Sunday, June 08, 2008

More Crock(er)

NPR finally got around to reporting on the neocolonial Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that the Bush administration has been trying to secretly impose on the US and Iraq. Patrick Cockburn, the reputable reporter (the guy has been right on virtually everything he's reported out of Iraq) broke the story on the SOFA this past Thursday, and then followed it up on Friday with a real stunner of how the Bushistas tried the Corleone approach of making Maliki an offer he couldn't refuse. Contrast Cockburn's dogged and accurate reporting with the unending lies and spin of "our man in Baghdad," US Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Hmmm, how to decide. Should you trust a reporter with intergrity and a track record of accurate reporting or a US Government agent with a history of being a liar? For NPR and Michele Kelemen it's a no-brainer, she says
"The US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, has been spending a lot of time lately denying reports in the media that the US is, for instance seeking long term military bases in Iraq....Ambassador Crocker accused Iran of deliberately misleading Iraqis about this to try to make the talks more complicated. He said little about what the US is actually seeking."
I'll give NPR credit; this nonsense about Iran making up the leaked details of the SOFA was a new one for me.

Though Seabrook introduces the report by claiming that "the talks are not going especially well" for the SOFA, I beg to disagree; fortunately, they seem destined to fail. Unless, like NPR, you support the "baldly neocolonial terms sought by Washington" (Juan Cole), then you can only be pleased that this antidemocratic, secretive attempt to continue the occupation forever has been leaked and is probably going to be thwarted.

5 comments:

Porter Melmoth said...

To borrow from Colbert, The Word today is:

Vomit

I think BushCorp chose Crocker to be their front man because of that 'I Look Like I'm Going To Vomit Any Moment' expression he always wears. Anyone who looks like they're going to vomit any moment couldn't possibly be telling lies. When someone vomits, they're not lying, are they? If someone is in the process of vomiting or has just vomited, they can't say, 'I didn't vomit just now'. He or she'd be called a liar.

Vomit is truth.

It's official: Ryan Crocker looks like he's going to vomit all the time, big time.

So, by APPEARING like he's going to vomit, Crocker projects his credibility. Plus, the trembly voice and slightly Milquetoast personality are huge assets. The whole package is perfect for all this nasty skulduggery of masking imperialistic strategy in the Eastern Middle East.

So that's the word: Vomit.
(Thanks, Stephen)

Anonymous said...

Vomit is also largely involuntary - hence the 'truthiness' of it all.

Anonymous said...

PS: One thousand pardons, but it is the ACT of vomiting that is largely involuntary; reminiscent of those non-halcyon days when I allowed myself to be repulsed by exposure to a typical gag session with NoPR.

Porter Melmoth said...

Yes, bpfb!!!!, noun, verb, Ry's got 'em ALL.

Think of how many deals were struck in the vomitoria of the Roman Empire. Maybe more than all the calderia/tepidaria/frigidaria combined... Kubrick wanted the steam bath scene in 'Spartacus' to be in a vomitorium, but the studio nixed it. (Merely, sheerly fooling.)

Anonymous said...

Ummm hmm, PM. That innuendo between Tony C & Sir Larry about grapes AND apples (or suntin' like that - been a good while since last viewed) would've worked quite well in the upchuckery.