DHELL-o?
THE WAR HAS ALREADY STARTED
By
Geoff Metcalf
September
15, 2002
NewsWithViews.com
For years I have been talking and writing
about the distinctions of "form over substance" and "perception versus
reality". Mainstream media malfeasance has been a common theme of my columns,
radio talk programs and commentary.
Notwithstanding the monumental silence,
of what Drudge would call ABC, CBS, NBC, FoxNews, CNN, NYT, Wash Post
et al, the next Iraq war has already started.
MSNBC reports, the "President says United
States will act with or without world support." Hey, "Been there....done
that...already have the T-Shirt. "
While America's atrophied fourth estate
has been fixated on the Potomac Two step, London's Telegraph last week
reported. "About 100 American and British aircraft took part in an attack
on Iraq's major western air defense installation...in the biggest single
operation over the country for four years." http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/09/06/wirq06.xml
Despite the epic myopia of mainstream media,
THAT raid was a classic demonstration (or should be) to even the most
neophyte military observer of "preparing the battlefield".
The so-called "horse trading" going on
is classic form over substance. "In order to gain international support
for military action, the Bush administration will have to engage in intensive
horse-trading. Powell and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made clear
that discussions on a new Security Council resolution were in a very early
stage and have not yet focused on specific wording or addressed the key
issue of possible military action against Iraq." BULLFEATHERS!!!!
"Possible military action"? Military action
against Iraq is inevitable. It is no longer a question of "if" but merely
"when".
The London Telegraph (regarding last week's
raid) wrote, "The raid appeared to be a prelude to the type of Special
Forces operations that would have to begin weeks before a possible American-led
war."
"Preparing the battlefield" is a broad
brush. It includes anything and everything to reduce the enemy's capacity
to fight. That means destroying or disrupting:
· Air defense capacity
· Command and control (communications)
· Supply and logistics (ammunition,
food, water, gasoline)
Notwithstanding the talk about talking
about talk...and the Washington Post stroke about "....but will turn to
diplomacy first." Diplomacy my Airborne Butt! We are bombing the snot
out of them NOW!
240 miles west of Baghdad, near Jordan,
12 aircraft dropped precision-guided bombs the H3 airfield. Flying out
of Kuwait nine American F15s and three RAF Tornado GR4s hit the targets.
At least seven types of aircraft took part.
· Fighter cover was provided by US F-16
Fighting Falcons
· RAF Tornado F3s from Saudi Arabia.
· RAF VC10 tanker aircraft flying from Bahrain were among the support
aircraft.
· These also included EA6b Prowlers, which send out signals to confuse
enemy radar, and
· E3a Awacs aircraft that co-ordinate operations and carry out reconnaissance
of any response.
· RAF Tornados also took part in the reconnaissance.
· American central command refused to go into detail about the number
of aircraft involved in the raid.
Now THAT is an effective method of "diplomacy"...
the preferred counterpoint to any and all Neville Chamberlainish appeasements.
The official spin was, "Coalition strikes
in the no-fly zones are executed as a self-defense measure in response
to Iraqi hostile threats and acts against coalition forces and their aircraft."
The Pentagon called the raid a "response
to recent Iraqi hostile acts against coalition aircraft monitoring the
southern no-fly zone".
Since Iraq has reportedly made 130 attempts
to shoot down coalition aircraft this year and as the president noted,
"SADDAM HUSSEIN has defied the United Nations 16 times. Not once, not
twice, 16 times, he has defied the United Nations. Enough is enough,"....what
the hell took us so long?
The attack on what was described, as an
"air defense command and control facility" was the first time that a target
in western Iraq had been attacked during the patrols of the southern no-fly
zone. Previous air defense target strikes had been in the south.
The Telegraph reported, "In a further sign
that America was preparing for war, a Pentagon official confirmed that
heavy armor, ammunition and other equipment had been moved to Kuwait from
huge stores in Qatar." "Preparing"??????
The War has already started! We just haven't
gotten the memo yet.
In Louisville, Kentucky, the President
said that, besides having talks with Mr. Blair, he would be meeting the
leaders of France, Russia, China and Canada. He told them that "history
has called us into action" to oust Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq.
Now he has tried to shame the United Nothing into support. He says the
standoff is as much a test of the United Nations as of Saddam. "The United
Nations deserves another chance to prove its relevance. This is a chance
for the United Nations to show some backbone," Bush said, but he added:
"Make no mistake about it, if we have to deal with the problem, we'll
deal with it." And we ARE.
Hey, RIGHT NOW, the US and Britain are
in the process of 'preparing the battlefield' for the inevitability of
intensified combat in Iraq.
The "perception" and spin may be that we
are "talking" and attempting to win consensus from world leaders and the
American people. However, the "reality" is we are (right now) engaged
in a for real shooting war. The war has already started.
© 2002 Geoff Metcalf
- All Rights Reserved
