Watch CNN and the main news item is Iraq and Saddam. It just amazes me how Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network has completely disappeared from the news of the day. Is this man brilliant or what? Evil? Yes, but brilliant. A year and a half ago he takes down two NYC skyscrapers and today all focus is on an Iraqi despot. (By the way, I have heard but not been able to confirm that Osama issued a fatwa against Saddam. Can anyone confirm?) This whole Iraq thing reeks of a familiar political action of making a new, more solvable, problem to switch focus away from the real more urgent problem at hand. In this case Al Qaeda. I would honestly like to know what the Bush administration is doing about the terrorist network, which is a real global threat, rather than this backwater Middle Eastern nation, which obviously has problems, but hardly the problems, which is of any immediate concern of mine. Living in Singapore and knowing a couple of friends killed on Bali recently, I am extremely concerned with the progress of the effort of shutting down this terror network. Why then this sudden ultimatum and impending war on Iraq? I can only conclude that Bush is just switching the focus, as he is unable to show real results with the real problem at hand.
In 1982, President Galtieri of Argentina invaded the Falklands, the Argentine people were initially euphoric and almost completely forgot their own economic and social problems at home. Switching the focus of the masses.
Is this what Bush is doing? After the Falklands debacle, Galtieri resigned in shame.
I’ll say no more.
