War Blogging

Posted on April 2, 2003 in Citizenship Crosstalk Pointers War

Reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch shall begin this summary. Both organizations have confirmed that the United States is using cluster bombs, which are a definite threat to unarmed civilians. (AI Video here and HRW report here.) HRW says:

While use of the weapon has not yet been confirmed by official U.S. military sources, it is evident from television images and stories from reporters embedded with U.S. units that U.S. forces are using artillery projectiles and rockets containing large numbers of submunitions, or cluster munitions. When these submunitions fail to explode on impact as designed, they become hazardous explosive “duds”—functioning like volatile, indiscriminate antipersonnel landmines.

On to the bidaily review:

• Raed is still missing.
  
  
  
• Meaghan is a nice refutation to the lie that I can’t brook disagreement and will shut people down for just disagreeing. Her blog is located on this site.
  
  
  
• Shamika posted a collection of opinions — mostly from Australia and the UK — about the war. This is also hosted here.
  
  
  
• Mileah didn’t mince words when addressed the phrase “coalition of the willing“:

  Does no one in the White House realize that the phrase simply emphasizes the fact that it is anything but a coalition of the willing? Coalition of the coerced, coalition of the bribed, coalition of the wha’ the hell were we thinking, coalition of the we need to boost our economy with US dollars, yes…willing, not so much. Hey Shrub, most of us are smarter than that.

  
  

• Donna erupts about the indictment of Paypal for violation of the Patriot Act. Say what? Yes, violation of the Patriot Act “regarding the processing of online gambling payments”. Didn’t know that the Patriot Act covered such things? Well, in your hysteria about terrorism, you signed over a blank check. Some of us warned you not to do that.
  
  
  
• Christopher is now in Iraq.
  
  
  
• jeanne d’arc is still reflecting about a debate ignited by Kevin Drum against “liberal extremists” who he just can’t get to support the war:

  I think that to be human is to think and express whatever quirkiness emerges. And that means you’re not going to see things exactly the same way as every other human being. There’s no down side to that. It’s something to celebrate. We lose that (and sometimes I really feel like we’re in danger of losing it), and we’ve lost the only thing that can get us out of this mess — free thought, freely expressed.

  Too many people, I think, who are normally opposed to Bush’s policies turn into some of his biggest supporters in time of war for reasons of “pragmatism”. It may happen that some of these eventually come around to opposing the Iraq Adventure, but I recall with distinct chills the McCarthyist aftermath of World War II when those who had “opposed fascism too early” became suspects. My opposition to U.S. intervention in the Gulf stems to 1990, so I’m in big trouble.

• Raye reported that one Mike Hawash, an American citizen. She quotes Warblogging.com:

  Mike has not been charged with a crime and all of the evidence used against him has been sealed by a federal court at the request of the Department of Justice. He will not be judged by a jury of his peers. He as not even been accused of doing anything wrong. He is being detained based on a twisted application of the material wtiness statute, which was originally intended for use to prevent witnesses to a crime from fleeing to avoid testifying in court.

  There is a Free Mike Hawash site here.

• Patrick is outraged by the killing of an Iraqi family who ran a checkpoint. “Before anyone starts: This isn’t about how US soldiers are evil monsters or something. This is just about how war really, really sucks.” Well said, Patrick.
  
  

• “Man, hell is gonna be FULL some day . . . . Jeremy writes as he recounts the fact that the U.S. Army got the brilliant idea to sell water to thirsty Iraqis. This logic is right out of the Irish Potato Famine. He also announced the posting of another list of “traitors” by a champion of Bush.
  
  

• Allison finds herself defending Geraldo Rivera of all people! He was expelled from Iraq recently:

  Not having a detailed map with detailed circles and arrows showing troop movements, he drew some lines in the sand indicating troop movement. The major news channels have their retired generals and fancy maps, ‘with circles and arrows and a paragraph on…each one’…why doesn’t the same rule apply to them?

• Doug the Mute Troubadour made his own comment on extremism, in response to a remark I made on his blog roll about feeling isolated being to the left and more libertarian than Gandhi:

  I believe that pastoral ministry takes place best at the margins. Like poets, artists, and monks, pastors should seek the margins of conventional society. The last time I was at the monastery, I was mistaken as one of the brothers. This was humbling and joyous. Why aren’t pastors more monk-like, or artist-like? Why be in on the thick of popular culture in our dress, opinions, actions, and practical beliefs? Why all the pragmatism and utilitarianism in pastoral ministry? Shouldn’t pastors be among the vanguard of those who are most counter-cultural? In fact, isn’t that precisely what the Kingdom of God is?

• Billy got to talk about the war again, indirectly, in a discussion of what the FAA does and doesn’t consider a “no fly zone”.
  
  

• Les applauds The Los Angeles Times for firing photographer Brian Walski. Walski used a computer to create a composite photo “for dramatic effect” that was later printed in the Times. I join with Les in his support for the Times policy of forbidding the altering of the content of news photographs. “The temptation to improve on reality is understandable, but can not be tolerated if the integrity of the press is to be maintained” writes Les. Amen.
  
  

• This cartoon is just too true. Thanks Vinman.
  
  

• Mary Beth paid a visit to a new war “blog” that is nothing more than a reprint of press releases from the Department of Defense. She prefers The Agonist.

In conclusion, I’d like to confront an erroneous view that is going around in some circles, one that is epitomized by the folksy saying that there are three positions on every issue: yours, mine, and the Truth. I feel that this is a cop out, a way of avoiding adjusting your take on events when the facts don’t support it. I would redraw the lines: there are those who are always looking to the facts to form their opinion and there are those who want to remain standing still. My struggle is to educate the latter so that they might move.