{"id":434,"date":"2009-12-14T10:52:55","date_gmt":"2009-12-14T10:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2009\/12\/the-sport-of-kings.html"},"modified":"2009-12-14T10:52:55","modified_gmt":"2009-12-14T10:52:55","slug":"the-sport-of-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/12\/the-sport-of-kings.html","title":{"rendered":"The Sport of Kings…"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Around one hundred thousand innocent Iraqis<\/a>  have been killed during the Iraq War, possibly considerably more. How many is 100,000?  <\/span>Let us assume the average corpse is 5.5
\nfeet tall. Laid end to end the bodies would stretch 104 miles and a bit more.  <\/span>Here in California they would stretch
\nfrom San Francisco to Sacramento. 
\n<\/span>Lovely scenery for a longish drive.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

Virtually 100% had never done anything against the United
\nStates.<\/p>\n

Someone might say the line would not be quite so long as
\nI’ve over estimated the average height of an Iraqi by underestimating the
\nchildren who would be lying there. 
\n<\/span>Perhaps I have. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tony Blair now admits that there was no truth to his claim
\nthat Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.  <\/span>Turns out the “intelligence” was based on remarks a taxi
\ndriver said he might have heard years before being asked.  <\/span>But Blair says that doesn’t matte<\/a>r.  Regardless of the truth about WMDs, he would have supported invading Iraq because Hussein
\nwas a threat to the region.  <\/span>Of
\ncourse killing 100,000 Iraqis did not make him and his partner in the White
\nHouse threats to the region.<\/p>\n

This is the language of arrogant killers, builders of empire
\non mountains of corpses.  <\/span>How many
\nchildren are without fathers in Iraq and the UK because Blair knows better and
\ndoesn’t much care what reasons are goiven to others for why people must be
\nkilled. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dick Cheney is equally arrogant<\/a>. Equally an enemy of the democracy he swore to defend when he took office.<\/p>\n

More democratic than the United States, with a stronger
\ntradition of the rule of law, it looks as if Blair might actually be tried for
\nwar crimes, as he should be.  <\/span>Tried,
\nconvicted, and locked away for life. 
\n<\/span>British courts seem to take their responsibilities for upholding the
\nrule of law more seriously than ours. 
\n<\/span>Let’s hope they set an example. <\/span><\/p>\n

And by doing so, shame us into having one of our own.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around one hundred thousand innocent Iraqis  have been killed during the Iraq War, possibly considerably more. How many is 100,000?  Let us assume the average corpse is 5.5 feet tall. 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