The above is from Lee Berthiaume's "Iraqi Refugees, South Korea Trade Up for Debate" (Canada's Embassy magazine) and Vic noted it. For morning chuckles read David Wilkins piece of fiction in The Ottawa Citizen (some may have a hard time chuckeling since Wilkins is the US ambassador to Canada). Wilkins continues to lie (well so did Poppy Bush when he was ambassador to the United Nations -- insisting the dikes in Vietnam weren't being bombed) about how all the US military does is enter the names of service members who self-checkout into "various databases". "Keep lies alive" appears to have been the message of the current White House and Wilkins is more than up to the task. Of course, usually the arrests are only reported in local media and Brad Gaskins' recent arrest got national coverage. Maybe the word didn't reach Canada? Not much reached Wilkins brain. Not content to stick the topic (war resisters) he feels the need to repeat some of the worst lies used to sell the illegal war:
As for the war in Iraq, it is hardly an "illegal war" as Mr. Hill claims. Saddam Hussein willfully defied the United Nations for years. He was a mass murderer and bloody tyrant who used poison gas against his own people.
He was installed by the US. He was supplied by the US.
By the time U.S. forces entered Iraq on March 20, 2003 the Iraqi regime had invaded two sovereign states and was currently violating 17 UN Security Council resolutions, including a unanimous ultimatum on Nov. 8, 2002 to disarm in 30 days or face "serious consequences."
Invaded with the wink and nod from the US and taking place before the first Gulf War so one would assume 'dealt with.' No doubt Wilkins will next call for an invasion of Germany based upon the crimes of the WWII era. There was nothing to "disarm" but maybe Wilkins still believes Iraq had WMD?
Maybe he's just ignorant? That's the best case scenario under Bully Boy. The US sends ignorant people to other countries and allows them to represent the country. Liar or ignorant, it trashes the image of all.
Before anyone thinks the White House is the only one embarrassing itself, last Saturday the Democrats chose Ricardo Sanchez to deliver their radio response to the Bully Boy. As Amy Goodman notes in "Have They No Shame?" (Common Dreams):
This is not about politics. This is about the moral compass of the nation. The Democrats may be celebrating a retired general who has turned on his commander in chief. But the public should take pause.
The Democrats had a chance to draw a line in the sand, to absolutely require Mukasey to denounce waterboarding before his elevation to attorney general. Now they have chosen as their spokesman a discredited general, linked to the most egregious abuses in Iraq. The Bush administration passed Sanchez over for a promotion, worried about reliving the Abu Ghraib scandal during the 2006 election year. Now it’s the Democrats who have resuscitated him. Have they no shame?
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lee berthiaume
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