Due to the origins of this story coming from the French paper Le Journal du Dimanche, I can only see it as dubious at best and a set peice for yet another 'liberal spin' about how all of the evils of the world are being attributed to American Imperialism.

Before I read even one shred of the nonstop gagging that liberal press is about to get into, I hope to give this story my own personal spin.

I am a former liberal myself, born to the bone as they say, so I am quite familiar with the dodge and deception that happens from every single news organization on the planet. I abhor war and needless violence in any form. But I am no pacifist. I believe that hard choices can save lives and that when such choices are made, they usually come at the expense of other more comfortable choices. Eventually after seeing so many easy choices go down for so many years and hearing the echo of 'doing the right thing' over and over become an excuse for doing nothing at all, one becomes reconcilled that nothing is ever going to change and the ratrace is finally and invincibly won by the rats. Tired of seeing the strong overcome by lillipution will and a worlds sharp edges being nerfed over by litigeous greed, I have seen the errors of my previous optimism and now am taking personal responsibility for my malapropriate actions. Enough is indeed enough.

Before I read one article about how the US is soiling its good name by hiring these thugs to win the war for them, that the good and brave soldiers in the US armed forces are not so good and brave and did not easily win this fight for Bagdad, I have only one thing on my mind; that of the lives saved by the actions of both parties to this 'transaction'.

The Administration in Washington had given out many notices that it had let its covert intelligence forces atrophy from the Cold War and had its tail caught in the door too many times to rely on the most effective methods of intelligence gathering of field operatives. Preferring instead the much cleaner and less entangling technology of communications interception for the daily matrix report sitting on the Presidents desk each morning. We all knew that post 9/11 those things were about to change. We said so. Therefor, there is no news to report from the angle that CIA operatives paid off the highest levels of Ba'athist leadership available on the market in GW II. We actually made the market widely known. The Administration announced it through several major news sources at the time. Apparhently the writer of this story from the French paper Le Journal du Dimanche, seems to have forgotten what was widely published at the time, or expects that the reader has forgoten what should have been taken for granted. It is by now, patently obvious to anyone on the planet that the United States has been deadly earnest in its intent to do grievious harm in any manner possible, that which gives aid and comfort to those who wish to do America and its interests harm. Rightly so, and with relish.

Endlessly, over and over it is and has been drilled in everyones head through the media that
American interests are purely economic. That it has and only wishes to secure its economic interests are all that is driving the persuit of terrorist regimes and fanatical Islamic radicals are an obvious juxtaposition of basic fact.

That Shakespeare's play Henry the V, can be used to underline what history shall record as the modus operandi of the military action against Iraq is the highest honor that any man can bestow on thier fellow man, let me quote that famous speech that ne'er grows old;

Whats he that wishes so? My cousin, Westmoreland?
No my fair cousin, if we are mark'd to die,
We are enough to do our country loss.
And if to live, the fewer men, the greater share of honor.
God's Will, do not wish a man more.

By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed apon my cost.
It yearns me not if men my garments wear,
such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honor,
then I am the most offending soul alive.

No, faith coz, wish not a man from England.
God's Peace! I would not lose so great an honor,
as one man more, methinks, would share from me.
For the best hope I have. Oh do not wish one more.

Rather, proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host.
That he which hath no stomach to this fight, let him depart!
His passport shall be made, and crowns for convoy put into his purse.
We would not die in that man's company,
That fears his fellowship to die with us.

Today is called the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day and comes safe home
shall stand a tip-toe when this day is named,
and rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that lives this day and sees old age
will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors
and say, 'These wounds I had, on Crispin's Day.'

Old men forget, yet, all shall be forgot,
but he'll remember with advantages what feats he did that day.
Then shall our names, familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry, the King, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot,
Salisbury and Gloucester, be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.

This story shall the good man teach his son,
and Crispin Crispian shall n'er go by,
from this day to the ending of the world!
But we in it shall be remembered,
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
Be he n'er so vile this day shall gentle his condition.
And gentlemen in England now abed shall think themselves accursed
they were not here,
and hold their manhoods cheap, whilst any speaks
that fought with us, apon St. Crispin's Day!

If it were my world, that I were the sole dictator of it, that is all anyone would be forced to suffer through agian.

Thank you Mr. President, US Military, People of America. You are taking responsibility for your freedom and thereby enriching the cause of freedom everywhere.

God Bless,
America!

Devils Chewtoy

MAGNIFICENT POST

Hussein has gone, the mass graves attest to his legacy. Sad that this isn't enough for most people.

Either people believe there is a threat or there is not. Clearly many people still remain unconvinced that there is a threat. Personally , I believe there is and therefore we should use this chance to weaken enemies of freedom, and those who seek to destroy the world's great democracies and replace them with their own sick system. Iran next and then Syria.

I also don't discount liberal thinking and the great American liberal tradition. Liberal thinking is based on idealism and optimism, but the foundations must be in place if it is to work. Enemies of liberalism will seek ways to take advantage of its essentialy trust-based philosophy. Sept 11 showed us that the foundations were not in place for a liberal posture to be the centrepiece of American thought. Thats where conservative thinking and action can help, as it is doing now. It has its place, as well. When this war's won, I hope that the conservatives leave the show, as basically their role will be over. Note that this happened to Churchill directly after WW2. But until this ar is won, Bush and his team are the right people for the job, nasty as it is.

Don't worry. History will record the US as one of the world's great powers.

d c,

Love the quote. Ya got me all misty. Too bad so many sheep follow the America is the root of all evil flock. I have run across some well educated idiots that can hardly mask their envy of US strength, and look for every chance to berate the US, as if that makes them righteous.

While the US may have spawned some truly evil toads (Clintons), the common man in anytown, USA is hardworking and mostly honest. How many billions, or is it trillions, has the US given to lesser countries? The fight to spread individual freedom is noble, and should not be taken lightly.

There I go ramblin' again. What you said!

Cheers

Hmm... where else have I heard stories about a plane flying out of Baghdad the day before the fall?

That was me in my cessna 185, I was trying to sell pork to muslims, not an easy thing to do!

I give this story a lot of credibilty.

It is simple minded and naive to doubt that we paid off Iraqi generals. We know we gave large amounts of cash to Afghan warlords as well.

I think people who don't understand how moder war is fought, and how it is mostly accomplished by technical means and intelligence rather than armies.

AMEN. That's in French, BTW, for the Francophiles in the 'hood.

Monsieur Dave, certains sont stupide en n'importe quelle langue

My dear Henry;

It would be niave to doubt that this never happened. It is even more niave to believe that what was no open secret should even become news.

It is the agenda I was commenting on. That they would hold thier manhood so cheap as to attack the credibility of those who would fight this war in order to feel just a little bit better for a stand made at so great a cost.

Name one war in which the reasons to shirk and not answer the call to arms were not present in every combatants mind. It is surprising that so many do find reason to overcome a gnawing fear in the face of such doubts. In this case and Iraqi cuz of SH, an Iraqi GENERAL was offered 25 million reasons and a passport.

But I think that if one dug a little below the surface story of this Iraqi general, in the face of such imponderables as what fleshettes may do to an overwhelmed liver, in a cause that hardly even seemed just to his own tribesmen, this was the logical way out. What was the price could only be described as cheap.

What cheapened it the most for the General was distant relations in SH's own family having thier untimely demise video taped by some nutball firstborn son of the Ba'athist leader. Someday soon, in the unlikely event that his planned houdini act would succeed, there would be another knock on his door, video camera in hand, come to put his dreams in a shallow grave.

No, wars have been fought on tougher ground many times before. There is nothing modern about brutality.

It is the oldest trick in the book.