Dancing with Dogs: In case you were wondering

In case you were wondering

In case you were wondering what people will start complaining about now that Baghdad has fallen, here is an excellent example. I admit some of his points make sense, but why is it necessary for people to put into what could have turned into a very sensible column offering post-war advice to America, silly allegations?

G Parthasarathy: Iraq's uncertain future
Large sections of the Iraqi armed forces deserve high praise for the tough resistance offered to a force that totally dominated the skies and possessed overwhelming superiority in firepower.
He is openly supporting the people who were fighting FOR a dictator, using means like human shields and terror tactics against the coalition forces.

The conflict has seen horrifying images of civilian casualties. It has resulted in erosion of the credibility of the American media and particularly channels like CNN. The Americans have encountered a population that feels it is faced with a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Coma again? Who loses credibility? The people who predicted half-a-million civilian deaths or the American media? Why would civilian casualties affect American media's credibility? Because they don't focus on blood, guts and gore like Al-Jazeera?

The British and Americans have made little, if any, progress in winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. The United States is going to find that winning the war was far easier than winning the peace. It seems determined to ignore symbolism that are essential to correct the image that this war is being fought primarily in order to gain control of Iraq's oil and gas resources.
Stupid, again - how do we know the Iraqis hate Americans? Oh, because giving flowers, kissing on the cheek and cheering for them are insults according to some obscure Arab customs?

The problem with columns like these is not that they don't make some extremely sensible points - the problem is that they so cannot resist taking gratuitous potshots against America and are so mired in negativity that the good points are lost under all that bad.

Posted by shanti at April 11, 2003 10:26 AM