Sunday, June 25, 2006

More unkind observations on G. W. Bush

-- Bush often claims that he makes decisions "in his gut" -- by gut instinct. If so then he has a pretty dumb gut. So a new nickname for Dubya. Dumbgut. The Iraq war Dumbgut's excellent adventure. Dumbgut the Decider.

--Bush's election not unlike many an election for class president wherein the student body shows its contempt for the process by electing the least likely person available, say the class imbecile or delinquent -- often to the imbecile / delinquent's astonishment and agonizing embarrassment. "Wha . . . ME?"

--As every month of his presidency passes Bush's eyes seem to grow beadier, move closer together. By 2008 they will have actually merged and we'll have our first cyclops Chief Executive.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

more collateral damage


"'And has thou slain the Jabberwock? / Come to my arms, my beamish boy! / O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' / He chortled in his joy. "


Midst all the newspaper and magazine articles calloohing and callaying about the extermination of al-Zarqawi, I noted a single reference to some "collateral damage": a woman and a child also perished when that Baquba safe house was blown to bits by our bombs.

The killing of al-Zarqawi was apparently the result of some very fine intelligence work. I wonder, did that intelligence also indicate that a woman and child were present in the house? Were the bombs sent on their way despite this knowledge?

Let us focus on that child for a moment. How old? Eight years? Eight months? A boy or a girl? Was the woman killed his or her mother? What was the child like? Did he or she have a ready smile? Infectious laughter? Eyes that looked out onto the world with trusting wonder? Was he or she loveable? Did he or she have many friends? What were his or her hopes and dreams? Did he or she survive the initial blast? Did he or she die in agony? Did he or she know that death was coming? Was he or she frightened?

What questions! How dare I try to cut through the comfortable callousness that most of us have developed to protect ourselves from the ugly realities of this war!

But that child . . .

Imagine that you found yourself in a room with public enemy number one, Osama bin Laden. Also in that room was a child. You were handed a pistol and given an option: you may kill bin Laden, but you must also kill the child. Otherwise you must let both go free.

I am not asking what Jesus would do. We all know what Jesus would do. I am asking what YOU would do. For this dilemma is one our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan face constantly: in killing the enemy, they must also sometimes kill the innocent.

Would you pull the trigger -- twice?