LAWRENCE OF BLOODY ARABIA

The US in Iraq looms large in my fevered dreams, like some chickenshit Roman Empire without the courage of its own brutality. At least Caligula was quite open about believing he was a god and therefore above the dictates of morality. Wes Clarke was just on TV, crucially pointing out how to retake Falluja with 2000 marines means big fire power, Blackhawks, air support, and beaucoup collateral wasted. The math of death is kicking in as we watch. Civilian dead create insurgent support, and the curve rapidly grows exponential. Without massive colonial-style suppression, and maybe a couple of nukes where they won’t fuck up the oil, this war can be conceded lost right now. Post McLuhan, brothers and sisters. The speed-up makes what took a year to happen in Vietnam flash past in a couple of months in Baghdad. It all starts to look like a high-tech rerun of Lawrence of Arabia – except we’re the Turks.

At least in ‘nam, Hanoi was a visible enemy with whom to negotiate. The Iraqi’s have nothing. About the only thing they agree on is that they don’t want a US puppet government of neo-con backed old crooks-back-from-exile, and the default scenario is one of endless theocratic civil war. Maybe Saddam’s defense at his upcoming trial should be that he was required to be a murdering shithead, because that’s what it took to keep so many lunatics under the slightest semblance of control, and that’s why the CIA gave him so much fucking support.

But don’t worry about the draft. It’ll take a year for all the exemptions for the children of the rich to be figured out, and in way that won’t reflect on future desires to run for office.

FROM THE EMAIL

People seemed very concerned with Doc40's design and function. These just in. (And I figure some girl will take a hit out on wrenchski.)

davinian writes...
Hi Mick, I agree with 'Some Girl'... comments on the individual post are a more logical way of doing things (or rather that is how the community known as bloggers are doing it). The comments at present can take a while to load and can be a bit confusing - especially if you want to leave a comment - where/how do I do it? oh, it's right down here at the bottom. Saying that I do enjoy sieving through them. Another off comment comment (Not influenced by your books at all :-) Do you think there is an alterative motive to all this doom and gloom terrorist/evil shit thats being brooded up around the world? I mean, by trying to stamp out terror - the likes of Bush and Blair have actually increased its profile to such an amount that it's having an effect on the whole world. Do they want to bring an ancient, evil god through from another dimension? But to do this they need such an evil/terror-state-of-mind that their willing to risk a full-blown 3rd world war (could potentially be WW4). Maybe its me, but I think there is a reason for all the nonsense in the world at the moment - and to tell you the truth it's starting to scare the crap out of me. Anyway, I suppose I had better get on with my work.

Doc replies...
Of course, according the Emanuel Goldstein, Joseph Goebbels, and probably Henry Kissinger too, a condition of continuous war is the perfect medium for the implementation of psycho-civilized mind control of the domestic population. War is really the gift that keeps on giving.

wrenchski writes...
So, some tit wrote you with "improvements" on your weblog...and the next thing you know, she'll be moving in and downsizing your stereo tearing the pictures of mao's bloody knutsack and other sports heros off the walls replacing them with flowerpots candles and collages of shampoo adverts... Fuck that, leve the damn thing alone and just write more...yer about the only limey writer who doesn't make me wanna change the channel three sentences in... Repeat after me... There is nothing wrong with my website...there is nothing wrong with my website...there is NOTHING WRONG WITH MY WEBSITE...

Doc replies...
Well, actually there’s plenty wrong with this site. The Animal House ambiance was not the intended effect, but, like so many things, it evolved by a cowboy momentum that, once in motion is very time consuming to divert. I have seen some fine Darth Vader weblogs out there, and found myself muttering “please can I have one of those for my birthday”. On the other hand, I do notice that many of the super sites often don’t have too much content because the game is all in the housekeeping. The choice is not easy. I can spend time improving the site. Or (as wrenchski notes) I can write. Which is why I came here in the first place. As it is, I spend too much time simply pulling hidden codes out of the email. As always, the enemy is inertia. When in doubt all things remain the same. Why the fuck do you think I still screw around with AOL?

In the best of all possible worlds, someone who likes doing that kind of thing could design a dream blog for us, with topics comments, and a running all-access sublog, multiple links, with the skin-finish of a high class Tombstone saloon, plus really easy for me to load and post. Then we can all move in an be happy ever after.

Any offers? (byron4d@aol.com)

CRYPTIQUE – No prisoners!