A peculiar hybrid of personal journal, dilettantish punditry, pseudo-philosophy and much more, from an Accidental Expat who has made his way from Hong Kong to Beijing to Singapore, and finally back home to America for reasons that are still not entirely clear to him...
Looking back at China
The Indescribable Tragedy of AIDS in China J'Accuse: China, The Other Evil Empire The Plight of Gays in China Tiananmen Square Revisited Tiananmen Tank Man Story behind the Tiananmen Tank Man Photo The SARS Days Pushing the Envelope Interview with a 1989 Demonstrator Lei Feng: Myth of a Communist Party Stooge China's Diligent Coverage of the War in Iraq On Andrew Sullivan Was the Holocaust unique? On the Death of Roy Kessler On Richard Wagner Oh, What a Lovely War On the Unique Joys of Flying Air China
Josh Marshall
Kevin Drum (formerly Calpundit) Eschaton Ugga Bugga Daily Howler Orcinus (chronicling the crimes of the U.S. "Patriot" movement) Whiskey Bar Media Matters World O'Crap Juan Cole - the blog on Iraq Andrew Sullivan Tbogg Daily Kos Skippy the Bush Kangaroo Mark Kleiman Pandagon Silt (an expat in Europe) Jesus' General (Patriotboy) Ryan Lizza's Campaign Journal The All Spin Zone Fafnir an Giblets First Draft Digby
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EastSouthWestNorth Flying Chair The Laowai Monologues (great stuff, beautifully written) Pure Essence Hailey Xie, a Chinese blog in English Danwei (media and marketing in the PRC) Wrong Place Right Time Brainysmurf A Better Tomorrow Hangzhou T-Salon Kaizor Kuo Crackpot Chronicles LongBow Papers Simon World Metastasis Asian Labour News The Almost Daily Grind Big Hominid Marmot's Blog Daai Tou Laam Diary Asian Rare Books Chase Me Ladies Chris Waugh (Beijing) China Letter My Very Own Glob Sinosplice
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August 2004
July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 November 2002 October 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 |
June 18, 2004
Paul Johnson beheaded; photos released
Another decapitation. Photos here. The media shouldn't "protect" us from the photos and videos, as they are doing. We need to all see for ourselves what the murderers are capable of. The media showed us Abu Ghraib and there's no reason to shield us from images of terrorist butchery. The terrorists are certainly living up to their carefully cultivated reputation. So what do we do? Has anything been accomplished as a result of our war on terror? Are we any safer? I really don't know, but it seemed we were making some progress while we were focused on Afghanistan, and then everything seemed to deteriorate with Iraq and Abu Ghraib. It's too soon to make sense out of this puzzle, but I see absolutely no reason for any optimism. Update: I just heard Cheney and then Bush speak briefly about the murder, with the usual, "We will track each and every one of the killers down. This will not stand...." But isn't that just what we heard about Bin Laden and al Qaeda after 911 -- and don't they seem, in an odd way, to have been made even more dangerous in their diaspora? And hasn't it been two and a half years? With new mini-bin Ladens being created daily by the militant Islam hatred mill, are we caught forever in a black hole, with no way out, ever? Sorry for all the questions, but my febrile brain is on overdrive. I heard someone on the news last night put forward what seemed like the most ridiculous and impossible notion: We must, he said, meet with the terrorists and negotiate in some way. Treason! Impossible! They butchered 3,000 Americans and beheaded Nick Berg and America never negotiates with terrorists! He acknowledged this, but said it still has to be done, and that is the only way nightmares like this are ever resolved. He pointed to Israel finally talking with Yasser Arafat -- a disaster in the end but an important step nevertheless. Under Reagan, of course, we negotiated secretly with Iranian terrorists to free American hostages. This fellow said there's simply no other way, and that the odds are right now behind the scenes someone in the US government is communicating with someone either in al Qaeda or with connections to them. I am as sickened as anyone else at the thought of ever, ever talking with al Qaeda. And judging from the way they talk about the US, it'd be hard to believe they're that hot to talk with us. And besides, could we ever trust a thing they say? Don't they make Kim Jong Il and Mao look like little darlings? But all that said, is there any other practical way to really "win"? Is this the kind of war where we can simply shoot our way to victory, considering that the enemy has fanned out across the globe -- and considering that we are bogged down in a stupid and failed effort in the one country al Qaeda isn't. (And yeah, I know about al Zarkawi, America's new bogey man and source of all evil, a Jordanian with no proven ties to either bin Laden or Saddam.) Well, I seem to have veered off topic a bit, but it was healthy to get all those thoughts down on "paper." Now, let's get on with our splendid war on terror. Onward, Christian soldiers. Baked by Richard TPD at 12:57 PM
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Comments
Sounds good to me.... Posted by: richard at June 18, 2004 08:45 PMBah, if you had any guts, you would BOMB OMAN! Posted by: Michael at June 18, 2004 10:51 PMI disagree completely with your statement about the media, or at least about is seeing what "they" are capable of. The mere fact that it will be seen will be considered a success by the murderers. They are not interested in negotiating anything. They want to instill fear in the "Western" mind. The more the video is seen, the more they have accomplished their goal. I watched the Berg video because I too had to "see what they are capable of"... If I could take any one thing back in my life, it would be watching that video. The depravity, the brutality, the sadistic glee is beyond comprehension. It should not be seen. If it were not seen, if aljazeera or fox refused to show it, if cnn and cbs issued statements that they would not provide airtime, it would take some of the punch out of the practice. I don't necessarily believe it would stop outright, but it would almost certainly slow down... Posted by: Vern Gill at June 19, 2004 02:55 AMI reacon the terrorists are going to keep killing hostages in this brutal way (beheading) and make it public. Only until the terrorists have hostage someone who is famous - only then will the governments take the killing and demands seriously... ...I only pray God is with the hostages who are in real danger, they will be recognised for their courage. God be with them always. Posted by: Simon at June 19, 2004 07:41 AMVern, by seeing the video you were filled with revulsion, it was the worst thing you have ever seen. So you now know, in a way you never before could, just how vile these monsters are. So it was not a victory for them. You are now against them more than ever. It was a very good thing that you watched it -- being made sick by it was exactly why. That's my whole point. Posted by: richard at June 19, 2004 08:21 AMif we were not in Iraq then these terrorists thugs (which exist in every country where islam is prevelent) would be training and building stockpiles of weapons to attack us with, they intiated the attacks on the embassies, the cole, and 9/11.......why dont you guys get it, we need to fight all of these idiots on there own turf All over the middle east. Posted by: at June 19, 2004 01:26 PMHere's the thing, darling: These terrorists were concentrated in Afghanistan. Many were Saudis. There was, we believe, one Al-Qaeda-related fellow named Zarkawi off in Kurdish Iraq, uninvited and unprotected by Saddam. So what the fuck are we doing in Iraq if our purpose is stoppinbg terrorism? Common sense, which is always in short supply in this White House, says you focus on Afghanistan and then Saudi Arabia. Now we're so bogged down in Iraq we are losing Afghanistan and incapable of doing much anywhere else. We are fucked. Iraq was in no way a terrorist state -- until we decided to visit. It was evil under Saddam, cruel, tyrranical. But their track record in terrorism absolutely pales nex to Syria and Saudi Arabia and Iran. So get your story straight, and try to understand how Iraq is ruining our war on terror, not helping. Posted by: richard at June 19, 2004 01:43 PMI agree, we have no business in fucking IRAQ. That's what we get for having/electing (or did we) a Bush into office. When there's Bush, theres war. Makes Clinton seem a model citizen in comparison. Kerry may look wiffle waffle but isnt dumb enough to pull the shit Bush has been for almost 3 years. All 9-11 did was give Bush a reason to do this, he never has one. Al Queda fucked us up, not Iraq, hes right... we made Iraq worse than it seemed and in the process, have made it worse everyone, for the wrong reasons. Weve done shit over there. Death after death, its ridiculous. Its a travesty, not a war. Posted by: Eddie at June 19, 2004 03:37 PMEddie, I think you said it pretty nicely. Iraq may have benefitted from our help -- at least they aren't under Saddam -- but the timing was off and the mission was porrly planned. First things first, and the very first thing was al Qaeda. Iraq could have waited at least another year or two, if not forever, since Saddam was an old dictator in the decline of his power. Posted by: richard at June 19, 2004 04:02 PMKill those fuckers........Fuk em... Posted by: RWK at June 19, 2004 05:06 PMI'm so sick of these rag head motherfuckers,that I'm ready to take the LAW IN MY OWN HANDS and grab one of these bed sheet wearing assholes in a public place and cut their fucking head off.An eye for an eye.The next one I see in the Hagerstown Maryland area , I just might have to show these asholes that this AMERICAN is tried of there SHIT.My GOD be with all AMERICANS. GOD BLESS THE USA Posted by: William Barnhart at June 19, 2004 10:14 PMWilliam, that is a diseased and dangerous mindset and you'd better get some commonsense. This idea that we can win revenge by attacking any Muslim -- well, it's plain sick and stupid. That's blatant racism, the kind that can justify murdering little girls in a southern church or dragging a helpless innoncent man from a pickup truck. Please focus your rage where it belongs, at the al Qaeda members. Also, for some perspective, think of how the Iraqi people felt when they saw the Abu Ghraib pictures. Is it justified for them to just start blasting at Americans, using the same logic as yours, an eye for an eye, even if it means the murder of innocents? Posted by: richard at June 19, 2004 10:19 PMThe beadings are "The Base's" low tech version of shock and awe. It's time for us to resume our brand of the same by eliminating the stockpiles of WMDs burried in Syria, seek and destroy Iran's atomic weapons program, more aggressive special ops forces along Afgani/Paki border. Let the chips fall where they may but when you have cockroaches you need an exterminator. Posted by: Tray Allen at June 20, 2004 06:32 AMThey want to keep us hostage using the price of oil? Lets return the favor with imports of food! What can they grow in sand? TIME to show them we will not be bullied! Posted by: Carl at June 20, 2004 06:36 AMRight on Mr. Tray. You got it right man. We need to kick ass. You know the other day we has a bunch of musis come into our neighborhood near the grand concourse and well it's amazing what 10-guys can do with bats. We shocked and we awed, baby Posted by: Lew from the Bronx at June 20, 2004 06:38 AMWe needed to get Saddam out of there because he broke the U.N. resolutions dozens of times...we should have gone after him after the first time he broke one....horn-dog Clinton was too busy with Monica that he put her aHEAD of Osama....He had Osama if he wanted him and Clinton blew it....sorry for the pun... Listen, under the Iraq invasion less than 1000 soldiers have died...I'm so sorry for that...but this is far less than 1 year of WW1, WW2, Vietnam and Korea...after the first year in each of those wars we lost sooooo many more lives... A nation is FREE of Saddam... We did the right thing...The media has not done even ONE story on the GREAT things going on in IraQ. I have heard that solgiers are pissed off about that too...they have worked so hard over their doing good things and the media and press only reports the bad things... come on people, you know how that works....don't fall for it... Posted by: Medina at June 20, 2004 09:50 AMYou don't remember the original George Bush being right there -- when Saddam was far more brutal and ferocious -- and turning tail? And all you can say is that Clinton was the one who blew it? Very silly. Yes, the world is better off without Saddam. It could have waited, however, until the far, far more dangerous enemy had been dealt with. Instead, the "war on terror" has deteriorated and will almost certainly fail. Posted by: richard at June 20, 2004 10:34 AMWith lives in the balance, it is too late to question the response of our leaders to the terrorists. Posted by: Palladiansearch at June 20, 2004 11:06 AMPosted by: at June 20, 2004 11:10 AM We MUST question them -- it is the time to decide whether we need to change our leadership, and we need to see what our current leaders have done. The answer is, of course, that they've done more harm than good and it's time for a change. Thank God we've got that issue resolved. Now register to vote. Posted by: richard at June 20, 2004 11:12 AMLet's be honest. Islam and Democracy are headed for a collision course. It doesn't matter what country these people live in the common tie is Islam. They don't want women to be equal, they don't want alcohol, they don't want rock n' roll, they don't want HBO or ESPN, they want life to be ruled and governed by their religion. A religion that says how to live, what to eat, who to marry, when to pray, etc. They view democracy as a sin, freedom as a sin, America as a land of sin. Semper Fi Posted by: David at June 20, 2004 12:43 PMInteresting. What do you think of our investing hundreds of billions of dollars into an effort to liberate these monsters? This solution you raise comes with a huge can of worms. America could never again pretend to be a non-imperialist nation. We would be holding an entire race responsible for the crimes of a relative few, and we would become a practitioner of racial genocide. A more partical solution is obvious, though not easy. (And it may be too late, considering how invested we are in Iraq in terms of blood and $$.) Put the money we're spending on war in the Middle East into researching alternative sources of energy. Once we escape the yoke of oil, the region is no longer an area of "strategic interest." Then let them slaughter themselves all they want. We'll help protect Israel if necessary, but they do a good job of protecting themselves as it is (which isn't to say I always admire Israel's tactics; I think they go way overboard at times, but when you look at their situation it is at least understandable if not always justifiable). But of course, Halliburton and Bechtel and the other contract-loving firms that bought Bush the White House won't like this idea, so don't expect any shift from the status quo. Posted by: richard at June 20, 2004 01:22 PMin regards to Richard's response to my post..I don't think Clinton is the only one who blew it...however, he DID blow it...AND he was our last president in power before this current administration..if you want to bring up Bush 1 then let's bring up Reagan, Carter and so on... i would rather move on from here, however, when talking about this current administration, one has to remember that at time...now and then, Clinton will have to be mentioned because some of his residue is left over on to this current administration....a little bit from the 70's and 80's too...but Bush 2's administration will no doubt need to be mentioned when talking about some of Kerry's decisions....IF Kerry is in power within the year...that's simply the way it works... Posted by: Medina at June 22, 2004 07:13 AMquestion to all of you? what do you think about us drilling in our own country for oil? i know it's been a hot debate at times...but I would love to hear you guys talk about it and the solutions or slaps that could come from it. thanks Posted by: Medina at June 22, 2004 07:15 AMI have no problem drilling for oil in America if it's carefully regulated and watched. If I can be convinced it could really free us from the yoke of Mideast oil I'd be even more for it. But if we're going to destroy the Alaskan wilderness for a short-term fix -- it's something we need to consider very carefully. Posted by: richard at June 22, 2004 08:46 AMsick of the war sick of the crap.... can't we all just get along and go to work and be productive members of society - enough of this whining about bush. it's everybody's fault including that so-called soldier john-retarded ass-kerry. thank god for your neck and pull yourselves together and jog another 5k for cancer survivors and build your kid a sandbox so he or she can take a dump in it... marry an arab if you want discounted gas for your car. it's only gonna get worse, so put on REM's document cd and sing along to "it's the end of the world as we know it" and you'll feel fine. Posted by: another whiner at June 22, 2004 04:07 PMWhiner, I do think Bush has to take special responsibility for Iraq and what it has meant for the "war on terror." This was something he wanted to do from day one, as Bob Woodward, Paul O'Neill, Richard Clark, Kevin Phillips and everyone else in the know has written. Do you not believe he should be accountable for that which he wrought? Posted by: richard at June 22, 2004 04:40 PMAbout just change our method of fighting this assholes and get down and dirty just like them. We catch one we execute right there, on site and hang them for all to see. No more be nice guys, worried about civil rights, what civil rights have them given to the civilians???? Posted by: corrado at June 22, 2004 08:12 PMSorry Corrado, but that doesn't work with people who are not afraid of death, who see death as a promise of eternal bliss and awaiting virgins. These guys are mean, like dogs. I don't know what the answer is, and I'm not feeling very optimistic that there is an answer, except containment. Terrorism is everywhere: just look at what they did in Russia yesterday, murdering more than 50 people! And there's Indeonesia, and Sri Lanka and Tel Aviv and Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan and.....well, it's not an easy war to win. Posted by: richard at June 22, 2004 08:17 PMcheck out the accusations on this site - it really makes you think..... http://www.prisonplanet.tv/articles/may2004/051104beheadsuscivilian.htm Posted by: at June 22, 2004 08:53 PM
have you seen thenausea.com? the atrocities on that site by all in the world should be enough to demand justice at whatever cost. UN talks have been unproductive in part because its member nations don't value human life. Posted by: another whiner at June 23, 2004 07:05 AMThanks Whiner, good link. I'm closing comments now -- this post's been bombarded by some pro-Bush character assassins and I don't want to deal with them. Thanks to all for contributing. Posted by: richard at June 24, 2004 02:59 PM |