U.N. REFORM
Tony Blair has an answer to the farce that is the U.N., that requires free nations like the United States and the United Kingdom to get the OK of representatives of dictators and "strongmen" from Syria or China or the Congo before the U.N. will give its stamp of approval.

And we need to say clearly to United Nations members: If you engage in the systematic and gross abuse of human rights in defiance of the U.N. Charter, you cannot expect to enjoy the same privileges as those that conform to it.

Of course, such language isn't about to worry the butchers and starvers in Pyongyang.

MR. BLAIR GOES TO WASHINGTON
Here's a liberal speaking before the U.S. Congress.

We are fighting for the inalienable right of humankind--black or white, Christian or not, left, right or indifferent--to be free, free to raise a family in love and hope, free to earn a living and be rewarded by your efforts, free not to bend your knee to any man in fear, free to be you so long as being you does not impair the freedom of others.

That's what we're fighting for. And it's a battle worth fighting.

And I know it's hard on America, and in some small corner of this vast country, out in Nevada or Idaho or these places I've never been to, but always wanted to go...

I know out there there's a guy getting on with his life, perfectly happily, minding his own business, saying to you, the political leaders of this country, "Why me? And why us? And why America?"

And the only answer is, "Because destiny put you in this place in history, in this moment in time, and the task is yours to do."

And our job, my nation that watched you grow, that you fought alongside and now fights alongside you, that takes enormous pride in our alliance and great affection in our common bond, our job is to be there with you.

You are not going to be alone. We will be with you in this fight for liberty.

We will be with you in this fight for liberty. And if our spirit is right and our courage firm, the world will be with us.

The liberal is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Yes, somewhere in this world, beyond our shores, is a liberal with courage.

CORRECTED KERRY LINK
I previously blogged that John Kerry was turning French by calling for our surrender in Iraq, and the link I provided was incorrect. Here's the correct story from AFP, US occupation in Iraq must end: Kerry. Was I a little hyperbolic? Maybe, but his assertion that "we need to get the sense of American occupation over with", not only ends in a preposition, but also is reasonably read as "we must get out." He's trying to exploit the continued instability for political gain (and that's fair enough), but his plan to deal with the instability is to give up and let the vaunted United Nations' forces take over.

You Mean He's Twice as Bad as Clinton?!?
Winston, I see you have adopted the White House/FOX habit of referring to the number of words instead of the substance of the the words to guage their importance. Having implicitly asserted that criteria, you'd then agree that Bill Clinton's "I did not have sex with that woman..." (8 words, count 'em) is only half as bad, yes?

I GOT YOUR URANIUM RIGHT HERE
The Wall Street Journal brings reason to 16-word intelligence "failure" and seems to have seen some leaked documents. Is the White House finally fighting back? An excerpt:

Regarding the supposedly discredited Niger story, the [national intelligence estimate] says that "a foreign government service reported that as of early 2001 Niger planned to send several tons of 'pure uranium' (probably yellowcake) to Iraq. As of early 2001, Niger and Iraq reportedly were still working out arrangements for this deal, which could be for up to 500 tons of yellowcake. We do not know the status of this arrangement."

That foreign government service is of course the British, who still stand by their intelligence. In the next paragraph, the NIE goes on to say that "reports indicate Iraq also has sought uranium ore from Somalia and possibly the Democratic Republic of the Congo." It then adds that "we cannot confirm whether Iraq has succeeded in acquiring uranium ore and/or yellowcake from these sources."

FRENCH SALUTE
First the White House says Senator John F. Kerry looks "French", and now he decides to act it. Kerry is urging our surrender in Iraq.

GETTING THINGS IN ORDER
The administration in Iraq has appointed a council of Iraqis from all over the country, representing everyone from the funamentalist Shi'as to the secular Sunnis and northern Kurds. Good move. It was an even better move to make it a Governing Council and not just an advisory one. The next step is a constitution, which must be written to ensure that the election of any single national leader requires support from the whole of Iraq and that no single ethnic or religious group can control the vote. Thus, some sort of electoral system that requires a Sunni candidate to gain support in the Kurdish north and Shiite south, or requires a Shiite candidate to gain Sunni and Kurdish support will go a long way to ensuring stability in Iraq and serving as the model of democracy for the middle east that it needs to be. Similar considerations must govern the election of the national legislature to ensure that coalition building be central to governance and that no single ethnic group or geographic region can dominate parliament.

And beyond giving the Iraqis the self-governance they desire, require and deserve, the other priority is the economy, stupid. No government can survive if the people have no confidence in it, and confidence comes from positive economic activity.

Oldie but a Goodie...
(from our host, Sir Winston..)

COLD, HARD OPTIMISM
John, you said that: "We took the country and now the problems are ours until/unless we find a way to extricate ourselves." Indeed you are right and we owe it to the people of Iraq, and more importantly, to the world, to leave Iraq in better shape than we found it. It seems we agree and we also agree that it may be more difficult than the average joe believes, but I'm not sure that the Bush Administration sees this as an easy task, or takes it any less seriously than you would like.

As I said before: Just don't expect to be loved - the attempts to portray Iraqis as primarily just grateful to America for getting Saddam out is naive and contains an element of wishful thinking. We took the country and now the problems are ours until/unless we find a way to extricate ourselves.