September 14, 2004
NO ONE MOURNED GOEBBELS (via Matt Murphy):
Taking On the Myth (PAUL KRUGMAN, 9/14/04, NY Times)
On Sunday, a celebrating crowd gathered around a burning U.S. armored vehicle. Then a helicopter opened fire; a child and a journalist for an Arabic TV news channel were among those killed. Later, the channel repeatedly showed the journalist doubling over and screaming, "I'm dying; I'm dying."Such scenes, which enlarge the ranks of our enemies by making America look both weak and brutal, are inevitable in the guerrilla war President Bush got us into. Osama bin Laden must be smiling.
Well, Osama's dead, but most Americans and Iraqis are probably not too upset at the death of one of his propagandists, which is all the Arabic tv folks over there have acted as. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 14, 2004 7:37 AM
They were celebrating. They were enemies. We killed them. Yeah! But which side is Krugman on? We know the answer to that.
Posted by: Bob at September 14, 2004 9:14 AMDon't tug on Superman's cape.
Posted by: Fred Jacobsen (San Fran) at September 14, 2004 9:35 AMWhat kind of idiot dances in the middle of a fire-fight?
Posted by: Mikey at September 14, 2004 10:23 AMThe only way to stop the theater of the burning swarm is to, well, STOP IT. Perhaps now the Arabs can take a step towards sanity.
Krugman, on the other hand, is probably incurable. But the night of Nov. 2 may provide a jolt in the right direction.
Posted by: jim hamlen at September 14, 2004 11:12 AMHow can you look both weak and brutal at the same time?
Posted by: M Ali Choudhury at September 14, 2004 11:40 AMThe same way bullies are both brutal but ultimately weak (cowardly.) Likewise, the retreating Nazis in WWII were often weak (they were retreating) but brutal. I'm not saying this is what I think of the US, but it's how weakness and brutality are combined.
Posted by: Chris Durnell at September 14, 2004 11:43 AMAccording to the [irony] esteemed [/irony] Mr. Krugman, it would have been far better to let the crowd loot weapons & ammo from the vehicle, making them all the better equipped to kill our troops.
Obscenities are verboten here at BroJudd Inc. Therefore, words fail me.
Posted by: Jeff Guinn at September 14, 2004 11:59 AMHopefully this will be the beginning of a practice that will regain our credibility with all Iraqies and our troops themselves. Destroy the abandoned vehicles and assume the swarming collaterals are the enemy. They'll soon learn to back off the wreckage and hold their celebrations elsewhere. We also ought to embed all journalist's cameras with rfi chips to monitor their whereabouts. Call it targeting intelligence.
Posted by: Genecis at September 14, 2004 12:09 PMI think that rocketing destoyed vehicles should be SOP. Pretty soon, the locals will treat them like poison.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at September 14, 2004 1:04 PMOJ:
Thanks for posting.
Can't wait for November 2nd when Krugman's head explodes.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at September 14, 2004 1:34 PMWho brings a child to a firefight?
Posted by: Robert Duquette at September 14, 2004 1:46 PMChris Durnell:
Actually, not all bullies are cowards. Some are just tough and brutal. We tell the myth because otherwise no one would ever test to see how easily any given bully will back down.
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at September 14, 2004 2:31 PM