Antiwar.com Blog

Something a friend noticed while I was doing the morning carnage searches was that nowhere was a news story that mentioned the fate of the tombs inside the Golden Mosque. Not a single paper reported that they survived, which I figured would be an important item to mention, and which leads me to believe that they may have been damaged or even destroyed. A more intense search pulled up an obscure site I had never visited before, which claimed:

“There were no casualities, but the explosion destroyed the tombs of the tenth and eleventh of the 12 Imams revered by the Shia as the legitimate successors of the Prophet Mohammed.”

I don’t know anything about the credibility of this source, but it’s worth noting. It seems to be an Italian site that monitors the Arab Middle East.

Of course the reason not to broadcast this fact would be that the local media has been forbidden from reporting it, and that foreign media can’t confirm it — a simple desire not to fan the flames wouldn’t be a pact that could be kept by every single media source in the world.

If anyone has any information, please let me know ASAP.

UPDATE: Turns out that since Islamic tombs tend to be about 20 feet below the surface, that the tombs are likely fine. What is above ground are the shrines that mark the tombs, and those are likely destroyed.

“Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society.”

– George Washington, in a letter to Edward Newenham, Oct. 20, 1792.

Hat Tip: The other Scott Horton (you know, the famous anti torture hero.)

An ex-Marine wrote me with his opinion of the Marine Corps:

“The Marine Corps is like a frat party in between the hard work. For the most part, they are irresponsible, alcoholic, sex addicts. The married Marines that I served with didn’t think twice about cheating on their spouses during deployments. And speaking of deployments, if the U.S. military ever gets disbanded, the worldwide brothel industry would shut down overnight. The behavior of my fellow Marines in Thailand I found to be utterly repulsive. What a shame it is to have de facto ambassadors of the United States—i.e., the people whom ‘represent’ America to foreigners—behaving in such a way. Hedonists with guns. That’s the Marine Corps.”

Today’s front page links to a Reuters story that claims Gen. Ratko Mladic, wartime commander of the Bosnian Serb military, was arrested earlier today. Reuters based their claim on reports by Serbian media. However, Serbian government denied the arrest actually took place, and even the Hague Inquisition has issued a denial and termed the story “rumors.” Continue reading “Mladic arrest – truth or rumors?”

Francis Fukuyama distances himself from the neocons yet again, just in time to play guru to the next bunch of crusaders at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Now he’s a “Wilsonian realist,” whatever that is. It takes a Ph.D. to keep up with all the mutations of the War Party; luckily, we have one in Leon Hadar, who dissects Fukuyama’s piece over on his blog. But at least Fukuyama’s analysis of his exes is satisfying, as it confirms what Antiwar.com has been saying all along:

[T]he neoconservative position articulated by people like [Bill] Kristol and [Robert] Kagan was, by contrast, Leninist; they believed that history can be pushed along with the right application of power and will. Leninism was a tragedy in its Bolshevik version, and it has returned as farce when practiced by the United States.

Farce? If only. I’d say its return has been pretty tragic for a lot of people, though not for people who matter in the Grand Scheme of Things. (Thank heavens!)

Rumsfeld at the CFR: “Some humility is in order.”

Of course, all he means by that is that it’s hard to Karen Hughes people into believing you’re trying to help them while you’re setting them on fire.

Also: “I do not believe we have reached the end of history.”

Of course, all he means by that is that there are wonderful new weapons systems out there to purchase that haven’t even been invented yet.

I must say, it’s an interesting thing to watch Rumsfeld spin at the Council on Foreign Relations – he’s quite pathetic really. After all, Rumsfeld is one of the leaders of the Military Industrial Complex/neoconservative cabal which seized the state’s foreign policy apperatus away from the Pratt House types after 9/11, and his Iraq project has turned out to be the “greatest strategic disaster in United States history.”

The speech, “New Realities in the Media Age,” is on the danger of the freedom of information exchange made possible by satellite TV and the internet. It’s hard to get away with creating enemies and destroying them when everyone who feels like it can blog your every fascist move. The fact that the Secretary of Defense worries about the internet worries me.

“The press talks about my Copper Green torture program too much! Traitors! Didn’t I tell you, it’s all the fault of the night shift?!”

The question and answer section is the most fun. He resorts to the stupid Caliphate myth when asked whether he’s ever gotten around to figuring out his metrics, claims that the fact Don Imus is having to raise money for wounded soldiers is no indication that the state is letting them down and that Iran is a credible threat.

When Andrea Mitchell asked about the UN’s call for the close of the Guantanamo bay torture camp, Skeletor responded angrily:

“It’s absolutely … er, uh… beyond comprehension that simply because some of these people that have habeus corpus rights (over the executive’s objection – editor) they’ve hired lawyers and are telling lawyers exactly what to tell people, say exactly what they were trained to in the Manchester document, ‘tell em it’s torture, tell em this, tell em that,’ that’s what they do. … If someone has a better idea, I’d like to hear it.”

To see Rumsfeld pull the patriotism canard out at the CFR shows some real desperation: “Why, It’s a terrible thing for people to say bad things about the government! This is a great country we have.” You don’t disagree with that do you?

He also says that the terrorists in Iraq (Sunni insurgency) “hate democracy.” Perhaps this is because they are the minority?

Or maybe the neocon’s plan has worked and the Iraqis have been reading James Madison!

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