Ignorance on stilts

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Mon Mar 3 12:01:03 PST 2003


The below is from an article in Friday's FT by Peter Spiegel, but widely reported elsewhere. I'm sure you've all seen the first paragraph in some form. It's no surprise that Wolfowitz would say this, and who knows, it might even turn out to be true in the end. What is mind-blowing is the reasoning he bases it on:

<quote>

Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy defence secretary, yesterday harshly rebuked the US army's top uniformed officer [General Eric Shineski] saying the general's estimate that it would take hundreds of thousands of troops to occupy a post-war Iraq was "wildly off the mark"

<snip>

Mr. Wolfowitz took issue with the contention, noting that Iraq had had none of the ethnic strife that has characterized other regional conflicts where US troops have been used, such as the Balkans.

<unquote>

Right, it's just a regular Sweden in there. Everyone gets along famously.

Michael



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