Category: World

Weasels for Logic and Objective Reality, Not To Mention Common Sense

I recently corresponded with a fairly prominent science fiction author on whose discussion group I occasionally lurk. It’s usually a fascinating discussion. But in one post they made a passing remark doubting something the Bush administration said, because he lied about the Iraqi WMD’s.

I emailed the author using the subject line “tedious political rant”, and asked why people who oppose Bush are so vehement in their opposition, when there are many reasonable people who do not make the a priori assumption that he is a nefarious villain. I pointed out that many prominent Democrat politicians waxed eloquent about Saddam’s WMD’s during the Clinton administration; that according to the UN, there were many weapons stockpiles unaccounted for after the 1991 war; and that the overwhelming consensus before the invasion was that Saddam posessed and was actively developing WMD’s.

How is it a lie, I asked, to state what one believes, even if that belief later turns out to be mistaken?

My correspondent responded by saying that Bush’s claim that these weapons were an imminent threat was the lie, and that anyone who claimed otherwise was “weaseling”.

But in the world of objective reality, Bush, in fact, claimed the opposite! In his 2003 State of the Union address, he said the following:

Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option.

When I pointed this out, the author requested that I discontinue the correspondence, which I of course have, since I was the one who emailed first. But it makes me sad that otherwise reasonable people would presuppose someone’s guilt, and then back it up with evidence that is demonstrably untrue.

There seems to be such a huge world-view gap between those who believe Bush’s motives are always nefarious, and even those who believe that he just tries to muddle along like everyone else (not to mention the Bush-is-the-incarnation-of-Jesus-Christ-on-Earth folks :-).

After all, who would you rather believe, a stuttering former Texas governor, or a dictator with a record of aggression, WMD production and use, and (according to Human Rights Watch), a death toll of at least 30,000 people for every year of his reign?

Lighter Notes

It is an interesting but little-known fact that although there are only about 5,000 tigers remaining in the wild, there are over 15,000 in captivity in North America, many of them in private homes.

Well, there’s one less in New York recently:

U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein dismissed a lawsuit brought by Antoine Yates, whom authorities discovered in 2003 was hiding a 10-foot-long tiger named “Ming” and a 6-foot alligator called “Al” inside his fifth floor apartment.

Yates, who was mauled and hospitalized by the tiger he had raised since it was a cub, claimed his constitutional rights had been violated by police searches.

The Merchant of Lebanon

Israpundit has determined the criterion for avoiding Israel’s brutal bombing and invasion campaign, which has killed millions of people all over the Middle East just last week alone (<- sarcasm): Don’t bomb or invade Israel.

No Arab or Muslim country that has attacked Israel has ever been attacked by it, no matter how harsh the rhetoric.

All of Israel’s wars have been defensive since 1948. If the world truly accepted that Israel had a right to defend itself, there could be no criticism of its actions, no moral issues, and no talk of war crimes even when innocent civilians get hurt. But Israel’s “right to defend itself,” to which its western critics are careful to pay lip service, hinges on Israel never actually doing so.

Unfortunately, Israel is stuck in the role of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice:

The Jewish State is entitled to armed self-defence; it just cannot shed any blood.

Cautious Optimism in West Africa

An interesting article by a former US Ambassador to Mali:

Despite persistent poverty and ongoing turmoil in neighboring states, in a single decade Mali has launched one of the most successful democracies in Africa. Its political record includes three democratic elections and two peaceful transitions of power, a transformation that seems nothing short of amazing.