Opinion Editorials, December 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people
Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah
Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
to continue providing you with this free service
|
The Capture of Saddam: the winner - TIMELY
by Lisa Walsh Thomas
Al-Jazeerah, 12/15/03
The world is listening to Tony Blair talking in the wake of Saddam Hussein's capture only hours ago about the "New Iraq" and how Iraq can now be democratized and stabilized.
Suddenly, says Blair, we are on the "same side" as Iraq. We'll see. Blair's guest is telling us in these early hours that the guerilla resistance is a "Sunni uprising." Convenient wording; we'll see.
We all know that most of the Iraqi people have very grievous claims against Saddam, just and strong reason to try him. I wonder, though, exactly what the charge against Saddam by the U.S. will be. Because the "coalition" never had to justify the murder of Uday, Quasay, Mustafa (14-year old grandson of Saddam), and a bodyguard, perhaps any charge will do.
The oil still sits there. The stepping stone to the entire Middle East still sits there.
And in this jubilant coverage, everyone seems to have forgotten that Saddam's great weapons of mass destruction are still as non-existent as ever. Even on CBS, more fact-conscious than the other networks or cable, hasn't mentioned them. But then, this viewer has been aware of the capture for less than half an hour and has watched coverage for no more than fifteen minutes.
Thalia Assuras of CBS, from Baghdad, says the streets are very, very quiet. Where are the shouts of joy? Perhaps alongside the wreaths of roses we were promised for the invading tanks.
We are promised a "New Iraq," room at the table for all, the near-plea going out mostly to the Sunnis.
Out of these bits and pieces, one thing is clear. There is a number one winner in this scenario, and he is Mr. Bush as he runs for reelection as a hero.
 |
| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
 |
| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
 |
| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03). |
 |