Node Of Evil - Fair And Balanced Reporting

Monday, April 14, 2003

 
The Patented Node Of Evil War with Iraq Non-Comprehensive Summary Report

Here's a Good/Bad/Unknown list of things that are happening in the current war with Iraq. This list is subject to change without notice:


Good:
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Hostilities have died down enough that the U.S. is starting to redeploying some forces (mostly aircraft carriers).

There are no confirmed reports of Saddam Hussein or his regime controlling Baghdad or anywhere else in Iraq. The opposition to U.S. forces appears to be localized and not coherently commanded or led.

CNBs (Nuclear, Chemical, or Biological weapons) have not been used.

The U.S./British troops are taking steps to restore order in various cities in Iraq.

Humanitarian relief efforts are underway.


Bad:
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There is still looting and general lawlessness. Its scope is difficult to assess without being on the ground in Baghdad/Basra/Nasariyah/etc., but total order has yet to be restored.

No CNBs have been found.

Saddam or his remains have not been located.

There are reports of hostilities between various groups of Iraqis. There are a variety of issues at the heart of these hostilities.

The ICRC still cannot operate in some parts of Iraq because of the chaotic situation.


Unknown:
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Where Saddam Hussein is, if he's hiding or if he's dead.

If the war is effectively over.

If the general amount of regional stability will be maintained or if there will be more instability.

If there will be more or less terrorist attacks after the war.

What effects the war will have on U.S. diplomacy.

Whether or not Iraq still possessed NCBs at the time of the invasion.

How long the U.S. will be involved in the region

If the war will become a long-term low-intensity conflict (i.e., guerilla warfare).

If Saddam Hussein is alive, what he may be planning to do and if he has plans for operations in Iraq.


The Node has tried to stay out of the prediction business, instead we'd like to focus on what we think is good, what we think is bad, and what remains unknown about the future of Iraq. Since reality is usually neither totally good or totally bad, we think this approach is more sensible in determining where to focus our energies, i.e. it's most important to look at the "Bad" and "Unknown" columns and figure out how to resolve those issues in a way that'll be most beneficial to all involved.

Andrew 12:26 PM : |

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