Deluded LAT Calls For UN-brokered Iraq Ceasefire
I wonder just which is crazier this morning -- the Egyptian mufti who issued a fatwa extolling the Prophet Mohammed's followers for blessing themselves by drinking his urine, or the L.A. Times editorial calling for the United Nations to be brought in by the U.S. to broker a ceasefire in Iraq.
I think the L.A. Times is crazier. Many Muslims might be willing to drink the Prophet's urine, if they had a chance. But to ask the United Nations to do more in the Middle East is really nutty.
The United Nations is the failed organization that put 20,000 "peacekeepers" into Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, only to see Hezbollah rearm itself with what are now 20,000 rockets.
The United Nations is the organization that just agreed (with five abstentions in the Security Council) to set up a tribunal to prosecute the Syrian perpetrators of the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, only to see Syria come to the support of the fanatical Fatah Al-Islam which is fighting the Lebanese Army.
The United Nations has tried to broker a cease fire in the Palestinian territories, only to see a civil war break out there between the Hamas organization backed by Al-Queda and the Fatah organization of the hapless Palestinian "President" Mahmoud Abbas, (On Wednesday morning, when two UN employees were slain in the Gaza fighting, the cowardly UN immediately announced it would pull personnel from the country. So much for its role there).
In Iraq, it was the United Nations that decided to bug out years ago after just one bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad. It long ago decided to do nothing in Iraq.
In Iran, the United Nations has failed to do anything substantive to stop the crazed Ahmadinejad regime from building nuclear weapons, or threatening to wipe out Israel. An international emissary recently suggested that Iran be permitted to develop nuclear power, and two Muslim states, supposedly "moderate" Qatar and Indonesia, last week refused to go along with a UN Security Council statement denouncing Ahmadinejad for his latest threats against Israel.
What starry-eyed Times editorial writer thought it was a good idea to bring this horrible organization, just as useless as the old League of Nations, back into the Iraqi situation? And I thought the ururping Times publisher, David Hiller, was in charge of the editorial page. Why didn't he block this silliness? Probably, this is part and parcel with the Tribune Co. managers who have allowed L.A. Times circulation to drop by more than 300,000, as readers slide away from a newspaper that advocates idiocy.
The Times editorial compounds its errors by criticizing the only U.S. military initiative in Iraq that has borne fruit in recent months, the arming of tribal Sunnis who have agreed to fight Al-Qaeda in Anbar province. That has resulted in some gains there, a reduction of violence, a reduction in attacks against U.S. troops, even while the corrupt Maliki government of Iranian-sympathizing Shiites has been able to continue its ethnic cleansing in Baghdad.
The Times editorial also says President Bush "must" begin planning to disengage from Iraq. "Must" is the wrong word. President Bush need do nothing until a veto-proof Congressional majority is assembled against him, and that hasn't happened yet.
It is time for the L.A. Times to wake up and smell the roses. Virulent fascisms generated by Al Qaeda and Iran are trying to conquer the Middle East. They are fighting now not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also in Pakistan, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank. They cannot be stopped other than by military force.
I do not claim that the L.A. Times editorialists do not mean well. No, but they are certainly delusional. I called myself last week for a strategic retreat of U.S. military forces from the deadly streets of Baghdad to redoubts in the north and west of Iraq from which they could carry on the war. This, I acknowledge, is not a particularly safe course. But I didn't call for anything quite as pointless as either calling in the United Nations or drinking Mohammed's urine.
--
The cost cutters at the Tribune Co. who have torn apart the L.,A. Times have now been followed to the Daily News in the San Fernando Valley by Ed Moss, that paper's new publisher. Moss just came from the Akron Beacon-Journal, where in 10 months he cut the staff from 734 to 600, including cuts of 25% in the newsroom, before disappearing to carry his swath of destruction West.
For the Daily News, about to be as drastically assailed as has the staff of the L.A. Times, there can only be one hope--that someone will pack Moss up and ship him back East, just as David Hiller and James O'Shea should be. These managers hate Los Angeles, they hate California, and they should never be permitted to remain here.
I think the L.A. Times is crazier. Many Muslims might be willing to drink the Prophet's urine, if they had a chance. But to ask the United Nations to do more in the Middle East is really nutty.
The United Nations is the failed organization that put 20,000 "peacekeepers" into Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, only to see Hezbollah rearm itself with what are now 20,000 rockets.
The United Nations is the organization that just agreed (with five abstentions in the Security Council) to set up a tribunal to prosecute the Syrian perpetrators of the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, only to see Syria come to the support of the fanatical Fatah Al-Islam which is fighting the Lebanese Army.
The United Nations has tried to broker a cease fire in the Palestinian territories, only to see a civil war break out there between the Hamas organization backed by Al-Queda and the Fatah organization of the hapless Palestinian "President" Mahmoud Abbas, (On Wednesday morning, when two UN employees were slain in the Gaza fighting, the cowardly UN immediately announced it would pull personnel from the country. So much for its role there).
In Iraq, it was the United Nations that decided to bug out years ago after just one bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad. It long ago decided to do nothing in Iraq.
In Iran, the United Nations has failed to do anything substantive to stop the crazed Ahmadinejad regime from building nuclear weapons, or threatening to wipe out Israel. An international emissary recently suggested that Iran be permitted to develop nuclear power, and two Muslim states, supposedly "moderate" Qatar and Indonesia, last week refused to go along with a UN Security Council statement denouncing Ahmadinejad for his latest threats against Israel.
What starry-eyed Times editorial writer thought it was a good idea to bring this horrible organization, just as useless as the old League of Nations, back into the Iraqi situation? And I thought the ururping Times publisher, David Hiller, was in charge of the editorial page. Why didn't he block this silliness? Probably, this is part and parcel with the Tribune Co. managers who have allowed L.A. Times circulation to drop by more than 300,000, as readers slide away from a newspaper that advocates idiocy.
The Times editorial compounds its errors by criticizing the only U.S. military initiative in Iraq that has borne fruit in recent months, the arming of tribal Sunnis who have agreed to fight Al-Qaeda in Anbar province. That has resulted in some gains there, a reduction of violence, a reduction in attacks against U.S. troops, even while the corrupt Maliki government of Iranian-sympathizing Shiites has been able to continue its ethnic cleansing in Baghdad.
The Times editorial also says President Bush "must" begin planning to disengage from Iraq. "Must" is the wrong word. President Bush need do nothing until a veto-proof Congressional majority is assembled against him, and that hasn't happened yet.
It is time for the L.A. Times to wake up and smell the roses. Virulent fascisms generated by Al Qaeda and Iran are trying to conquer the Middle East. They are fighting now not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also in Pakistan, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank. They cannot be stopped other than by military force.
I do not claim that the L.A. Times editorialists do not mean well. No, but they are certainly delusional. I called myself last week for a strategic retreat of U.S. military forces from the deadly streets of Baghdad to redoubts in the north and west of Iraq from which they could carry on the war. This, I acknowledge, is not a particularly safe course. But I didn't call for anything quite as pointless as either calling in the United Nations or drinking Mohammed's urine.
--
The cost cutters at the Tribune Co. who have torn apart the L.,A. Times have now been followed to the Daily News in the San Fernando Valley by Ed Moss, that paper's new publisher. Moss just came from the Akron Beacon-Journal, where in 10 months he cut the staff from 734 to 600, including cuts of 25% in the newsroom, before disappearing to carry his swath of destruction West.
For the Daily News, about to be as drastically assailed as has the staff of the L.A. Times, there can only be one hope--that someone will pack Moss up and ship him back East, just as David Hiller and James O'Shea should be. These managers hate Los Angeles, they hate California, and they should never be permitted to remain here.
Labels: Iraq
posted by Ken Reich at 9:48 AM
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