F.A.Gs (Fuckin’ Armchair Generals) in the Whitehouse and Malacanang

Left: Favorite Photo of F.A.Gs

I have been wondering why the likes of George Bush Jr., Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld were too eager to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Aside from being prominent Hawks, Bush and Cheney also share one thing one common: both dodged the draft when the US called up reserves when the Vietnam War escalated. Opposing them were Colin Powell and Anthony Zini who both served in Vietnam. While the triumvirate of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are swaggering like trigger-happy cowboys, battle-scarred men are standing in their way to keep them from stirring the neighborhood. It is ironic that it takes men who have seen the horrors of war up close to challenge madmen on a warpath. It must be the nightmares that trouble their sleep. For the Washington D.C. Cowboys, it must be lovely dreams of tankers brimful with oil that inspired them. Fast forward to the present. Sure, Saddam might have a future date with the hangman, but civil war is threatening to tear Iraq apart because Rumsfeld vetoed Zini’s plan to place more troops on the ground to cover more area and the Defense Secretary also cut down the invasion force when a larger army could have hastened Iraq’s fall. Iraq has also turned from a backwater of terrorism (alright, Saddam possesses Hitler’s bloodlust) into a festering hotbed where terrorists, Coalition forces and nationalist Iraqis (I believe the Time magazine article about Iraqis battling both Americans and terrorists and I doff my hat off to them) are locked in mortal combat. Trapped in the center, of course, are the hapless civilians.
On the local front, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should have sent her two-bit action star son to Iraq instead of sending Filipino troops on a mission that had no mandate from the United Nations. And when an Overseas Filipino Worker was abducted (Angelo de la Cruz), the Philippines suffered an international blackeye for hastily pulling out its contingent to appease his abductors.
Can you imagine the mess that warmongering politicians make?

The Gospel according to Judas and Dan Brown

It seems that another front has opened in the war to challenge, if not demolish, the age-old tenets of the Catholic church. No, I'm not referring to crucifixion, stoning to death and being served as dinner to rapacious beasts - standard punishment for early Christian converts.
The first salvo was fired by Dan Brown who claimed in his highly controversial book, The Da Vinci Code, that Christ was not celibate. He further inflamed outrage among Christians by alleging that Jesus sired children with Mary Magdalene and the fabled Holy Grail was none other than her.
Okay, I'm no expert in theology or history, but I could only laugh at Brown's retraction of his first claim that his novel was historical after experts systematically exposed the gross inaccuracies in his prose (but it only heightened the curiosity of the people as books defending and debunking Brown's claims were published).
Dan Brown sure is lucky. He picked the right religion. If he did that to the Muslims (remember the tempest whipped up by those Danish cartoons of Mohammed?), he would be holed up in the Himalayas or Antarctic surrounded by a battalion of bodyguards and not enjoying the fame and royalties from his novel. Perhaps, he has heard of what happened to Salman Rushdie. And may I add that had Dan Brown published his book during the Inquisition, he would have been roasted at the stake.
Nobody wants to be branded as a Judas. In the Philippines, calling somebody Judas is a sure to spark a fight. The Blacksheep among Christ's disciples earned eternal ignominy when he sold Christ to Caphias and his gang for thirty pieces of silver. But the recent translation of the so-called Gospel of Judas to English from its original Coptic text may just clear the name of the wayward apostle that was blackened by his treachery.
I admit that Judas played a crucial role in the accomplishment of Christ's mission by delivering him for crucifixion. If he had not ratted on Jesus, a great rewriting of the crucifixion would have been done. But to elevate his name and clear his reputation may be too much. They wanted us to understand that Judas only did what Jesus asked him to do (like a Marine!!!). They wanted us to see that the highest honor belonged to Judas for turning Christ in.
If this claim will sink into the minds of many, then Judas will become synonymous with unwavering obedience and not with perfidy. I'd rather not be called Judas when that day comes.