An uprising in Basra?

this is another example of how i no longer am able to tell what is good and what is bad anymore. thanks, war, for destroying my ability to look at and analyze situations in terms of objective morals.

It doesn't mean that the Iraqi people suddenly love us. Its probably that there are severe food and water shortages in Basra and they have no other option.

an argument for wanting the war to be over as quickly as possible: less deaths, less destruction, less war overall.

however, if the war is prolonged and becomes difficult for america, then it will not only lose favor with the bits of public that currently support it, but it will lose favor with the elites who influence policy, etc. and it will basically destroy any chance of bush being able to do this in iran, north korea, syria (which are planned anyway). so i almost think it might be better for this war to be a disaster just to prevent future bullshit.

of course, i don't think either way is good or bad; it is all bad. and i no longer know what "good" and "bad" mean.

last night i was playing some electro-acoustic improv with people and i was unable to tell whether certain parts i played were "good" or "bad". thanks again, war.

Again, Saddam shows what a benevolent dictator he is: fight not only the Western infidels, but wipe out any troublesome citizens, and start over.

US researchers believe the illness may be caused by a new, more virulent version of the virus that causes the common cold.

Having heard about this on CNN last week before travelling, the only word I can use is "frightening". I know the symptoms began showing in Bejing, but why am I thinking this is a new form of bio-warfare? It is entirely possible that the virus was transported into the country.

It's wrong of me to be attempting to formulate Pete Townsend jokes, right?

Wanting the Iraqis to be doubly screwed so that the US doesn't go on any more crusades is kind of cavalier, jf. At $100 billion a pop I don't think we're gonna liberate any more countries during GWB's reign, even if it's 5 more years.

nb: http://www.religioscope.info/article_61.shtml is of interest here. The Shia party dislike Saddam coz he's too secular and too tied to the Sunnis. Destabalizing a country full of different competing religious and national minorities is a recipe for communal bloodletting all around.

Also note that rising up vs. Saddam doesn't = rising up pro-"liberators" as plenty of the history of SE asia shows in particular. Vietnam to thread.

One ambush vs. 4,000 captured Iraqi troops.

To me, people not being able to acknowledge even a sliver of good in Coalition troops giving Iraqi people fresh water is a sign their interests lie more in winning a debate then in the reality of the situation.

The man simply looks constipated all the time.