BCT Editorial – 5/13/07

This page was last updated on May 13, 2007.

All is not well; Editorial; Beaver County Times; May 13, 2007.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Actions do speak louder than words.

“The Associated Press reports that a sharp increase in mortar attacks on the Green Zone in Baghdad has prompted the U.S. Embassy there to issue a strict new order telling all employees to wear flak vests and helmets while in unprotected buildings or whenever they are outside.

“The heavily guarded Green Zone is generally considered to be the safest part of Baghdad and, for that matter, Iraq. It’s an enclave for key Iraqi and American government offices, and a place where relative calm has prevailed until recently.

“It’s come to this, though. Four years into the U.S.-dominated occupation of Iraq, Americans in the safest part of Iraq have been ordered by their government to wear flak vests and helmets for their own protection.”

[RWC] I know this doesn’t fit the editorial’s message, but the Green Zone is not and never has been the safest part of Iraq. The fact that it houses both American and Iraqi leadership had made it a target from day one. I believe you’ll find the safest area of Iraq has been and is the Kurdish region.

“Meanwhile, death and destruction continue to be a way of life for American military personnel and Iraqi civilians outside the Green Zone. They have no safe havens.”

[RWC] As we were reminded very recently, that’s also true in the U.S., which isn’t generally considered to be in a war zone. Didn’t the Times cover the mass murders at the Amish school in eastern Pennsylvania and Virginia Tech?

I ignore the crocodile tears about “Iraqi civilians.” The very same people who tell us they care about Iraqis today also tell us Iraq was OK despite the fact the government killed its citizens by the thousands.

“We’ve used this analogy before, but it bears repeating. Bush administration officials, starting with the president, who ignore events on the ground in Iraq are like the ROTC character played by Kevin Bacon in the movie ‘Animal House.’

“In a scene at the end of the movie where mayhem has broken loose at the homecoming parade, Bacon’s character pleadingly repeats, ‘Remain calm, all is well,’ as people stampede all around and, eventually, over him.”

[RWC] At least the Times sees itself as part of a panic-stricken – more likely a politics-driven – stampede. Guys, if you’re going to use these analogies, you should probably think them all the way through first.

“When people in the Green Zone cannot go about their business without wearing flak vests and helmets, all is not well. The American people can see that. It’s too bad their president and others in the administration can’t.”

[RWC] Gee, a war zone is a dangerous place. Who would have guessed?