May all of Saddam's virgins look like Helen Thomas
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Yep. That's Hell. |
Posted on 04/04/2003 4:59:40 AM PST by Hillary's Lovely Legs
I think this is his first column for The Mirror.
WAITING FOR THE INVADER Apr 5 2003
CNN man sacked for telling the truth writes for Mirror
By Peter Arnett Link
I HAVE known the O'Runs for nearly 10 years. They live in a modest two-room flat above a car repair shop in downtown Baghdad.
Salman, a peddler turned sweeper, and wife Leila have six children and modest aspirations. He wants to be a mechanic and the couple want their daughters to marry well and their sons help the family business. War has put those dreams on hold.
Today Leila compulsively cleans the house to take her mind off the war. She has a balcony which is kept spotless and a kitchen floor you could eat a meal off.
She leaves the house once every two days to shop for fresh bread, meat and fruit, making a dash to the only stall left open.
The government has given them six months of basic food rations, but they've sold some of them and their supplies are low.
The six children have barely left the two-room flat since the bombing began. They cannot go to school because none are open and get impatient and frustrated. But it is amazing how quickly quarrels are forgotten when the sirens start.
On the night of "Shock and Awe" the eldest daughter Noor, 16, read the Koran from beginning to end by torchlight to her brothers and sisters.
Salman went out alone on to the balcony to shout at the American bombers before retreating inside.
During the day the older children look after the younger ones who run around one room playing games.
Second eldest Nahan, 15, has taken to protectively holding her five-month-old sister Ragaj in her arms, cradling the baby all day, not stopping even when the bombs fall. At night, the family tries to sleep on the stairwell leading to the street, one person per step. They fear that the vibrations of the bombing will bring down the walls of their fragile flat.
The O'Runs are aware of the progress of the war, hearing news from neighbours with short wave radios.
But now they can hear the ominous rolling thunder of distant American artillery and tank fire.
They tell me they adore Saddam Hussein and don't wish to leave whatever happens. They tell me they are willing to sacrifice their children for their leader.
A devout Muslim, the concept of a future controlled by Christian, non-Arabic speaking overlords is simply beyond his comprehension.
America says it wants to bring democracy to Iraq, but Salman and his family don't know what that means.
Probably, very soon, they will find out. [This poor family probably think Peteah is a spy for Saddam]
So this is the Hispanic woman? I heard some reports they were burned beyond recognition. My guess is they were tortured, then burned to cover up the torture. With all of the suicide bombings, especially the female ones, I have a feeling that we will be taking a lot less POW's than we did 1 week ago.
Actually Lori Ann is a full blooded American Indian. She leaves behind a 3 year old and 4 year old.
First of all, Arnett is a really, really lousy writer. This piece is so much propagandistic tripe. Second, "Christian overlords"? Sounds like Petah put the words in their mouths.
Hey Pete (and Wolf, Dan, Peter, Tom, Judy, etc.), read it and weep:
The commander of the US-led air campaign in Iraq says Republican Guard units outside the capital Baghdad are "dead", following intense bombardment. "The Iraqi military as an organised defence in large combat formations doesn't really exist anymore," Lieutenant General Michael Moseley told Pentagon reporters. BBC
The Pentagon identified Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, one of the few American Indian women in the military, as one of eight soldiers found dead during the rescue of POW Jessica Lynch.
''Our family is proud of her. She is our hero,'' her brother Wayland said to reporters outside the family's home Saturday. ''We are going to hold that in our hearts. She will not be forgotten. It gives us comfort to know that she is at peace right now.''
Piestewa, 23, was the mother of a 4-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl and a source of pride in her Hopi community. Her brother said relatives didn't wish to speak further with reporters for now. source
May all of Saddam's virgins look like Helen Thomas
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Yep. That's Hell. |
They remind me of children on an out of control bike -not knowing what to do - they cover their eyes and scream, hoping it turns out ok.
Good News!
The United States and its coalition partners will be the "leading" force in establishing an interim Iraqi authority, and the role of the United Nations is not currently under discussion, the White House said yesterday.
"It would only be natural to expect that after having participated in having liberated Iraq with coalition forces and having given life and blood to liberate Iraq that the coalition intends to have a leading role," said National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
"The exact character of the U.N.'s role is really not an issue for discussion right now," she said. FULL story
A correction that ran in yesterday's New York Times: "A front-page article on Tuesday about criticism voiced by American military officers in Iraq over war plans omitted two words from an earlier comment by Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace, commander of V Corps. General Wallace had said (with the omission indicated by uppercasing), 'The enemy we're fighting is A BIT different from the one we war-gamed against.' "
God forbid
Let's pray House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is far off with her prediction that "thousands" of U.S. soldiers will wind up losing their lives in the Iraqi war. Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, told CNBC's "Capital Report" on Tuesday that "there are other ways to go about it than to have thousands of people killed on both sides." Link
Inside Politics
A 'serious' newspaper
Rogue reporter Peter Arnett's new employer — Britain's Daily Mirror — said yesterday that its antiwar stance could lead to sales dropping below 2 million for the first time in seven decades.
The Mirror recently juxtaposed photos of President Bush over a bombed Baghdad market with the caption, "He loves it."
Industry estimates suggest the Mirror recorded "average circulation of 1.989 million in the week the war began and 1.984 million last week, during which it ran a series of front pages condemning the conflict," Britain's Guardian newspaper reported yesterday.
"The dip below the 2 million barrier will come as a psychological blow for the paper, which has been ploughing a new furrow as a 'serious' newspaper," the Guardian said.
Editor Piers Morgan surmised the drop was attributable to "older readers who think it's unpatriotic to continue criticizing the war," but says, "We just won't be hypocrites and change our line."
A recent London Times editorial called Mr. Morgan "the toast of the cheese-eating surrender monkeys," a reference to — who else? — the French.
The professional's touch
Presidential hopeful Gary Hart recently met with 35 supporters in a New Hampshire restaurant, and is due to return later in the month, according to the Manchester Union-Leader.
A few have broached the touchy subject of Mr. Hart's affair with Donna Rice, which effectively removed him from the 1988 presidential race. Will the indiscretion matter this time around?
It won't be a serious issue, says local Democratic heavyweight Dan Calegari.
"After all, Bill Clinton made him look like an amateur," he said.
[That's what this country needs. An amateur pervert president.]
Holding steady
Support for the war in Iraq remains "steadfast," according to a survey of 2,700 Americans conducted March 27 to April 1, and released yesterday by the Pew Research Center. Some Americans are more steadfast than others, however.
Among them: 61 percent of conservative Republicans say the war is going "very well," while 47 percent of moderate to liberal Republicans agree. Among Democrats, 32 percent of moderates and 27 percent of liberals share that view. Among men, 85 percent of those ages 25 to 29 say war was "the right decision." The figure stood at 82 percent for men ages 18 to 24 and 81 percent for men 30 to 49. The highest percentage of women who thought the war was the "right" course of action was among those ages 30 to 49, at 72 percent.
The cold war
Billed as the conservative alternative to left-wing Ben & Jerry's, Star Spangled Ice Cream has introduced some timely new gourmet flavors: "I Hate the French Vanilla," "Iraqi Road," "Smaller Governmint," and "Nutty Environmentalist." They join other relevant flavors, such as "Cowardly German Chocolate" and "Irrelevant Belgian Chocolate." Information is available at
www.starspangledicecream.com. Link
From the Liebster: So that," he said of the war, "is just one stand that I have."
California Democrats have been a tough audience lately for pro-war candidates. At the state party convention in Sacramento three weeks ago, activists shrieked their approval for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's anti-war message. They booed war supporter Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, and when Lieberman sent a videotape in his own place, they booed the video.
Early fund-raising figures out this week show Lieberman's first-quarter results at $3 million, behind Edwards' $7.4 million,Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's $7 million and Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt's $3.6 million. Link
April 5 — U.S. officials tell NBC News they believe an overnight airstrike has killed the man known as “Chemical Ali,” a cousin of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and commander of Iraq’s southern front. Meanwhile, leaders of the ruling Baath Party in Iraq’s second city Basra fear public reprisals and were seeking to negotiate a surrender to British military forces besieging the city, a pan-Arab newspaper reported. Complete story
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