Got experience?

On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, it is an appropriate concern that the next US president have the right experience, the right knowledge and the right judgment to be Commander-In-Chief. Arguably, the president we got 7 years ago could have benefited from a little more seasoning, a little better grasp of international affairs. So it is a bit alarming when one of the candidates currently running for the highest office in our country seemed to believe that Iran is busy training al-Quaeda. This candidate, in fact, was emphatic about this so-called intelligence. It was, to quote them, “common knowledge.” If anything the American electorate has learned over the past five years it is to be highly skeptical of politicians who begin their sentences about the Islamic world with the words: “It is common knowledge.” It was sentences like these that assured us that it was common knowledge that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. It was common knowledge that Saddam was in some way behind the events of 9-11. All such knowledge turned out to be dead wrong. 4,000 American lives dead wrong. But perhaps the most perplexing thing about this week’s statement concerning al-Qaeda and Iran is that this presidential candidate obviously confused Sunnis with Shiites. Iran is Shia and al-Qaeda is Sunni. These guys hate each other. Iran isn’t training al-Qaeda, they are trying to exterminate them. This, if you will forgive the phrase, is sort of “common knowledge.” And a candidate that is this inexperienced, this uninformed, this befuddled, is clearly not ready to occupy the Oval Office. Perhaps, they could use a few more years of seasoning. You think? The funny thing is, the candidate that made this curious error, was John McCain. The guy with all the experience. The guy–– who like current guy––got things dead wrong.

Torture is our friend

That’s right. Waterboarding may look barbaric, but it is actually the CIA’s most effective weapon against terrorism. And George W. Bush is making darn sure that it stays legal. It’s just amazing the crazy stuff we can get these detainees to admit to mid-drowning! Golly, it’s effective! Yessir, the Spanish Inquistion has nothing on us. By, the way I’ve heard burning people alive can also work its magic. You know, something we can fall back on when there’s water rationing or something. Just a thought.

Sabre-Rattler-In-Chief

After working as an envoy for peace in Israel, the President has spent the past couple of days trying to rally the Saudis against Iran. To sweeten the deal, the President has announced a $20-billion arms sale to the Gulf Arab states. The only problem is, Saudi Arabia has no interest in helping Bush further destabilize the region. You see, unlike the U.S., they have to live there. They want to contain Iran on their own terms. Plus, the Saudis have been getting mix signals from Bush. One minute he is demanding Iran stop it’s nuclear program, and the next minute, he is voicing support of the Russians providing Tehran nuclear fuel. The Saudis are not too sure that Bush isn’t playing both ends against the middle. They are very nervous about what sort of deals Bush may be cutting with Tehran behind the scenes. But mostly, they see Bush as the doofus who has upset the delicate balance of power between the region’s Sunni majority and the Shi’a minority. He’s the one that opened Pandora’s box. And for that reason, he is probably not the best qualified to put the Shi’a genie back into the bottle. But then again, I have yet to see anything that this President is qualified to do. Have you?