Rooting for the Other Side
I'm getting bored with the UN Dispatch but will note that it links to an Instapundit post comparing the UN report on deaths in Iraq since the beginning of the invasion with a widely quoted report from the Lancet. It also links to Tim Worstall's commentary, which links to a Times UK story describing the discrepancies. The two reports are widely at odds in the number of deaths indicated, with the UN version running at about a quarter of that of the Lancet, and both Reynolds and Worstall wonder why nobody is reporting much about this.
Not that I think the lower number reported by the UN is anything to be proud of; we could have done better if we'd understood how deep the UN, as well as France and Germany, had their hands in Saddam's pockets. But that's another story. Here's the link to the UN entry, and hat's off for it, as well as allowing critical trackbacks like mine to remain on the site page.
After acknowledging the UN blog's smaller good points, my reason for visiting the site was to see if they were commenting on the Newsweek fiasco. Unless you've been in an alternate universe, or have become inured to the bad news of the day you know that Newsweek ran a story asserting that our good Marines at Gitmo had flushed a Koran down a toilet just to piss off a few detainees. Turns out: not true, and lightly and anonymously sourced at that. Swell, Newsweek. So far no comment on the blog.
No link to any of this stuff, especially to Newsweek, as I think the people responsible should be jailed for a very long time. And I've been in jail, and it's not a place I would wish on anyone lightly. In this case the abdication of responsibility and the deadly results warrant the condemnation. But my rage has to be tempered with reality, especially as the complicity and duplicity of the UN in countless deaths in the ongoing conflict is of a piece.
As I mock and dismiss the UN blog for its lame attempt at spinning itself out of this, I humbly link to Frank J at IMAO as he brings together the politics and lame, shortsighted worldview of the radical liberals in this country that allowed the people at Newsweek to think that publishing this article was a good idea.
As clever and funny as Frank J's post is, I don't feel great about linking to it, but it's better than dwelling on the damage done, and that continues to be done by our enemies at home. The debate has reached rock bottom, and I'm waiting for ranking liberals to take this on. I won't hold my breath.
