Saturday, December 31, 2005
RESOLUTIONS!
1. PRAY MORE (TO AN UNKNOWN GOD said Steinbeck).
2. BUY MOST OF THE MUSIC OF JETHRO TULL, THE BEATLES & THE ROLLING STONES (Of course with the LYRICS).
3. GET AN EYE EXAMINATION!
4. GET A PHYSICAL (BEFORE THE BIG ONE)!
5. STOP THINKING ABOUT SEX EVERY 30 SECONDS!
6. SAVE MONEY!
7. READ MORE!
8. WRITE MORE!
9. SWEAR LESS!
10. BUY A NEW BED (With Space-Age Comfort!).
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
IMPEACH! IMPEACH!
Oust top two
"It is time to hold impeachment hearings. How much more should we endure? The top two, Bush and Cheney, need to go."
"First, intelligence was manipulated to win approval to go to war in Iraq. There were no weapons of mass destruction. No link to al-Qaida was confirmed. Uranium sales to Iraq from Africa did not occur. Why? Because it was fabricated by the top two and their associates."
"And now the most egregious act of all is occurring, spying on U.S. citizens without authorization from the court. This is the ultimate of crimes the top two have committed."
"They are certainly setting a bad example to the rest of the world in terms of manifesting ethical democratic principles. Instead, they are exemplifying dictator-like behavior."
Olivia Chavez, El Paso Times, December 28, 2005
Bush was denied wiretaps, bypassed them
WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush decided to skip seeking warrants for international wiretaps because the court was challenging him at an unprecedented rate.
A review of Justice Department reports to Congress by Hearst newspapers shows the 26-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court modified more wiretap requests from the Bush administration than the four previous presidential administrations combined.
The 11-judge court that authorizes FISA wiretaps modified only two search warrant orders out of the 13,102 applications approved over the first 22 years of the court's operation.
But since 2001, the judges have modified 179 of the 5,645 requests for surveillance by the Bush administration, the report said. A total of 173 of those court-ordered "substantive modifications" took place in 2003 and 2004. And, the judges also rejected or deferred at least six requests for warrants during those two years -- the first outright rejection of a wiretap request in the court's history.
"The precedent for Alberto Gonzales' declaration that Bush is the law was Reich Minister of Justice Franz Gurtner, who agreed in a cabinet meeting on 3 July 1934 that "Hitler was the law." Bush's claim that extraordinary powers are necessary for him to be able to defend our country under extraordinary circumstances is identical to Hitler's claim that he was entitled to ignore the rule of law because he was "responsible for the fate of the German nation and thereby the supreme judge of the German people." What is the difference between HItler's claim and the US Department of Defense's claim that President Bush has the right to violate domestic and international laws?"
"America's Moral Crisis, a History of Hitler's Secret Prisons and a Brief on the Illegality of Bush's War", Paul Craig Roberts, CounterPunch, December 28, 2005
"With ruthless logic Higgs (Resurgence of the Warfare State) shreds every claim of the Bush administration and its apologists. Reading Higgs leaves no doubt that the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq was an illegal act based in deception. Under the Nuremberg standard established by the US itself, Bush's invasion is a war crime. Widespread slaughter of the civilian Iraqi population and torture of detainees are also war crimes. In one of his best chapters Higgs destroys the claim that US "smart weapons" are expressions of our morality in warfare because they target only enemy combatants."
"Higgs explains that the accuracy within a few yards of smart weapons is meaningless. The blast, heat, and pressures from the weapons destroys everything within 120 yards of the hit. No one within 365 yards can expect to remain unharmed. Injuries can extend to persons 1000 yards away from the blast. The odds are zero, Higgs writes, that the use of such weapons on towns and cities will not kill and maim large numbers of civilians."
"And they have done so. American forces in Iraq have killed far more Iraqi civilians than they have insurgents. It is safe to say that Iraqis never experienced such terror from Saddam Hussein as they have experienced from the American invasion and occupation."
"Bush claims that his war crimes are justified because they are committed in the name of "freedom and democracy." The entire world rejects this excuse. Sooner or later even Bush's remaining Republican supporters will turn away in shame from the dishonor Bush has brought to America."
"America's Moral Crisis, a History of Hitler's Secret Prisons and A Brief on the Illegality of Bush's War", Paul Craig Roberts, CounterPunch, December 28, 2005
"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $685 million loan for Iraq on December 24."
" Iraq will not be sovereign or independent in the near future, even if President Bush says so. The country's financial future will instead be dictated by a new colossal economic occupation, complete with ground forces, tanks, foreign military bases and the like-all thanks to the United States, Britain and the IMF."
And of course democracy will never be truly attainable or even really wished for by the IMF and their wealthy investors-the country will just become another playing ground for imperial endeavors and capitalist greed. So much for independence, for no country is truly free and democratic when placed under the boot of the industrialized world. Markets consistently undermine democracy when motivated by self-interests, and Iraqi citizens are not likely to benefit in any real terms under the IMF's new loan package, which will be divvied out over the next 15 months."
"Don't believe for a minute that Iraq will be able to shake off globalism's ravenous greed anytime soon-even if US troops are redeployed. Capitalism's tentacles are now fully attached to Babylon, as if they weren't already, and the oil will be flowing shortly. Even if US troops are redeployed, or god forbid, brought home, the occupation of Iraq will nonetheless continue."
"Let the Drilling Begin: Iraq's IMF Loan", Joshua Frank, CounterPunch, December 28, 2005
Monday, December 26, 2005
CHRISTMAS AT CRAWFORD
"Come on in Dick & Rummy.
Got a fire going, and Laura's cooking the turkey.
It's time for some down-time away from Comealot."
"Our war in Iraq is still a good bet to secure Congress for the GOP in 2006. And if we can just get a stalemate by 2008 we may be able to hold on to the White House."
"Laura, how much longer is that turkey going to cook? It feels like it's been over a week since you put that thing in the oven."
"Well, Dick how's the old ticker these days?"
"Rummy, how's the production of your Tamiflu coming for the pandumic?"
"Oh, hold on fellows. I've got an incoming phone call." (The president picks up an unbugged phone.)
"Hello. Yes, this is Dubya. Who is this? The NSA. Right. Keep the surveillance going. Christmas is no time to take a vacation or let any calls slip by us.
I'll worry about what's legal and what's not legal at a later date."
"All of these liberals are squealing like poked pigs about this war, its torture, the wrong Intel...and now all of this hollering about my electronic surveillance.
I've got this job to protect Americans.
I can't help it if the Consitution gets a little trampled on. I have to protect this country from the terrorists who are fighting to take away our Freedom and kill us all.
It's not popular, but I'm doing all of this for the good of the nation."
"I hear it's time for some turkey, gentlemen. Come on, let's go dig in before the food gets cold."
Got a fire going, and Laura's cooking the turkey.
It's time for some down-time away from Comealot."
"Our war in Iraq is still a good bet to secure Congress for the GOP in 2006. And if we can just get a stalemate by 2008 we may be able to hold on to the White House."
"Laura, how much longer is that turkey going to cook? It feels like it's been over a week since you put that thing in the oven."
"Well, Dick how's the old ticker these days?"
"Rummy, how's the production of your Tamiflu coming for the pandumic?"
"Oh, hold on fellows. I've got an incoming phone call." (The president picks up an unbugged phone.)
"Hello. Yes, this is Dubya. Who is this? The NSA. Right. Keep the surveillance going. Christmas is no time to take a vacation or let any calls slip by us.
I'll worry about what's legal and what's not legal at a later date."
"All of these liberals are squealing like poked pigs about this war, its torture, the wrong Intel...and now all of this hollering about my electronic surveillance.
I've got this job to protect Americans.
I can't help it if the Consitution gets a little trampled on. I have to protect this country from the terrorists who are fighting to take away our Freedom and kill us all.
It's not popular, but I'm doing all of this for the good of the nation."
"I hear it's time for some turkey, gentlemen. Come on, let's go dig in before the food gets cold."
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
NOTABLE QUOTES
"In two-and-a-half years Bush has succeeded in creating two new Talibans in Iraq."
Ghassan Attiyah, an Iraqi commentator.
"...There has been nothing in our time like the Bush Administration's obsession with secrecy. It's an old story: the greater the secrecy, the deeper the corruption."
Bill Moyers
"We're seeing clearly now that Bush thought 9/11 gave him license to act like a dictator, or in his own mind, no doubt, like Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War."
Jonathan Alter, Newsweek, 12/19/05
"Secondly, there are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a
court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution."
George W. Bush, April 2004, At a Town Hall meeting in Buffalo
"It is true that [Hussein] systematically concealed those [WMD] programs, and blocked the work of U.N. weapons inspectors. He was given an ultimatum - and he made his choice for war."
George W. Bush
"But it is not true that Hussein blocked the work of U.N. weapons inspectors. In fact, he acquiesced to a U.N. ultimatum and let them back into Iraq in November 2002. Chief inspector Hans Blix said his team was finally given free rein to examine suspected WMD sites, but Bush forced the inspectors to leave so the invasion could proceed."
And...
"Bush continues to discuss al-Qaeda as if it is a powerful international force on par with Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia, when many analysts see it as a fringe organization that was driven out of most Islamic countries, almost to the ends of the earth - or in this case to the mountains of Afghanistan."
"Without doubt, al-Qaeda-inspired terrorists exploited a letdown in U.S. security in 2001 to conduct an extraordinary attack on New York and Washington, but a realistic assessment of its actual clout is important in calibrating a response."
"If al-Qaeda is actually a marginal organization that can be isolated even more by the West adopting a respectful approach to the Muslim world, then Bush's approach of invading Arab countries - and curtailing American liberties - makes no sense, unless Bush's real motives are something else: say, controlling Middle East resources and transforming the United States into a modern one-party state with him or his allies in permanent control."
Robert Parry, The New Madness Of King George, 12/19/05, rense.com
"H.Res.635, asks that the Congress establish a select committee to investigate whether members of the administration made moves to invade Iraq before receiving congressional authorization, manipulated pre-war intelligence, encouraged the use of torture in Iraq and elsewhere, and used their positions to retaliate against critics of the war."
"The select committee would be asked to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment of Bush and Cheney."
"The second resolution, H.Res.636, asks that the Congress to censure the president "for failing to respond to requests for information concerning allegations that he and others in his Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq, misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for the war, countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of persons in Iraq, and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of his Administration, for failing to adequately account for specific misstatements he made regarding the war, and for failing to comply with Executive Order 12958." (Executive Order 12958, issued in 1995 by former President Bill Clinton, seeks to promote openness in government by prescribing a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information.)"
"A third resolution, H.Res.637, would censure Cheney for a similar set of complaints."
"The people of this country are waking up to the severity of the lies, crimes, and abuses of power committed by this president and his administration," says Jon Bonifaz, a co-founder of the AfterDowningStreet.org coalition, an alliance of more than100 grassroots groups that has detailed Bush administration wrongdoing and encouraged a Congressional response. Bonifaz, an attorney and the author of the book, Warrior King: The Case for Impeaching George Bush (Nation Books), argues that, "Now is the time to return to the rule of law and to hold those who have defied the Constitution accountable for their actions."
"Bonifaz is right. But it is unlikely that the effort to censure Bush and Cheney, let alone impeach them, will get far without significant organizing around the country. After all, the House is controlled by allies of the president who have displayed no inclination to hold him to account. Indeed, only a few Democrats, such as Conyers, have taken seriously the Constitutional issues raised by the administration's misdeeds."
"Members of Congress in both parties will need to feel a lot of heat if these improtant measures are going to get much traction in this Congress."
John Nichols, Raising the Issue of Impeachment, The Nation [THE ONLINE BEAT], 12/20/05
Ghassan Attiyah, an Iraqi commentator.
"...There has been nothing in our time like the Bush Administration's obsession with secrecy. It's an old story: the greater the secrecy, the deeper the corruption."
Bill Moyers
"We're seeing clearly now that Bush thought 9/11 gave him license to act like a dictator, or in his own mind, no doubt, like Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War."
Jonathan Alter, Newsweek, 12/19/05
"Secondly, there are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a
court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution."
George W. Bush, April 2004, At a Town Hall meeting in Buffalo
"It is true that [Hussein] systematically concealed those [WMD] programs, and blocked the work of U.N. weapons inspectors. He was given an ultimatum - and he made his choice for war."
George W. Bush
"But it is not true that Hussein blocked the work of U.N. weapons inspectors. In fact, he acquiesced to a U.N. ultimatum and let them back into Iraq in November 2002. Chief inspector Hans Blix said his team was finally given free rein to examine suspected WMD sites, but Bush forced the inspectors to leave so the invasion could proceed."
And...
"Bush continues to discuss al-Qaeda as if it is a powerful international force on par with Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia, when many analysts see it as a fringe organization that was driven out of most Islamic countries, almost to the ends of the earth - or in this case to the mountains of Afghanistan."
"Without doubt, al-Qaeda-inspired terrorists exploited a letdown in U.S. security in 2001 to conduct an extraordinary attack on New York and Washington, but a realistic assessment of its actual clout is important in calibrating a response."
"If al-Qaeda is actually a marginal organization that can be isolated even more by the West adopting a respectful approach to the Muslim world, then Bush's approach of invading Arab countries - and curtailing American liberties - makes no sense, unless Bush's real motives are something else: say, controlling Middle East resources and transforming the United States into a modern one-party state with him or his allies in permanent control."
Robert Parry, The New Madness Of King George, 12/19/05, rense.com
"H.Res.635, asks that the Congress establish a select committee to investigate whether members of the administration made moves to invade Iraq before receiving congressional authorization, manipulated pre-war intelligence, encouraged the use of torture in Iraq and elsewhere, and used their positions to retaliate against critics of the war."
"The select committee would be asked to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment of Bush and Cheney."
"The second resolution, H.Res.636, asks that the Congress to censure the president "for failing to respond to requests for information concerning allegations that he and others in his Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq, misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for the war, countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of persons in Iraq, and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of his Administration, for failing to adequately account for specific misstatements he made regarding the war, and for failing to comply with Executive Order 12958." (Executive Order 12958, issued in 1995 by former President Bill Clinton, seeks to promote openness in government by prescribing a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information.)"
"A third resolution, H.Res.637, would censure Cheney for a similar set of complaints."
"The people of this country are waking up to the severity of the lies, crimes, and abuses of power committed by this president and his administration," says Jon Bonifaz, a co-founder of the AfterDowningStreet.org coalition, an alliance of more than100 grassroots groups that has detailed Bush administration wrongdoing and encouraged a Congressional response. Bonifaz, an attorney and the author of the book, Warrior King: The Case for Impeaching George Bush (Nation Books), argues that, "Now is the time to return to the rule of law and to hold those who have defied the Constitution accountable for their actions."
"Bonifaz is right. But it is unlikely that the effort to censure Bush and Cheney, let alone impeach them, will get far without significant organizing around the country. After all, the House is controlled by allies of the president who have displayed no inclination to hold him to account. Indeed, only a few Democrats, such as Conyers, have taken seriously the Constitutional issues raised by the administration's misdeeds."
"Members of Congress in both parties will need to feel a lot of heat if these improtant measures are going to get much traction in this Congress."
John Nichols, Raising the Issue of Impeachment, The Nation [THE ONLINE BEAT], 12/20/05
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Stop throwing the Constitution in my face! IT'S JUST A GODDAMNED PIECE OF PAPER!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE SLEEPING!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE DREAMING!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE PEEPING!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE SCHEMING!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE EATING!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE LEAKING!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE SPEAKING!
HE KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE THINKING!
WHO IS HE?
WRONG!
NOT SANTA CLAUS!
IT'S GEORGE W. BUSH!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE DREAMING!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE PEEPING!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE SCHEMING!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE EATING!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE LEAKING!
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE SPEAKING!
HE KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE THINKING!
WHO IS HE?
WRONG!
NOT SANTA CLAUS!
IT'S GEORGE W. BUSH!
BUSH ABSOLUTELY HAS OUR NUMBER
"The NSA has been spying on Americans for decades and Echelon has had the capability to track every communication in real time for at least ten years."
Alex Jones & Paul Joseph Watson, 12/20/05, prisonplanet.com
Mad Plato has just learned that Homeland Security's TIA (or
Terrorist Information Awareness) has been monitoring some recent phone
calls made by Mad Plato.
Words that are inside of TIA's computer database, which indicate
some type of potential terrorist activity, will trigger the computers to
cherry-pick such words out of the air from telephone conversations, and
then store them inside of TIA computers for review and analysis.
Here are some pieces of conversations that have been intercepted by TIA:
"Hi Mad Plato. Boy, the party at Sharon's last week was a real bomb!"
"By the way, Bill, were you planning to fire any rockets this Fourth
of July?"
"Yes, Bill, I'll be heading with Aziz, Mark, and Robin to the retreat
next week."
"Wow! I bet you had a blast in Spain last weekend."
So, citizens, be careful what you say on the telephone. Homeland
Security is listening to you. What you say may reward you with a visit
by an agent of Homeland Security. Wait, I hear a knock at my door right
now...and the phone is ringing. I must go. Goodbye.
Alex Jones & Paul Joseph Watson, 12/20/05, prisonplanet.com
Mad Plato has just learned that Homeland Security's TIA (or
Terrorist Information Awareness) has been monitoring some recent phone
calls made by Mad Plato.
Words that are inside of TIA's computer database, which indicate
some type of potential terrorist activity, will trigger the computers to
cherry-pick such words out of the air from telephone conversations, and
then store them inside of TIA computers for review and analysis.
Here are some pieces of conversations that have been intercepted by TIA:
"Hi Mad Plato. Boy, the party at Sharon's last week was a real bomb!"
"By the way, Bill, were you planning to fire any rockets this Fourth
of July?"
"Yes, Bill, I'll be heading with Aziz, Mark, and Robin to the retreat
next week."
"Wow! I bet you had a blast in Spain last weekend."
So, citizens, be careful what you say on the telephone. Homeland
Security is listening to you. What you say may reward you with a visit
by an agent of Homeland Security. Wait, I hear a knock at my door right
now...and the phone is ringing. I must go. Goodbye.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
THE UNPATRIOTIC ACT
"Yes, we are with Homeland Security and we are going to review your library records.
As an American, you will cooperate with us.
The Patriot Act is now a mighty and holy law.
Nobody is immune to its powers.
Let's see.
Here we have a 12 year-old patron who is reading about Osama bin Laden. She is now under suspicion for supporting terrorism.
Ah ha! Here is a seven-year old reading about camels. She definitely is on our terrorism list!
We will also need a printout of all of your patrons and the books that they have read since 9-11.
If you resist, and say no, we will have to arrest you, and close your library.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Protect the Homeland! VICTORY!"
Friday, December 16, 2005
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
"I see some of the political leaders who are here, and I presume you've invited me to uphold the scholars' end." (This sure beats holdin' up the end of my horse's member.)
"In the war on terror, Iraq is now the central front.." (Gee, that word front makes it sound like I'm hiding something.)
"And as millions of Iraqis prepare to cast their ballots..." (Many more soldiers will prepare to be put into casts.).
"I want to talk today about why we went into Iraq, why we stayed in Iraq, and why we cannot - and will not - leave Iraq until victory is achieved." (Just don't ask me what is meant by victory.)
"We are living through a watershed moment in the story of freedom." (And many thousands have 'drowned'.)
"We saw the destruction terrorists could cause with airplanes loaded with jet fuel - and we imagined the destruction they could cause with even more powerful weapons." (And our imagination was like an LSD trip...and we saw what we needed to see!)
"He [Saddam Hussein] had pursued and used weapons of mass destruction. He sponsored terrorists." (And the United States provided the materials for making those weapons, just as the U.S. sponsored and supported Saddam in his war against Iran.)
"We are in Iraq today because our goal has always been more than the removal of a brutal dictator; it is to leave a free and democratic Iraq in its place." (Along with American military bases and Halliburton.)
"The enemy of freedom in Iraq is a combination of rejectionists and Saddamists and terrorists." (Not just rejects and Sodomists.)
"History has shown that free nations are peaceful nations." (Uhhh...was Germany a free nation? A peaceful nation? Has America's history been peaceful?)
"As we advance the cause of freedom in Iraq, our nation can proceed with confidence because we have done this kind of work before." (In the Phillipines...Nicaragua...Iran...Chile...etc)
"The people of Iraq are now seeing some of the tangible benefits of their new democracy. They see that as freedom advances, their lives are improving." (But water and electricity are not. Reconstruction money is either lost or used to pay for security.)
"And they see that freedom is bringing opportunity and a better life." (Plus more bombs and radiation from Depleted Uranium weapons.)
"As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down. And when victory is achieved, our troops will then come home, with the honor they have earned." (After about 100 years.)
"Most of the debate has been a credit to our democracy, but some have launched irresponsible charges. They say that we act because of oil, that we act in Iraq because of Israel, or because we misled the American people."
(And they're right...huh...huh.)
"These charges are pure politics." (Pure politics? This is an oxymoron!)
"They hurt the morale of our troops." (And highlight the poor morals of our policies.)
"Before this victory comes, we still have a lot of difficult work ahead."
(Rome was not built in a day and the road to hell is paved with good intentions.)
"So we can expect violence to continue." (War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery.)
"We may not know for certain who's won the elections until the early part of January - and that's important for our citizens to understand. It's going to take a while." (Remember my first election.)
"The work ahead will also require continued sacrifice." (Remember the Aztecs.)
"In the war on terror, Iraq is now the central front.." (Gee, that word front makes it sound like I'm hiding something.)
"And as millions of Iraqis prepare to cast their ballots..." (Many more soldiers will prepare to be put into casts.).
"I want to talk today about why we went into Iraq, why we stayed in Iraq, and why we cannot - and will not - leave Iraq until victory is achieved." (Just don't ask me what is meant by victory.)
"We are living through a watershed moment in the story of freedom." (And many thousands have 'drowned'.)
"We saw the destruction terrorists could cause with airplanes loaded with jet fuel - and we imagined the destruction they could cause with even more powerful weapons." (And our imagination was like an LSD trip...and we saw what we needed to see!)
"He [Saddam Hussein] had pursued and used weapons of mass destruction. He sponsored terrorists." (And the United States provided the materials for making those weapons, just as the U.S. sponsored and supported Saddam in his war against Iran.)
"We are in Iraq today because our goal has always been more than the removal of a brutal dictator; it is to leave a free and democratic Iraq in its place." (Along with American military bases and Halliburton.)
"The enemy of freedom in Iraq is a combination of rejectionists and Saddamists and terrorists." (Not just rejects and Sodomists.)
"History has shown that free nations are peaceful nations." (Uhhh...was Germany a free nation? A peaceful nation? Has America's history been peaceful?)
"As we advance the cause of freedom in Iraq, our nation can proceed with confidence because we have done this kind of work before." (In the Phillipines...Nicaragua...Iran...Chile...etc)
"The people of Iraq are now seeing some of the tangible benefits of their new democracy. They see that as freedom advances, their lives are improving." (But water and electricity are not. Reconstruction money is either lost or used to pay for security.)
"And they see that freedom is bringing opportunity and a better life." (Plus more bombs and radiation from Depleted Uranium weapons.)
"As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down. And when victory is achieved, our troops will then come home, with the honor they have earned." (After about 100 years.)
"Most of the debate has been a credit to our democracy, but some have launched irresponsible charges. They say that we act because of oil, that we act in Iraq because of Israel, or because we misled the American people."
(And they're right...huh...huh.)
"These charges are pure politics." (Pure politics? This is an oxymoron!)
"They hurt the morale of our troops." (And highlight the poor morals of our policies.)
"Before this victory comes, we still have a lot of difficult work ahead."
(Rome was not built in a day and the road to hell is paved with good intentions.)
"So we can expect violence to continue." (War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery.)
"We may not know for certain who's won the elections until the early part of January - and that's important for our citizens to understand. It's going to take a while." (Remember my first election.)
"The work ahead will also require continued sacrifice." (Remember the Aztecs.)
JOSE JESUS AND MARIA
This is a story about three illegal Mexican squirrels…Jose, Jesus and Maria.
A hidden microphone was there to record their words during their voyage to America.
Jose: Jesus and Maria, it is sure getting stuffy inside these coat pockets.
Maria: Si.
Jesus: Si.
Jose: I wonder where we are going?
Maria: Maybe Disneyland?
Jesus: Maybe the Holy Land…Or the place that’s called the Big Apple.
Jose: Don't mention food. I'm starving!
Maria: Yes, me too.
Jesus: If I had a fish and some bread I’d make enough for all of us.
Jose: Oh, come on Jesus, don't play that game again.
Maria: Right. You aren't the messiah you think you are. You’re just another rodent.
Jesus: O.K. I know I've got some hang ups, but getting hanged isn't one of them.
Jose: Oh, now he's the comedian.
Maria: Hey, be quiet. I hear something.
Jose: Yeah, I do too.
Jesus: I think we're at the border crossing. Quick! Deeper into the pockets!
Immigration Official: Hello, sir. Your nationality?
Man: Mexican.
Immigration Official: Anything to declare?
Man: Yes. I have three striped squirrels.
Immigration Official: What is the purpose of their visit?
Man: Jose and Maria are going to Disneyland.
Jesus wants to visit the Holy Land and your Big Apple.
Immigration Official: My Big Apple? Oh, you mean New York.
Man: Si.
Immigration Official: O.K. Welcome to the United States.
Jose, Jesus and Maria: Gee, that was a breeze. Why?
Man: You forgot. I’m God.
A hidden microphone was there to record their words during their voyage to America.
Jose: Jesus and Maria, it is sure getting stuffy inside these coat pockets.
Maria: Si.
Jesus: Si.
Jose: I wonder where we are going?
Maria: Maybe Disneyland?
Jesus: Maybe the Holy Land…Or the place that’s called the Big Apple.
Jose: Don't mention food. I'm starving!
Maria: Yes, me too.
Jesus: If I had a fish and some bread I’d make enough for all of us.
Jose: Oh, come on Jesus, don't play that game again.
Maria: Right. You aren't the messiah you think you are. You’re just another rodent.
Jesus: O.K. I know I've got some hang ups, but getting hanged isn't one of them.
Jose: Oh, now he's the comedian.
Maria: Hey, be quiet. I hear something.
Jose: Yeah, I do too.
Jesus: I think we're at the border crossing. Quick! Deeper into the pockets!
Immigration Official: Hello, sir. Your nationality?
Man: Mexican.
Immigration Official: Anything to declare?
Man: Yes. I have three striped squirrels.
Immigration Official: What is the purpose of their visit?
Man: Jose and Maria are going to Disneyland.
Jesus wants to visit the Holy Land and your Big Apple.
Immigration Official: My Big Apple? Oh, you mean New York.
Man: Si.
Immigration Official: O.K. Welcome to the United States.
Jose, Jesus and Maria: Gee, that was a breeze. Why?
Man: You forgot. I’m God.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
KING KONG AND COMPLETE VICTORY
Newspaper Marks 1000 Days of Iraq War with Key Stats
By E&P Staff
Published: December 13, 2005 10:30 AM ET
To mark what it called the "1000 Days" of the Iraq war, the London daily The Independent offered extensive coverage today, featuring a by-the-numbers approach.
Here are some of their calculations:
$204.4 billion: The cost to the U.S of the war so far.
2,339: Allied troops killed
15,955: US troops wounded in action
98: U.K troops killed
30,000 : Estimated Iraqi civilian deaths
0: Number of WMDs found
66: Journalists killed in Iraq.
63: Journalists killed during Vietnam war
8: per cent of Iraqi children suffering acute malnutrition
53,470: Iraqi insurgents killed
67: per cent Iraqis who feel less secure because of occupation
$343: Average monthly salary for an Iraqi soldier. Average monthly salary for an American soldier in Iraq: $4,160.75
5: foreign civilians kidnapped per month
47: per cent Iraqis who never have enough electricity
20: casualties per month from unexploded mines
25-40: per cent Estimated unemployment rate, Nov 2005
251: Foreigners kidnapped
70: per cent of Iraqi's whose sewage system rarely works
183,000: British and American troops are still in action in Iraq.
13,000: from other nations
90: Daily attacks by insurgents in Nov '05. In Jun '03: 8
60-80: per cent Iraqis who are "strongly opposed" to presence of coalition troops
"In an accompanying piece from Baghdad, the newspaper's Patrick Cockburn adds one more stat: A BBC poll yesterday showed that half of the Iraqis questioned say that Iraq needs a strong leader--while only 28 per cent cited democracy as a priority."
"Iraqis are cynical about their political leaders," Cockburn writes. "The election results are likely to show that the great majority of Iraqis will vote along ethnic or religious lines as Shia, Sunni or Kurds. The country is turning from a unitary state into a confederation."
"There is no sign yet of the thousand-day war ending. Every month up to a thousand fresh corpses arrive at the mortuary in Baghdad. A new Iraq is emerging but it is already drenched in blood."
E&P Staff (letters@editorandpublisher.com)
By E&P Staff
Published: December 13, 2005 10:30 AM ET
To mark what it called the "1000 Days" of the Iraq war, the London daily The Independent offered extensive coverage today, featuring a by-the-numbers approach.
Here are some of their calculations:
$204.4 billion: The cost to the U.S of the war so far.
2,339: Allied troops killed
15,955: US troops wounded in action
98: U.K troops killed
30,000 : Estimated Iraqi civilian deaths
0: Number of WMDs found
66: Journalists killed in Iraq.
63: Journalists killed during Vietnam war
8: per cent of Iraqi children suffering acute malnutrition
53,470: Iraqi insurgents killed
67: per cent Iraqis who feel less secure because of occupation
$343: Average monthly salary for an Iraqi soldier. Average monthly salary for an American soldier in Iraq: $4,160.75
5: foreign civilians kidnapped per month
47: per cent Iraqis who never have enough electricity
20: casualties per month from unexploded mines
25-40: per cent Estimated unemployment rate, Nov 2005
251: Foreigners kidnapped
70: per cent of Iraqi's whose sewage system rarely works
183,000: British and American troops are still in action in Iraq.
13,000: from other nations
90: Daily attacks by insurgents in Nov '05. In Jun '03: 8
60-80: per cent Iraqis who are "strongly opposed" to presence of coalition troops
"In an accompanying piece from Baghdad, the newspaper's Patrick Cockburn adds one more stat: A BBC poll yesterday showed that half of the Iraqis questioned say that Iraq needs a strong leader--while only 28 per cent cited democracy as a priority."
"Iraqis are cynical about their political leaders," Cockburn writes. "The election results are likely to show that the great majority of Iraqis will vote along ethnic or religious lines as Shia, Sunni or Kurds. The country is turning from a unitary state into a confederation."
"There is no sign yet of the thousand-day war ending. Every month up to a thousand fresh corpses arrive at the mortuary in Baghdad. A new Iraq is emerging but it is already drenched in blood."
E&P Staff (letters@editorandpublisher.com)
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
I AM NOT IN A BUBBLE
“I am not in a bubble.
There is progress in Iraq.
I am not in a bubble.
Freedom is coming to Iraq.
I am not in a bubble.
We are winning in Iraq.
I am not in a bubble.
I am informed.
Victory is on its way.
I believe in Santa Claus.
I am informed.
I am not in a bubble.
Whoa…Nelly! Why am I rising into the sky?”
There is progress in Iraq.
I am not in a bubble.
Freedom is coming to Iraq.
I am not in a bubble.
We are winning in Iraq.
I am not in a bubble.
I am informed.
Victory is on its way.
I believe in Santa Claus.
I am informed.
I am not in a bubble.
Whoa…Nelly! Why am I rising into the sky?”
Monday, December 12, 2005
NO CLEMENCY FROM THE TERMINATOR!
As your governor and as THE TERMINATOR, I shall not sign any paper that saves Stanley Tookie Williams.
I will not commute his sentence TO DIE.
He's going to bite the dust!
Hasta La Vista, baby.
I am an eye for eye guy and tooth for a tooth fellow.
No girlie man is in THE TERMINATOR.
Now I must go press some flesh.
Thank you.
I'll be back!
I will not commute his sentence TO DIE.
He's going to bite the dust!
Hasta La Vista, baby.
I am an eye for eye guy and tooth for a tooth fellow.
No girlie man is in THE TERMINATOR.
Now I must go press some flesh.
Thank you.
I'll be back!
Thursday, December 08, 2005
GEORGE W. BUSH'S POLL NUMBERS
(Smirking) "Yeah. Alright. Good.
My Economy is robust.
My poll's (numbers) rising.
I'm back in the saddle!
My hand's on the wheel!
The good economic news might take the public's attention off of ‘I-WRecK (Iraq)’.
Anyway, it's almost Chri...Oops! I can't say the "C" word.
I don't want to upset the "suckular" folks out there.
So I'll just say "Happy holidays and Sinner's...I mean...Season's greetings!"
Now I have to get ready to do some relaxin' at Crawford.
Got bowls of pretzels to eat and Bowl games to watch!
Bring ‘em on!
Let's Roll!"
My Economy is robust.
My poll's (numbers) rising.
I'm back in the saddle!
My hand's on the wheel!
The good economic news might take the public's attention off of ‘I-WRecK (Iraq)’.
Anyway, it's almost Chri...Oops! I can't say the "C" word.
I don't want to upset the "suckular" folks out there.
So I'll just say "Happy holidays and Sinner's...I mean...Season's greetings!"
Now I have to get ready to do some relaxin' at Crawford.
Got bowls of pretzels to eat and Bowl games to watch!
Bring ‘em on!
Let's Roll!"
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
I AM SADDAM HUSSEIN!
"I am Saddam Hussein!
Allah is Great!
I am Saddam Hussein!
Allah is Great!
I demand Justice!
Allah is Great!
Get me some Doritos and a Big Mac!
I am Saddam!
I am Hussein!
Allah is Great!
Get me some Doritos and a Whopper!
Allah is Great!
Get me some clean underwear!
Make them Boxer!
Then I will certainly Swear!
To tell the Truth!
The Whole Truth!
And nothing but the Truth!
So help me Allah!
I am Saddam Hussein!
Allah is Great!
Allah is Great!
I am Saddam Hussein!
Allah is Great!
I demand Justice!
Allah is Great!
Get me some Doritos and a Big Mac!
I am Saddam!
I am Hussein!
Allah is Great!
Get me some Doritos and a Whopper!
Allah is Great!
Get me some clean underwear!
Make them Boxer!
Then I will certainly Swear!
To tell the Truth!
The Whole Truth!
And nothing but the Truth!
So help me Allah!
I am Saddam Hussein!
Allah is Great!
Monday, December 05, 2005
9-11 COMMISSION REPORT CARD
"We believe that the terrorists will strike again. So does every responsible expert that we have talked to. And if they do, and these reforms that might have prevented such an attack have not been implemented, what will our excuse be?" said the Thomas Kean, chairman of the panel.
"He said the terrorists were learning and adapting, and that the US government "is still moving at a crawl."
"The privately funded successor group known as the 9/11 Public Discourse Project to the original commission, which was set up by the Congress in 2002 and was disbanded after issuing its recommendations in July 2004, was issuing its "report card" on how successfully the commission's recommendations have been implemented."
"The panel gave the government an "F" on homeland security spending for cities most at risk, on improving radio communication for emergency agencies and on airline passenger prescreening."
"He said it was scandalous that first responders did not have adequate communications equipment and that airline passengers were not fully screened against terrorist lists."
"We're frustrated, all of us -- frustrated at the lack of urgency in addressing these various problems," he said.
The House of Bush is failing the Homeland.
Bush has failed in Iraq (so far).
And now Bush has failed in the United States.
There was Katrina, and now there's this 9-11 COMMISSION report card that has given Bush a big, fat F on changes and improvements for securing and protecting the United States from THE TERRORISTS!
Huh? What the hell is going on here?
Where is protection for the Homeland?
Where is the protection of OUR Freedom, Democracy and Liberty?
And so much for the grandiose title of the Patriot Act:
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism!
How serious is Bush about TERRORISM if he and his cabal are not securing THE HOMELAND!
What Hypocrisy!
What a big, fat fraud and farce!
This should not stand!
After lingering questions about whether the Bush cabal (wanted to) or could have prevented 9-11, one now has to wonder how serious the same cabal is about really securing and protecting this nation.
Does the cabal wish for another (bigger?) attack in America to justify its continuing beheading of the U.S. Constitution and its robbery of the U.S. Treasury by feeding the voracious belly of the Pentagon. You know...the Military-Industrial (psychopathic) Complex?
Glib cliches about spreading democracy and achieving total victory ring very hollow.
And the voting American public smells the stink of this dangerous and uncaring flimflammery.
Now, more than ever, Bush and his gang members need to be investigated:
1. On 9-11: How this administration ignored the hints and Intel warnings.
2. The Intel that this cabal forged, fabricated and foisted upon the United States Congress, the World and the American public in order to fund and receive approval for its PRE-EMPTIVE WAR on Iraq.
IF READERS WANT TO ADD ANYTHING TO AN INVESTIGATION, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
"The US military, not al Qaeda, had the sustained access weeks before 9/11 to also plant controlled demolition charges throughout the superstructures of WTC 1 and WTC2, and in WTC7, which brought down all three buildings on 9/11. ... A US military plane, not one piloted by al Qaeda, performed the highly skilled, high−speed 270−degree dive towards the Pentagon that Air Traffic Controllers on 9/11 were sure was a military plane as they watched it on their screens. Only a military aircraft, not a civilian plane flown by al Qaeda, would have given off the "Friendly" signal needed to disable the Pentagon’s anti−aircraft missile batteries as it approached the building. Only the US military, not al Qaeda, had the ability to break all of its Standard Operating Procedures to paralyze its own emergency response system."
Barbara Honegger
[Senior Military Affairs Journalist at the Naval Postgraduate School, the Navy’s advanced science, technology and national security affairs university 1995 to the present. White House Policy Analyst and Special Assistant to the Assistant to President Ronald Reagan 1981-83].
"He said the terrorists were learning and adapting, and that the US government "is still moving at a crawl."
"The privately funded successor group known as the 9/11 Public Discourse Project to the original commission, which was set up by the Congress in 2002 and was disbanded after issuing its recommendations in July 2004, was issuing its "report card" on how successfully the commission's recommendations have been implemented."
"The panel gave the government an "F" on homeland security spending for cities most at risk, on improving radio communication for emergency agencies and on airline passenger prescreening."
"He said it was scandalous that first responders did not have adequate communications equipment and that airline passengers were not fully screened against terrorist lists."
"We're frustrated, all of us -- frustrated at the lack of urgency in addressing these various problems," he said.
The House of Bush is failing the Homeland.
Bush has failed in Iraq (so far).
And now Bush has failed in the United States.
There was Katrina, and now there's this 9-11 COMMISSION report card that has given Bush a big, fat F on changes and improvements for securing and protecting the United States from THE TERRORISTS!
Huh? What the hell is going on here?
Where is protection for the Homeland?
Where is the protection of OUR Freedom, Democracy and Liberty?
And so much for the grandiose title of the Patriot Act:
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism!
How serious is Bush about TERRORISM if he and his cabal are not securing THE HOMELAND!
What Hypocrisy!
What a big, fat fraud and farce!
This should not stand!
After lingering questions about whether the Bush cabal (wanted to) or could have prevented 9-11, one now has to wonder how serious the same cabal is about really securing and protecting this nation.
Does the cabal wish for another (bigger?) attack in America to justify its continuing beheading of the U.S. Constitution and its robbery of the U.S. Treasury by feeding the voracious belly of the Pentagon. You know...the Military-Industrial (psychopathic) Complex?
Glib cliches about spreading democracy and achieving total victory ring very hollow.
And the voting American public smells the stink of this dangerous and uncaring flimflammery.
Now, more than ever, Bush and his gang members need to be investigated:
1. On 9-11: How this administration ignored the hints and Intel warnings.
2. The Intel that this cabal forged, fabricated and foisted upon the United States Congress, the World and the American public in order to fund and receive approval for its PRE-EMPTIVE WAR on Iraq.
IF READERS WANT TO ADD ANYTHING TO AN INVESTIGATION, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
"The US military, not al Qaeda, had the sustained access weeks before 9/11 to also plant controlled demolition charges throughout the superstructures of WTC 1 and WTC2, and in WTC7, which brought down all three buildings on 9/11. ... A US military plane, not one piloted by al Qaeda, performed the highly skilled, high−speed 270−degree dive towards the Pentagon that Air Traffic Controllers on 9/11 were sure was a military plane as they watched it on their screens. Only a military aircraft, not a civilian plane flown by al Qaeda, would have given off the "Friendly" signal needed to disable the Pentagon’s anti−aircraft missile batteries as it approached the building. Only the US military, not al Qaeda, had the ability to break all of its Standard Operating Procedures to paralyze its own emergency response system."
Barbara Honegger
[Senior Military Affairs Journalist at the Naval Postgraduate School, the Navy’s advanced science, technology and national security affairs university 1995 to the present. White House Policy Analyst and Special Assistant to the Assistant to President Ronald Reagan 1981-83].
Sunday, December 04, 2005
NEW AIRPORT SECURITY
O.K. Your dissecting kit can go on board.
You may also bring your nail clippers and small scissors.
No, you may not bring those box cutters! That's what the 9-11 hijackers used.
The ax and flamethrower are O.K. But again, get rid of those boxcutters.
Please take off your shoes and remove your socks.
On the other hand, leave the socks on, and buy some foot powder ASAP.
Next.
O.K. the jackhammer can come on board.
No, no...leave the boxcutters.
Next...
Saturday, December 03, 2005
NOTABLE QUOTES ON THE IRAQ WAR
“The terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity. . .If they’re not stopped, the terrorists will be able to advance their agenda to develop weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate Europe, and to break our will and blackmail our government into isolation. I’m going to make you this commitment: this is not going to happen on my watch.”
George W. Bush, Osan Air Force base, South Korea, November 19, 2005
"If the United States can foster the development of a sufficiently stable
political system in Iraq, and if it can help train, equip, and support military
and police forces to defend that system, then American policy has a chance of
succeeding. The United States can pull its own troops out of Iraq, knowing that
it has left something sustainable behind. But if neither of those goals is
realistic - if Iraqi politics remains chaotic and the Iraqi military remains
overwhelmed by the insurgent threat - then the American strategy as a whole is
doomed." "WHY IRAQ HAS NO ARMY", James Fallows, Atlantic, Vol. 296, Issue 5, December 2005
"The war has already cost the United States an estimated $251 billion. Each day an estimated $195 million is being spent--money that could provide twelve meals to every starving child in the world, according to Senator Ted Kennedy's office."
"The Iraq Index", John S. Friedman, The Nation, 12-19-05
"The American air war inside Iraq today is perhaps the most significant—and underreported—aspect of the fight against the insurgency. The military authorities in Baghdad and Washington do not provide the press with a daily accounting of missions that Air Force, Navy, and Marine units fly or of the tonnage they drop, as was routinely done during the Vietnam War. One insight into the scope of the bombing in Iraq was supplied by the Marine Corps during the height of the siege of Falluja in the fall of 2004. “With a massive Marine air and ground offensive under way,” a Marine press release said, “Marine close air support continues to put high-tech steel on target. . . . Flying missions day and night for weeks, the fixed wing aircraft of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing are ensuring battlefield success on the front line.” Since the beginning of the war, the press release said, the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing alone had dropped more than five hundred thousand tons of ordnance. “This number is likely to be much higher by the end of operations,” Major Mike Sexton said. In the battle for the city, more than seven hundred Americans were killed or wounded; U.S. officials did not release estimates of civilian dead, but press reports at the time told of women and children killed in the bombardments."
"On the current course we will have two options," I was told by a Marine
lieutenant colonel who had recently served in Iraq and who prefers to remain
anonymous. "We can lose in Iraq and destroy our army, or we can just lose."
"The officer went on to say that of course neither option was acceptable, which
is why he thought it so urgent to change course. By "destroy our army" he meant
that it would take years for the U.S. military to recover from the strain on
manpower, equipment, and - most of all - morale that staying in Iraq would put
on it. (Retired Army General Barry McCaffrey had this danger in mind when he
told Time magazine last winter that "the Army's wheels are going to come off in
the next twenty-four months" if it remained in Iraq.) "Losing" in Iraq would
mean failing to overcome the violent insurgency. A continuing insurgency would,
in the view of the officer I spoke with, sooner or later mean the country's
fracture in a bloody civil war. That, in turn, would mean the emergence of a
central "Sunni-stan" more actively hostile to the United States than Saddam
Hussein's Iraq ever was, which could in the next decade be what the Taliban of
Afghanistan was in the 1990s: a haven for al-Qaeda and related terrorists. "In
Vietnam we just lost," the officer said. "This would be losing with
consequences."
"UP IN THE AIR: Where is the war in Iraq headed next?", Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker, 11-28-2005
George W. Bush, Osan Air Force base, South Korea, November 19, 2005
"If the United States can foster the development of a sufficiently stable
political system in Iraq, and if it can help train, equip, and support military
and police forces to defend that system, then American policy has a chance of
succeeding. The United States can pull its own troops out of Iraq, knowing that
it has left something sustainable behind. But if neither of those goals is
realistic - if Iraqi politics remains chaotic and the Iraqi military remains
overwhelmed by the insurgent threat - then the American strategy as a whole is
doomed." "WHY IRAQ HAS NO ARMY", James Fallows, Atlantic, Vol. 296, Issue 5, December 2005
"The war has already cost the United States an estimated $251 billion. Each day an estimated $195 million is being spent--money that could provide twelve meals to every starving child in the world, according to Senator Ted Kennedy's office."
"The Iraq Index", John S. Friedman, The Nation, 12-19-05
"The American air war inside Iraq today is perhaps the most significant—and underreported—aspect of the fight against the insurgency. The military authorities in Baghdad and Washington do not provide the press with a daily accounting of missions that Air Force, Navy, and Marine units fly or of the tonnage they drop, as was routinely done during the Vietnam War. One insight into the scope of the bombing in Iraq was supplied by the Marine Corps during the height of the siege of Falluja in the fall of 2004. “With a massive Marine air and ground offensive under way,” a Marine press release said, “Marine close air support continues to put high-tech steel on target. . . . Flying missions day and night for weeks, the fixed wing aircraft of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing are ensuring battlefield success on the front line.” Since the beginning of the war, the press release said, the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing alone had dropped more than five hundred thousand tons of ordnance. “This number is likely to be much higher by the end of operations,” Major Mike Sexton said. In the battle for the city, more than seven hundred Americans were killed or wounded; U.S. officials did not release estimates of civilian dead, but press reports at the time told of women and children killed in the bombardments."
"On the current course we will have two options," I was told by a Marine
lieutenant colonel who had recently served in Iraq and who prefers to remain
anonymous. "We can lose in Iraq and destroy our army, or we can just lose."
"The officer went on to say that of course neither option was acceptable, which
is why he thought it so urgent to change course. By "destroy our army" he meant
that it would take years for the U.S. military to recover from the strain on
manpower, equipment, and - most of all - morale that staying in Iraq would put
on it. (Retired Army General Barry McCaffrey had this danger in mind when he
told Time magazine last winter that "the Army's wheels are going to come off in
the next twenty-four months" if it remained in Iraq.) "Losing" in Iraq would
mean failing to overcome the violent insurgency. A continuing insurgency would,
in the view of the officer I spoke with, sooner or later mean the country's
fracture in a bloody civil war. That, in turn, would mean the emergence of a
central "Sunni-stan" more actively hostile to the United States than Saddam
Hussein's Iraq ever was, which could in the next decade be what the Taliban of
Afghanistan was in the 1990s: a haven for al-Qaeda and related terrorists. "In
Vietnam we just lost," the officer said. "This would be losing with
consequences."
"UP IN THE AIR: Where is the war in Iraq headed next?", Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker, 11-28-2005
Thursday, December 01, 2005
BUSHSPEAK
My Big Morass is getting Bigger, but I will fight to the finish until there is Total Victory in Iraq (or at least until the GOP wins in 2006).
As long as I am your Commander-in-Chief I will continue to support and sacrifice our soldiers (and alienate and antagonize the Iraqi people).
I will prevail whether Iraqis and my liberal opponents like it or not.
I shall not Cut and Run from the Oil and Reconstruction Contracts of my friends.
I will stay the course.
I’ll stay on my horse.
Someday Iraq will have plenty of Water and Electricity, but not until America has destroyed all of its Enemies there.
Cut the Timber!
Clear the Brush!
Flush out the armadillos!
Then let Democracy bloom along the Tigris and Euphrates!
As long as I am your Commander-in-Chief I will continue to support and sacrifice our soldiers (and alienate and antagonize the Iraqi people).
I will prevail whether Iraqis and my liberal opponents like it or not.
I shall not Cut and Run from the Oil and Reconstruction Contracts of my friends.
I will stay the course.
I’ll stay on my horse.
Someday Iraq will have plenty of Water and Electricity, but not until America has destroyed all of its Enemies there.
Cut the Timber!
Clear the Brush!
Flush out the armadillos!
Then let Democracy bloom along the Tigris and Euphrates!
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