What's he on about now?

In case the articles, essays and opinions throughtout this site just weren't enough for you, here's my online diary (a.k.a. 'blog'). It's as close as you'll come to the inside of my head, so don't say I didn't warn you
(and remember, you can always e-mail me if you love or loathe anything you're about to read)...


   Wednesday, August 07, 2002

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO

In his latest drumbeat for support on Iraq-bombing, US President Bush said this past Saturday that he owed it to "the future of civilisation not to allow the world's worst leaders" to develop "the world's worst weapons." This is a favourite phrase of his -- at a March fund raiser for a pal with eyes on the Senate, Bush spoke of America's enemies and said, "We can't look back and say, 'How come we let this happen?' For the good of our children and grandchildren, we must deny the world's most dangerous leaders from harboring the world's most dangerous weapons."

Funny, then, that George is still pushing to restore Daddy and Uncle Ron's mouldy dream of an orbital targeting grid...I mean, "missile defense" system...ridiculously dubbed "Star Wars." If I were 12 years old and running a country, I'd think that was a really cool idea, but since I'm neither, I don't. The biggest problem is that Bush can't seem to understand why Russia and China aren't especially keen on this "Empire Strikes Back" sequel (pouting because the US won't share its toys with them?) It's taken fifteen years to cool down the arms race, only to have the new prez risk heating it up again, and using the events of September 11th as an emotional hook for support invites anger and defies logic.

Now I confess to not knowing enough about the technology itself to fairly criticize it but, fortunately, arms-control lobbyists The Council for a Livable World have a website that examines the current state of the "Star Wars" program -- and it's not pretty.

Bush isn't the world's worst leader and "Star Wars" isn't the world's most dangerous weapon. But why try to make the list?

Labels: George W Bush