Sunday, January 06, 2008

100 years of occupation


Apparently the other night in New Hampshire, John McCain allowed as how U.S. troops might stay in Iraq for 100 years and "that would be fine by me." He wouldn't want them getting killed ... but if they could pull off that feat, it was okay by him for them to stay around there forever.

We don’t usually get such bald statements of imperial intent from our rulers. On the other hand, such confident disregard for what Iraqis might think about our deployments is commonplace.

What struck me about this exchange is how it came to be: according to MoJo Blog here's what brought McCain's Iraq intentions into the light:

McCain was confronted by Dave Tiffany, who calls himself a "full-time antiwar activist." In a heated exchange, Tiffany told McCain that he had looked at McCain's campaign website and had found no indication of how long McCain was willing to keep U.S. troops in Iraq.

McCain's endorsement for permanent occupation followed.

Listen up, peace folks -- make these dorks tell us what they intend while we can. Elections can be empty, distracting political theater, but we're flubbing an opportunity if we don't push their possibilities.

H/t to NO REST FOR THE AWAKE.

3 comments:

colecurtis said...

Still singing this song no one is listening.Hunt something new to lie about.

Jane R said...

Oh geez.

Heard a very interesting piece on NPR today, an interview of Nina Burleigh on her new book re: Napoleon in Egypt. Fascinating and very interesting for roots of some of today's patterns. It's not causal and is more like a part of the bigger picture, but it sounds like a good read. And the interview alone makes for a good listen. Trying to remember where I heard it. Maybe on "Bob Edwards' Weekend" this morning.

Rona Fernandez said...

Thanks so much for this Jan. I linked to yr post on my blog too, where I've been musing a bit about this election. Obama actually scares me a little--it's like seeing Clinton all over again, but younger and Black. I fear that if elected, he'll do a lot of damage (re: foreign policy, economic issues, even health care), but will be looked up to as an amazing President because of his skill at spin and rhetoric. Frightening during already frightening times.