“It’s not about oil” is the claim of an editorial by Thomas W. Lippman in the Washington Post:
Even a perfunctory acquaintance with the realities of the global oil market would indicate that the “oil war” theory does not stand up to analysis. As an imagined rationale it doesn’t square with the facts; and in the unlikely event that it actually does factor into the administration’s thinking, it is a specious argument that cannot justify sending American forces into combat.
Lippman argues that the Bush administration has failed to make its case strongly enough as to the real reasons for war (namely, security) and that’s left the door open for anti-war protestors to claim that oil is the real reason that the U.S. wants this war.
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Happy birthday to my grandfather today, who’s 94 years young!
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Happy over-commercialized high-pressure relationships to fall apart day (aka Valentine’s Day).
To all of my friends out there who just went through Valentine’s breakups, get some Haagen Dazs and blame cupid.
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Reports are coming in that Arafat has agreed to appoint a Prime Minister.
Appoint? Excuse me??? I guess I was under the silly, clearly mistaken impression that Prime Ministers ought to be elected, not appointed. But then, I guess that’s what passes for democracy in that part of the world – with the notable exception of Israel.
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Gatwick airport’s north terminal has been shut down, and Heathrow has been placed on high alert after a man was found with a hand grenade at Gatwick:
Police have arrested a man carrying a live hand grenade at Gatwick Airport and evacuated one terminal. All flights out of the north terminal were suspended after the man – thought to be a 37-year-old Venezuelan – was detained under anti-terrorism laws.
[ . . . ]
The incident comes after days of heightened alert at Britain’s airports, especially at Heathrow where troops were called in.
The BBC’s Margaret Gilmore said she had learned that the Heathrow operation was sparked by MI5 intelligence that a group was plotting to shoot down an aircraft.
Two men were arrested near Heathrow airport under the Terrorism Act on Thursday afternoon, but police said they were held as a “precautionary measure”.
[ . . . ]
The government and police said the ongoing security alert was linked to fears that al-Qaeda could use the end of the Muslim festival of Eid, which runs until Saturday, as a trigger for an attack on London.
Reuters is reporting that the man arrived on a flight from Colombia. This comes on the same day as a plane carrying five Americans crashed in Colombia. In all likelihood there’s no relation, but it’s a strange coincidence.
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According to a weapons report, Iraq has missiles of prohibited range.
A panel of independent arms experts told the U.N. the range of Iraq’s Al Samoud 2 rockets exceeded by up to 24 miles the 93-mile limit laid down by U.N. arms controls.
“If these reports are correct…it is very serious,” Blair said after talks with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
“It would be not just a failure to declare and disclose information, but a breach of resolution 1441,” Blair said, referring to the November Security Council resolution threatening “serious consequences” if Iraq failed to disarm.
Russia and Germany are making their usual excuses for Iraq, but the U.S. and Britain are among those countries who are rightly pissed off. There’s a very good reason why Saddam isn’t supposed to have long-range missiles – because he’ll use them to attack long-range destinations.
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In a wonderful start to the day, I left the dentist’s office this morning and promptly backed my car into an electric pole. Brilliant. Luckily nobody was hurt. But I’m in kind of a crappy mood . . . and it’s bound to be worse when I get the repair bill.
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I went to Concordia today . . . and nobody rioted!
It was to see the Cannes Lions Festival 2002 winners for the year’s best advertising. The JMMA screened the winners in a “mad about ads” evening, and people packed the H110 auditorium at $5 a ticket to see the best ads of the year.
Some of the ads were wonderfully creative and side-splittingly funny. The best part about the Lions is that entrants are from around the world. European advertising is so far ahead of ours.
Hmmm . . . a room full of people there specifically to admire advertising. I’m surprised the CSU were able to restrain themselves from showing up to heckle!
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Charest wants Landry to call elections and not to use the possibility of a U.S.-led war on Iraq as a stall tactic:
Military action in Iraq shouldn’t delay the expected election battle between Quebec political parties, Liberal Leader Jean Charest said Wednesday.
Charest was reacting to recent comments by Premier Bernard Landry that he might have to postpone calling the election if war starts in Iraq.
Does anyone else think that the system – where the party in power gets to choose the timing of the election – stinks? I personally think Canada should move to an American-like system of fixed election dates. Then the party in power can’t wait to call the election until it’s doing better in the polls.
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My deconstruction of the anti-war movement:
I’ve been working on this for a couple of days. It’s pretty long so I’m not posting it directly here, but feel free to read it and comment.
Update: I’ve moved this to my main site, to the thoughts section.
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