Channel surfing through my cable tv is an easy, but dreary exercise. I have the lamest-of-lame cable, the basic package from Cox--so awful that they no longer include it on their website. For $13 bucks, I get 20 odd channels--the networks, a glut of religious channels, WGN, and CSPAN. CSPAN 2 used to be part of the package, but that got pulled during one of the periodic changes...
Ah--no big deal. I watch too much TV as it stands, and my cable is here only because it gave me a small discount on a cable modem. That said, I'm a little pissed that CSPAN 2 is gone.
Sure, most of the time CSPAN is about as exciting as drywall, but yesterday I came across a repeat of a Wednesday talk by Paul Wolfowitz. Those interested can watch it here.
I ignored a good bit of his scripted speech, given that is was simply another exercise in Bush administration spin control, but I kept checking back for the inevitable Q and A followup. I will give an iota of credit to Wolfo--he's the only Administration official who routinely goes before--uh, I'd say the general public, but his habit seems to be the student body of elite schools like Georgetown. Still, these forums are anything but friendly, even as a viewer like me notices one problem right away: it's not easy for a young person to face off against a powerful government official. Still, they manage to ably express points that the mainstream press ignores.
So, I watched the give and take. A couple of things stuck out. First, several students noted that a banner and some flyers were confiscated prior to their entrance into the auditorium--so much for Team Bush's so called love of free speech. Second, a young woman courageously told Wolfowitz how thoroughly disgusted she was with his policy--a policy that needlessly kills both US soldiers and Iraqis. She finished to loud applause.
Wolfowitz, again to his credit, listened in silence, then said dryly, "Well, I guess that means you'd be happier if Saddam Hussein was still in power." He likewise received applause--I encourage people to view the program and judge for themselves as to the relative levels of clapping.
I bring this up, and sorry for such a long post, because it is indicative of the black and white, us versus them, freedom or axis of evil approach that the Bushistas take. This is because they've allowed the political wing of the Administration to take control over all policy matters, to the detriment of the country. Wolfowitz KNOWS that War or Saddam is NOT the only policy, but chooses to cynically make that point in the hopes that the disinterested public (which has things to do like paying the bills, work, children, finding a job, and so on) as their focus. By the way, I take this moment to "publicly" challenge Wolfowitz to a debate on Middle East policy--name the time and place, Wolfo--just give me enough lead to work out some vacation and whatever sort of transportation is required.
Had I been at the talk, here is something along the lines of what I would have told/asked him:
Dr. Wolfowitz, in response to your statement to the young woman: you and I BOTH know that the US policy towards Iraq prior to March 2003 was NOT a question of "loving Saddam" or immediate invasion. As you well know, opposition to a foreign leader can be manifested in many ways, including embargo, which was ongoing in the case of Iraq, fomenting civil unrest and/or organizing coup d'etats, which I don't support, but which at least would keep our military out of harm's way, assisting in the establishment of a genuine government in exile, unlike the Iraqi National Congress, which was simply a means by which Ahmad Chalabi fed at the taxpayer-financed trough, working with allies to seal borders, which prevents smuggling, and, most important, taking the time to establish genuine sources of intelligence in Iraq, which could tell us, in a timely manner, what is actually going on in the country. Dr. Wolfowitz, if we were able to establish sources of intelligence in the former Soviet Union, a far more powerful country, then we could readily do the same in Iraq. Most of all, Dr. Wolfowitz, we should additionally apologize publicly for our shameful policy of support for Hussein during the 1980s, when, among other things, we sold him weapons and interpreted satellite data, which assisted in his use of chemical weapons.
Dr. Wolfowitz, my question is: When your intelligence sources told you that we could expect consistent, violent opposition to our occupation of Iraq, why didn't you level with the public? If your intelligence sources did NOT tell you to expect opposition, why didn't you fire them on the spot, as ANYONE with half a brain could realize the following: By deposing Hussein, you also eliminated the primary source of employment for millions of soldiers and bureaucrats, you eliminated the primary source of sustenance for millions more whose survival depended on the system of food rationing, and you most of all completely ignored the fact that, for as long as most Iraqis remember, they've been seeing, on their state run television, images of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation. Did you somehow think that those images WOULDN'T resonate in their minds? The plight of Palestinians has been cynically manipulated by goons like Hussein, but the fact is that Iraqis, and millions of other Middle Easterners, are understandably upset by the Israeli occupation, as you've pointed out this very evening. Today, I'm certain, many Iraqis now feel that it is their turn to stand tall against occupation. And, Dr. Wolfowitz, while I'm not privy to all your intel data, even I could see that. Why, sir, as a public servant, did you let the political aims of the Bush Administration subsume the moral duty you have to serve the interests of the entire country, and not just those who stand to profit from the war mongering aims of Project for a New American Century?
Since I couldn't make it to the talk, please feel free to comment at my web log, Dr. Wolfowitz....