TooToo Confused
In the November 9, 2008 Outlook section of the Washington Post, there is an opinion piece by Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Desmond TuTu. Archbishop TuTu wastes no time in venting his spleen over the transgressions of President Bush. According to TuTu
“A few days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, we had our first shock, hearing your president respond not with the statesmanlike demeanor we had come to expect from a U.S. head of state but like a Western gunslinger.”
Really Archbishop? Your first shock was a few days after Sept. 11, 2001? We’re very different, you and I.
Tutu continues with “…a string of other policies that have damaged the standing of the United States in the world…” To the list, he adds “restrictions on the use of U.S. funding to fight AIDS”.
But later on, he states
“On humanitarian issues, he [President Obama] will be hard-pressed in the ongoing global financial crisis to match the current administration’s generally admirable record. President Bush has succeeded in working with Congress to devote unprecedented amounts of money to fighting malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.”
Well, which is it? With respect to HIV/AIDS, have we damaged the standing of the United States, or has the record been admirable?
Tutu goes on to suggest that
“…it would be wonderful if, on behalf of the nation, he [President Obama] would apologize to the world, and especially the Iraqis, for an invasion that I believe has tuned out to be an unmitigated disaster.”
Say it ain’t true, Tutu! Let me tell you what an unmitigated disaster would be. An unmitigated disaster would be what we would have experienced if all the “This War is Lost!” democrats had their way and the US pulled out of Iraq prematurely, leaving the Sunnis and Shia to their civil war, possibly spilling over into the region. Instead, Iraq is preparing for provincial elections in late January and national elections after that, possibly in late 2009. Yes, mistakes have been made, and yes the US has paid a heavy price. But the current situation in Iraq is not an unmitigated disaster by any stretch of the imagination. But it could have been if President Bush had been swayed by those that stood up to announce a lost war that was not lost, simply for political benefit. Those that announced the war as lost, and their go-along minions, are the real betrayers of the United States, not General Petraeus, as the MoveOn asshats would have us believe.
TuTu would do well to focus more on problems closer to home. I mean, I can put “war torn” before many African country names. Burundi, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Chad, Congo, Rwanda. The list keeps on growing. And the international community and the UN (as usual) have been feckless in the face of these problems.
Tutu speaks of “horrific images from Abu Ghraib”. But perhaps the world would be best served if the Archbishop devoted his energies to eliminating the practice of female genital mutilation throughout Africa. That this is still practiced today is a blight on humanity. Let’s take a poll: genital mutilation, or a stay in Abu Ghraib. Sometimes a little perspective helps crystalize thought. Here is a map that the Archbishop can use to help locate this problem. Does this ring any bells, Archbishop?
Female Genital Mutilation
Rather than pontificating about the apologies that the US owes others, I would enjoin the Archbishop to identify some people and countries that owe an apology to the Untied States. A good start would be all those involved with the oil for food scandal that effectively influenced the governments of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and that made impossible adding teeth to proposals which might have averted the invasion of Iraq in the first place. This list of international patriots includes Kofi and Kojo Annan, Benon Sevan, and dozens of French and Russians, including the then French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua. Does anybody remember Freedom Fries? Does anybody remember the pouring of French wine into gutters? Does anybody remember why?
Unmitigated disaster? Sorry TuTu, but you are tootoo confused.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Brother Desmond obviously needs to review this particular gem of a scripture passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 7:
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”