Post by Islamic Revival on May 8, 2004 1:00:44 GMT -5
A Fish Called George
Tariq A. Al-Maeena, close_encounters@gawab.com
Prime-time George chose two regional networks to explain to the Arab world that he was unaware of the doings of his troops; of the butchery, the abuse, and the horrific torture at the hands of his men.
He appeared on Al-Hurra, a US-funded network that hardly anybody in the region cares to tune in to. Seen as a mouthpiece of an administration beset with lies and deceit, nobody bothers with this organ, which drains the US government of approximately $60 million annually, money perhaps better spent toward the development of schools or playgrounds in the inner cities in the US.
And on the Al-Arabiya network, he came off as unconvincing as the peddler trying to palm off Brooklyn Bridge. He claims he didn’t know that crimes were being carried out by his troops. Now when a commander in chief utters those words, alarm bells should ring. He didn’t know?
This has become a familiar pattern with George. When faced with a distasteful situation, either a memory lapse occurs, or else he doesn’t know. He didn’t know that the FBI had advance knowledge of a terrorist threat directed toward the US. Why they allowed it to happen remains unclear. He didn’t know that the CIA was convinced there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but he still went ahead with the “singular purpose” — as he stated then — of finding them.
He didn’t know of swirling allegations that his vice president, **** Cheney, was profiteering from the incursion into Iraq, of fat rebuilding contracts being handed over to select companies with strong business ties to Mr. Cheney. He didn’t know that his Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was reportedly an ardent supporter of Saddam Hussein back in the late 1980s. Mr. Rumsfeld apparently encouraged the strong-arm tactics of the ruthless dictator.
He doesn’t know that school buses carrying children were bombed by his troops in Afghanistan. He doesn’t know that civilian casualties in Afghanistan as a result of his orders far outnumber the victims of Sept. 11. He didn’t know of the generously used cluster bombs that were dropped in heavily populated areas in the cities and towns in Afghanistan.
Apparently, he also doesn’t know of the abuses much closer to home, in a place called Guantanamo, where men are being held without counsel in defiance of every known international law, under the pretext of being enemy combatants, and subject to the same abuses which are dominating headlines in the world’s press today.
And in Iraq, the reported rape of women by occupational forces, the sadistic torture of men who resisted his advancing forces, the 500-pound bombs dropped on hospitals and mosques, and the continuous battering and killing of a weary people who today view him as no better than Saddam: He just didn’t know!
Perhaps he should read my columns more often. Someone afflicted with such symptoms is either a barefaced liar, or a full-fledged fool. And that does not bode well for his constituents.
Tariq A. Al-Maeena, close_encounters@gawab.com
Prime-time George chose two regional networks to explain to the Arab world that he was unaware of the doings of his troops; of the butchery, the abuse, and the horrific torture at the hands of his men.
He appeared on Al-Hurra, a US-funded network that hardly anybody in the region cares to tune in to. Seen as a mouthpiece of an administration beset with lies and deceit, nobody bothers with this organ, which drains the US government of approximately $60 million annually, money perhaps better spent toward the development of schools or playgrounds in the inner cities in the US.
And on the Al-Arabiya network, he came off as unconvincing as the peddler trying to palm off Brooklyn Bridge. He claims he didn’t know that crimes were being carried out by his troops. Now when a commander in chief utters those words, alarm bells should ring. He didn’t know?
This has become a familiar pattern with George. When faced with a distasteful situation, either a memory lapse occurs, or else he doesn’t know. He didn’t know that the FBI had advance knowledge of a terrorist threat directed toward the US. Why they allowed it to happen remains unclear. He didn’t know that the CIA was convinced there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but he still went ahead with the “singular purpose” — as he stated then — of finding them.
He didn’t know of swirling allegations that his vice president, **** Cheney, was profiteering from the incursion into Iraq, of fat rebuilding contracts being handed over to select companies with strong business ties to Mr. Cheney. He didn’t know that his Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was reportedly an ardent supporter of Saddam Hussein back in the late 1980s. Mr. Rumsfeld apparently encouraged the strong-arm tactics of the ruthless dictator.
He doesn’t know that school buses carrying children were bombed by his troops in Afghanistan. He doesn’t know that civilian casualties in Afghanistan as a result of his orders far outnumber the victims of Sept. 11. He didn’t know of the generously used cluster bombs that were dropped in heavily populated areas in the cities and towns in Afghanistan.
Apparently, he also doesn’t know of the abuses much closer to home, in a place called Guantanamo, where men are being held without counsel in defiance of every known international law, under the pretext of being enemy combatants, and subject to the same abuses which are dominating headlines in the world’s press today.
And in Iraq, the reported rape of women by occupational forces, the sadistic torture of men who resisted his advancing forces, the 500-pound bombs dropped on hospitals and mosques, and the continuous battering and killing of a weary people who today view him as no better than Saddam: He just didn’t know!
Perhaps he should read my columns more often. Someone afflicted with such symptoms is either a barefaced liar, or a full-fledged fool. And that does not bode well for his constituents.