High Masculine Tones

Author Paul William Roberts, author of The Demonic Inferno, is covering Iraq War II for Harper's:

I have been in and out of Iraq more often than the Turkish army these past few days, viewing the war both firsthand and on the surprisingly copious array of television news channels available all over Syria and Jordan. I heard Donald Rumsfeld on the radio discussing "the humanity that goes into" building the kind of weapons of mass destruction that America prefers these days. I saw for myself enough of their effects, the inevitable consequences of their inbuilt humanity, to convince myself that no dialogue is possible with Washington's current leadership.

We no longer speak the same language. To them, terms like "freedom," "humanity," "democracy" and "liberation" signify the opposite of what they mean to me. I resent this theft and abuse of language.

... and he resents his home country's peculiar stance on the war. Most of the pseudo-coalition ostensibly supports the war, yet is not supplying troops or money. Canada has somehow managed the reverse:

had nothing but praise for Canada's stand against the war and support for the United Nations. I didn't have the heart to tell anyone that Canadian ships and servicemen were actively involved as American accomplices as we spoke.

Despite our claims of neutrality, we have 31 troops on exchange with British and U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf -- which gives us a greater presence than the majority of members of the so-called coalition. I felt ashamed at the hypocrisy.

::Paul William Roberts, The Globe and Mail: Hypocrisy stalks the land