War & Peace: May 2003 Archives

This story, "US accused of deserting diplomatic path in Iraq", from the May 26 Financial Times (link here, but probably won't be for long; I think only the current day's stories are online for free) says that France concluded in January that the Bush administration was only paying lip service to attempting a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Iraq and had decided on "regime change". "I realised then that those who wanted to make war had a free hand," said French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin. And Jacques Chirac said on Monday, "A war that lacks legitimacy does not acquire legitimacy because it has been won."
As some people say, "Le sigh..."

"The White House actually seems to believe that it is fighting a holy war. By the same token, so did Pope Urban II. He thought the first crusade would be a breeze, that his forces were noble and heroic and of God, and that they would rescue everyone. He did not think about the aftermath, what effect the ripples from his rock would have on the pond. For 90 years people thought he'd won, and then we got a thousand years of rage between Christians and Muslims, endless death and brutality in the name of sanctimony and obsession. "But when this makes me feel hopeless -- I don't think I have 90 years -- I remember that the current pope, John Paul II, for all of his disastrous policies, apologized a few years ago to the Muslim community. He said, in the presence of Muslims, "Every single one of the crusades was a mistake, and I am sorry." Then he went into a mosque, and kissed the Koran. This sharp spiritual vision takes my breath away."

--> www.salon.com/mwt/col/lamott/ 2003/05/23/failing_vision/index.html

While cleaning out my house last weekend, I found newspapers that I'd saved from Gulf War I... and found the contents startingly contemporary.