Saddam Hussein

Wednesday May 2, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday May 2, 2012

‘Even Jimmy Carter would have killed Osama bin Laden’, says Mitt Romney

With the Americans remembering the anniversary of the Obama-authorised US military raid in Pakistan that ended with bin Laden’s death, campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said on Sunday that it was unclear whether Mr Romney would have made the same decision as Obama.

“Look, just a few years ago, President Obama – then a candidate – said in a speech that if we had actionable intelligence of a high-value target in Pakistan, we’d go in and get that high value target,” Mr Gibbs said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Mitt Romney said that was foolish. He wouldn’t do such a thing. That he wouldn’t move heaven and earth to get Osama bin Laden.”

Speaking in New Hampshire on Monday, Mr Romney said he would have made the same decision.

“Of course. Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order,” Romney said.

Many Americans remember Mr Carter’s foreign policy record as weak, primarily because of his inability to win the release of the Americans who were taken hostage in Iran and held for 444 days during his 1977-81 presidency.

Mr Romney has scheduled an appearance Tuesday in New York City with firefighters and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani to mark the anniversary of the killing of bin Laden, who was responsible for the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Last week, Mr Obama’s campaign released a video featuring former President Bill Clinton that sought to reinforce Mr Gibbs’ doubts about Romney. “Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?” the video asks. (Source: The Telegraph) 

 

August 20, 2007


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Continuing with some memories of a cartoon I drew 18 years ago for the University of Ottawa student paper, The Fulcrum, which was my first foray into getting my stuff printed on a regular basis (Part I). The above cartoon was the first Alas & Alack strip to be published. It was completely inspired by the brilliant work of British Cartoonist Steve Bell, and in particular his wonderful series of cartoon strips chronicling the years 1979-1987 when Margaret Thatcher led the UK, entitled, “Maggie’s Farm.” It set the foundation for a series which would focus in Brian Mulroney and his cabinet. The main figures included Finance Minister Michael Wilson (dubbed Earl Mike, Minister of Pelf and Filthy Lucre), Joe Clark (Erstwhile king in charge foreign things), John Crosbie, (Sir John of Foundling), Lucien Bouchard – who wore a Napoleonic outfit (Baron Lucien, Minister of Nature), and Barbara McDougall, who as Minister for the Status of Women, who was known in the strip as Lady Barb the Dougall, ye minister of Shrews and Wenches. That’s right, Shrews and Wenches — they were different times in 1989 — political correctness was on the verge of getting traction in the universities at the time but hadn’t quite made it to my school yet. The Barbara McDougall character carried a coat hanger which I suppose had some reference to the abortion issue at the time. For whatever reason, it’s a head scratcher to me now, and probably not the sort of symbolism I’d depict in a cartoon these days.


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Referring to Sheila Copps as “Damn Sheila Witch Bitch” is also an indication of how permissive editors and readers were in the pre-PC period of the student press. Even worse, it serves as an indication of how perhaps nobody bothered to read my cartoon. I don’t remember any complaints, afterall. I like the little blurb from David Suzuki who explains the activities of the Diefenbeaver, and the reference to Pierre Trudeau who at the time was speaking out against the Meech Lake Accord is a nice touch to a bygone period of Canadian history.


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I’m guessing Jesse from the Beachcombers, or even the long running CBC series is becoming more and more forgotten from the collective memory banks of Canadians. Pierre Trudeau was a featured fixture in this 1990 strip. It just goes to show how influencial the former Prime Minister was even as Mulroney’s term was winding down. Trudeau had been out of office over 6 years when he was campaigning against the Meech Lake Accord. It was just the beginning of Jean Chretien’s reign as Liberal leader.


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And there is a nice segue between Trudeau and Chretien, with David Suzuki presiding over.


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The late Governor-General Ray Hnatyshyn featured here. While living in Ottawa I had the opportunity to see some of these characters in real life. Parliament Hill was only a 10 to 15 minute walk from my residence so occasionally I would venture down and sit in on Question period to see them in action — if you want to call it action. With Ray Hnatyshyn I witnessed some aspect of his coronation or induction or swearing in or whatever they call it when you become Governor-General. Admittedly, I don’t remember much except for him wearing a top hat and being lead on and off Parliament Hill in a horse drawn landau on a dreary overcast day and only a few people interested enough to watch the events. A few other guys in this cartoon continued on to other functions of administration. Michael Wilson, portrayed as Minister of Pelf and Dirty Lucre, is now Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. He holds the severed head of Jean Charest, (I guess he was demoted while in Mulroney’s cabinet). He went on to become Tory leader and is now Premier of Quebec.


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A couple international cartoons done in 1990. Above with Saddam Hussein, and below around the time Margaret Thatcher was hoisted out of office.


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November 7, 2006

Today’s cartoon needed to go out quickly so I drew it up rather haphazardly to get it in before my syndicate deadline. It got out all right but in a different form altogether from the version shown on the website. This is how I originally composed it:

After some consultation, I came to the conclusion that showing the corpse of Saddam dangling at the end of a rope would be too much for editors to bear for publication. Besides, it doesn’t bear in mind the appeal process will prevent Saddam’s execution well after the losses George Bush’s Republicans are sure to take as American voters go to the polls in today’s mid-term elections.

So, I switched the two characters around, extended the wooden beam right across, gave Saddam his life back, fixed a missing rope segment I omitted under Bush’s arm and extend the other pointed finger one.

Speaking of pointed fingers… here’s my youngest daughter Jackie who became a one year old on the weekend. She celebrated the event in outer space:

October 25, 2006

I think the history books will mark the events of the past week in Iraq and Washington as the turning point of resolve in the Iraqi War. While others will argue it was unwinnable from the start without a formal international mandate from NATO or the U.N., others will say the turning point came after prisoner abuse was uncovered at Abu Gharib prison, or following news of the Haditha massacre. Perhaps it was the lack of clear evidence Iraq has built up an arsenol of weapons of mass destruction. I think it was the combination of factors which transformed a fighting force bent on bringing peace and order to Iraq to become a caretaking operation there to ensure that sectarian violence doesn’t turn a war into a genocide.

The coalition has dwindled in the past few months. Today, the United States no longer has the support of nations who were once standing shoulder to shoulder, among them, Poland, Italy, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Spain, Romainia, and Japan, who combined, contributed over 10,000 soldiers. Worst of all for the U.S. is the strong likelihood that Britain may very soon pull out the bulk of its 7,200 fighting force, in response to the overwhelming unpopularity of the Iraq war among Britons.

But it’s when George W. Bush acknowledges comparisons between this war and the war in Vietnam that I see little hope for further success in Iraq. The small victories, such as rejoicing the end of dictatorship in Iraq, the capture of Saddam Hussein and many more of his cronies and his bad apple sons, the election of a new government, seem to be fading even in the eyes of the most steadfast supporter of the war, the President.

I still find it difficult how the Vietnam war compares to Iraq with regard to American deaths which amounted over 58,000 in the former war. It’s hardly a quagmire…yet.

Saturday March 8, 2003

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 8, 2003

The U.S. and the U.N.

In pushing forward America’s agenda, Bush turned up the heat on the United Nations Thursday by insisting that diplomacy is “in its final phase.”

Translation: The U.S. is getting tired of UN Security Council waffling which is frustrating America’s plans and making the world’s only superpower appear to be a self-indulgent bully. The U.S. position was clarified yesterday by a resolution tabled by its closest friend, Britain, which would give Saddam Hussein 10 days to comply with UN inspections or face war.

It’s a political resolution designed to give the anti-war nations a last chance to fall in step with the U.S.

Should the resolution fail, and it certainly will, the United States will still go to war, insisting that it doesn’t need anyone’s permission to look after its own security interests.

In the face of this certainty, the temptation is to write off the United Nations as an organization whose credibility and value has crumbled under the weight of U.S. foreign policy. (Hamilton Spectaor Editorial)