The War in Iraq Rationale: Version 10.0

War Rationale: Version 10.0 – In the year since the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration has repeatedly shifted its justification for going to war and constantly changed its story on the ‘imminent threat’ of Saddam Hussein, weapons of mass destruction, intelligence, Iraqi connections with al Qaeda, the United Nations, political transition, democracy in Iraq, and the cost to the American taxpayer. We all know (almost) everything about it by now, but if you can hold back the tears long enough to laugh, you might find this account hilarious.

The Real Reason for the War: Fighting Terrorism? Nope.

Making Iraq Safe? Nope. Easy Access to Oil? Maybe.

Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian terrorist who is being blamed for more than 700 killings in Iraq, could have been neutralized long before the war, however the Bush Administration passed on the opportunity three times. Why did the White House’s National Security Council veto Pentagon plans to attack Zarqawi’s Terrorist organization?

From MSNBC news:

“Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi’s operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.”

Medicine Hat Trip

Because our Calgary trip has been cancelled, Anna-Maria and I took a trip into Medicine Hat instead. We will be heading home to Lethbridge later today. I had the chance to talk to Dad about some current events and I can’t believe his take on “the events of” the last few weeks. (If you don’t like it get a new blog!). He feels that Canada has “gone to far” by not sending Iraqi diplomats home when the United States has put out a press release asking other countries to do so. For what good reason should Canada send them home? There is no reason. The US has no right to ask the world to send them home. Here are some excepts from a related article:

The spokesman displayed little sympathy for the Iraqi diplomats who might be expelled, saying he did not know where they should go but it was possible to return to Iraq by land. “We just think they need to be kicked out of the countries that they’re in,” Boucher said. Asked where they should go, he replied: “I guess, to put it bluntly, that’s their problem.”

The article also stated that Canada hasn’t been specifically asked:

A spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien told Reuters in Ottawa: “They (the Americans) have not asked us and we see no reason to change Iraq’s diplomatic status in Canada.” Iraq’s embassy in Ottawa has one Iraqi diplomat. Russia also refused the US request to expel Iraqi diplomats from Moscow, dismissing it as “unacceptable”.

In a war that seems more and more like it’s being run by an ambitious dictator, I can only hope it is over soon.

War Update; Calgary Trip Update; Oscars Predictions

Last night I went to Anna’s roommates birthday party. I was watching the news when the first guests arrived and we learned about a marine (an engineer actually) stationed in Kuwait who threw a live grenade into a tent filled with other Marines. The blast injured about 13 people and killed at least one. Apparently the Marines had had some problems with this guy and were planning on leaving him in Kuwait when it was time to move into Iraq. What a crazy world we live in.

Another interesting article I read this morning explains that many Iraqies would rather kill their own officers than fight the US.


It looks like my trip to Calgary has been cancelled because Anna is not going down to the States with her parents after all. I’m going to work on my animation instead.


It’s Oscar night and I’m sure Anna-Maria and I will be tuning in. Steve Martin is hosting and I read an article about where he’s getting his jokes from, which I thought was interesting.

So with the nominees list open in my other window here are my predictions:

BEST PICTURE – The Hours
MUSIC (SONG) – Chicago
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE – Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – Ed Harris (The Hours)
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE – RenĂ©e Zellweger (Chicago)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – Julianne Moore (The Hours)
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM – Ice Age
COSTUME DESIGN – Chicago
DIRECTING – Chicago
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – Bowling for Columbine
FILM EDITING – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
VISUAL EFFECTS – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY) – The Hours
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) – Gangs of New York