Mob murders in Najf & 'A $50,000 car in uniform'

The Shia crisis within Iraq continued today as a former Iraqi general and a just-repatriated cleric returning from London were killed by a hostile mob inside the Mosque of Ali, one of the holiest Shia sites. Al-Jazeera's report describes most sharply the sectarian conflict involved, although their site doesn't load correctly in some browsers. Apparently the murdered leaders were accused of being 'American stooges,' more or less. ArabNews.com also has a reporter who broke the story, although I'm sure Fox's will be more balanced and fair. Rupert Murdoch bought DirecTV today, by the way. Now Fox has seized the skies... And Halliburton won its bid to 'reconstruct' Iraqi industry without competition. Nice.

Seymour Hersh is a cool dude. First he wrote a nasty piece about Richard Perle which helped force Perle out of the Pentagon, then he comes up with a fascinating piece about an Iraqi-Nigerian uranium hoax, which Bush referred to as fact in his State of the Union address. Basically it's now known that the case Bush made about Iraqis buying uranium was completely false, and the documents were 'embarrasingly' bad forgeries. The White House has been extremely quiet about getting "fooled." Also another fun fun quiz about Bush and this war. Links thanks to Nick.

Some people are drivin' bitchin' Hummer-2s all over the place. I'm not in the burbs like I used to be, so I don't have a pulse on what the spendy and conservative are really into at the moment. According to the article, H2s now outsell Lincoln Navigators and Lexus LX470s, while almost even with the BMW X5, although the X5 only costs $10,000 to the H2's cool 50 grand. link thanks to Jiriki. Snip:

Rick Schmidt, founder of I.H.O.G., the International Hummer Owners Group, said: "In my humble opinion, the H2 is an American icon. Not the military version by any means, but it's a symbol of what we all hold so dearly above all else, the fact we have the freedom of choice, the freedom of happiness, the freedom of adventure and discovery, and the ultimate freedom of expression. Those who deface a Hummer in words or deed deface the American flag and what it stands for." ... [The war] "definitely helps," said Clotaire Rapaille, a consumer research consultant for G.M. and other automakers. "I told them in Detroit, 'Put four stars on the shoulder of the Hummer and it will sell better.' The Hummer is a car in uniform. Right now we are in a time of uncertainty, and people like strong brands with basic emotions." ... Travis Patterson, 35, an Air Force veteran who lives in Arlington, Tex., said: "To me, the Hummer, the H1, is the most American vehicle on the planet. It oozes patriotism. You put some flags on the Hummer and drive down the road and everyone is honking and waving at you."

It really makes me proud to be American. Strong brands, strong SUVs. Support our troops, who as of today start their responsibilities as an occupying power in Baghdad. But can a Westernized army rolling around an Arab capital reach a peace with local leaders? Not when those tapped leaders get cut to pieces. One Arab author thinks we may still be looking at something like Lebanon II, although I do think there won't be that level of wanton slaughter.

Meanwhile, on the Lunatic Fringe, we learn that the Beast of revelations is the United States. Bow before the monster. Yeah, and reality is the Matrix, too. I'm glad someone figured it out.

On the lighter side of affairs, you may be interested in seeing something which transcends mere racism, or perhaps it's just the keenest satire ever. Actually Jon told me about this a long time ago, but then some guys around here ran into it. It's called "Tokyo Breakfast" and was theoretically the pilot for an unmade Japanese television show, with a profoundly disturbing view of race relations. Entertaining? Yes. Offensive? Oh my.

Thomas Friedman started talking about how Saddam has fallen in Iraq, not to Bush but to Hobbes. This is handy, as we are studying Hobbes right now in political philosophy. No state monopoly on legitimized use of coercion, it's true. Arabs lament that anyone could be the next target, and a hilarious Al-Jazeera piece points out that Palestinians, Cubans and Syrians better shut up and pay attention. The stuff about Syria is fascinating. Look for the "Syria Accountability Act of 2003" to some up sometime. Unless this too, is satire.

Posted by HongPong at April 10, 2003 10:00 PM
Listed under Iraq .