Compare and Contrast

WARNING: Political Commentary Ahead

What do President George W. Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have in common? Well, for one thing they both like to fight by proxy. Ahmadiniejad utilizes this strategy effectively. President Bush – not so much.

Last summer Iran successfully waged a war by proxy against Israel by supporting Hezbollah. All Hezbollah (and therefore Iran) had to do to win was survive. In that instance, Ahmadinejad picked good proxy foot soldiers. Hezbollah is an extremist terrorist organization. Their main objective is to wipe Israel off the map. They will fight Israel with or without Iran’s support.

Similarly, Iran is engaged in a war by proxy in Iraq. Iran supplies the insurgents, a number of whom are foreign al Qaeda fighters committed to fighting the US and western influences. These al Qaeda fighters will fight US forces with or without aid from Iran.

In contrast, President Bush is not so adept at fighting wars by proxy. Remember Tora Bora? The US allowed Osama bin Laden to slip through our grasp because President Bush relied on regional tribal forces in Afghanistan to capture him there. Bush reasoned that it was in the fragile Afghani government’s interest to aid the US. The plan failed because the regional tribal forces had nothing against bin Laden and the US/western agenda meant nothing to them.

President Bush has made the same mistake with Pakistan. He believes (probably wrongly) that it is in President Musharraf’s interest to aid the US. But once again the plan depends on tribal leaders to hunt and capture bin Laden in the lawless mountainous regions of the country. This strategy is equally doomed to fail.

What’s that old saying? Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Bush is nothing if not consistent. He will stay the course.

President Bush’s latest plan is to give Mexico tens of millions of dollars to fight the war on drugs. No doubt he has reasoned that the Mexican government is equally motivated to aid the US AND fight the war on drugs. I guess the idea is to outsource our dirty work. In effect Bush is hoping his American dollars will go farther if we pay Mexican police lower wages than we pay US law enforcement to fight crime for the US.

Surely it’s OBVIOUS (to everyone but Bush and his sycophants) that this latest war by proxy will continue his losing streak! The plan depends on Mexican law enforcement, who are underpaid and notoriously corrupt. Given their culture of corruption, Bush is a fool to believe Mexican law enforcement will effectively fight the war on drugs no matter how much money we throw at them. Like all of his other foreign policies, this plan defies logic, good sense and is fiscally irresponsible. His term as president just can’t expire fast enough!


Alpine Shawl Update:

The Alpine is coming along. Last night I finished the 7th pattern repeat of Chart B then started the 8th. I was tired and should have known better. On the 5th row I dropped some stitches and had to rip back 5 rows to the lifeline. Thank goodness for lifelines!

I used the center cushion of the couch as a pin cushion to pin it out for you. I can't wait to see this baby blocked!

I do have a question: The pattern calls for 850 yds of yarn and says to knit 37 repeats of Chart B. It doesn't say an additional 37 pattern repeats, so it may mean a total of 37 repeats. However, an odd number of repeats will make one end of the shawl different from the other. There are 8 rows per pattern repeat, and I have 1,000 yds of yarn. Should I do 36 or 38 repeats of Chart B?