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The opportunity cost of the Iraq War

17th May 2006

Quite aside from the appalling human cost of the war in Iraq, according to a recent article, It’s only $300 billion, in the Washington Post, the economic cost will soon exceed the predicted cost of the Kyoto Protocol to the US economy. The irony is that this is what Dubya said at the G8 Meeting in March 2001: “I made it clear to our friends and allies that the methodology of the current protocol is one that, if implemented, would severely affect economic growth in America.”

So it’s not just blood for oil … it’s climate too.

Anzac Day 2006

29th April 2006

anzac 019.jpg
Kranji War Memorial Cemetery, Singapore

On Tuesday, before dawn, I made my way to Kranji cemetry once again to pay respects to the war dead. I always find this a very humbling and moving experience, but at the same time very annoying. I’ve blogged about this before, so I won’t go over old ground in detail, but it was a repeat performance of last year. The priest and the Australian High Commissioner seemed to go through the motions, while the Turkish Ambassador stole the show with his moving rendition of Kemal Ataturk’s poem now inscribed on a memorial at ANZAC Cove. Most surprising was the Australian High Commissioner’s failure to mention the Australians that have been killed in Iraq. The fact there is only a small number (two according to the latest Iraq Coalition Casualty count) is hardly an excuse. All the other conflicts in which Austalians have been involved since Gallipoli were mentioned except this one. Maybe it was too politically sensitive for him to mention. Anyway, I plan to write to him to ask why. Watch this space.

War hero

6th May 2005

Image source: The Guardian

The re-election of the Blair Government for a third term of office yesterday completes the trifector for the Iraq War leaders. First Howard, then Bush, and now Blair. Of the three, I think the re-election of Blair saddens me the most because here you have a Labour Prime Minister aligning himself with right-wingers like Howard and Bush and still getting re-elected. Admittedly, it was with only 36% of the vote, a much reduced majority and no serious opposition, but as a political refugee from Thatcherite Britain, I rejoiced at the election of Tony Blair the first time around. This time, I find it nauseating. The Mills and Boon cover picture above just about sums it up.

The CNN effect

31st December 2004

What has become abundantly clear to me in the last few days is that we are in the midst of an unprecedented catastrophe. The thing is, I reckon many of us are ‘CNNed out’. With a daily dose of video footage from Iraq and Palestine with dead bodies lying in the streets and buildings bombed to smithereens, I think the ‘shock-horror threshold’ of the average TV news viewer is much higher than it used to be. I put myself firmly in this category. If you want to give yourself a reality check, turn off the television and read some of the blogs. IMHO, the best information source on the whole disastrous affair — as it evolves — is available at the Wikipedia site.

It’s official: prisoner abuse is OK

21st May 2004

As US Republicans and right-wing media outlets have been scrambling to eat humble pie over the last few weeks since the publication of the grotesque Abu Ghraib ‘holiday snaps’, the Wall Street Journal has managed to excel itself by bucking the trend with an editorial that, quite frankly, beggars belief.

According to the WSJ, ‘apart from Iraqi soldiers detained in uniform and certain members of Saddam Hussein’s chain of command–most Iraqi detainees are arrested as civilians and fall under the protection not of the Third Geneva Convention but of the Fourth.’ This apparently entitles the US, as an occupying power ‘to use its discretion within wide parameters to maintain law and order (Article 64), and contains no specific restriction on interrogation, other than saying that “protected persons” not be subjected to “physical or moral coercion” (Article 31). But–note well–protected persons are defined as “persons taking no active part in the hostilities” (Article 3).’ In other words, says the WSJ, ‘the Geneva Conventions do not speak specifically to the interrogation treatment of non-uniformed Baathist or jihadi guerrillas detained in connection with attacks on U.S. forces or Iraqi civilians … With that in mind, we’ll risk liberal censure and suggest that 45 minutes of uncomfortable posture (the guidelines’ limit) and the other techniques … are certainly appropriate. The U.S. holds some very dangerous people in Iraq, and it’s easy to forget that the point of interrogating them is to better protect both U.S. soldiers and the Iraqi civilians that the Geneva Conventions oblige us to safeguard.’

Damn, I feel so stupid now being utterly appalled and sickened by the photographs. If only the WSJ had pointed this out to us earlier we needn’t have worried. Seriously, though, as my good friend Vijay Srinivasan pointed out in his unpublished response to the Editor (see below), one minor oversight on the part of the WSJ is the notion of innocence until proven guilty.

The good oil on oil

10th May 2004

An article published in the New York Times last week has caused quite a stir. The Oil Crunch by Paul Krugman (reproduced below) makes reference to real reason for the Iraq war; viz. control over oil prices, and how things have backfired somewhat in that there is less security over the supply of oil than ever. The more important point he makes is that attempts to keep oil prices low would have only been temporary anyway because of the rapidly increasing demand for oil in the face of dwindling supplies. The Saudis might argue otherwise, but Krugman concludes that it’s time to stop drilling and look for alternatives. (Access to the NYT is password controlled, but registration is free.)

Digital photography and the spoils of war

9th May 2004

One of the great advantages of digital photography is that no longer do we need to stuff old photos in a plastic bag, store them in a bottom draw, and resolve to put them in albums some time soon.

Another advantage is that we can distribute these photos to family and friends so much more easily via websites and CDs. So, it seems, can the US militia in Iraq.

George W’s Resumé

24th January 2004

The New York Times (Iraq Illicit Arms Gone Before War, Departing Inspector States) leads today on the resignation of David Kay, the man who led the US effort to find WMD in Iraq. Interviewed by Reuters, Kay said he’d concluded that Iraq had no stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons at the start of the war last year, and that while Iraq may have had illicit weapons at the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, a combination of United Nations inspections and Iraq’s own decisions since, “got rid of them”. This is obviously an embarrassment to President Bush, but what impact (if any) will it have on his re-election prospects?

Bush takes responsibility

31st July 2003

In a rare solo press conference, George W. has finally taken full responsibility for the content of his State of the Union speech. (Click on the taking the blame over uranium link to watch it in RealPlayer on BBC). Interestingly, as Tim Dunlop muses, he can do this now the heat has gone out of the debate. Nice one Dubya!

Will they get away with it?

6th June 2003

Following hot on the heels of Paul Krugman’s June 3 piece in the New York Times, I was heartened to hear, on ABC radio this morning, US Congressmen seriously questioning the integrity of US intelligence reports on Iraq’s WMD.

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Tag: Iraq