I have been watching Versailles heaping plaudits and apologia upon the worst president this nation has ever suffered. I have been watching the Republican Party trying desperately to stuff the entirety of the last eight years down the memory hole, the better to blame Obama for all the pain we will suffer during his administration.
I think it would serve us well to remember. So, between now and Inauguration Day I will be doing my best to post short snippets on the vile, petty, inept, callous, insane,bloodthirsty days of the second Bush Administration. These will come in no particular order, because I'm fracking lazy.
I did try to reach back as early as a quick Google search could take me, though. And so we start with the Hainan Island Spy Plane Incident.
You might not remember this. This was a big huge thing in early 2001, when everyone thought that we might be squaring off with China in the next big power struggle. HA! What a joke that is, now. They'd already outplayed us and were buying U.S. Treasuries hand over fist.
On 1 April, 2001, an American electronic reconaissance plane collided with a Chinese jet fighter. The American aircraft, an EP-3E Aries, had to make an emergency landing on Hainan Island, putting ship and crew into Chinese hands. The Chinese promptly claimed the EP-3 had violated their airspace.
The Bush Administration, in a set of moves that should have foreshadowed all that was to come, was initially bellicose, demanding the unconditional return of the plane and its crew. The Chinese weren't any better, but having the upper hand (control of all the information) they waited until Colin Powell finally convinced Bush to issue an apology.
The crew was quickly sent home, and the plane was dismantled (and probably combed over by Chinese intel) and shipped back to the U.S.
The crisis lasted ELEVEN FREAKING DAYS.
0 comments:
Post a Comment