Tirelessly working toward a better world.

Frank J. at IMAO offers suggestions for new leaflets.

Chris Rock being repressed by Dreamworks.

Oddly enough, he's not complaining about having his dissent quashed, though. According to Drudge, the execs at Dreamworks have asked Rock not to indulge in anti-war or anti-Bush rhetoric during the publicity tour for his new movie, "Head of State".

"We are confident Chris knows this is not the appropriate time to make jokes about war and the president," said one top studio source. "We don't want to get Dixie-Chicked [!! -- K], or anything like that, out of the gate. We've invested tens of millions of dollars in the making of the movie and its marketing."

And how has Rock responded to the suggestion to tone it down?

On a recent guest spot on OPRAH, Rock cautiously offered: "Ah, the war, ah, well, maybe if we Americans really knew what a war meant, ah, then maybe we wouldn't be so eager in waging or supporting it."

I wouldn't make book on that, hon. Americans who don't have millions of dollars staked on a movie career are probably a little closer to knowing what war 'means' than you are. [Hat tip to CoffeeMuse, again.]

Strange bedfellows.

Iranian gunboats intercepted an Iraqi speedboat loaded with a half ton of explosives on the border between Iraq and Iran. [Hat tip to CoffeeMuse, link via the Corner.]

Photo essay.

And a good one. Got it in my e-mail this morning. (Thanks, Cheri.)

Outrageous.

Michael Ledeen explains Turkey’s sudden refusal to allow the US military to use Turkey as a base for land forces: turns out France and Germany applied the thumbscrews.

Everybody knows that Turkey did not permit America to stage operations from Turkish bases, but hardly anybody realizes that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, the vote was not an Islamic protest against the American-led coalition,but an act of anti-American intimidation by France and Germany.

The Turkish government, which for the first time since the fall of the Ottoman Empire is based on an Islamic party, fully expected that Parliament would approve its proposal that America be given the use of Turkish air bases in the Iraqi war.The government was so confident that the party failed to demand internal discipline, and thus several deputies voted against the resolution.

But that does not account for the failure to approve the government’s proposal.

Primary blame for the defeat of the measure lies with the opposition — the secular, Kemalist parties that have governed the country since Ataturk.

Contrary to expectations, the opposition, responding to orders from party leaders, voted unanimously against the government’s position.

The leaders insisted on a disciplined "no" vote because of pressure — some would call it blackmail — from France and Germany.

The French and German governments informed the Turkish opposition parties that if they voted to help the Coalition war effort, Turkey would be locked out of Europe for a generation. As one Turkish leader put it, "there were no promises, only threats."

This stabs me straight through my Jacksonian little heart. If true—and I want to stress that I do not discount the possibility that the Turks are just trying to shift blame to a country we’re already disgusted with in an attempt to weasel out of the opprobrium being cast their way for their shoddy behavior—France is even more perfidious than previously thought. As Ledeen notes, this amounts to an act of deliberate sabotage. It’s one thing to disagree on the utility of diplomacy over military intervention, it is quite another to deliberately undermine the US military. And then to subsequently have the gall to demand a share in the post-war rebuilding efforts—it’s not supportable. We can’t deal honorably with nations sworn to oppose our every move.

[Link via Instapundit .]

That didn't take long.

PETA's all over the Navy's use of dolphins for minesweeping. Money quote:

"The Navy is putting these animals intentionally in harm's way," said Stephanie Boyles, wildlife biologist at PETA. "These animals have no idea there is any danger to them, but we do. There are enough lives being lost in the war; we don't need to add another species to the list of lives being lost."

Yes, that's right, the US Navy is going to the time, trouble, and expense of training the damn dolphins just so they can deliberately blow them up. For fun. Because they can. Evil, evil US Navy. When will the human hegemony over the animal kingdom end?

[Link via CoffeeMuse.]

No shortage of effrontery.

France wants a big role in post-war Iraq. In other news, people in Hell want ice water. [Link via The Corner.]

UPDATE: Meanwhile, in Bordeaux, the French make the case for including them in post-war rebuilding plans by setting fire to a replica of the Statue of Liberty and cracking the pedestal of a 9/11 memorial plaque. Yep. It's all about taking a reasoned, nuanced, sophisticated approach to international relations in France. [Via the Corner, again.]

Question.

Just how the hell do you pronounce "Lileks", anyway? Is that a short or a long "i"?

That puff of white smoke is overdue.

According to the Corner, the Pope has endorsed the anti-war movement explicitly. So...liberation of Iraq, bad; sex with altar boys...well, hell, that's just a perk, I guess. You know the end times are nigh when the Pope turns out to have no moral center.

Oscars.

Didn't watch. Was pleased to see the clip of professional fat bastard and faux man o' the people Michael Moore get booed off the stage. Was less pleased to hear a clip of Adrian Brody's speech as it kept threatening to trigger my gag reflex. Peter Jackson continues to get screwed, but he's getting weeping all the way to the bank, so...whatever. The Oscars couldn't become any less relevant than they already were, I suppose. The only thing I'm sorry I missed was seeing Peter O' Toole do that classy Peter O'Toole thing he does.

Portmanteau post.

One link from me to a 3-link Instapundit post referencing 3 excellent war analyses. Now that's efficient blogging.

Quagmire? Already?

[Being discussed in The Corner and elsewhere.] Damn, people, could we possibly give this effort a bit longer than a week before pronouncing it a lost cause? I realize for some people all wars are Vietnam, but did anybody honestly think this was going to be over in six damn days? Calm down. Take a deep breath. Stop looking at your watch and try to see the big picture. The fact that some of the people who inhabit the country we're currently invading are actually shooting back really shouldn't come as such a complete surprise. People tend to do that during a war.