qatar, a happening place

Watching some CNN while working out this morning, could not help but notice that the focus is on Qatar, pronounced by the cognoscente of the airwaves "cutter", although my preference is "gutter", being more descriptive. The lines from an old Simon and Garfunkle tune, "At the Zoo", came immediately to mind:

[© P. Simon] Someone told me It's all happening at the zoo I do believe it I do believe it's true

Anyway, what's happening is a war simulation obviously meant to demonstrate that we are steady and ready for forcible regime change in Iraq. What we have done is move Central Command command and control assets sufficient for the task to this sandbox.

The good news is that the locals have agreed to this; the bad news is that the locals appear to be just as ignorant and hateful as any of their neighbors. As in, they seem to hate "not the American people, but its government". Since, in theory and to a large extent in practice, this means they hate the American people, who are uniquely empowered under our Constitution as holding ultimate power. OK, ignorance may be bliss; we can excuse those who live in an autocracy for not knowing this fact. But man-in-a-shopping-mall interviews by CNN revealed that at least some dashing young men of the gutter believe that America is run by a Jewish conspiracy and that our leaders, including Geo. W. Bush, are Jews.

Would that it were so; for some reason, these enlightened, affluent products of Arab culture somehow think that the only reason we could conceivably support democratic, prophecy-fulfilling Israel is because we were controlled by the Jews. This is not just ignorance, it is vile racial hatred of Jews. If, somehow, the targets of this opprobrium were African-Americans, you'd go deaf hearing the screams of racism by CNN and other guardians of that which is politically correct. But Jews? Same-old same-old.

It appears to be true -- America has few if any friends; only necessary interests in that part of the world.