Sheltered

Christopher Hitchens strikes again

August 30, 2005 8 comments

Last week, Christopher Hitchens was interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Repeating his justifications for the invasion of Iraq, he had this to say about Saddam Hussein’s pre-2003 links with terrorism:

The big fallacy is the people who say there wouldn’t be all these terrorists in Iraq if we hadn’t gone there – that’s capitulation. Zarqawi was there before we got there. Mr Yasin, who blew up the World Trade Center, was being sheltered there since 1993… The guy who hijacked the Achille Lauro, wheeled Mr Klinghoffer off the side of the boat, was also found hiding in Baghdad… I went to see Abu Nidal, I went to see Abu Nidal in Baghdad.

In a way, Hitchens does everyone a favour by offering the best case for Saddam Hussein’s links to terrorism. Let’s take his examples one by one . . .

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 8 comments

Reforming the UN

Bolton’s Unspeak: a case study

August 27, 2005 

John Bolton, the new US ambassador to the UN, would help to “reform” the UN so as to “update” and “strengthen” it, according to Condoleeza Rice. We can now see exactly what updating and strengthening the UN means, from an American perspective. Recently leaked to Steve Clemons at TPM are Bolton’s proposed amendments, dated August 17, to the “Revised draft outcome document of the High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly of September 2005 submitted by the President of the General Assembly”. Choice extracts follow.

Key:
text deleted by Bolton
text added by Bolton
Unspeak translation

I. Values and Principles

2. to maintain international peace and security
The US reserves the right to start wars.

3. core values and principles: respect for nature.
Fuck Kyoto . . .

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