The Dangerous Americans, Richard Reeves

[madokie]

PARIS — "Are you Australian?" a French truck driver asked me as I walked toward a press conference here the other day.

"No," I said. "I'm an American."

He stepped back just a foot or so and said, "Un homme dangereux."

"A dangerous man." Are all Americans? He smiled. Perhaps it was a joke. Maybe.

The guest at the European-American Press Club was the U.N. undersecretary-general for communications, Shashi Tharoor. He began his opening remarks by talking about Pew surveys in 21 major countries, all of them reporting declining regard for the United Nations. "It started with Iraq. The United Nations began losing stature everywhere, but for different reasons."
(snip)
"It is hard to believe this is coincidental," he wrote. "One suspects the real reason to threaten reporters with jail sentences and to threaten The New York Times with indictments is that the administration intends to criminalize the newsgathering process."

edit to add link, sorry

http://www.richardreeves.com/latest_column.html

[bigtree]

1. k&r

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. Kicked and Recommended!!! how did this miss greatest page?

and not one comment? come on DU! we care about truth, justice and democracy!

[Martin Eden]

3. The UN missed an opportunity in March 2003

The UN should have refused to pull the inspectors out of Iraq. They were there by the authority of the UN Security Council. Another vote by the Security Council should have been required to withdraw them. Play a little brinkmanship and see if Bush was willing to bomb UN personnel who were asking for more time to determine whether or not there actually were any WMD in Iraq.

[Catrina]

4. I agree, although things were different then and while they were right,

and now have been proven right, they would have been attacked viciously by this administration had they done that. Not that they weren't anyway, of course. That's what people don't understand about bullies. They have to be stood up to, and you can never, ever appease them, they will never respect you whether you stand up or not. Which is why it's best to do so anyway.

However, there is not excuse, imo, for the UN accepting Bolton, especially now that they can point to the disaster in Iraq. I think initially there was a refusal to meet with him, but that didn't last long. Maybe they don't get that it is the US that now needs rescuing. I wish the world would take a strong stand against this administration, we need help. Congress, despite the unbelievable amount of scandals and the horrors of Iraq, appears not to be willing or able to stop this administration.

[Martin Eden]

5. Yeah, it would have taken some cojones

but it would have been interesting to see Kofi Annan and some members of the Security Council stand up to the Bushistas, refuse to withdraw the inspectors, and strongly proclaim that the only "grave and gathering threat" is the threat of invasion by the United States.

I can see wee georgie's head exploding in apoplexy, Cheney having a heart attack, Condi hissing through the gap in her teeth, and Rummy fulminating about using shock and awe on "old" Europe. Poor Colin would once again have to decide whether to do what's right for the country or what his rightwing masters decree. He'd probabaly choose wrong again.