Molly Ivins: Lurching into the ludicrous

[Dudley_DUright]

So, Haditha becomes another of the names at which we wince, along with Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and My Lai. Tell you what: Let's not use the "stress of combat" excuse this time. According to neighbors, the girls in the family of Younis Khafif -- the one who kept pleading in English: "I am a friend. I am good" -- were 14, 10, 5, 3 and 1. What are they going to say? "Under stress of combat, we thought the baby was 2"?

"We have a Haditha every day," said Muhanned Jasim, an Iraqi merchant. "Were (those killed in Haditha) the first Iraqis to be killed for no reason?" asked Ghasan Jayih, a pharmacist. Well no, but we Americans don't count collateral damage unless we're forced to. We prefer to ignore collateral damage, especially if they're under 5.

<snip>

Meanwhile, back at the full-force fun festival known as Washington, here's a moment to cherish.

Two weeks ago, Amir Taheri had an op-ed article in the Canadian National Post claiming the Iranians have a law requiring Jews to wear yellow badges. It turned out to be a complete fabrication and has been the subject of much contempt among bloggers. So Tuesday, Taheri was invited to the White House along with other "experts" to give the president their "honest opinions." With advice like that, our war in Iran will be a slam dunk.

more...

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=20892

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Rachel Maddow mentioned this AM that Amir Taheri was on the list of

people that advised Bush about Iran, that Tony Snow read during one of his Snow jobs. She was furious that Taheri was included.
These guys are totally without any sense of shame whatsoever!

Guess the only thing surprising is that Ahmed Chalabi wasn't there!!!

[reichstag911]

2. Like Repub politicians nationwide,...

...he doesn't want to catch any of that GW* polling number "magic." He'll take his money, but he does have some standards!

[LuckyLib]

3. Of course they could never gather any real MidEasts scholars

at the White House BEFORE the war to pull together the best experts on what would be the fallout from this idiotic plan. No-o-o-o-o-. That would have made too much sense. Bush and Rummy might have actually learned something. Then again, maybe not.

[Dudley_DUright]

4. I was just thinking what a real Middle East expert like Juan Cole

would say to the idiot king about Iraq. Bush would probably have him arrested.

http://www.juancole.com/

[LuckyLib]

5. No doubt. Bush cannot comprehend the idea that there are

people with no vested political interest in a region who have studied it for years, get the political and social issues at work there, and can give you a more nuanced picture of what "bringing democracy" might mean to a country. You're right. Once someone tells him that his harebrained schemes are likely to backfire, he/she would be toast. Even soliciting the advice of a mainstream media-type who actually knows something (like Fareed Zakharia) would have been a step in the right direction. When I told my Repub cousin that the administration could have gathered 100 people who actually know something about the middle east, he cracked, "Five would have been enough." Chimpy didn't even do that.