Sugar-coating U.S. motives in Iraq

[reprehensor]

by Linda McQuaig

When Genseric, king of the Vandals, invaded northern Africa in 428 A.D., he probably didn't declare that his intention was to plunder and pillage. It's no accident that the name of his people has ended up, some 16 centuries later, as an enduring word in our vocabulary, synonymous with thuggery and hooliganism.

Invading armies are often coy when it comes to admitting their true motives. Certainly a desire to seize territory and resources are rarely among the motives modern invading armies tend to highlight.

One can understand the preference for looking like a liberator rather than a pillaging bully.

What's harder to understand is how willingly members of the media step forward to make the invaders' case for them. Iraq pops to mind.

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