Educational Reading

Jason Burke, a reporter for The Observer, shatters a few myths in this Foreign Policy article. I especially took note of the first shattered myth, because I agree with his first point regarding exactly what Al Qaeda IS, although of course he does so with a lot more creativity and economy of words than I could.

The article is a good followup to the tripe spewed forth by the likes of Rottweiler (see post below). If the US--and the western world, for that matter--want to "win" the "war on terror," looking at Burke's article would be a good place to start.

Not every problem can be solved by application of military force. This relatively simple notion seems to be lost on the neocons and their followers, who not only caused the mess we're in, but now seek to tar anyone questioning their sheer stupidity by piously invoking the "for the good of the troops" justification (see the entire week's worth of Daily Howler posts for more clarification).

It doesn't take a genuis to see that our Iraq "policy," if it can be dignified with the term, is completely fucked. If Bush were a coach, he'd have been fired last November--when it became apparent that "the greatest military" in the history of mankind couldn't shut down the resistance movement. Shit, it's as if the 1927 Yankees couldn't put away last year's Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

OK, the sports analogy doesn't quite cut it, but, then again, war metaphors don't quite fit sporting contests either. Still, I think the neocons running the show were so charmed by their own propaganda that they didn't bother to even read the playbook, much less memorize it. It's almost as if we've got occupation by self-gratification going on. I guess it's only fitting that the folks thinking it all up decided to add a little S&M to the mix, photograph it, and turn it into the most salacious stuff to come out of the government since Ken Starr got all sweaty over his own work of bad literature.

In contrast, Burke's article isn't nearly as gross, or kinky, but it does offer something constructive: a starting point towards actually understanding the Middle East. Without that, we'll be perpetually stuck in a rut there--like we are right now.