March 20, 2018

15 years ago yesterday I started a notebook... Day 2 of the Iraq War notebook.

CNN had shots of tanks rolling across the desert and breathless reporting from inside those tanks. I caught snippets of that breathlessness as I watched the war — the driving — on TV:

iraq 2 1 2

CNN touted "these magnificent and historic pictures" and passed along the ideology of war ("We're just doing what's right... invading to liberate the people of Iraq..."):

iraq 2 1 3

We see Fox's Greg Kelly in a Humvee, observing that they're meeting "no resistance" and that if this keeps up, "it's going to be an overwhelming success":


iraq 2 1 4

NBC finds a man in Ashland, Alabama to interview:

iraq 2 1 5

A Fox newsman speaks from "the only squishy vehicle in this convoy":

iraq 2 1 6

60 comments:

Sprezzatura said...

No tag for 'commerce?'


Seems apt. In many ways.

themightypuck said...

Somebody wasn't getting laid. And see, there was an upside. Of course there is also a downside according to Samantha Bee who introduced me to the notion of an incel (which means involuntary celibate). Maybe the 12 steppers know something about notebooks. Rallying cry: Notebooks over Manifestos? https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=0omjeOt-U6w

tim maguire said...

A just war fought for true liberal values in the face of fake liberal outrage. It cycled between brilliant daring and senseless shortsighted stupidity (we won, then we threw it away, then we won again, then we threw it away again) until everyone got too tired to care.

tim maguire said...

Nice drawings, by the way.

tcrosse said...

We were expecting the elite Republican Guard to unleash the Mother of All Battles.

themightypuck said...

The best thing about that war was the instantly memed information minister who, under the radar, taught us not to trust Wolf Blitzer.

etbass said...

I remember on the Hampton Jitney, I got a lot of stares when I exclaimed loudly to my daughter whom I was visiting just after the start of the war, that this was a terrible action taken by George Bush. I, a lifelong conservative who fully supported Aphganistan, was then and still am, opposed to the invasion of Iraq.

BudBrown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sprezzatura said...

Presumably there were some new entries in the notebook(s) for day 5,478. Maybe we'll see those posted on the blog on day 10,957 of US troops still lingering re the Iraq War.

Althouse will harbor today's data until the Pearl Day commemoration.

Mark said...

opposed to the invasion of Iraq

Because the world -- and U.S. national security -- would be a lot safer if Saddam Hussein, guilty of any number of crimes against humanity, were still in power. And because the people of Iraq would be better off with the tortures and rapes and inhumane prisons.

Mark said...

Actually, it is about Day 492,750 in the war -- more than 1300 years worth.

Sprezzatura said...

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2018/03/20/fifteen-years/#comments

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Wow. How glib.

Did you draw pictures of blown-open/blown-apart bodies strewn apart, too?

You remind me of that avatar of Bush at a podium playing with action figures and making comic book sounds while trying to "sell" the Iraq war.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Mark does his best impression of someone campaigning for his election to be appointed imperator of Iraq.

etbass said...

If existence of "the tortures and rapes and inhumane prisons." is to be our justification, we have a lot of wars to be starting.

Drago said...

TTR: "Mark does his best impression of someone campaigning for his election to be appointed imperator of Iraq."

The uniform and medals alone would make it worth it.

buwaya said...

"Presumably there were some new entries in the notebook(s) for day 5,478. Maybe we'll see those posted on the blog on day 10,957 of US troops still lingering re the Iraq War."

These are colonial wars. They really don't end until you give the place to someone else. Or they take it and kick you out.

You do realize there are still US troops in the Philippines 120 years after you started that?

Drago said...

Plus, all the hummus you can eat.

Drago said...

buwaya: "You do realize there are still US troops in the Philippines 120 years after you started that?"

mmmmmmm, lumpia and pancit.

It must be close to dinnertime or something.

buwaya said...

The old system, that worked, would have been land grants to the victors, who would have been tasked with the job of raising an indigenous army and keeping order.

What Bernal Diaz expected, and got, as a reward of conquest.

buwaya said...

You can conquer if you take conquest seriously, as conquest, not public service.

Drago said...

buwaya: "The old system, that worked, would have been land grants to the victors, who would have been tasked with the job of raising an indigenous army and keeping order."

I would have thought leaving Schwarzkopf there and have him take a couple of Iraqi brides from the major tribal units would have done the trick.

Sort of our Ptolemaic rulers, if you catch my historical drift. 2 generations down the road it would have been as if those rulers had been Iraqi's for forever...

Sprezzatura said...

Drago,

If yur single, Buw will let ya know that the gals know how to please.

I've hung w/ them myself. And it was good. But, too much jabber about stuff like 'what do you think about me getting pregnant.'

Yikes! Followed by a sprint to the door.


Plus I had a married one who wanted dick.


Anywho, that's just anecdotal. IOW, it's useless info.




buwaya said...

"I would have thought leaving Schwarzkopf there and have him take a couple of Iraqi brides from the major tribal units would have done the trick."

Not Schwarkopf, Tommy Franks. Schwarzkopf was from another war.

Generations down the road you may have done better than merge with the population. Consider how Turkey became Turkish. Genetically the Turks are mostly Greco-Armenian, etc., not Central Asian. But they speak Turkish and are Muslim.

buwaya said...

"But, too much jabber about stuff like 'what do you think about me getting pregnant.'

Yikes! Followed by a sprint to the door."

Should have taken her advice. Then when you die you could have gone, surrounded by seven mighty sons and the rest of the tribe you have sired. That is treasure greater than whatever you can keep in a bank or hand off to your financial advisor.

Who will love your money, but not you.

Drago said...

Schwartzkopf was from my war.

And I liked him.

So he gets the nod.

Sprezzatura said...

BTW, if yur thinking about choosing based on a gal's predisposition re literally puttin' food on the table, there's none better than Korean (actually from Korea (college/grad students) is best, being Americanized dilutes). IMHO.

And, beyond figurative food, these gals got the smarts to get it done re serving it up figuratively, too.

OTOH, I'm talking about a sample size of five (a mix of foreign and domestic). So, it's meaningless data re reality.


Carry on.

buwaya said...

"I'm talking about a sample size of five (a mix of foreign and domestic). So, it's meaningless data re reality."

Very few men manage good sample sizes with enough time to get a full understanding of her character. Worse, I guess, from a scientific point of view, there are selection biases. Even the Ottoman sultan, with a seraglio of hundreds, could only do so much. And Wilt Chamberlain hardly spoke to them at all, as I understand it.

So every spouse is to a great degree a shot in the dark. It is what it is.

Luke Lea said...

I confess I supported the Iraq invasion on humanitarian grounds. Sadam was such a monster. But I did tell my poker buddies that I hoped we knew what we were doing. Which as it turned out we didn't. We've learned a lot since then. Or at least I have:

https://goo.gl/q18ekk

Sprezzatura said...

Buw,

You're funny.

You always assume I'm old. It's very common for gals my age to bear fruit. You should be well aware of this. To you, don't the tons of San Fran late-thirties mom's w/ new kids seem freaky in restaurants? Not that there's anything wrong w/ it. It's just part of the modern world and the go-getter-gals who participate.

Anywho, I date younger than that. But, not too young. The sweet spot is 26-36. Still youthful, but not so young that you can't tell if they're gonna turn out nuts.


IMHO.

Etienne said...

Just another day of infamy. The Pearl Harbor of the Middle-East.

Everything was going good, until we decided to occupy the country.

The Japs had no intention of occupying Hawaii. What the hell, they bought the Islands 20 years later, at liquidation prices.

buwaya said...

The Arabs, I always thought, get one thing right.

That is the honorific nickname, Abu-

What is a man after all, transient on this earth? His greatest honor is his posterity.

richard mcenroe said...

tcrosse Well, they tried at 73 Easting. Unfortunately for them, they were the mothers, and we were the mother****ers...

buwaya said...

"To you, don't the tons of San Fran late-thirties mom's w/ new kids seem freaky in restaurants? "

Not at all. What is freaky is that they rarely have more than two kids/there are no older girls to wrangle the younger ones, and that most have no siblings.

Sprezzatura said...

"His greatest honor is his posterity."

=

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2130814/The-man-fathered-1-000-children-Theyre-middle-class-living-Britain--idea-extraordinary-story-surrounding-birth.html

also =

deadbeat hood rat w/ a bunch of baby mamas.


Or, there's more to a life well lived.


Different strokes fer different strokes.

Sprezzatura said...

"Not at all. What is freaky is that they rarely have more than two kids/there are no older girls to wrangle the younger ones, and that most have no siblings."

Ha ha.

Ya got me there. If their first (maybe only) hadn't arrived so late you'd think it fits perfectly w/ your so-called cultural norm. If only they got a twenty year head start.

OTOH, maybe you didn't get me there. That's exactly what I thought you'd think!



Mark said...

I hoped we knew what we were doing. Which as it turned out we didn't. We've learned a lot since then. Or at least I have

We've learned not to elect the asshats and selfish, self-centered amoralists, and downright evil people who followed the Bush II Administration -- and very well might have followed Obama -- and who we here too often have the misfortune of being treated to.

buwaya said...

"deadbeat hood rat w/ a bunch of baby mamas"

He won, in the only/best way he could. After all, could he have lived a better life?
Odds are that he could not have been persuaded to.

The hood rat has imposed himself on the future in a way few others have, including most who look down on him. They will be forgotten, irrelevant, dust, while his are still stalking the earth.

Drago said...

asSd: "To you, don't the tons of San Fran late-thirties mom's w/ new kids seem freaky in restaurants? "

"tons"

San Francisco Asks: Where Have All the Children Gone?

Snip: "Jan 21, 2017 - California, which has one of the world's 10 largest economies, recently released data showing the lowest birthrate since the Great Depression. As San Francisco moves toward a one-industry town with soaring costs, the dearth of children is one more change that raises questions about its character."

Maybe "tons" means something different these days

Sprezzatura said...

"They will be forgotten, irrelevant, dust."

IOW, they will go the dust to dust route, and then eternity in heaven.

BTW, assuming the Mooooslims' eternal life has a sub hundred limit re virgins, am I correct re my understanding that no such limit exists for Christians who get the thumbs up from the big guy upstairs?

IOW, can a Christian man (say a dude who dies at 79.1 years) stick his cock into hundreds/thousands/millions of virgins? Regardless of the number, what comes of this eternal insertion? More babies? Is it as important in the afterlife to reproduce just as it is here? If so can a dude have a billion kids?


P.S.

Exponential growth rates of bacteria = Buw's idea of the perfect existence.

Cool!


Sprezzatura said...

Drago,

You're making my point. A lot of successful gals are becoming moms late in life and they have few/one kid.


Sorry. I take no pleasure re bubble bursting.


P.S.

If ya wanna get all technical: even w/ vegan and other shitty (so-called healthy) food that non-poor folks like, it doesn't take too many kids to add up to thousands of pounds. So, yur focus on 'tons' only means you fell into a trap.

Sorry. Again.


buwaya said...

"IOW, they will go the dust to dust route, and then eternity in heaven."

Not the ones who sniffed and said his paramours should have had abortions.
Or, for that matter, used contraceptives.
Unless they repented, and had no other sins on their conscience.
Which is unlikely.

This heaven business is tough, as sin is sin, and the hood rat is just as likely to make it as those who dislike him.

Sprezzatura said...

"This heaven business is tough, as sin is sin, and the hood rat is just as likely to make it as those who dislike him."

Put aside who makes it. My quandary was re how many virgins a dude can F if he does make it.

In your opinion can a Christian man who is granted the keys to eternal salvation have sex with hundreds (i.e. more than the saved Mooooslims) virgins?

And, regardless of the virgin or not status re where a saved Christian cock is inserted, is it important for the heaven F-ing to result in offspring, like it is said to be here?

Drago said...

asSd: "Drago, You're making my point. A lot of successful gals are becoming moms late in life and they have few/one kid"

Actually, I'm not making your point.

I'm challenging this "tons" thing. Which is demonstrably false.

If you'd care to argue that of the few children being born to parents who live in San Francisco, a large percentage of those few children are being born disproportionately to older moms, no argument there.

Sprezzatura said...

Drago,

Tons is a unit of weight.

Not sure why you don't know that.


Again, again sorry for me suckering you.

Really, I feel bad now.

buwaya said...

PB&J,

You are much wiser than me if you have a clue what goes on in heaven.
The impression I get is that it's a rather chaste place, everything considered, if you go by, say, Dante, in the Paradiso.
Nobody in the Catholic Church has taken a stand on the matter, as such.
But you are of course welcome to speculate.

If you get there, let us know.

Sprezzatura said...

Maybe yur more of a mass dude. Weights confuse you?

My bad, I should used a measure of 907.1847 kg.

OK, that's all I gots re covering up your blunder.



bolivar di griz said...

So the story of iraq goes farther back than 2003 or even 1991, one might date it around 1975 when chiraq greenlit what would become tammuz 16 reactor, the ones the Israelis blew up in 1981, through deals involving areva (whose mining subsidiary was cogema the one who ran the ones in Niger, the Germans also got involved particularly through Siemens and veterans of the nasser project at helwan like ayerle. Those two countries along with the USSR which got involved after 1967 provided the bulk of the armaments

bolivar di griz said...

Including their chemical and biological components the ones you saw employed at halabja in 1987, the ones we still same across twenty years later in cache strewn all through out the desert.

Drago said...

adSs: "Tons is a unit of weight."

LOL

adSs is now fat shaming San Francisco women...which is totally unfair.

They aren't exactly New York "social x-rays", but they usually aren't heavy.

Allowances made for "qualified" lesbians, naturally.

David said...

Always good to remember what wars seemed like at the start.

bolivar di griz said...

Those three countries also happened to be major beneficiaries for the oil for bribes exception to the sanctions.

Sebastian said...

"it's going to be an overwhelming success" It was, contrary lib hand-wringing about how hard it was gonna be. Until it wasn't, after the actual "war."

Achilles said...

In 2010 it was an overwhelming success. Biden and Obama said so repeatedly.

Then the leftists did what they wanted to do. Lose. On purpose. And fuck over anyone who worked with us.

If Obama could have done anything else to make the ME worse of than what he did I would like to know what it was.

If Bush could have been any more of a coward I would like to know how.

Robert Cook said...

Our invasion of Iraq was a crime and a disaster, and it remains so to this day. We haven’t learned shit and we won’t learn shit from it. We still haven’t learned shit from Vietnam.

Robert Cook said...

The language Ms. althouse quotes from the tv media people is the language of war propaganda, not of journalism.

Rusty said...

Blogger Etienne said...
Just another day of infamy. The Pearl Harbor of the Middle-East.

Everything was going good, until we decided to occupy the country.

The Japs had no intention of occupying Hawaii. What the hell, they bought the Islands 20 years later, at liquidation prices.


You missed the point of both engagements.

Etienne said...

You missed the point of both engagements.

Imperialism

Think said...

That sure brings back memories. I used to think the American Military could do anything and was the one area of government that was capable of operating well; that democracy could spread through the Middle East; that wars ended; that it was our business to interfere in other countries unilaterally; and that there was a difference between Republicans and Democrats. I have changed so much since then and my opinions on all of these topics have changed even more.

Robert Cook said...

"We've learned not to elect...asshats and selfish, self-centered amoralists...."

Haven't you heard who won the election?