Posted 4:13 PM by Paul
Emily Speaks Spanish and Baghdad Falls

Emily surpised me today by reciting a whole slew of Spainsh before she slipped off to sleep. Her accent is almost perfect. Sweet and melodic. She could be from Salamanca. Maybe all that garlic, red wine and cod stew that I have consumed over the years changed my genetic make up and some kind of Hispanic essence has transferred itself to my youngest daughter. She really is a beauty.

Agua, Helado, Madera, Buenas Noches, Pan, Cama and her favourtite breakfast Huevo Frito (fried egg) are all on the list. It's a strange thing but she is taking more interest in learning Spanish vocabulary that English. I might start her on the days of the week tomorrow.

Oh, yes and Baghad fell, or should I say most of it fell to the Amercians yesterday which should be celebrated in so much as we have managed to get rid of a dictator we put in power and then failed to depose after the Gulf War because we were worried about what might fill the vacuum. Now there seems to be nothing much at all to fill it except looting. Nobody left to sign a surrender document. The shame of it all is that we still see all of this as an extension of Western politics. People on the left like me warn "This illegal war will all end in tears and it will be revealed that it is all a neo-colonialist conspiracy" . People on the right stick two fingers up and say " Told you so, you cheese eating surrender monkey ...USA...USA". We use Iraq as a symbol for power struggles played out in drawing rooms, lecture theatres and wine bars from Washington to London. Sometimes I don't ven think this whole thing is actually about Iraq.

Somewhere someone should just try to look at how this feels as an Iraqi. Have a bit of bloody empathy. Was it worth it? All those grieving parents, all those dead kids blwon apart by missiles. The fall of a dictator is a fine thing but if it is superceded by mob anarchy then it is no solution. I can imagine that if I were an Iraqi I would have the kids downstairs in the basement and I would be carrying a loaded pistol just in case someone arrived at the door to settle old scores. A quote from Walpole used tonight on the BBC said "First the ringing of bells and then after the ringing of hands". Lets hope not, but the suicide bombing this evening does not bode well. It reminded me of the old Spanish saying after the English invaded during the Peninsula War to boot out Napoleon

" We will hang the French on the guts of the English"

It could all make Northern Ireland look like a tea party.

I witnessed a major break down in law and order during the Brixton riots in the 80s. I was staying with a friend about a mile away. Some people on the Left romantically and very foolishly saw this as an uprising against the Police and Capitalism. What I saw was gangs of black and white youths pouring out of Oval tube and making their way down the Brixton Road smashing the windows of Asian restaurants and shops. The other businesses were untouched.

It is stange for us to consider, but dicators who impose a brutal set of rules are often preferred to anarchy. That was Stalin's appeal. He may have sent 10-15 million off to the Gulag to die, but he put bread on the table and cleared the murderous gangs off the streets of Moscow. Personally, I would prefer a left leaning liberal democracy which provided the populace with good schools, a reliable public transport system, a free health service, nice ready meals in the shops, decent wine at under £5 per bottle and fresh ciabatta at breakfast. Am I asking for too much?

So, the e-mails have started ot fly about the War after a long gap. I thing lots of American friends on both sides of the argument were seeing how things would pan out. Sensibly, not jumping to conclusions in the way we all did after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the awful events of September 11th. So, ever willing to offer myself as a hostage to fortune I put down a few comments. Feel free to send them back to me in 2004 when they are all proved wrong and I will eat them with a rocket side salad, parmesan shavings and balsamic vinegar.

War Thoghts 10th April

Saddam's fall should be welcomed even by moaning Eurocentric left wing chesese eating surrender monkeys like me. He was an evil bastard and right up there Idi Amin and Diego Marradona. People who know about these things claim he was about to lose the Iran-Iraq war in 82 until we helpfully stepped in with aid and arms. Ho hum. The factory that made the gas that killed the Kurds was paid for by UK taxpayers. The UK contractors who built it were covered by an export guarantee scheme. Surprise surprise Saddam never paid up. So it goes.

Saddam's threat to the region was obviously a bit of a myth as he seemed to have slightly less firepower than a medium sized Christian cult in Montana. More of a Boukassa than a Hitler

The absence of any obvious WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION will cause problems for the sanctimonious Blair (BBC really playing this for all it is worth) but it won't even register Stateside. Say what you like about President Cheney and his PR guy and mascot G.W Bush but they are masters of realpolitik. They won. Period.

Get out of stocks and shares in duct tape manufacturers NOW. Buy airlines.

I think the Middle East Roadmap to Peace will get lost somwehere down the back of the carseat.

Blair stated categorically in an discussion with UK voters that "the oil will be held in a trust fund for the Iraqi people". Not "should be" but "will be". Again this will cause him a few problems when it doesn't happen. The reverse is true for Bush. If he went back on the bottle and decided in a moment of madness to let the UN administer the black stuff his ratings would plummet. So tonight's starter for ten is "Who will win out on this one?" Clue: He went to Yale

The Shia, who naturally welcomed US marines were also shouting "Allahu Akbar" which means God is the Greatest. Students of the Late 70s will remember this as a big hit amongst the Iranian Students who took the US embassy hostages. Like the Macarena it has an accompanying dance which involves beating your chest and flagelating yourself.

The Kurds have just taken Kirkuk. I think that may be the start of the end of a beautiful Turkish - US friendship. But good luck to them the Kurds are dancing in the streets of London.

Ankara will start talking to Berlin and Paris as they have the casting vote on whether they get to join the EU.

The guy who is going to be the McArthur of the new Iraq Jay Gardner has been heavily critical of the US Government. He thinks they are too hard on Sharon. Now it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

The guy that the Pentagon has lined up as new interim Iraqi leader who has not been there since the early 60s. Before Saddam was in power. Why did he leave? Will he get lost all the time and have to ask teenages the way " Oh my oh my so many new buldings and street signs!. That wasn't here when I was a boy. It was all horse and carts and there was not of them viedo games you know. We had to make our own entertainment reading the Koran"

N. Korea issued a statement a few days ago saying that "Iraq's hopeless situation is a result of it's foolish decision to allow in UN Weapons inspectors" I think we can rule out any peaceful disamarment for a while. Moral: Don't move to Seoul, Tokyo or at a pinch Anchorage.

I would desperately like to believe that the White House is sincere in bringing democracy to Iraq. But the omens are not good. In 1991 they promised to make Kuwait brrng in this novel form of Government but the joint is still run by the Al Sabah family and women don't have any rights. Bit like Florida if you substitute "women" for "black guys with a traffic violation" In Chile in 73 Nixon and Kissinger brought in a new system called the Single Transferable Coup. We'll see.

I hope they prove me wrong wrong wrong.