Politics

I now feel completely justified in my opinion of Thomas Friedman.

Go read Digby on Sunday’s column:

This wishful thinking is running amuck among people who are even less dazzled by the President’s manufactured machismo than Tom Friedman. They cling to the idea that even though this administration has fouled up every single foreign policy initiative, that they wasted all of the U.S. moral authority emanating from 9/11, that they have been proven over and over again to be the boldest and most shameless liars to ever occupy the White House, that somehow they “Just Have To” do this one right. The long bomb “Just Has To” connect.

I think it’s time for everybody to start considering just what we are going to do in the event this thing, like every single other thing this administration has done, goes wrong? What are we going to do when the “It Just Has To Work” theory of geopolitics fails?

Also, go read David E.

This is the result of our “liberation” of Afghanistan. Malnutrition rates have doubled since 2001. We bombed the country from 30,000 feet, killed thousands, and now we’re abandoning it.

Suffering from severe malnutrition and a distended stomach, Ahqel Khan, 2, of Khost, smiles as his grandmother, Khatou, helps him stand, at the Indira Ghandi Children’s Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 25, 2003. Khan’s development skills have been severely stunted due to his malnutrition, and he is still unable to crawl or walk. Dr. Assef Ghecy of the French non-governmental organization Action Contre de la Faim, says that the percentage of children in Kabul suffering from severe malnutrition has increased from 6 percent in 2001 to 11 percent in 2002. This is largely due to inadequate living conditions for recent refugees returning to Afghanistan.

Very cool project, info from MattS originally:

BRIDGE TO BAGHDAD

You are invited to join BRIDGE TO BAGHDAD: A Youth Dialogue.

This Saturday, March 1, from 11:30am to 2pm, DCTV will be hosting a live, satellite conversation between students in Iraq and students in America to include the voice of a younger generation in the current public discourse.

The live conversation will feature a panel of American students representing diverse ethnicities, religions, and political viewpoints; a panel of students in
Baghdad; and a live studio audience that may participate or simply listen. The session will be turned into a program for television.

The program is free and open. Please reserve by writing to justin@dctvny.org or calling 212-925-3429 x243. You must arrive by 11:15am on Saturday to ensure your reservation.

The program will take place at the Cyberstudio at DCTV at 87 Lafayette Street, between Walker and White Streets, near the A, C, E, N, R, Q, W, 6 trains to Canal Street.

More info here.

Busy with work, so I’ll let Atrios explain it for me: why I don’t link to Josh Marshall’s web site anymore. Arguing that it will diminish our standing to not bomb Iraq, even if it’s a bad idea, is outrageous, stupid, and immoral.

U.S. Warns France in Struggle Over Iraq

The United States fired a warning shot Tuesday across the bows of France, the leading critic of its Iraq policy, saying it would view any French veto of a new U.N. resolution authorizing force as “very unfriendly.”

What an idiot. There is no evidence that Iraq had anything to do with 9/11, but here is Peter Vallone, Jr. on why he won’t support and anti-war resolution in the NYC Council, from Newsday:

Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said the council may have been reluctant to take action on the original resolution because of the attack on the World Trade Center.

“No one felt a greater loss than New York City,” he said. “No one needs retribution more than New York City.

“I will not support any anti-war resolution, no matter what the wording, and neither will the large majority of my constituents,” Vallone said.

Daily Kos has a great summary of the Carnegie Endowment’s critique of Kenneth Pollack’s op-ed piece in the Times on why we have to invade Iraq. They describe it as “a house of cards”.

I wasn’t feeling well, so I stayed home from the INS Demo, but James went and wrote about it.

Full U.S. Control Planned for Iraq

The Bush administration plans to take complete, unilateral control of a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, with an interim administration headed by a yet-to-be named American civilian who would direct the reconstruction of the country and the creation of a “representative” Iraqi government, according to a now-finalized blueprint described by U.S. officials and other sources.

Gen. Tommy Franks, the head of the U.S. Central Command, is to maintain military control as long as U.S. troops are there. Once security was established and weapons of mass destruction were located and disabled, a U.S. administrator would run the civilian government and direct reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

In the early days of military action, U.S. forces following behind those in combat would distribute food and other relief items and begin needed reconstruction. The goal, officials said, would be to make sure the Iraqi people “immediately” consider themselves better off than they were the day before war, and attribute their improved circumstances directly to the United States.

…