INFOTAINMENT
Showdown: Iraq
"Wrestlemania with real explosives," promise insiders.

by Roggie McFadden

LOS ANGELES -- February 22, 2003 -- It remains on the surface a War of Words, but a queasy sort of excitement is beginning to grasp at America's emotional heartstrings (and cost them some dimes in the gas tank) with the certain expectation of "U.S. military action against Iraq."

CNN's new show, Showdown: Iraq, will carry all the "action" (in time for the Ides of March), and executives are counting on this great televised battle with the catchy name to be bigger and more brutal than famous rivalries of recent times (including even the carnivorous Tyson v. Holyfield match-up).

This TV News event may even surpass the epic US Election in 2000 where two of the most boring, least inspiring political pawns tied for second place to be President, and then squabbled with one another for a month via professional legal counsel and All-Pro spin doctors, till one day the reigning champion, Dubya Bush II, was magically proclaimed 'Champ' … remember that?

The exact date and hour for the final bout in the Bush v. Saddam Virtual Slugfest is not set in stone, but it is clear the American Fist will soon enough begin its mad flailing with heavy-duty smart carpet bombing.

The impending US-led initiative (War on Iraq) leaves many news agencies at a loss for words. Most refer to the US full-court press as "military action"; a few have gone so far as to describe the US effort to ring in the spring as "intervention in Iraq."

Some have gotten more "result-oriented" about this little project, and refer to the Showdown by its stated goal, that being "to disarm Saddam," a description that pays no mind to (ignores) the "military action" required by US soldiers to fulfill such a noble purpose.

Showdown, in words ...

The conquest of Iraq by our volunteer army remains in the American mind vague "conflict," mere "military action," or a Cable TV Showdown.

No pro-war telejournalist in the free USA dares utter the word invasion.

No man shows his support with strident cries that, "America must invade Iraq. We must bomb her, bury her with destruction and despair, assault her lands and conquer her people. And under the Heavy Boot of the U.S. Armed Forces, Iraq will lie prostrate and World Peace will be enhanced."

No one shouts at coming pro-war rallies, "We must assemble our Weapons of Mass Destruction and unleash them on Saddam. We must unfurl and hurl our rage and fear over the hijackings of 11 Sep 2001 upon the chosen one --- Target: Iraq."

No War Department warhawks yet squawk and parade their plumage with Sunday morning proclamations that, "Saddam the Evildoer must be terminated to bring peace for friends and allies in the region. But he will hypocritically hide himself beneath a mountain of human shields. We will be forced (because of simple wartime practicality) to destroy these human shields, willing volunteers and unwilling alike, if we are really to show we have the stomach to rip out this Evildoing cancer.

"And if we succeed in destroying Saddam (and all the guilty fools who crowd themselves in defense of this coward), we will, in the words our most honorable reigning Leader, Dubya Bush II, 'bring peace for a very long time.' "

Many of these words have yet to be spoken, but the all-seeing Genie in the Bottle, now set to be let loose on the world, thinks these affirming quotations will soon come to a telescreen near you.

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