From The Arizona Central, 7/7/03:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0706pimentel06.html
A new sound bite for Iraq
By O. Ricardo Pimentel
Republic columnist
From the same folks who gave us "coalition forces," we now have
"Saddam loyalists."
A coalition force, of course, sounds grand, bringing to mind an army
marching under many flags but unified under the banner of the noble
goal of liberation.
The problem:
Our lack of persuasive powers, diplomatic prowess and compelling
evidence meant a binational force of Yanks and Brits did most of the
heavy lifting during the war, though some other countries signed on as
heartily approving.
Australia helped a bit, too, but make no mistake, most of the
"coalition" blood and sweat came from the forces of just two
countries.
No matter.
The Pentagon said "coalition forces," and a mostly lapdog press was
more than pleased to parrot, forgive the mixed animal metaphors.
Now, with the war essentially declared over but American soldiers
being killed, wounded or attacked almost daily, we are given a new
term - "Saddam loyalists" - to describe the culprits responsible.
There are variations:
"Hussein loyalists" and the always useful "surviving members of the
Baathist regime."
OK, how do we know that the Iraqis waging guerilla war against
occupying American and British troops are Saddam loyalists?
One nagging possibility is that they don't so much love Saddam,
wherever he is, as hate the foreigners occupying their country, as
evidenced by the crowd that gathered recently to cheer those who
attacked American soldiers.
And this is truly frightening because we are very much stuck in Iraq.
We've rid Iraq of its brutal tyrant but created a power vaccum in
which no one is wholly capable of providing basic services or
security.
We're it.
_______________________________________
Ya understanding all this, Georgie? Well, that's OK. Just keep saying
"Bring 'Em On". Ya knew what you were saying, didn't ya? Well, didn't
ya? Fuggedaboutit.
Harry
.
|
