***Dave Does the Blog

China has called for an immediate halt to the war on Iraq.

Well, let’s not rush things. After all, deadlines are so … unreasonable. Counterproductive. Unilateralist. Unseemly. I think some further discussion is called for. We should consider maybe 120, or even 240 days to give the US time to comply with China’s demands.

Or maybe not even then — hard and fast limits like that can be used as an excuse for precipitous action, right?

Perhaps inspectors could be sent to the front lines, to report on whether the US has stopped invading Iraq; as long as inspectors are in place, all’s right with the world, right?

Now, let’s talk about Tibet …

(via Cranky Chick)

Okay, call me a sentimental fool.

(Yellow ribbon via A Small Victory)

Will we see protests on college campuses about this? Furious op-eds form the left? Impassioned speeches about repression of dissent and tyrannical autocrats quashing their free-thinking citizenry? I suspect not.

At least 46 dissidents have been detained in a two-day operation by Cuban state security agents, human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said. He said arrests of anti-government activists continued Wednesday night.
[…] The government accuses the dissidents of being linked to Washington’s top diplomat in Havana, James Cason, who during his six months on the island has met publicly with opposition members. In one such appearance last week, he allowed dissident journalists to use his official residence for a meeting.
[…] But following days of sharp criticism from Cuban officials, the government reacted on Tuesday night by announcing an opening round of arrests and restricting the movements of U.S. diplomats based here.
An official statement read on state-controlled television Tuesday night accused the dissidents of “being directly linked to the conspiratorial activities” led by the U.S. mission. “They have been arrested by the appropriate authorities and will be turned over to the courts of justice,” the statement said of the dissidents.

I mean, we’ve got US citizens flying over to Iraq, partying with Saddam, accusing George Bush of being Hitler reborn, and urging folks to stage sit-ins at military bases and governmental offices. And, as far as I know, they’re all walking around, still voicing their opposition.

A few Cubans have a chat with a US diplomat, and it’s off to a show trial on treason charges, thence to the dungeon, the psych hospital or the labor camp.

I don’t have any problems with folks critiquing the DoJ or Ashcroft or Bush on how issues like “enemy combatants” and detainees and other civil liberties problems. But, hey, folks — let’s keep some perspective here.

Whatever happened to the Good Ol’ Days when military operations were named mysterious and innocuous things, so as to not let anyone who might hear about them know what the heck it was all about?

Nowadays we have “Operation: Desert Storm” and “Operation: Iraqi Freedom.” They’re kind of silly quasi-PR names. About as goofy as those “Strike on Iraq!” logos that all the news networks come up with.

Of course, we didn’t used to name wars as “Operations,” either.

Damn oil companies, cozying up to dictators and genocidal regimes, twisting foreign policy to a mockery of the principles the nation stands for. Damned American oil …

… oh, wait, that’s a Canadian oil company.

… it begins.

An odd muting in the blogosphere today, at least for folks where it isn’t blizzard conditions.

The months-long frenzy of pro- and anti-war rhetoric has died down. There’s some token bash-the-French stuff, both rhetorical and substantial, but even that’s hushed.

There are early reports of conflict. Bombing of SAM sites (and chemical-ready artillery) in the no-fly zones. Special forces conflicts outside Basra. But no “tracers over Baghdad” pictures yet. No real news.

Nothing worth linking to, at least. So far.

Now, truly, comes the waiting. For a few hours, or a few days.

Whatever the position taken over the past few months, I know that most people hope that this war is over quickly, with as few casualties (military or civilian) as possible, and that the avowed purposes — security, freedom, all that jazz — are fulfilled. I think that most of the naysayers would rather be proven wrong than proven right, in the end. And most of those who saw this as a sad necessity would be more than happy to give up all their I told you sos if they could be proven right, too.

I’m of mixed feelings about intercessory prayer. I tend to limit myself to “give me strength, give me wisdom, make me able to face what I’m facing” types of prayers. But I did read, recently, that one value of intercessory prayer, aside from what metaphysical effect it might have, is that it reminds us of what our part is in the sought-after end.

So now is the time. If you want to support your troops, there are plenty of ways to do it. If you want to support the people of Iraq, there are many governmental and non-governmental agencies standing by to do so. Be involved, however your conscience and your capabilities allow.

And if you want to hold the Administration’s feet to the fire, regarding both how we prosecute this conflict, and how we continue to handle security at home, now’s the time to do so. Not with hatred and insults and venomous rhetoric, but constructively, with calm insistance, through our representatives, through public fora, and (when that time comes) through the ballot box.

We’re doing it. That decision, at least, is over. Let’s make sure, then, we do it right, in a way that we can be proud of, and to an end that makes the terrible cost worth it.