Mark Steyn: Movers and shakers have moved on to the next 'disaster'

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 04/12/03 | Mark Steyn

[Amelia]

9) "Weapons of Mass Destruction. Remember them? Not a single one has yet been found" (Bill Neely, ITV, April 10). MBITRW: Actually, I almost wish this one were true. Anything that turns up now will be assumed to have been planted. If I were Washington, I'd consider burying anything I found. After all, an America that feels no need to bother faking justifications for invasion would be far more alarming to most Europeans. Instead, horrible things will turn up, but will never be "conclusive" enough for the French, who've got all the receipts anyway.

Gotta love it.

[Dark Wing]

ping

[Paul_B]

Thanks Pokey. Way to go, Mark. Loved the dig at Belgium's lack of national coherance.

[Cicero]

Somebody really should put up a separate post under breaking news for this little throwaway nugget:

the Prime Minister of Canada, whose daughter is married to TotalFinaElf's biggest shareholder

This is a blockbuster, which I have seen reported nowhere else.

[Gritty]

MBITRW: Steyn hits another home run!

[WOSG]

5) "Iraq was a new country cobbled together from several former Ottoman provinces, its lines drawn by the Europeans" (Mark Mazower, Independent, April 7). It's a phony state, you can never make a go of it. MBITRW: There's nothing in the least bit "cobbled" about it. The three Ottoman vilayets of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra have been bound together by geography and trade for millennia. As a coherent jurisdiction, it makes more sense than, say, Belgium. As long as you respect its inherently confederal nature, it'll work fine: think St Kitts and Nevis writ large.

As usual, mark Steyn's rapier wit skewers 'em good ... but I can do him one better on this score ... Iraq makes far more sense as a country than the *EU* does! Cobbled-tegether pastiche of territories that have never been together before and are being forced together for the worst reasons (selfishness, government aggrandizement and imperialism). That is the European Union!

[Clive]

"If I were Washington, I'd consider burying anything I found. After all, an America that feels no need to bother faking justifications for invasion would be far more alarming to most Europeans."

Well said.

[Yardstick]

That was the line that jumped out at me, too. Screw the WMD's. Let the Europeans be alarmed. I like it.

[COBOL2Java]

Obviously, it would be preferable if the late Saddam's future media appearances were confined to guest-hosting Good Morning, Hell! with Osama.

My favorite line!

[McGavin999]

Looks to me like the only ones stuck in a quagmire are the pathetic journalists.

Fortunately, for the trade, a whole new journalistic style has been born in the blood and sweat of the Iraqi Freedom campaign. I admire and respect those who went with our troops and discovered the truth first hand. Hopefully, they will retain that crystal clear vision when they return home.

[Scenic Sounds]

Anything that turns up now will be assumed to have been planted.

But of course. If nobody's gonna buy your used delusion, you gotta keep it.

And wear it with pride!!

[dighton]

Anti-War Leaders Fear US Fast Food Threat to Iraq

[speekinout]

Fortunately, for the trade, a whole new journalistic style has been born in the blood and sweat of the Iraqi Freedom campaign. I admire and respect those who went with our troops and discovered the truth first hand.

"Embedding" journalists was a brilliant idea of Tori Clark's. And it was a disaster for the Liberals. We're going to be seeing a lot of true stories about our military and this war, and few of them will be supportive of the Left or anti-war factions.
Embedding should be a formal policy for any future military actions (although it would be nice if we have finally convinced the tin-horn dictators that it isn't a good idea to threaten Americans or their closest allies)

[Right_in_Virginia]

Here's your at-a-glance guide to what the experts who got everything wrong last week will be getting wrong next week:...

Beautiful!....LOL!

[dts32041]

I resemble that remark.

[You Dirty Rats]

Good one! Not often that anyone improves on Steyn, but the EU is a MUCH better example than Belgium. It also would be more appropo on the day the weasels met in St. Petersburg.

[LibertarianLiz]

In short: not a bad three weeks' work.

Amen. Gives me hope for the younger generation -- we've got some good 'uns.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Fortunately, for the trade, a whole new journalistic style has been born in the blood and sweat of the Iraqi Freedom campaign. I admire and respect those who went with our troops and discovered the truth first hand. Hopefully, they will retain that crystal clear vision when they return home.

Exactly . . . except that those guys are "corrupted"--IMHO they will find out that they are no longer "objective journalists." I very much fear that overexposure to reality will make them unemployable.

[LibertarianLiz]

Here is Steyn's column on the Cretien connection (the column is just a hoot):

Welcome to Anglo-Saxon Reality

[LibertarianLiz]

See my post #39 for the link to a previous Mark Steyn column about this subject.