In tomorrow's New York Times, Tom Friedman restarts his sniping at NATO, the EU and the Arab League for not helping enough in Iraq.
Friedman Says
Is it so much to ask that each NATO country contribute 100 soldiers for a long weekend to advance the prospect of Iraqi elections? Heck, I'll throw in the air fare myself. I have so many frequent-flier miles, I could even fly over a few hundred soldiers from European Union countries that aren't in NATO.
Wait a minute, did I say European Union? Do you know how many trees have been cut down to publish studies about the European Defense Initiative - the E.U.'s quest to build a military force independent of NATO and America? Whole forests have been devoted to studies of E.D.I. So I was thinking: What does E.D.I. stand for today, if not for sending 500 E.U. soldiers to Iraq for a long weekend so that Iraqis might begin to create the first real bottom-up democracy in the Arab League?
Wait a minute, did I say Arab League? The Arab League has been sniping at the U.S. from the minute it toppled Saddam's tyranny, constantly barking that the Iraqi government there was not representative. Well now we're trying to help elect one that would be the most representative in the Arab world, and what is the Arab League doing? Virtually nothing. Why couldn't it offer to send some Arab and Muslim soldiers to protect polling places in the Sunni towns of Iraq?
Friedman still doesn't get it. No one, but no one, trusts the Bush Administration on anything. BushCo is malevolent, untrustworthy and incompetent. Consider for a moment the risks involved in cooperating with BushCo? They remain as high as ever. Especially in the surroundings of a controversial election that is sure to fuel considerable violence. And what are the potential rewards? A successful election in Iraq? And this guarantees what exactly?
Kerry said it during the Election, and people dismissed it, but it was true. Kerry could have done things Bush can't do. We have no friends. We have no respect. We have no influence. Again, has Friedman slept through the past two years?
Update [2004-12-11 22:48:27 by Armando]: In case there is doubt about what the risks are
Iraq violence
At least four Iraqi police officers were killed and 16 American soldiers were wounded Saturday in a string of insurgent attacks across central and northern Iraq, military officials said.
Two of the officers were killed when a group of insurgents overtook their patrol car between Baiji and Tikrit, north of the capital, and fired on them with assault rifles, said Master Sgt. Robert Powell, a spokesman for the First Infantry Division.
Three officers in the car were wounded in the attack, and the insurgents stole the officers' patrol car before fleeing, Sergeant Powell said. One of those killed was the operations officer for the police chief of Salahuddin Province.
At least two other officers were killed in attacks in Baghdad on Saturday, an Interior Ministry official said. The Associated Press reported that one of the men had been identified as a top police commander, Brig. Gen. Razzaq Karim Mahmud.
The attacks were the latest in the steady campaign of violence aimed at Iraq's policemen, soldiers and national guardsmen, who will be responsible for security with the coming national elections.
In the northern city of Mosul, eight American soldiers were wounded when a car bomb exploded near them as they worked to secure a weapons storehouse in the western part of the city, said Lt. Col. Paul Hastings, a military spokesman. Immediately after the explosion, insurgents attacked with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire, he said.
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