Aspirant for title lives in White House
"Iraq has no emperor to lend authority and cover for an American regent." — Retired US Army general Wesley Clark, commenting on the plans for a US military regime in post-war Iraq, Washington Post, March 23.
Reality bites I
"War euphoria wore off on Wall Street on Monday as investors realised that Operation Iraqi Freedom might not be so quick after all. The Dow Jones industrials gave back more than 300 points, following its best week in two decades with its worst day of the year." — Associated Press, March 24.
Reality bites II
"The enemy we're fighting is different from the one we'd war-gamed against. We didn't know they'd fight like this." — Lieutenant-General William Wallace, US army commander in Iraq, March 28.
Living in denial
"The war is going well. The war is on track." — White House official (who asked not be named), quoted by Associated Press, March 28.
Just war
"This just war will .. return Iraq to the civilized world." — Letter to editor in March 25 Rutland Herald, Rutland, Vermont, USA.
Obviously not part of 'civilised world'
"I've been all the way through this desert from Basra to here [Nasiriya] and I ain't seen one shopping mall or fast food restaurant... Even in a little town like ours of 25,000 people you got a McDonald's..." — A US marine from White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia, quoted in the March 25 British Guardian.
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From Green Left Weekly, April 2, 2003.
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