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
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   Monday, September 09, 2002

"SUPPOSE THE EMPEROR HAS GONE MAD"

As the dreaded anniversary date approaches, conversations about the aftermath of September 11th, 2001 are everywhere. Most of them concern George Bush's plans for Iraq, so they end up being pointless and frustrating. A year ago, it seemed that the one good thing that could possibly come out of America's sorrow was a newfound concern about its role in world affairs. Now, however, it's back to sleep while the military takes care of the Bad Guys.

I was cheered today, however, by a New York Times poll that suggests that, while most Americans support the idea of military action against Iraq, they also want Bush to wait until the UN has exhausted other options first. This seems surprisingly sensible and I hope Bush remembers that he's there to serve his people, not the other way round.

Two Americans the President won't be listening to are Gore Vidal, who has published a small collection of biting essays entitled Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to Be So Hated, and Harper's editor Lewis Lapham, featured in yesterday's Toronto Star. Lapham's critique of this week's muddled plans to commemorate the anniversary can be found here or by checking out the Star's inevitable "9.11 and after" section.

Even better, both Vidal and Lapham are featured in the transcript of an April 2002 panel discussion entitled Understanding America's Terrorist Crisis. Once you scroll down past the rambling introduction, the discussion is dynamic, funny and vital. Please read that for now and I'll have more terrorism griping later.

Labels: George W Bush, Trawna