Reports today of a riot in Iraq and 14 killed. Unfortunately, this will create even more ill will towards American soldiers if they did the shooting instead of Iraqi police. Bremer really screwed up when he failed to follow the James Baker Institute guidelines for a postwar Iraq and disbanded the Iraqi army, which chose to flee rather than fight for Saddam. Their reward? Dismissal and unemployment.
Reports today of a riot in Iraq and 14 killed. Unfortunately, this will create even more ill will towards American soldiers if they did the shooting instead of Iraqi police. Bremer really screwed up when he failed to follow the James Baker Institute guidelines for a postwar Iraq and disbanded the Iraqi army, which chose to flee rather than fight for Saddam. Their reward? Dismissal and unemployment. Not a good way to win friends and influence people.
Now the Bush administration is claiming Saddam is behind all the new attacks. I'll bet a year's pay that if they caught him tomorrow the attacks will continue regardless. They have taken on a life of their own, from leftover Fedayeen to the "freedom fighters" flooding into the country from surrounding countries--none of whom we stopped at the border. One conservative commenator emailed me that we shouldn't stop them at the border "so we could kill them in Iraq." I emailed back to point out that I didn't see us t killing scads of terrorists but they were killing our troops and Iraqis in the bombings, so I miss their "logic."
If you really want to know what is happening over there, check out a couple Baghdad writers and their blogs. One is called "Riverbend" an extremely intelligent woman. Here site is at: http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com
Another good one is: http://dear_raed.blogspot.com (the original Baghdad blogger).
Today ended an era - last flight of the Concorde. It could be decades before ordinary folks fly at twice the speed of sound. It will be a long boring wait.
I had the luck of flying the Concorde - it was during the oil boom when the order was "go first class, fly the Concorde if you want." And I did. A little over 3 hours from New York to London, instead of 8. We got back to New York a hour before we left London. Loved it.
The one trip I remember the best was the day after Thanksgiving, probably 1979. Because of the holiday there were only 4 of us onboard. Ambassador Averill Harriman, his wife Pamela, another passenger and me. I should have introduced myself but I left them alone. I can't even remember what that trip was about.
But I do remember the incredible ride. When the pilot hit the throttles, it was like a fighter launch. It knocked me back into my seat --nothing like the slow roll of a 747. The steep climbout was at such a steep angle it felt like a space shot.
It seems as though "progress" is marching backwards. Instead of going faster we are traveling no faster than the first 707 jetliner. Those 14 hour Pacific Ocean hops to Hong Kong are the same. Whatever happened to the "Tokyo Express" Reagan's vision for a 2 hour flight from DC to Tokyo? Sadly, it's no where near reality.
We need a new American commitment to advancement, technology and progress - not in weapons but in transportation, medicine, space travel. We need less bickering with our global neighbors and more cooperation for common purposes. I don't see it happening, not yet...what a waste.
Ah, thanks to GM for making the point for me. They have to rename one of their cars, since "Lacrosse" in Quebec Canada is slang for masturbation. See story at: http://my.netscape.com/corewidgets/news/story.psp?cat=50900&id=200310231142000238100
Remember its NOVA which in Mexico (no va) means "It doesn't go"...?
And Exxon used to be Esso, which in Japanese meant "Stalled car."
Yep, America, we'll conquer the world if these overpaid executives figure out what they are doing....LOL.
But then we are not alone. The Japanese have a drink which translates into Engish as "cow piss." Nope, don't think you'll sell many of those tasty sounding drinks in the States. Guess the whole world needs some cross cultural training....
When the world is a blank slate to Americans, our leaders can manipulate the public. To be a valuable, educated citizen, Americans need to travel the world and write about what they see. We cannot be a global superpower and know nothing about our global neighbors. It's like driving at night without lights.
Maybe that's why I kept a journal as I traveled and saw things. I grew up on a farm. But the travel gave me the insight to predict 9 11. Here's an excerpt from one trip:
DAMASCUS, Syria - It was raining in the night when our Lufthansa flight landed in Damascus. It was December, 1996, my first trip to Syria. The few who knew about the trip were convinced I would be shot on sight. Our mission was to get a 12-year old Texas girl out of Sidon, Lebanon - the headquarters of the terrorist group Hezbollah.
So there I was, within 70 miles of Beirut and Iraq on the eastern border. Travel into Lebanon by Americans was forbidden at the time so we picked Damascus, only a few miles from the Lebanon border. On the plane flight from Houston I pulled out the latest Wall Street Journal and read an article about an underground chemical/biological weapons plant somewhere near Damascus. Twenty hours later we were driving through the dark, watching posters of President Assad flash by in the headlights...
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How'd it come out? I died of course. (Full story is located at: http://www.intlegalgroup.com/generic124.html) No, but it is part of a book I'm writing on America's future. A globally savvy citizen cannot be deceived and is a valuable asset in our future. Seek out the world Americans. We need more global Americans like you.
I just checked out the blog (weblog) site of the "Baghdad Blogger" aka Salam Pax http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/. I decided to find it to get the "real" news of what is going on in Iraq instead of the stuff we get.
I'm concerned about him because he has recently been on BBC and his identity is now known. There are new power groups forming in Iraq that probably would gladly put a bullet through the head of anyone who isn't saying what they want to hear - people like Mullah Sadr, who I still think may have been involved in the assassination of Al Hakim in the bomb that killed hundreds outside a key Mosque. I'd hate to lose him because I trust the info I get from his insight more than the "all is well" misleading crap the Pentagon always tells us.
I have caught a lot of flak from some Americans who misinterpret what I say. When I say that our troops need to be more culturally sensitive that is not being unsupportive. I'm just trying to avoid creating anger by the Iraqi people whose trust and support we need to obtain success. Salam Pax makes the same point in one of his blogs, and I'd say he's pro-American. But we make no friends when we ignore a country's culture. Going into a Muslim home before the women can cover themselves is as offensive to Iraqis as Arnold Schwarzeneggar putting his hand on someone's breast would be in America. Ignore that and you creat problems we don't need. I don't fault 19-year old troops since they are clueless, but I do fault the Pentagon for not providing that training.
Anyway, I hope to establish a dialogue with the Baghdad Blogger and pass on some of that information in future newsletters I release. My Global American column now reaches some 4,300 newspapers and individuals in the U.S. and worldwide.
Like Salam Pax, I try to cover issues and provide information people don't see everyday.
I was just thinking that when I was 18 there were no cell phones, no CD/DVD players, no MP3's, or even computers. Now I couldn't live without them.
I'm wondering what 18 year olds today will think when they are 50 plus and see what 18 years old have then that they don't have today. It's impossible to guess what technology that might be. In 1968, when I was 18 if you said "burning CD's" people would think you were setting something on fire. What was "cool" then is "hot" now.
Let's hope the adults can keep the world from blowing up so future generations of teenagers and the rest can enjoy their music and tech toys. I have more confidence in the kids then I do the adults.
I was right, but no one listened. I said Iraq was not an imminient threat, that Saddam was not connected to bin laden and 9 11. Well, the truth is coming out.
David Kay reported to Congress today - no Weapons of Mass Destruction found in Iraq - 6 months after taking it over. The whole premise of this war was WMD's and an "imminent threat." Now that mistake will cost hundreds of billions and the Iraqis will still want us out of their country. No guarantee that it will end up as a "democracy" as we know it. Meanwhile Osama is doing his thing with little attention from us.
Rush Limbaugh being investigated for prescription drug abuse, but his mouth got him fired from ESPN. Why is it he can fault blacks as quarterbacks but he will make any excuse for dumb white guys? People like him give white people a bad name. Send him to Iraq to clear mines. All he has to do is talk and they'll blow up.
Arnold Schwarzeneggar apologized today for groping women. I give him a lot of credit for being honest about it and addressing it right away, unlike some in DC who apologize for nothing.
Any GOOD news to report? Ummm. Well, I'm still healthy and the brain still seems to function somewhat. Old Mercedes is still hanging in there - Former German leader Helmut Kohl was at the Baker Instittute yesterday. During Q&A I mentioned my German car "only" had quarter million miles on it and had saved my life once. He seemed to like that. Asked him why current leaders were so provincial compared to him, Poppa Bush and Jim Baker....even his successor, Schroeder won on an anti-American campaign, as Sec'y Baker mentioned.
Weather has been BEAUTIFUL. Blue skies, 80 degrees. Better Times Ahead...
