Monday, November 27, 2006

Is Rwanda Iraq's future?

It's easy to laugh at the French for this latest fiasco in Rwanda. They've really fucked things up. It wasn't enough that on November 19, 2006, French prosecutors, assisted by some stupid-ass judge, issued arrest warrants for nine men close to current Rwandan President Paul Kagame. The men include Rwanda's Armed Forces Chief, James Kabarebe, and Army Chief of Staff, Charles Kayonga.

All nine are suspected of involvement in the 1994 murder of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana which sparked 100 days of genocide that killed over one million people, 1/8 of the population of Rwanda.

In response to the warrants, Rwanda recalled their ambassador in France, kicked out French diplomats in Kigali, the capital, and disabled local broadcasts from Radio France International.

I guess France just assumed that they couldn't make things any worse for themselves so they went ahead and called for current President Kagame to stand trial for his role in killing his predecessor.

And now the shit is really hitting the fan.

But what does this have to do with the happy country of Iraq? I mean, the Iraqis don't speak French, their women can't go out unescorted and they aren't even Catholic.

True, but there are some similarities. Ones that extend beyond a lack of infrastructure; reliable power, water or sewer systems.

Both countries find themselves with a class division. For Rwanda, it is a totally fabricated ethnic system that labeled some people Tutsis and others Hutus. In Iraq, it is the division of religious beliefs for Sunnis and Shiites. Granted, this is a very simplistic analysis, but let's just roll with it, shall we? As with any good system of totalitarianism, the less numerous group was put in charge of the more numerous group. Tutsis and Sunnis.

Plus, the genocide was kind of like a Civil War so there you go. Our setup for Iraq.

If Kagame really did have a role in the murder of Habyarimana it would be if we found out that Talabani planned to overthrow, capture and execute Hussein. Which is absurd. Talabani may be the first non Sunni/Shiite leader of Iraq as well as a man with a strong relationship to the CIA, but his relationship with Saddam is probably no closer than Rumsfeld's.







Besides, for that analogy to work, Talabani would have to have been working very hard to remove Hussein before being elected as President of Iraq.

And then there's France. France is not like the United States. You see, France lashed out at Rwanda after accusations that French soldiers participated in the genocide. The discovery that US soldiers participated in setting up and delivering Iraq's Civil war will only come as a surprise to hardcore fans of Bill O'Reilly.

~Lila Schow

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Hearts and Minds*

Back in WWII, one of the things American GIs were known for was giving chocolate to kids in the European Theatre of Operations.

They've found a new way to make sure kids remember them.

* lifted 100% from james_nicoll

Friday, November 10, 2006

Bush Not So Dumb

Many question why Bush would flip-flop on Rumsfeld. Only a week ago Bush said Rummy would be with us until the end. But Bush didn't expect to lose control of both the House and the Senate. He's in a pickle!

Afraid those Dems will go after Rummy, Bush preemptively struck him down first. This is how he won the votes that helped get him elected folks. Bush excels in taking the first swing at himself to deflate his opponents' arguments. Now he's done it again.

Nancy Pelosi would have fought the good fight to remove Rummy, so Bush did it for her. In the process, he saved Rummy and himself face. And now he can push through another of Daddy's Iran-Contra friends before the Dems take control.

Bush is not so dumb.

~Jodie Hemerda