Sunday, March 12, 2006
Hub Blog and the grassy knoll: Yes, I admit it! I briefly used to be a JFK conspiracy buff. I snapped out of it a long time ago, after watching Walter Conkrite and others demolish most conspiracy theoriests' assassination arguments. But I still admire Oliver Stone's 'JFK' movie, which was on TV last night. Artistically, it's an amazing film that flashes back and forth between years, characters, events, acting and newsreels -- and doesn't miss a beat in its storytelling narrative. Say what you will about Oliver Stone, he's a brilliant director (his paranoia and Alexander the Great aside). ...
Speaking of JFK: The Vietnam conference yesterday at the JFK Library held few storyline surprises. 'Looking back, looking forward' seems to have been the inevitable yawn-inducing journalistic narrative, i.e. Vietnam and Iraq. ... And speaking of Iraq, see post below. ...
Update -- More here and here. ...
'Deterrence by doubt': This is a terrific story. But, far be it for humble Hub Blog to say, I think it buried the lede: Saddam telling his shocked generals he didn't have any WMD only months before the war. Many things to take and surmise from this: A.) It appears the regime would have used WMD if they had them, based on the Iraqi generals' morale-shattering disappointment when told the shelves were bare B.) Some of the WMD evidence used by the Bush administration was actually evidence of Saddam cleaning up his WMD. C.) Colin Powell's presentation before the UN was so convincing, that many Iraqi generals who were secretly told there were no WMD actually began to think Saddam was lying about WMD. ... Of course, I fell for the presentation too. ...
Speaking of JFK: The Vietnam conference yesterday at the JFK Library held few storyline surprises. 'Looking back, looking forward' seems to have been the inevitable yawn-inducing journalistic narrative, i.e. Vietnam and Iraq. ... And speaking of Iraq, see post below. ...
Update -- More here and here. ...
'Deterrence by doubt': This is a terrific story. But, far be it for humble Hub Blog to say, I think it buried the lede: Saddam telling his shocked generals he didn't have any WMD only months before the war. Many things to take and surmise from this: A.) It appears the regime would have used WMD if they had them, based on the Iraqi generals' morale-shattering disappointment when told the shelves were bare B.) Some of the WMD evidence used by the Bush administration was actually evidence of Saddam cleaning up his WMD. C.) Colin Powell's presentation before the UN was so convincing, that many Iraqi generals who were secretly told there were no WMD actually began to think Saddam was lying about WMD. ... Of course, I fell for the presentation too. ...
