Monday, April 07, 2003

A reflection on the Iraq War

I'm not going to get into my feelings (which remain mixed) on the justification or lack thereof for this war. I've talked about that before in this journal, and nothing's changed in my mind.

But with the war in progress, and American troops zipping through Baghdad, and Americans in control of the airport, I love the press conferences that Saeed al-Sahaf (Hussein's Information Minister) gives every day. Today he's claiming that Americans are being repulsed from Baghdad and that they do not control any of the buildings they claim to control.

Yesterday he insisted that American troops had not taken the airport and that he would prove it by bringing the journalists there later on after the battle was finished. Meanwhile, we started landing C-130 freighters there.

Of course, during al-Sahaf's current briefing, smoke from the attack was billowing behind them - shortly before the press conference we'd sent troops by the Information Ministry itself.

At this point the few members of Hussein's government left to speak in public are doing a terrific impression of the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail - "Are you mad - your arm's off!" "No, it's not!"

Though I don't watch TV from the Arab world, I doubt even Al-Jazeera can portray this as anything other than the end of the Hussein regime. I hope we can win the peace as easily as we're winning the war, but I doubt that'll happen. The war part was never in doubt.

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