Monday, July 02, 2007

Don't Know Much About History

Skip NPR's chat this morning with regular guest, RAND terrorism hack, Bruce Hoffman. When asked by Renee Montagne if the "explosive filled vehicle" in the UK represents an innovative import from the Iraq War, Hoffman correctly notes "on the one hand this is not a new tactic," but then erroneously traces it back to Hezbollah 's attack on the US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983. Well, well, isn't that convenient - ignoring the previous long history of the car bomb, including Israel's bloody use of it, and the post-1983 reliance on the car bomb by the US in Beirut and in its training of the mujaheddin in Afghanistan (training that inadvertently culminated in the 9/11 attacks).

For a complex and unnerving history of the car bomb use your spare time to read Mike Davis' history: Part I - The Poor Man's Air Force and Part II - Car Bombs with Wings.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's not just NPR... the MSM (I'm looking at you, Michael Gordon of the NY Times, you douche) is pumping for a new "Hezbollah - Iran - Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" axis.

If America is lucky, Dick Cheney will keel over from priapism before the this new war starts.

Evil scumbags, with their pathetic, ignorant NPR hand-maidens.

OnymousGuy said...

I heard Debbie Elliot interviewing Peter Overby - wow, there are a couple a dim lights - (Obama Leads in Election Fundraising. Apparently NPR hosts don't have to know grammar, either. At the 1:08 mark, Elliot clearly chokes on the use of the comparative "than".

Elliot: ... Now you're saying he's [Obama] raised a few million more than her [sic].

That is what a cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama College of Communication has to offer. It is no surprise that the complications of history completely overwhelm her. And Elliot isn't nearly as horrible as the Morning Edition crew.