5th Column

George reminds us of the Emperor who was without clothes
My Dear George B,
I thought I must write to you after seeing and hearing you so often on the small screen these days talking tough and reminding us time and time again about the need to get rid of Saddam and establish democracy in Iraq.

Of course George, in this part of the world we are used to hearing similar statements about commitment to democracy though they are regularly made by the worst culprits. But then, having been elected President after that poll in Florida, you should know best!
George, we admire you for your courage and commitment to your cause, which is of course democracy and human rights. Who else would have the nerve to tell the United Nations to mind their business and get on with the job at hand?

And who else but you, George, would have the courage of your convictions to drop so many bombs and missiles on Iraq, even when they were killing innocent civilians, most of them women and children? And who else but you could still keep a straight face and say things like "we are taking every possible step to minimize civilian casualties" even when over a thousand civilians have died so far?

And you are smart too, George-smarter than most people give you credit for. How else could you have the entire western media applauding your every move, the same people who are so critical about human rights and democracy in this part of the world?

George, will you also do us a favour and tell us how you managed to get rid of people like Amnesty International lecturing you about the rights and wrongs of what you are doing? We have to tackle that problem whenever we try to deal with terrorists in our countries but you seem to have convinced them even killing people en masse is fair game because we haven't heard a word of protest from them so far! What is the secret of your success, George?

And George, what is it that makes people forget what you told them only weeks ago? Remember, you told the world that this is only a war against 'chemical weapons' and 'weapons of mass destruction' that Saddam had?

Frankly, George, we think that if Saddam had those weapons he would have used them by now. But why is it that people no longer talk about that issue and you have been able to make them forget? You must tell our politicians that secret, George because here we have a lady who is being constantly reminded that she promised to abolish the Presidency and a gentleman who is being reminded that he wanted to hand over the country to the Tigers for ten years!

Now, George, I notice that not many world leaders have raised their voice to criticize you. That reminds me of the Emperor who had no clothes and went around naked because everyone told him that he was wearing the most beautiful dress. But I find that the lady I mentioned before has raised her voice against what you are up to. Now, the lady has many faults, but I do salute her for that!

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha.
PS-In all these acts of statesmanship, George, you have made only mistake. You have called your mission, 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'. Now, wouldn't it have been more correctly called 'Operation Iraqi Liberation' or 'OIL', George?

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