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Mark Steyn: Movers and shakers have moved on to the next 'disaster'
The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 04/12/03 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 04/11/2003 2:56:05 PM PDT by Pokey78

On to the next quagmire! Don't get mired in the bog of yesterday's conventional wisdom, when the movers and shakers have already moved on to new disasters. America may have won the war but it's already losing the peace! Here's your at-a-glance guide to what the experts who got everything wrong last week will be getting wrong next week:

1) "Iraq's slide into violent anarchy" (Guardian, April 11). Say what you like about Saddam, but he ran a tight ship and you didn't have to nail down your nest of tables: since the Brits took over, Basra's property crime is heading in an alarmingly Cheltenhamesque direction. MBITRW (Meanwhile Back In The Real World): A year from now, Basra will have a lower crime rate than most London boroughs.

2) "The head of the World Food Programme has warned that Iraq could spiral into a massive humanitarian disaster" (Australian, April 11). MBITRW: No such disaster will occur, any more than it did during the mythical "brutal Afghan winter" and its attendant humanitarian scaremongering. ("The UN Children's Fund has estimated that as many as 100,000 Afghan children could die of cold, disease and hunger." They didn't.)

3) "Iraqis Now Waiting for Americans to Leave" (AP, April 10). MBITRW: There will be terrible acts of suicide-bomber depravity in the months ahead, but no widespread resentment at or resistance of the Western military presence.

4) "If Saddam is not found dead, or caught alive, it will be the worst of all possible closures for the war against Iraq. Bin Laden himself continues to elude capture" (Roland Flamini, UPI) MBITRW: Obviously, it would be preferable if the late Saddam's future media appearances were confined to guest-hosting Good Morning, Hell! with Osama. But if he's reduced to bin Laden's current schedule - mailing in bi-monthly audio cassettes of Islamist boilerplate - what's the difference? Even if he'd escaped to Syria, he'd be spending the rest of his days as a Bedouin goat-herd. Right now, Boy Assad is doing his best not to attract Rummy's attention.

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.

6) "Turkey is concerned that a Kurdish capture of Kirkuk could help bankroll moves to establish an independent Kurdistan" (AFP, April 9). MBITRW: Nothing to worry about. The Kurds are the only part of the indigenous population that were part of the liberation force from the start. They're not going anywhere now. They'll settle for being Scotland or Quebec rather than Pakistan.

7) "Rather than reforming the Muslim world, the conquest of Iraq will inflame it" (Jeffrey Simpson, Toronto Globe and Mail, April 10). MBITRW: Effective immediately, Palestinian suicide bombers are no longer subsidised by Baghdad; in Jordan, the Saddamite boot is off the Hashemite windpipe; Syria is under notice to behave. Despite the best efforts of Western doom-mongers to rouse the Arab street, its attitude will remain: start the jihad without me.

8) "Looting is always unsavoury. Let's hope the Americans don't pilfer the oil" (Brenda Linane, Age of Melbourne, April 11). MBITRW: The pilfering of Iraq's oil has just ended. Saddam parcelled his country's wealth out to those companies willing to cosy up to him. The oil business will now be opened up to competitive tender. The only North American politician with a personal stake in any of this is not Bush, Cheney or any of their Texan oilpatch pals, but the Prime Minister of Canada, whose daughter is married to TotalFinaElf's biggest shareholder. The liberation of Iraq is a victory for real markets over French cronyism.

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.

10) America is already losing the peace. MBITRW: In a year's time, Iraq will be, at a bare minimum, the least badly governed state in the Arab world and, at best, pleasant, civilised and thriving. In short: not a bad three weeks' work.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: april9th2003; arabstreet; bush; ccrm; iia; iraq; iraqifreedom; marksteyn; marksteynlist; mediabias; natteringnabobs; saddam; steyn; victory; war; wmd
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To: Pokey78
"MBITRW" will find its way into the OED and "Start the jihad without me!" is destined for Bartlett's Quotations. Priceless!
41 posted on 04/11/2003 8:05:45 PM PDT by Natty Bumppo@frontier.net (Properly fused ordnance, on target, on time, first pass, any weather, any time)
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To: Pokey78
The only real quagmire is the mush inside every leftist's head. And their demented thought process will never be able to extricate itself from it.
42 posted on 04/11/2003 8:39:03 PM PDT by laz17 (Socialism is the religion of the atheist.)
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To: McGavin999
the only ones stuck in a quagmire are the pathetic journalists

lol

43 posted on 04/11/2003 8:41:30 PM PDT by formercalifornian (Now, let's liberate South Dakota!)
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To: Pokey78
The only North American politician with a personal stake in any of this is not Bush, Cheney or any of their Texan oilpatch pals, but the Prime Minister of Canada, whose daughter is married to TotalFinaElf's biggest shareholder.

This is just more undeniable proof that all these leaders opposed to the war are opposed solely because of their corrupt self-interest, NOT because they are true pacifists who don't want to see people die. Criminals like Chirac, Schroeder, Chretien, et al have no problem seeing thousands of poor Iraqis die, as long as their dirty financial deals are protected. These "men" are among the most corrupt politicians who have ever crawled out of the slime. The irony is that millions of people all over the planet revere them as moral giants. But that's because those millions of people are just as corrupt and morally bankrupt as the trash they adore.

44 posted on 04/11/2003 8:56:10 PM PDT by laz17 (Socialism is the religion of the atheist.)
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To: Pokey78
My favorite Canadian hits another one out of the park. One can only fantasize about the children he and Ann Coulter would produce.
45 posted on 04/11/2003 9:06:23 PM PDT by Scothia (If you pray for rain, prepare to deal with some mud.)
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To: Pokey78
Instead, horrible things will turn up, but will never be "conclusive" enough for the French, who've got all the receipts anyway.

Priceless!

46 posted on 04/11/2003 9:16:23 PM PDT by EternalVigilance
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To: Revolting cat!
Quagmire....French word for "unable to find anyone to surrender to"

V


47 posted on 04/11/2003 9:18:00 PM PDT by Beck_isright ("QUAGMIRE" - French word for "unable to find anyone to surrender to")
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To: Cicero
Mark Steyn did yesterday and here it is!!!!

V


48 posted on 04/11/2003 9:21:10 PM PDT by Beck_isright ("QUAGMIRE" - French word for "unable to find anyone to surrender to")
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To: Revolting cat!
We've just ened a 12 year quagmire called Northern/Southern Watch.
49 posted on 04/11/2003 9:57:42 PM PDT by Red Dog #1
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To: Pokey78
Obviously, it would be preferable if the late Saddam's future media appearances were confined to guest-hosting Good Morning, Hell! with Osama. But if he's reduced to bin Laden's current schedule - mailing in bi-monthly audio cassettes of Islamist boilerplate - what's the difference? ...

After all, an America that feels no need to bother faking justifications for invasion would be far more alarming to most Europeans.

Brutal pragmatism ... the American way. Steyn is the most prolific and brilliant political writer.

50 posted on 04/11/2003 10:38:02 PM PDT by spodefly (This is my tag line. There are many like it, but this one is mine.)
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To: Homer_J_Simpson
ROFLOL
51 posted on 04/11/2003 10:49:46 PM PDT by patricia
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To: McGavin999
Agreed!
52 posted on 04/11/2003 10:58:27 PM PDT by patricia
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To: Pokey78
Meanwhile Back In The Real World:

kAcknor Sez:

 Not to worry, I'll tell you everything you will need to know!! - DNC Bob

"tIqIpqu' 'ej nom tIqIp" (Hit them hard and hit them fast.)

Have you checked the *bang_list today?

53 posted on 04/11/2003 10:59:08 PM PDT by kAcknor
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To: Pokey78
Thanks!
54 posted on 04/11/2003 11:08:35 PM PDT by patricia
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To: Bullish
The left never gets anything right. and they never pay the price for getting everything wrong.

That will change after Rupert Murdoch buys up the last of the media outlets in North America and the "sackings" begin.
55 posted on 04/11/2003 11:15:54 PM PDT by cartoonistx
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To: Pokey78
"Looting is always unsavoury. Let's hope the Americans don't pilfer the oil" (Brenda Linane, Age of Melbourne, April 11).

This is as old as UBL calling for another jihad.

56 posted on 04/11/2003 11:35:13 PM PDT by sydbas
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To: Pokey78
As a coherent jurisdiction, it makes more sense than, say, Belgium.

Worth the price of admission right there.

57 posted on 04/11/2003 11:40:18 PM PDT by SkyPilot (Congrats Syracuse Orangeman!)
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To: scholar; Bullish; linear
Ping
58 posted on 04/12/2003 7:36:34 AM PDT by knighthawk
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To: Pokey78; Freee-dame
Here are the responses to next week's talking points in offices, faculty lounges, and other venues where lefties 'still have their doubts.'

Mark Steyn is as brilliant as usual.
59 posted on 04/12/2003 1:40:42 PM PDT by maica (Home of the FREE because of the BRAVE)
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Steyn bump...
60 posted on 04/12/2003 1:54:31 PM PDT by Lyford
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