The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.
The Arafat surprise
: Not to work too hard to find the local angle, but if Arafat dies before Tuesday, what does it mean to the election? I’d say it pumps another point to Bush. Anything that puts the focus on the Middle East and instability benefits him.
Bollocks! John Doe voter neither knows nor cares much about him.
Possibly, however what has Bush done to resolve instability and fears in the Middle East. Nothing. So perhaps voters will look at this potential instability, and consider that Bush has no track record in the Middle East and consider Kerry as a better option to broker peace.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, it looks like our troops are heading toward a very big strike on Falluja. This is a daring election-eve gamble by the White House, but it may pay off in a big way. I’m betting that our military commanders have orders to throw everything into this long-delayed move. Is the timing disgusting? Yes. Will it backfire? I doubt it.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, it looks like our troops are heading toward a very big strike on Falluja.
Yeah, ANYTHING that helps Bush get “re”elected. Just anything, even the death of hundreds of innocent people.
No, Falluja is full of terrorists like Zarqawi. They are the scum who want to prevent innocent Iraqis from enjoying stability and democracy. Your innocents are my enemy. I hope they kill that beheading bastard and his cabal of barbarian braindeads.
Kat,
Don’t start again otherwise, I WILL BE WARNED. ;-)
Fallujah is a city with over 200,000 population. Congratulations for the heavy artillary and air bombing of the city by your “brave” army which has already killed many hundreds of “terrorist” children who happen to be your enemies.
Yeah, get rid of those two year old “terrorist bastards”.
I wonder what all of you will say when the truth gets out???
The Russian special forces have admitted to moving the cache of “WMDs” before the war broke out!
Now, what do you all say about the collusion to affect the outcome of the election of President of the United States of America, committed by John Kerry, his campaign manager, CBS and The New York Times?
Swallow hard on this one folks………..and greese it up, you will be taking one, right where you should on this one!
The Russian special forces have admitted to moving the cache of “WMDs” before the war broke out!
It’s true! I heard it on my Alternate Universe Radio I bought off the Art Bell Show!
Meanwhile, back in this universe: the Russians have denied the report, and even the Pentagon spokesman has backed down from the statement about the Russians. That latter statement was issued by another part of the Pentagon.
JC: Idiot. Find better news sources.
If Bush does an eve of election strike American media will only report it as complete victory anyway. You won’t hear about American dead and civilian dead until after the elections.
Huh? What’s your logic here Mr Buzz? A point to Bush because, er the Iraq situation is going so well, and the Roadmap is now looking so solid?!?
Everything that the anti-war protesters predicted – a region in chaos, civil war, insurgents from round the world coalescing on Iraq, a descent into barbarism, have all come true.
As the Black Watch get sent to their deaths despite 93% opposition to the war in Scotland for US internal political purposes, UK opinion is hardening against the Blair-Bush Propaganda Machine.
Pele…what the hell kind of news sources are you getting? The media is terribly negative against Bush in America. Only Fox news is slightly less negative than the others.
Nearly all the media sources in America are doing their damndest to get Kerry in. Rather-gate, Missing-Explosives-gate, Swift-Vets-Are-A-Bunch-Of-Lying-Cowards-gate Bush-Is-A-Bible-Thumping-Lunatic-Who-Wants-Crippled-People-To-Suffer-Because-He-Won’t-Allow-Stem-Cell-Research-gate. And the list goes on.
If it makes Kerry look good or Bush bad, it’s front page news, if it’s good news for Bush, it’s on page A-34 just below the ad for Dulco-Lax.
1st the tangent – Mumblix, perhaps you should have left Rather-gate out of your little rant, there, that one’s not actually Pro-Kerry. At least, not the results of it.
Now, my comment on the actual posting: I agree that Arafat’s death before the election could scare people into changing their vote, but which way? I can’t call it. In my opinion, people should have realized long ago that Arafat’s not actually in charge of anything real. I remember so fondly how well his “requests” to Palestinians for cease-fires went.
Plus, cease-fire is an awfully funny name for it when you’re talking about non-military terrorist acts in the first place.
Faramin,
Those “innocents” in Falluja harbor, support, and protect the terrorists. They prospered under Saddam. Since you feel that America deserved 9/11 you can take your twisted Persian logic and apply it to the people of Falluja as well.
What kind of delusional do you have to be to say something like “The media is terribly negative against Bush in America. Only Fox news is slightly less negative than the others.”?
Have you read the WSJ or the Moonie Times? CNN? Fox News? Please. The press has been cowed into submission, and has just given up and decided to print or talk about whatever Karl and Scotty say. It’s rather embarrassing, actually.
The Bush administration has, 4 times now, come up with a different story about the missing explosives. All were quickly proven false. That means nothing to you? You sloppily apply the “-gate” moniker on this, in an attempt to minimize its importance, instead of maybe being worried about how your government keeps trying to pass the buck, keeps telling you lies?
Hey, this isn’t supposed to be a bomb Falluja debate thread! Duh, this is supposed to be the thread where we all hope that Arafat dies a slow & painful death!
btw, speaking of tons of explosives, what’s up w/ this story from the extreme ultra right wing propaganda arm of the Repulikkkan Party “ABC News” about it being 3 tons instead of 377?
http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=204304&page=1
Ptolemy,
Since you feel that America deserved 9/11 you can take your twisted Persian logic and apply it to the people of Falluja as well.
It is funny that YOU question my logic. I don’t think you know what logic means. I guess you are one the least qualified people to talk about logic. What kind of “great” logic of yours tells you that you can make such serious accusasions against others only based on what your twisted imagination tells you? What evidence do you have to back your “logic” that I feel America deserved 9/11? What? Why is it so easy for you to bullshit?
Now, the real logic? I tell you what! You owe me an apology. TAHT’S THE REAL LOGIC.
BTW Ptolemy,
According to the estimates by American public health experts published on The Lancet medical journal, 100,000 Iraqis have been killed in violence since the U.S.-led invasion last year.
The rise in the death rate was mainly due to violence and much of it was caused by U.S. air strikes on towns and cities.
Also,
The use of air power in areas with lots of civilians appears to be killing a lot of women and children.
Doesn’t shock you a bit, does it?
But how many lives have been saved–or is that not important to you, Faramin, as long as it was your buddy, Saddam, wielding the machete. Your hero is a prince. And you’d prefer Iraqis killed by him rather than USA succeed in establishing a democracy. But that’s the muslim thing, right? Doesn’t matter who dies as long as allah is happy in the human sacrifices in his name.
From an article I saved in January.
NoBody Count
By UML Guy
January 02, 2004 (08:30 PM)
Announcing… The Blog o’RAM NoBody Count!
I was curious just how many people Saddam and his buddies had killed during their 25 year reign. After a lot of digging, I found State Department reports that showed the following:
From IRAQ: CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY – Leaders as Executioners
2040 deaths
Executed opponents and suspected potential rivals, including scores of high-level government officials and thousands of political prisoners.
1,070,000 deaths
The 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war left 150,000 to 340,000 Iraqis and 450,000 to 730,000 Iranians dead.
1000 deaths
Ordered the invasion and destruction of Kuwait in 1990-91 with 1,000 Kuwaitis killed.
60,000 deaths
Directed the 1991 bloody suppression of Kurdish and Shi’a insurgencies in northern and southern Iraq with at least 30,000 to 60,000 killed.
7000 deaths
Periodically ordered during 1988-99 mass prison executions of several thousand inmates (“prison cleansing”).
20,000 deaths
Known as Saddam’s “Shi’a thug”, he violently suppressed the 1991 Shi’a uprisings after the Gulf War with tens of thousands killed.
From Saddam’s Brutality Against the Iraqi People
100,000 deaths
The campaign resulted in the death of at least 50,000 to 100,000 Iraqi Kurds, according to Human Rights Watch reports.
2000 deaths
During the 1991 Iraqi repression of the post-Gulf war Kurdish insurrection, thousands of Iraqi Kurds died, 500,000 became refugees along northern Iraq’s “no-fly zone” bordering Turkey, and 1.2 to 1.4 million other refugees fled to Iran.
For good measure, I checked for data on refugees as well:
From War Crimes
900,000 refugees
The Iraqi government’s campaign of forced deportations of Kurdish and Turkomen families to southern Iraq has created approximately 900,000 internally displaced citizens throughout the country.
From Saddam’s Brutality Against the Iraqi People
1,900,000 refugees
During the 1991 Iraqi repression of the post-Gulf war Kurdish insurrection, thousands of Iraqi Kurds died, 500,000 became refugees along northern Iraq’s “no-fly zone” bordering Turkey, and 1.2 to 1.4 million other refugees fled to Iran.
From Destroying the Marshes
240,000 refugees
By 1993 the marshes sheltered 200,000 to 250,000 inhabitants
My body, Saddam? Right there you lose credibility, if anything is left, that is.
When Saddam was Rumsfeld’s body, When he was backed 100% by the US while accupying parts of Iran, When he was using mastard gas against Iranian troops, when he was a co-criminal to the American leaders, I was fighting his accupier army.
Oh, well, you don’t understand. You are simply not intelligent enough to understand.
Faramin– you are right,I’m not as intelligent as you in the teachings of the koran and jihadism.
Poor Kat reads the Bible which declares that a land occupied by Palestinian natives was given by their God to the nation of Israel, which is finally, bless their hearts, standing down from simply occupying that land and ignoring the rights of the native population. We are individuals, not nations, and we need to look at the rest of the world as having a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When we take away those lives, it is wrong.
Read the part that says “Thou shalt not kill”, please, Kat and Don. That didn’t say that people with dark skins don’t count.
And if those people who died under Saddam’s regime had their choice, sure they would rather have lived, but they, too, would have fought against a takeover of their country.
This country fought for its freedom and won it. That is the way to be free.
Ruthie–try teaching thou shalt not kill to your muslm kin. Start in Sudan.
OMG, now Kat thinks it’s an insult to be kin to a muslim! There are probably muslims in your family tree somewhere, too, Kat, though it wouldn’t seem like something they’d take pride in.
Teach by example, why don’t we. Bombing residential areas isn’t the ideal teaching method for Sudanese or Iraqis, it would seem. They learn what we do, not what we say.
Now, Blueprint, are you sure you want to teach a Bush supporter to behave? Sure and it’s better Kat fits into the pattern of her chosen candidate, makes it easy to see why they’re not the best element, IMHO.
Kat,
Faramin– you are right,I’m not as intelligent as you in the teachings of the koran and jihadism.
No Kat, you are not intelligent because, ummm.. you are not intelligent. Your above comment after reading tens of mine is yet another proof. How can I teach Koran while I don’t even know Koran?
I have said so many times, what I think of religions, all religions. But you just don’t get it.
People like you are excatly the reason why people like dumb Bush and crook Cheney are so successful in deceiving the people. You are just so stranger to something called “thinking”.
When you allow terrorists to tell you how you think, that’s not thinking or intelligence–it’s allowing yourself to be brainwashed and just plain stupid–and cowardly. You become just like them. If you had your way we’d all be part of a Hitlerian world, devoid of Jews.
When you allow terrorists to tell you how you think, that’s not thinking or intelligence–it’s allowing yourself to be brainwashed and just plain stupid–and cowardly. You become just like them. If you had your way we’d all be part of a Hitlerian world, devoid of Jews.
Kat, you’re a disgrace.
Faramin, you should not pay attention. These people pop up and taunt anyone who doesn’t swallow the shrub’s lies whole and express their adoration. I suspect ‘troll’ is the best description.