I’ve been pretty busy this week– including on a special project, see below. So though yesterday was my 5th blogiversary I completely forgot about marking that fact here. Darn!
It’s been quite a quinquennium. I am really glad I got into the blogging habit before the start of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, because now I have a somewhat full, though still of necessarily incomplete, record of many of the main portions of the war here– including of its last-minute preparations. My very first blog post, February 6, 2003, was a quick critique of Colin Powell’s notable (and, as it turned out, notably mendacious) presentation at the UN the day before. (Goodness, I mentioned there having read the whole text but I didn’t hyperlink to it! What was I thinking?)
In the next day’s post, five years ago today, I focused in on the claims Powell had made about Saddam having sponsored the presence in Iraq of sa network of Al-Qaeda supporters. In that one, I did hyperlink Powell’s text– and also, the text of a recently released Crisis Group report that had examined the whole phenomenon of that pro-Qaeda network (“Ansar al-Islam”) and said of the area in northern Iraq where they had been entrenched that, “This is a region outside Baghdad’s control and we see no evidence that Ansar has a strategic alliance with Saddam Hussein.”
Now, over the weeks ahead, I shall be thinking more about that whole period of the build-up to the war and way that so many Americans– but most especially the members of the political and media elites, and those who aspired to join them– got so badly caught up in war fever. Some of them even in spite of the conclusions they reached in their rational, analytical modes, that the war could well end up being a disaster.
It was an emotional time.
But I’ll also be remembering the way that so many of us here in US resisted getting caught up in the war fever. On February 16, 2003, I blogged about the huge antiwar demonstration I took part in, in New York the day before. That was a historic– and in retrospect, oh so tragic– moment.
Meanwhile, in Bushistan, the preparations to launch the war were getting near the “ready-to-go” point. Probably we should have encircled the Pentagon, instead.
Look where Iraq’s 29 million people, and the stretched-to-busting US military, and the US National Debt, and the families of 3,940 US service members killed and many thousands more badly wounded all find themselves today.
So say a prayer for wisdom and healing. And say a prayer for Sen. Barack Obama– a politician who notably got it right throughout all of those crucial, emotion-laden weeks of early 2003.
Here’s what Obama said during last Thursday’s debate:
- “I don’t want to just end the war, but I want to end the mindset that got us into war in the first place.”
Go, Obama!
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Finally, a quick word about my special project this week. Back in January 2003, it was my son Tarek who was the one who urged me, “Mom, you really should check out this blogging thing and get yourself a blog.” He then patiently helped me get JWN started, and he’s been my tech advisor here ever since. Tarek’s 30th birthday is coming up, so I’ve been making him a special present for it. [Obviously, I’m not about to reveal what it is. But it took more work than I’d been expecting… ]
Recently, Tarek became engaged to his fabulous girlfriend of some 3-4 years, and they will be married in July… Meantime, he’s working hard on completing a Master’s program at MIT… So we have a huge amount to celebrate and be thankful for.
Mazel tov, Tarek! Thanks for everything!
It’s almost natural that most Americans welcomed our invasion in 2003. It’s human nature to band together during a crisis. Few people are able to withstand the pressure to conform. We should have leaders more thoughtful than we had in 2003. Shame on us for electing them.
I suggest that, as a safeguard, we prohibit our presidents from using a weapon they cannot pronounce.
You mean you finally finished my sweater? Congrats on the blogiversary!
Hey, c’mon Tarek, I only started it 26 years ago… Why would you imagine it would be finished already?
Helena,
More people like you is what we ask for. Thanks to Tarek and to you for a well informative, peaceful and civilized blog. You keep us informed, your efforts are truly appreciated.
May your lives be filled with happiness, and joyful celebrations ALWAYS.
Bloggin’ ‘eck, ‘elena, you even beat the genesis of our study circle.
That was June 2003.
Thanks for encouraging me when I was dithering.
Helena, you were almost too kind five years ago… My feeling when Colin Powell brought up this Al Qaeda camp business was, “this is the end (of the war drums), no one can be so stupid as to actually believe that nonsense.” I regretted that no one at the Security Council was impolite enough to ask Powell three questions: (1) if Saddam supports this group, why did it set up its base in the no-fly zone where Saddam’s army and anti-aircraft guns have no access? (2) if this is an Al Qaeda camp, why doesn’t the US Air Force bomb it instead of bombing harmless Iraqi infrastructure in that same no-fly zone? (3) in short, does not the evidence presented by Mr Powell prove that Anwar-al-Islam is more afraid of Saddam than of the US Air Force?
To my surprise the US public bought Powell’s testimony hook line and sinker, and didn’t even raise questions when the Bush Administration sent unreliable Kurdish militiamen to destroy that oh so important base instead of sending in the Marines. As for Powell, he has since said that he was fooled into that presentation, but that can’t be true: as a military man he must have known quite well that his evidence was contradicting his conclusions.
I love your blog which I discovered only recently, and I devour every one of your posts. Thanks so much for your reporting.
Many thanks for the enduring benefit of your blog Helena.
What a spectacular forum it is for both analysis and the exchange of views on the middle east, by those within and without. I have learned so much, thank you.
Let me try to employ a little sheep hearder wisdom here to help a very patient, good humoured and clearly devoted husband. Maybe you will find the time to finish Tareks’ sweater if you find out now what he wants knitted next?
Roland, thanks for the good thoughts. Tarek is my son… and the sweater reference is an old family joke. I started it when he was about five, making it size 7 to give myself plenty of time to finish it. When I did finally finish it he was about 19, so I gave it to the young son of a friend…
“I don’t want to just end the war, but I want to end the mindset that got us into war in the first place.” Senator Barak Obama
Well, I have a few questions for the good Senator.
1. Why have you done absolutely nothing to end the “war” until now? Why have you, on the contrary, voted FOR every single “war” appropriation?
2. If you have been so consistently against the “war”, why have you stated on several occasions that you don’t know how you would have voted on the authorization had you been in the Senate at the time?
2. What did you mean when you said your position regarding Iraq was very much in line with that of George Bush?
4. If you are so eager to end both the “war” and the mindset that got the U.S. into the “war” in the first place, why do you want to increase the size of the military by 90,000 troops? What are you going to need all those additional troops for?
5. If you are so eager to end the mindset that got the U.S. into the “war” in the first place, why have you stated more than once that attacking Iran to “bring them into line” is an acceptable option to you?
6. If you are so eager to end the mindset that got the U.S. into the “war” in the first place, why would you even consider unilaterally bombing the territory of an already weak and unpopular ally – i.e. Pakistan?
Sorry, Senator, but the declaration I quoted above sounds like just so much campaign bull****. To be believable it should be consistent with the rest of your statements, as well as with your actions. I am not even a little bit impressed.
Helena, congratulations, but mostly thanks so much for the great contribution to valid information, and (mostly) civil discourse that you provide with your blog.
I’ve been an admirer ever since seeing you chew up and spit out – very civilly, of course – an Israeli embassy official back in the ’90’s (I still have that on video tape). As I recall, at one point, he kept insisting that Israel was not doing any building in the West Bank, whereupon you waxed rather quizzical about all the heavy equipment that was clearly visible in photographs, and the fact that satellite photo sequences were showing what looked an awful lot like roads going in and buildings going up.
So, when I chanced upon your blog back in 2003 or 2004, I was thrilled. It was particularly exciting that I would also be able to add my own comments and observations.
So, thanks, Helena, and hopefully we will be celebrating your tenth blogoversary five years from now.
Oh dear well thanks for putting me straight, Helena! Never assume, as Spencer Tracy once said…
What a shame all our misapprehensions about people cannot be kindly dispelled with the sharing of such amusing stories. Just imagine how the comments to this blog would change!
Elections would also be very different. Shirin, when people feel they have only one vague hope, it is very hard to reason them out of it. They will only try harder to reason themselves back into it. JFK was a great orator and much loved, even after being elected. What were his foreign policies, though really?