tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post5284377953943927490..comments2023-11-03T03:17:27.053-05:00Comments on NPR Check: Slouching Toward TehranMytwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04307620268159811668noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-31791721413478273252007-01-30T00:54:00.000-06:002007-01-30T00:54:00.000-06:00Kevan, you're absolutely correct about the spoon-f...Kevan, you're absolutely correct about the spoon-fed hogwash (to use Dick Cheney's non-cuss word of choice lately) that passes for a 'certain catastrophe', should we decamp from Iraq. Thing is, there is still no hard evidence to back any of it up. It's the old domino theory for SE Asia, regurgitated through the panting wet dreams of Richard Perle and David Frum (e.g. their bozo tract advocating a new Hundred Years' War, 'An End To Evil', attempted to lay it all out for us to slavishly follow). I would never expect NPR to chart an investigative course through this complex subject, but somebody, somewhere, with enough credibility to be heard, should make the effort, and soon.Porter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-49532688539924405912007-01-29T23:45:00.000-06:002007-01-29T23:45:00.000-06:00Porter, if I suss it right, the official line is t...Porter, if I suss it right, the official line is this: If the U.S. fails in Iraq, it will embolden our enemies, who will next attack Egypt and Saudi Arabia to create "Islamist extremist" states a la Iran and the former Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. We would also be turning Iraq over to terrorists who would use it as base for further operations against the U.S. "homeland."<br /><br />That's not my view at all, but it's the one I seem to getting spoon fed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-9508308164488252562007-01-29T22:55:00.000-06:002007-01-29T22:55:00.000-06:00I have to add the following observation: where is ...I have to add the following observation: where is the hard evidence that the Middle East will collapse into catastrophe if the US leaves Iraq? What's the scenario? All I've ever heard (and not just on NPR) is that everything will go ballistic if the US leaves. How? Who? Why? What sort of speculation does an 'expert', I don't care what kind, have to offer about what would REALLY happen if the US leaves? Total war? Of course not. The regional nations and powers would not attempt 'taking' Iraq, especially in light of the US failure; besides, many of them have always been relieved that the US got suckered into the mess, so they didn't have to. What more convenient excuse does a failed enterprise have but to say that things will get even worse if that failed enterprise admits its failure? I'm just waiting, probably in vain, for a cogent, detailed, and credible thesis on post-US Iraq and surrounding region. I can only hope that a succeeding non-Bush president will fly to Teheran and broker an agreement firsthand with the Iranians, thus setting the stage for a more stable and independent Middle East as a whole.Porter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-16200213925272135182007-01-29T22:24:00.000-06:002007-01-29T22:24:00.000-06:00Leaving aside all the factors of what this intervi...Leaving aside all the factors of what this interview SHOULD have been, (and it should have been an opportunity for somebody really bold to nail Bush's ass on every issue) it is nevertheless a considerable example of just how good our boy Junior has gotten at posing in the presidenting act. Not only has he long been able to buddy up one on one, he has also been able to refine his conversational parrying to and fro. It is breathtaking what progress that boy has made. Some of his responses were downright reminiscent of a (get ready) Henry James paragraph-sentence. Could it be that he genuinely impresses the interviewer who happens to be in his presence, so that said interviewer, expecting a true dumbo, discovers Bush to be surprisingly adept at verbal rattling, and so they are defused from asking the tough, intelligent questions, and instead get derailed onto a sidetrack of superficiality, causing the Pres to 'win'. . . ? Why is his decorum so powerful? I noticed that Andy Rooney let fly a complaint yesterday on '60 Minutes' that the Pres can't even say 'nuclear' properly, yet here's poor, pathetic, overrated Juan Williams, taking the Pres to heavy task on his saying 'Democrat Congress' in the SOTU, and even gets him to utter an 'official' statement, saying that he can't pronounce certain words very well, yet drops the ball on this and every other opportunity . . . Well, that's not very accessible or helpful journalism, because the timidity in the face of the Throned One is too great for truth to prevail. I happen to know a woman who, when she lived in Texas, got to talk with the then governor at a benefit in which he appeared. The two talked for over an hour. And because of that - because he deigned to talk to a commoner one on one for over an hour at a public function - the woman I know was exalted. She felt so cared-for, so attended-to. And now, years later, Bush is still able to work his wonders on people who should know better. Question: Bush may have a knack of yak, but is it so formidible that NPR wimps can't stand up to it? Answer: why should they stand up to it when they are perfectly happy to go along with it?Porter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-78676485495008285792007-01-29T19:46:00.000-06:002007-01-29T19:46:00.000-06:00Oh God, now it's Michael Oren, the Israeli soldier...Oh God, now it's Michael Oren, the Israeli soldier-historian to teach us about the history of the US in the Middle East. OKTHXBY.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-34463115925669608852007-01-29T19:08:00.000-06:002007-01-29T19:08:00.000-06:00Bah. The administration gave this interview to Ju...Bah. The administration gave this interview to Juan Williams because they knew he wouldn't (couldn't) outsmart George Bush.<br /><br />I can't stand either, so I gave this piece a miss. And the day they have Mara fluff Dick Cheney on-air, I think I'll give that one a miss as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com