Amused to Death

I read this a couple of days ago.

The Telegraph (UK) says:
Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime. In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Mr al-Hasidi admitted that he had recruited "around 25" men from the Derna area in eastern Libya to fight against coalition troops in Iraq. Some of them, he said, are "today are on the front lines in Adjabiya".

Mr al-Hasidi insisted his fighters "are patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists," but added that the "members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader".

His revelations came even as Idriss Deby Itno, Chad's president, said al-Qaeda had managed to pillage military arsenals in the Libyan rebel zone and acquired arms, "including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries".

Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought against "the foreign invasion" in Afghanistan, before being "captured in 2002 in Peshwar, in Pakistan". He was later handed over to the US, and then held in Libya before being released in 2008.

---------- I heard nothing about al-Hasidi on cable news, or why we are now backing someone who came to the aid of those fighting against US "invaders" and supporting al-Qaeda.

Surfing again this a.m. I checked Kos to see if any diarists were on it and found this at Iconic Surrealism: Daily Kos Scrubs "THIS is who we’re helping in Libya? Al-Qaeda?" Diary. And indeed, it's been scrubbed from Kos.

Over at HuffPo a comment was made mentioning the al-Hasidi story, but as usual on blog sites it immediately became a barb-fest between posters who drink the kool-aid and those who don't, all with the bravery of being out of range.

My favorite posters are those who resort to pithy humor or song lyrics because they know nothing said on Kos or HuffPo or anywhere else makes any difference in the grand scheme of things .... amused to death ...

Hey bartender over here
Two more shots
And two more beers
Sir, turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
They're really great
For righting wrongs
You hit the target
And win the game
From bars 3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range.
(Roger Waters)