posted March 22, 2003 at 3:08 a.m. MDT
Commanded by the Compulsive and Directed by the Deluded - the Coalition of the Coerced
Google Search: "regime change" "international law"
Now that Jaba the Hut is on the scene, talk is down to nuts and bolts: the imposition of democracy is surplus to requirement; any institution that can be trusted to observe the law of contract will suffice, be that monarchy or "limited government". Interestingly, the one mention I heard of a council had it put five years down the timeline of history although, perhaps as a momentary eruption of the democratic instinct, one retired general mentionned that a reasonable criteria was that a responsible body would be selected and approved by the population. Works for me!
As a child of Pearsonian peace-keeping, battles of obliteration are obscene evidence of diplomacy failed. But underlying all of this is my profound conviction is that decisions must be determined according to those who experience their consequences. The ultimate demand is not that we be maximized as units of consumption and production, but that we each and all of us be recognized in all our dignity as human individuals.
War is a rotten sport ... the incursion of Turkish troops (now reported to be 1000) creates a jagged edge in the north; the occassional piece of ordinance crossing over into Iran near Basra rouses some still simmering energies. The loss of a further two helicopters by mid-air collision at sea shows how aloof are the elements to our hopes of indestructability (one chopper leaves its ship, another is headed back in, and they meet five miles out ... not likely, and yet there it is).
"A bayonet is a tool with a worker on both ends.".