Loose Cannons

Ranting Rummy tries Churchill impersonation

"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday compared critics of the Bush administration to those who sought to appease the Nazis before World War II, warning that the nation is confronting 'a new type of fascism'." — Los Angeles Times, August 30.

Shoot the messenger: Ranting Rummy's new war plan?

"Rumsfeld aggressively defended the [Iraq] war and his leadership of it in speeches to the American Legion on Tuesday, the Veterans of Foreign Wars a day earlier and in other meetings with service members this week. In each speech, Rumsfeld has ... attacked the media, charging that news reports have been manipulated by Iraqi insurgents." — LA Times, August 30.

The new 'axis of evil'?

"Speaking at an energy security summit at Purdue University on Wednesday, [US Senate foreign relations committee chairperson Richard] Lugar branded Russia, along with Iran and Venezuela, 'adversarial regimes' that use their energy resources as political weapons ... Lugar said in his speech: 'Adversarial regimes from Venezuela, to Iran, to Russia are using energy supplies as leverage against their neighbours. We are used to thinking in terms of conventional warfare between nations, but energy is becoming a weapon of choice for those who possess it.'" — From RIA Novosti report, August 31.

From GLW issue 683