Tim Blair

Basically he reasons that nations cannot overthrow dictators, thugs and kleptocrates, no matter how murderous, because the UN, comprised of dictators, thugs and kleptorcrates wouldn’t like it.

Like Will Rogers once said, "it's not what people don't know that hurts them. It's what they do know that just ain't so."

We need a charter that forbids nations with an obvious interest in the outcome from participating.

You mean like France, Germany, and Russia?

This guy is a moron. Every nation in the world has an obvious interest in the outcome of any other nation's activities. Besides, the only nations allowed to intervene on a humanitarian basis wouldn't have any interest in doing so.

As far as doing no harm is concerned, what Monbiot and Chomsky fail to realize that sometimes failure to act when necessary causes more harm. Otherwise, doctors would be paralyzed by the fear that they might make a mistake during their attempts to render aid. The chance is there, but the risk must be taken.

Transliteration: "The Iraqi people are happier and better off without Saddam, and the United States NEVER NEVER NEVER should have deposed him."

He seems to "know" what he wants to know.

I get so tired of Monbiot and his cohort. They are like one of those annoying pop-up ads. We should just "delete" them when they appear. Too bad we can't have some sort of spam killer for them.

By the way. Thanks to Australia for voting (a lonely vote) with the U.S. in the UN slap at Israel.

Ventriloquise?

I was not previously aware of such a word.
However, it would seem this is a "real" word in Monbiot's own private world. Obviously when one has a distorted view of reality, it follows he would distort the language used to describe it.

As for the rest of us on this side of reality, I doubt this word will ever gain a popular foothold here as anyone using such a word would appear to be completely full of pomposity.

"Basically he reasons that nations cannot overthrow dictators, thugs and kleptocrates, no matter how murderous, because the UN, comprised of dictators, thugs and kleptorcrates wouldn’t like it."

You live up to your screen-name, #1.

Cordially...

He flew close to reason...but manage to avoid it by decending into silliness in the last few paragraphs. One wonders how a person could manage to reach adulthood with so little common sense.

"We need a charter that permits armed intervention for humanitarian purposes, but only when a series of rigorous tests have been met"

Needless to say, by the time the rigorous tests (whatever the hell that means if determined by French and German interests) have been met the need for intervention has disappeared. So we can all feel better because the happy UN Bunny Rabbit has said we tried and we thought about it real hard.

Anybody who wants to quote Noam Chomsky is intellectually lazy and should be taking a urine test before going to their job (if they have one).

You can follow his mental reasoning (such as it is) as he goes round and round in ever diminishing circles and ends up where the sun don't shine.

No doubt about it Monbiot = Moonbat

What's this "we" shit, Kemosabe?

The Moanbot is shocked? Just think how I feel, seeing something so nearly sensible in a Moanbot column.

If a Moonbat flies too near the Sun of Reason does it melt his waxy Wings of Self-Delusion until he falls into the Slough of Despond? Or, er, something?

His proper name isn't Moanbot, it's monidiot

Isn't Moonbat a Silver Spoon Socialist? That would explain his lack of common sense. His family probably contracted out the common sense thing to the hired help.

"As Noam Chomsky says"....... Ok, moving right along.... Next!

BUT, jus' fer kicks, let's parse Noam's Hippocratic oath. "First, do no harm". Well, obviously, picking up an exceedingly sharp instrument and carving into my flesh is harm. Shoot enough radiation into me to make me sick and my hair fall out is harm. Drilling an extra large hole into my tooth is harm.

But doctors seem to do these crazy things every day. What's up with that, Noamster?

By the reasoning of Monbiot and Chomsky, the British would never have carried out their global campaign to rid the world of slavery: after all, they were building an empire. And the northern states would never have fought to preserve the Union: the northern kleptocrats were merely crushing a commercial rival. And the United States would never have fought Nazi Germany: you know many innocent German civilians died in the aerial bombing? And on and on and on.

This is the argument of a mind that revels in what theologians call "cheap grace": by doing nothing, he keeps his conscience pristine, and avoids the labor and risk of actually taking action. And the purity of his conscience gives him license to stand in aloof judgement of those who do try to make the world better. It's not surprising that people like this congregate in the circle-jerk of academia.

That being said, Monbiot does find the courage to ask the question that we must put to all Leftists: Given the horrors in Iraq, what would you do? Demand an answer: and watch them squirm.

Or as my daughter put to an idiotarian last Saturday, "Just what is it about shutting down torture chambers that bothers you?"

Dear Mr Bush,

We here in North Korea would be far happier without our current government. Please declare war forthwith.

best regards,

An oppressed citizen.

Dear Mr Bush,

We here in Zimbabwe would be far happier without our current government. Please declare war forthwith.

best regards,

An oppressed citizen.

Dear Mr Bush,

We here in China would be far happier without our current government. Please declare war forthwith.

best regards,

An oppressed citizen.

Dear Mr Bush,

We here in France would be far happier without our current government. Please declare war forthwith.

best regards,

An oppressed citizen.

Dear Mr Bush,

We here in Australia would be far happier without our current government. Please declare war forthwith.

best regards,

A depressed citizen.

(PS: We'll throw in New Zealand as a bonus).

Cute, and very lame - was that you nine?

Dear Mr Zimbabwean and Mr Chinaman, you should be ashamed of yourselves, as you must surely understand; a little government provided brutality, torture, rape, murder, starvation and generally animal like treatment is a small price to pay for peace!

Really, if you can't be bothered to rise up and change the government by yourselves then you should just take your medicine like all the other good little "out of sight out of mind” people (e.g. the North Koreans).
Us anti-war people have strived so hard to pretend that people like you don't exist and you keep spoiling things with your constant caterwauling and selfish "what about us" moaning, I mean REALLY, don't you have any decency at all? Can’t you see what we are trying to do?
No? O.K, repeat after me - peace at any cost, peace at any cost, peace at any cost....

There see, now you've got it...and I bet you feel so much better knowing that the family you lose through machete’s or starvation will die for the sake of peace in the luckier countri...er..I mean world peace.

Was it Winston Churchill who said something like:

"people occasionally stumble upon the truth but they usually manage to pick themselves up and go on anyway --"

It seems to fit this situation exactly.

I work with a whole bunch of 'useful idiots' and I actually asked them this question when we were having a discussion one day:

" Since youre so adamantly against the war, does that mean that you support Saddam Hussein and would prefer to have him back in power?"

The squirming and procrastinating made my day.

Dear Mr Bush,
At last, thank you for liberating us from that Saddam Hussein.
When he was gassing us in the 80' we said "any time now America will come and save us". In the '70s when we lost so many fighting the Iranis, we waiting for America. Then after America kicked his butt out of Kuwait and we rose up against him - we said "Where is America?". Then when the embargo when 500,000 over children die we were not worried because we new that you Mr Bush when coming to power would rescue us. Tank you tank you. I start next week on new job - paying twice what I get before - I love this Globilisation! - Your Friend for ever, Ali

Yawn.

Iraq fought Iran in the 70's? Wrong decade buddy.

Actually oppressed citizen makes an interesting point, the ol' "ends justifies the means" argument. I just wish Bush had got up in front of the press corps and said "Hussein tried to take out my father so he's going down".. instead of playing footsie with the UN...

oh and Monbiot really annoys me. He's like Hendrik Hertzburg (sic?) in the New Yorker.. only ever writes about how evil George Bush is.

Monbiot sounds like Mark Morford, with a sane-suit on.