or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
November 06, 2009
Violent Lunatics the Same All Around the World
I read this back in July when the Saddam transcripts were first released, and assumed it would be picked up and mentioned in news stories around the world. Nope.
Anyway, it's pretty funny, at least as much events that involve the deaths of millions can be funny.
FBI Interrogation of Saddam Hussein, March 3, 2004:
The invasion of Kuwait was accomplished within two and a half hours, equivalent to that previously estimated. Hussein stated it should have taken no more than one hour. He believes it should have occurred more quickly than originally estimated due to support from the Kuwaiti people. Hussein reiterated a previous statement to the interviewers that Iraq was asked by the Kuwaiti people to invade their country in order to remove the Kuwaiti leadership. When asked to clarify how the Kuwaiti citizens communicated their desires to the Iraqi government prior to the invasion, Hussein stated some, not all, Kuwaitis felt this way. He added, "We felt they were asking."
Dead Certain by Robert Draper:
"What reaction do you expect from the Iraqis to the entry of U.S. force in their cities?" Bush wanted to know."The Iraqi will welcome the U.S. forces with flowers and sweets when they come in," volunteered Makiya ... The other two [Iraqis] agreed that American troops would face immediate jubilation.
Bush was ready to believe this.
Kenneth Pollack, The Threatening Storm, p. 250:
We may not have a perfect understanding of how Saddam Hussein thinks, but one thing we know for certain is that he does not think like an American president... Assuming that Saddam Hussein will think and act like a Westerner -- indeed, like anyone but himself -- can only lead to disaster.
—Jonathan Schwarz
Posted at November 6, 2009 06:17 AM"...one thing we know for certain is that he does not think like an American President." Why, of course not, he's Brown isn't he? Geeze Louise, that's why it's OK to invade and eradicate. That's foundation military industrial complex 101. Now that we've got a Commander in Chief of color, well that does sort of threaten everything we previously believed in. He's going to need a lot of "support" to "Man Up" and finish this job his "betters" began, or so it goes.
Posted by: knowdoubt at November 6, 2009 07:12 AMVery perceptive observation, as always, of the "we think we're different but we're not" sort.
Poor Saddam was a little gullible. Based on the remarkable timing of the invasion to sabotage Carter's negotiations to free the hostages in Teheran, it seems somebody with lots of arab connections (such as to Prince Turki of Saudi intel or maybe even "Bandahar Bush") might have whispered in Saddam's ear in the summer of 1979 that maybe if he invaded Iran, he might be able to keep Khuzestan (the oil-rich arab southwestern part of Iran) as a reward for his years of loyal service to Langley and friends.
Oops, their bad!
Then a little more than a decade later Saddam somehow got the remarkable idea, partly thanks to Ambassador Gillespie of the U.S., that if he invades Kuwait, which after all used to be part of Iraq, he might end up getting away with keeping it because the U.S. didn't really concern itself with inter-arab matters and certainly didn't seem to have the stomach to go to war over them. (And how crazy to think the former Iraqis would like to be rid of their colonial royal family!) Besides, Saddam knew how richly he deserved to be rewarded for all his past helpfulness.
Ooops! Wrong again!
But I guess it couldn't have happened to a nicer fella. Too bad about everybody else.
Posted by: N E at November 6, 2009 12:01 PMI would sure appreciate the same ending for both of them.
Posted by: par4 at November 6, 2009 01:36 PMpar4,
I'd be willing to jeer at W from the foot of the gallows. But what would make the occasion complete would be for him to be joined by his co-conspirators. The Dick: if there's a 1% chance that there is no hell, doing our best to allow for that possibility by making his exit hellish may have to do. Rumsfeld: happy to usher him off to explore the unknown unknowns. Rice: I'll bet she couldn't have imagined that THIS could happen.
Dancing With The Stars - The Mid-Air Version
Posted by: JerseyJeffersonian at November 6, 2009 03:35 PM
