Antiwar.com Blog

When searching for photos, I often run across some very sad stories that don’t make it into the regular news articles.

An Iraqi man gestures next to a coffin in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 28, 2008. The coffin was on top a mini bus for a funeral ceremony when a roadside bomb missed a police patrol in eastern Baghdad but hit the mini bus, killing three passengers and injuring five others, police said. (AP Photo/ Karim Kadim)

According to Reuters, there are now 10 people reported injured (in addition to the three killed) in the minibus bombing.

Are any of the candidates in tomorrow’s presidential primaries in Florida running advertisements criticizing the Iraq war?  Are any of the candidates making opposition to the Iraq war their premier issue?

Is the antiwar issue being raised in the media or in Q & A with candidates?

Has anybody seen polls on which candidates are favored by voters who opposed the war?

The Washington Post yesterday made the GOP race sound like a contest on who could be most bellicose on Iraq. Is that how the race looks on the ground in FLA?

I ran across this photo and was surprised at the caption. I may be naive but I was genuinely surprised at a medic leading an armed patrol in Baghdad.

U.S. Army Spc. Kris Hostetler, 21, from Nashville, Tenn., a medic with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment patrols in Arab Jabour during Operation Coliseum south of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

A lesson in media bias — the headline of the CNN International story give us one narrative:

“Kremlin critic barred from election”

… And the body of the piece reports quite another:

“Russia’s Central Election Commission disqualified one of Kremlin’s critics from the country’s presidential election Sunday, claiming that the signatures collected for his nominating petitions were forged, the state news agency said Sunday. …

“Kasyanov’s spokeswoman confirmed to CNN that he had been barred from running in the elections, scheduled for March 2. He will not appeal the decision, a representative told Interfax.”

The headline tells us that Russia’s much-touted “backsliding” into totalitarianism is accelerating rather rapidly, while the facts, baldly stated, tell us that, for some reason, Kasyanov isn’t appealing the decision of the authorities to disqualify him, which leads us to wonder if the charges of forgery might be substantially true. Of course, forging signature on election petitions is quite illegal in the US, and would undoubtedly result in criminal charges. Perhaps that’s why Kasyanov isn’t making much of a fuss about the matter.

 

Following the GOP debate on Thursday night, Huckabee showed both his ignorance and his willingness to believe fairy tales, regardless of whether he heard them or made them up himself.

During the debate, the Huckster said that Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction (a meaningless term covering everything from WWI-era mustard gas to nukes) were like Easter eggs that we never found, “it doesn’t mean they’re not there.”

Questioned by Chris Matthews following the debate, Huckabee suggested that the WMD were moved to Jordan. When Matthews pointed out that Jordan is a close ally of the US, Huckabee started spinning his fairy tale. Instead of realizing his mistake (he probably meant Syria, not Jordan), he explained that these elusive little WMD could have ended up anywhere, and without the knowledge of the King of Jordan.

The idea that Saddam moved his weapons out of the country before his regime fell never made sense to me, unless you believe that he was so moral as to refuse to use the weapons to save himself and defend his rule.

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