Wednesday, June 29, 2005
QUALITY ANALYSIS FROM THE A.P.
Sometimes, you really gotta hand it to the Associated Press:
It's useful that the A.P. has provided us his bona fides. Apparently, the following is what someone who "has covered Washington for The Associated Press since 1973, including five presidencies" believes is included in a "nearly unrelenting string of bad news from the region":
1) Syria is now (mostly) out of Lebanon for the first time since 1976.
2) There have been free elections in Lebanon.
3) A woman is now a government minister, and women as a group will soon be voting in Kuwait.
4) Israel is withdrawing from Gaza (which would seem to make it a tad harder for anti-Israeli obsessives to claim Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is bent on Jewish global conquest).
5) As we know, there have (even in the midst of a war) been free interim assembly elections in Iraq. And there will be further elections later this year, after that assembly complete's Iraq's permanent constitution -- elections in which Sunni Arabs (whom we are forever told are the "backbone of the insurgency") this time have apparently decided to take part.
6) Some may remember also that there were (also in the midst of a war) free presidential elections in Afghanistan. And there will be legislative elections later this year.
7) Libya has formally given up pursuing WMD programs, and most importantly consented to international inspections.
8) Egypt is closer to holding free elections than it has ever been before.
9) While there was no free presidential election in Iran recently, that country's ruling mullahs' attempt to "play a democracy on TV" was meant to try to persuade the world that Iran really is "democratic". Obviously, then, appearing democratic has its regional benefits. However, that acting job which may have persuaded the likes of the A.P. apparently did not similarly sway numbers of Iranians, as there was apparently a large voter boycott the regime desperately tried to minimize.
10) Finally, considering how jihadism tends to emanate from that "region", this reality too is worth bearing in mind. As that seasoned observer, my father -- who has lived through twelve presidencies, starting with F.D.R.'s -- thirteen months ago had pointed out about progress in "the War on Terror". . .
Such is, oh yes, the "nearly unrelenting string of bad news from the region".
Wait. Wait. Sorry, sorry. Of course any little bit of good news like that above is undoubtedly the results at last of that ever-patient Carter and Clinton administration diplomacy, having at last begun to pay dividends. After all, Bush is a dunce. ¶ by Robert, Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Sometimes, you really gotta hand it to the Associated Press:
From his May 2003 "Mission Accomplished" speech aboard an aircraft carrier, to a Thanksgiving dinner in Baghdad, to Tuesday night's speech to troops in North Carolina, President Bush has had no shortage of telegenic moments on Iraq - amid a nearly unrelenting string of bad news from the region. . .While there is no doubt that all is not perfect in Iraq, it is amazing how we suddenly have press-amnesia regarding "the region" -- even from this A.P. writer, Tom Raum, whom we are also informed at the bottom of the page "has covered Washington for The Associated Press since 1973, including five presidencies." It is almost as if the A.P. is trying to shout out, "Hey, he is no simple stringer!"
It's useful that the A.P. has provided us his bona fides. Apparently, the following is what someone who "has covered Washington for The Associated Press since 1973, including five presidencies" believes is included in a "nearly unrelenting string of bad news from the region":
1) Syria is now (mostly) out of Lebanon for the first time since 1976.
2) There have been free elections in Lebanon.
3) A woman is now a government minister, and women as a group will soon be voting in Kuwait.
4) Israel is withdrawing from Gaza (which would seem to make it a tad harder for anti-Israeli obsessives to claim Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is bent on Jewish global conquest).
5) As we know, there have (even in the midst of a war) been free interim assembly elections in Iraq. And there will be further elections later this year, after that assembly complete's Iraq's permanent constitution -- elections in which Sunni Arabs (whom we are forever told are the "backbone of the insurgency") this time have apparently decided to take part.
6) Some may remember also that there were (also in the midst of a war) free presidential elections in Afghanistan. And there will be legislative elections later this year.
7) Libya has formally given up pursuing WMD programs, and most importantly consented to international inspections.
8) Egypt is closer to holding free elections than it has ever been before.
9) While there was no free presidential election in Iran recently, that country's ruling mullahs' attempt to "play a democracy on TV" was meant to try to persuade the world that Iran really is "democratic". Obviously, then, appearing democratic has its regional benefits. However, that acting job which may have persuaded the likes of the A.P. apparently did not similarly sway numbers of Iranians, as there was apparently a large voter boycott the regime desperately tried to minimize.
10) Finally, considering how jihadism tends to emanate from that "region", this reality too is worth bearing in mind. As that seasoned observer, my father -- who has lived through twelve presidencies, starting with F.D.R.'s -- thirteen months ago had pointed out about progress in "the War on Terror". . .
Look, I haven't lost a building in three years. It's [the War on Islamist Terror] going just fine.. . . we can now make that nearly four years.
Such is, oh yes, the "nearly unrelenting string of bad news from the region".
Wait. Wait. Sorry, sorry. Of course any little bit of good news like that above is undoubtedly the results at last of that ever-patient Carter and Clinton administration diplomacy, having at last begun to pay dividends. After all, Bush is a dunce. ¶ by Robert, Wednesday, June 29, 2005
