0523 - Wrongo!

A quick poll of the Staff has uncovered no single instance of a Government entity either in the United States or Anguilla or indeed anywhere in the world, ever, ever, saying that it had made a mistake and done something wrong. Senator John McCain, has, however, said that he had made mistakes. But he, you have presumably noted, was neither nominated or elected U.S. President (more’s the pity, some say).

The current awful mess in Iraq is one of the better examples of total denial. Before [yes, before] the invasion, this column pointed out, acutely and correctly, that we all had solid evidence that there were no supplies of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. That evidence was that UN inspectors were running about after receiving tips from U.S. “Intelligence” [that’s a title, not a value judgment], and yet never could turn up anything of interest. Now that a large U.S. team is roaming Iraq and still finding nothing WMD-ish, no slightest admission of error has been heard. This has caused a bit of political comment.

We do not wish to be understood to be singling out the U.S. administration, because the phenomenon is worldwide. Examples in Anguilla abound and are in our files, but we have to live here, you know. We also wish to point out that the denial of error is institutional, and there are examples without number of large corporations refusing to admit they have screwed up. Yet curiously, the Public Relations practitioners have begun to advise companies that when their breakfast pud causes kids to break out in purple zits, they should immediately apologize and recall. Indeed, Altria (formerly known as Philip Morris) is actually running TV ads saying cigarettes are addictive and will kill you off. As a result, the quote of Altria’s stock (MO) is up strongly, and their sales of cigs are healthy, if that is the adjective we want. Yet, this desirable PR trend has not reached Government flacks.

And speaking of Iraq, what can Anguilla (as always) teach us? well, there seems to be a certain lack of local enthusiasm for the occupying troops. Why should this be a surprise? It isn’t in Anguilla, where the fierce local spirit of independence insists on not being told what to do, by anyone, any time. It’s not a bad spirit, you know, as long as not expressed in bombs and murders. That’s the way people are: they don’t want to be occupied or told what to do.

Our Staff Analysts have been searching the literature to determine why the U.S. Government either didn’t know or didn’t want to know what was really going on in Iraq. The best answer found appears in The New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh; the piece is brilliant and is called “The Stovepipe” and it’s in the issue of 27th October. Read and learn, and stop believing what the talking heads say on TV. And by the way, please don’t dare to send e-mails accusing this column of being disloyal. We are fiercely supportive of the United States, its Constitution, and its ideals, none of which, however, justify official positions that are simply not in accord with fact, to put it mildly.

May we close by applauding CNN for running the so-called Democratic “Debates” [which they are not] while faulting the interlocutors for never pressing for real answers to questions. The Dem. crowd is not a bad cross-section, and Rev. Al Sharpton has a real future as a stand-up comic. Some of the others are what fond parents call “wiggleworms” when faced with hard facts, like deficits and previous quotes.

Next time: Mags [OO #524]

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