Annan Says Crackdown in Iraq Must Be 'Calibrated'

LONDON (Reuters) - A crackdown on insurgents in Iraqi hotspots like Falluja must be carefully conducted to avoid losing a battle for the hearts and minds of Iraqis, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday.

"In these kind of situations you have two wars going on," he said. "You have the war for minds and hearts of the people as well as efforts to try and bring down the violence.

"The two have to go together and it has to be calibrated in such a way that you are able to move the people along with you ... I hope that approach is also the one that is being pursued by the government and others," he told a news conference with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

Britain is expected to agree in the next few days to a U.S. request for extra British troops to patrol areas near to Baghdad, which would free up American soldiers to confront insurgents in rebel-held Falluja.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6543786

Everybody knows the stupid kid in the White House doesn't do nuance.

STOP! YOU ARE ABOUT TO MAKE ANOTHER HUGE FUCKING MISTAKE!!!

...But it comes across a lot smoother the way he phrases it.

it shows how much of a useless hypocrite he is why it was a catastrophic mistake to expect the UN to go to bat for the the so-called "anti-war" cause. The rubber-stamps and tacit, if not outright, approval of key crusade aspects shows that it remains the arm of its controlling interests and will not act otherwise. There are some apparent exceptions, but these amount to nothing more than masturbatory window-dressing.

He should not even be around Mr. Straw without heading towards him with metal cuffs and an armed guard.

The 'mistakes' by now are indistiguishable from regular happenings. What exists is far beyond the stage of such council:--within any decent context, strong punishments are in order for the aggressor and occupyer, not friendly advice.

What's he mean? The ordnance techs are carefully calibrating our bombs and rockets.









War, we have come to believe, is a spectator sport. The military and the press ... have turned war into a vast video arcade game. Its very essence- death - is hidden from public view.": Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for New York Times

--not

I'm sure he chose that word deliberately.

They are LOST.