip) ‘The United States is looking forward to enjoying Indian mangoes.’” But apparently the mangoes, like countless other policies and negotiations over the past six years, have already gone bad and India has proven to be nothing but a bunch of Indian-givers! For shame, Mr. President! You should have known better than to do business with those red- skinned sons of Hiawatha!
A professor of mine once cited a Native American colleague of his as saying: “It’s a really good thing for us that Columbus wasn’t looking for Turkey!” Almost entirely a non sequitur, sorry… comic relief seemed to be appropriate.
The initial agreement was such that in our attempts to forge a stronger alliance with the Indian nation, the US shipped nuclear reactors and fuel to India. This having taken place during the grand old days when the grand old party held control of both House and Senate (2003), the deal was rubber-stamped seemingly without much consideration for how naïve it would be to send nuclear materials to a country situated in a very unstable middle east and then expect them to only use it for energy-related purposes until further negotiations were held to permit development of weapons. I say ‘seemingly’ because Bush and his cronies are not entirely as dumb as they look, just pretty much so; having another nuclear ally in that region is exactly what they wanted and it basically boiled down to either India or Pakistan, something of the lesser of two evils. Perhaps an insurance policy in case Israel does indeed get blown off the face of the earth and since our other ‘allies’ in the region are all still so fond us! (Yeah, I’m talking about YOU, Saudi Arabia!)
So keeping in mind how beloved the US is in Mess-O’Potamia (thanks, Jon Stewart) and surrounding regions, let us discuss the controversies surround various members of congress visiting various countries in the aforementioned region. First off, while calling Nancy Pelosi ‘Miss Syria’ is always good fun, why oh why would my personal favorite publication, The New York Post, fail to mention that she was accompanied by a Congressional delegation, and here’s the kicker: three of whom were Republicans!!!
“‘It's interesting because three of our colleagues, who are all Republicans, were in Syria yesterday and I didn't hear the White House speaking out about that,’ Pelosi said, referring to the Sunday meeting of Reps. Frank Wolf, Joe Pitts and Robert Aderholt with [President Bashar] Assad in Damascus.”
But who really cares about Syria anymore? I mean, maybe we’ll accidentally send a bomb their way in the process of bombing Iran, but all in all they are soooo last season.
However, perhaps more prominently in the news was Senator (and Presidential hopeful) John McCain (R-AZ) and his own Congressional delegation, including Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), touting the positive impact of the recent escalation, um, I mean surge. After briefly visiting a market in Baghdad on Sunday, Pence was quoted as saying it was “like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime.” Maybe it was not mentioned by the liberal media that Pence may or may not be deaf and blind, but the hundred or so troops in armored Humvees and two Blackhawk choppers present would certainly seem to indicate as much. Oh yeah, Mr. Pence? Are most Indiana summertime outdoor markets also at risk of being blown to smithereens at any given moment? Because apparently the one you were just at in Baghdad was, killing two people. In a front page article today, The New York Times was eerily prophetic in their reporting: “Several merchants said Monday that the Americans’ visit might have only made the market a more inviting target for insurgents.” D’oh…
McCain himself is just as delusional if not even more so regarding this situation, as he has staked his Presidential claims upon it. Not long ago he said on the air that he could walk freely through certain areas of Baghdad; um, the green zone and the even greener zone?! “‘I just came from one,’ he replied sharply (italics mine). ‘Things are better and there are encouraging signs.’” Apparently, instead of his nose growing bigger, that thing on his cheek does instead. For God’s sake, man! Representatives who visit Iraq aren’t even safe from their own allied forces!
“Representatives Ike Skelton (D-Missouri) and Tim Murphy (R-PA), were traveling in a minibus when a tanker truck accidentally side sideswiped them in 2005, tipping the vehicle over. The two were hospitalized, but not seriously injured.”
Then you have the President and Vice President (tweedle dum and tweedle dick) trying to talk tough about those doggone Dems trying to set a timeline and/or cut off funding. Will you all just give it up already?! How many more casualties must be incurred before you finally realize that the wall you continue to bang your head on will not come down?!
Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) said recently after an Iraqi vacay:
“‘The message was very clear,’ citing his own conversations with troops. ‘We need this funding, and we need it immediately.’”
Spectacular idea Senator Funnyname, hey wait – you were W’s daddy’s chief of staff, weren’t you?! There goes your credibility. After all, just handing over blank checks for military purposes has worked out so very well for us thus far, hasn’t it?
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