katrina & iraq

In trying to process the madness of these times, I remembered back to a commencement address in 2003 by Chris Hedges, one of my favorites. I re-read it today, and found it startling. Here's the money quote from the speech (remember that this was Spring of 2003):

We will pay for this (war in Iraq), but what saddens me most is that those who will by and large pay the highest price are poor kids from Mississippi or Alabama or Texas who could not get a decent job or health insurance and joined the army because it was all we offered them. For war in the end is always about betrayal, betrayal of the young by the old, of soldiers by politicians, and of idealists by cynics. Read Antigone, when the king imposes his will without listening to those he rules or Thucydides' history. Read how Athens' expanding empire saw it become a tyrant abroad and then a tyrant at home. How the tyranny the Athenian leadership imposed on others it finally imposed on itself.

It connects the dots rather well.

views from abroad

Mother Country to Colonies: You Bad!

Colonies to Mother Country: Me not Bad, me just misunderestimated!

Bush says aide will try to counter myths about US

Reuters
Friday, September 9, 2005; 2:43 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Karen Hughes, a confidante of President George W. Bush who has long helped shape his policy, was sworn in on Friday with the new task of trying to improve the image of the United States in a world that often takes a dim, if not hostile, view of Washington.

After years of working as a political adviser known for her expertise in helping Bush put out his message to voters, Hughes formally took up the post of undersecretary of state for public diplomacy.