I see that White House spokesman Ari Fleischer is calling for Saddam Hussein to be assassinated.  Or close enough: When asked about the cost of military action or sending Saddam into exile, Fleischer stated, "I can only say that the cost of a one-way ticket is substantially less than that.  The cost of one bullet, if the Iraqi people take it on themselves, is substantially less than that."

Not much room for doubt, is there?  Kill him!  Save yourselves money.  Save your own asses!  You dense Iraqis, how long will you make us wait? 

(Let us set aside the fact that there have been--how many?--five or more serious attempts at offing Saddam documented during the past several years, which in every instance have resulted in the plotters being executed, either with or without torture thrown in.  It goes without saying that Ari doesn't care about the risks, of course, since it's someone else's butt on the line, not his.)

There has been little comment in the press.  Not in the American press, anyway.  That's how myopic we are about how we are viewed as hypocrites by the world.

Don't understand what I mean?  Try a little thought experiment: What would happen if Saddam Hussein, or one of his underlings, called for George W. Bush to be assassinated?  Imagine the horror!  The gnashing of teeth!  The demonization, the calls for annihilation, etc., etc. 

I hasten to say that my own personal wish is for nobody to be assassinated: not Bush, not Saddam, not anyone else.  As a wise man once said, "As you sow, so shall you reap," a sentiment which is as true now as when it was first uttered.

But follow along with me: there's Tarik Aziz in Baghdad, with his usual television backdrop.  "We call upon all peace-loving nations of the world to join us in this struggle against American imperial aggression.  The United States president, George W. Bush, has made clear his desire to wage war outside his own borders, against any nation which displeases him.  This threatens the peace and stability of the entire world, not just Iraq.  We ask that the American people send Mr. Bush on a one-way ticket to oblivion.  The cost of one bullet, if you take it on yourselves, is substantially less than the cost of war."

Or however the real Tarik Aziz would say it.  Americans would go absolutely ballistic!  As well we should: It is not proper to call for anyone's murder; only arrogant thugs do so.  Bush has revealed himself to be the moral equivalent of the Muslim goons who have called for Salman Rushdie's death.  Them and a long list of other lowlifes.

Why is it that we can't fathom how two-faced we are seen to be by the rest of the world?  When I was a child, the term "Ugly American" was a cliché for boorish, badly dressed tourists bumbling through foreign lands.  Now, the "Ugly American" is a monster with weapons of mass destruction aimed at everybody who won't kiss our boots, headed by a mentally impaired midget with delusions of grandeur.

Whose assassination will Bush's minions call for next?  Will we have lists of people, perhaps with official rewards for their disembodied heads?  Maybe clever ad campaigns, "Retirement takes perspirement/Killing is more Thrilling."  Or, "Don't really give a damn?/Cast your fate with Uncle Sam." 

It strikes me that we are sowing, and will reap, a terrible future if this is our plan.