No Good News For The Holidays
President Bush has expressed that he will not make much anticipated announcements regarding the Iraq War until after the New Year. He says he will not be "rushed" into any decisions.
Meanwhile 2008 Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain expressed to reporters in Baghdad that he believes 15,000 to 30,000 more troops should be deployed to Iraq, also along on the delegation was turncoat Joe Lieberman.
Commanders in Iraq do not share McCain's point of view, and one of the Senators traveling in the same delegation, Republican Susan Collins of Maine said "I'm not yet convinced that additional troops will pave the way to a peaceful Iraq in a lasting sense,"
McCain is making these bold statements shortly after a poll by Wall Street Journal and NBC shows less than one in four Americans approve of the Bush Administrations handling of the war in Iraq.
A survey conducted on Iraqi's by the Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies found that 95% felt that the security situation has only deteriorated since the arrival of US forces.
It is a feeling of treading water, of going nowhere slowly.
The President is on a "listening tour". What the hell is a "listening tour"? This man doesn't know how to listen, he likes to talk, albeit not very well. This is just get plain ridicules, and it seems we are just delaying the inevitable here.
The President is likely only listening to ideas to coincide with his own, which indicate a long presence in Iraq and mulling the possibility of sending more young men and woman to Iraq so the loss can be even more monumental in the end.
These people that die, both American troops and Iraqi civilians, are just numbers and not people to people like President Bush, they are the ways to the means. In other words the loss and the humiliation will be vindicated if the mission ultimately succeeds. This mantra keeps people like Kissinger, Rumsfeld and Bush pushing their agenda long after it has lost support or meaning.
I am sure many US troops are inwardly disappointed that no announcement will be made before the holidays. I am sure a lot of them would at least like to have an idea of what was going on and not feel like they were participating in an endless mission.
Christmas could have been a lot more joyful for thousands of families across America who would like to see their loved ones safe, if the President had decided to make his announcement before the holidays.
Because it is better to know something about the future, than it is to know nothing about the future at all.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Bill O Reilly's "No Spin Zone"
While not a viewer of FOX News I accidentally tuned in one day because the channels numbers are similar to that of the Weather Channel.
I noticed this infamous man, Bill O Reilly calling something the "No Spin Zone" and I thought "O Really?" and I just had to watch, it was watching a bad car accident, you know you shouldn't look because what is in there is probably grotesque, but you cant..help..but..look...
"The No Spin Zone"? Is this man aware that he is currently the sitting Spin King? Or is the "No Spin Zone" a segment FOX runs regularly to amuse itself with it's own open hypocrisy?
It's one thing to put a "spin" on things, but it's quite another to label a segment as "non spin" when the whole purpose of the segment is to serve as "spin"
All this talk of spin has me dizzy...
While not a viewer of FOX News I accidentally tuned in one day because the channels numbers are similar to that of the Weather Channel.
I noticed this infamous man, Bill O Reilly calling something the "No Spin Zone" and I thought "O Really?" and I just had to watch, it was watching a bad car accident, you know you shouldn't look because what is in there is probably grotesque, but you cant..help..but..look...
"The No Spin Zone"? Is this man aware that he is currently the sitting Spin King? Or is the "No Spin Zone" a segment FOX runs regularly to amuse itself with it's own open hypocrisy?
It's one thing to put a "spin" on things, but it's quite another to label a segment as "non spin" when the whole purpose of the segment is to serve as "spin"
All this talk of spin has me dizzy...
Control Of Senate Hangs In Balance With Johnson's Health
Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson suffered from "stroke like symptoms" on Wednesday and was in critical condition Thursday after late-night brain surgery.
The U.S. Capitol physician said the surgery was successful and that Johnson had suffered from bleeding in the brain caused by congenital arteriovenous malformation.
While everyone is concerned about the Senators health, many are also concerned about the Democrats tenuous grip on power in Senate, and how Johnson's departure could impede that.
Democrats were expected to hold the majority by only one seat, but this could soon change, tossing Senate back into the hands of Republicans.
If a replacement must be named for Johnson it could be determined by Republican Gov. Mike Rounds.
How terribly convenient for the Republicans, that Rounds would be the man who would have the power to name the Johnson's replacement, if one is needed.
Mike Rounds, after all is the man who decided when Democratic Sen. Dick Hagen died in 2002, to appoint a Republican to replace him, even though the district was overwhelmingly Democrat.
Bob Burns, political science head at South Dakota State University said "It would be expected that Governor Rounds would appoint a Republican, if in fact the seat would be vacated, which would bring a tie and Cheney would be the deciding vote."
We all know how Vice President Cheney will vote, if given the chance.
Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson suffered from "stroke like symptoms" on Wednesday and was in critical condition Thursday after late-night brain surgery.
The U.S. Capitol physician said the surgery was successful and that Johnson had suffered from bleeding in the brain caused by congenital arteriovenous malformation.
While everyone is concerned about the Senators health, many are also concerned about the Democrats tenuous grip on power in Senate, and how Johnson's departure could impede that.
Democrats were expected to hold the majority by only one seat, but this could soon change, tossing Senate back into the hands of Republicans.
If a replacement must be named for Johnson it could be determined by Republican Gov. Mike Rounds.
How terribly convenient for the Republicans, that Rounds would be the man who would have the power to name the Johnson's replacement, if one is needed.
Mike Rounds, after all is the man who decided when Democratic Sen. Dick Hagen died in 2002, to appoint a Republican to replace him, even though the district was overwhelmingly Democrat.
Bob Burns, political science head at South Dakota State University said "It would be expected that Governor Rounds would appoint a Republican, if in fact the seat would be vacated, which would bring a tie and Cheney would be the deciding vote."
We all know how Vice President Cheney will vote, if given the chance.
Monday, December 11, 2006
A State Of Anarchy
When the "Mission Accomplished" banner waved, on that fateful day when George W. Bush told the world that major combat had ended in Iraq little did we know that we were only at the beginning on a long, perilous journey.
That day now seems like it was at least a decade ago and "Mission Accomplished" is a sad reminder of lies told and promises broken.
The day Bush proclaimed "Mission Accomplished" has become associated in my mind with the day the real war began in Iraq.
Now we are drawing close to the fourth anniversary of our botched occupation/liberation, and we are further from the ultimate goal than we were during the good old days of the "Mission Accomplished".
Iraq has descended into a state of chaos. Sectarian militias roam the neighborhoods of Baghdad and al Anbar province, protecting some, massacring others
It is common place for a suicide bomber to pretend he is an employer looking for day laborers, only to detonate himself when the crowds of impoverished job seekers come close enough for maximum impact.
Beheadings have declined since the demise of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who had a certain penchant for decapitation, but still occur, even to woman.
Bodies riddled with bullet holes that show signs of torture wash upon the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, the location many biblical scholars believe to be the location of the garden of Eden.
Children who do not even understand the situation cannot attend school. Soon we risk a new generation that knows only war that may evolve into the next generation of terrorist, rather than the new generation to rebuild Iraq.
A trip to the market is necessary and can be deadly. Some hospitals have even become sectarian, throwing out patients of the opposite sect.
Iraq has become a complete and utter state of anarchy that is teetering on the brink of being uncontainable and close to spilling over it's borders.
Rather than pouring aid and resources into Iraq, it's neighbors who complain of the American occupation do little to help the Iraqi's themselves and as we well know some of Iraq's neighbors contribute to the chaos.
Inadequate Administrations, in both the United States and in Iraq have only contributed to the problem. The refusal to honestly address the problem with earnest intentions has thwarted all attempts to contain the situation.
For instance the Presidents of these counties, Talabani and Bush, have failed to live up to even the slightest of expectations.
Both puppets can offer criticism of the report just released by the Iraq Study Group or of any suggestions of a drawback of US troops, but neither has any original or useful ideas of their own. In fact these two have done little to help the situation at all except run their respective mouths.
Every approach to Iraq has failed very possibly because the United States should have never been in Iraq in the first place, the United States should have been tracking down Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, not thinking it can somehow suddenly transform the world now that the trade centers are gone.
The focus should have always been on the elimination of those responsible for 9/11 and the securing of our own country, including borders and ports.
Instead, we blundered into Iraq, wasted our resources and our time while Osama bin Laden is probably in a silken palace somewhere smoking shishna laughing about how he never thought the United States to bleed itself in Iraq, rather than in the pursuit of him.
A living Osama bin Laden is walking testament to our enemies that one can attack the United States and live to tell the tale.
Iraq took the main force of the blow in the War on Terror, though it had no ties to the attacks on America and did not possess the alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction the Bush Administration had claimed it had.
Our invasion and occupation has contributed to the picture we see today in Iraq. Though now the violence is now aimed mostly between Sunni and Shia the state of lawlessness which allows for such behavior would not have been present if not for our mission of ill logic.
Not only is a speedy resolution reasonable, it is necessary. Reconciliation talks need to be more than lip service. Iraqi leaders have to take responsibility, but the United States cannot just hand the burden over without offering it's assistance and advice.
Advice which should not come from someone with such a poor understanding of the Middle East and Democracy as George W. Bush.
When the "Mission Accomplished" banner waved, on that fateful day when George W. Bush told the world that major combat had ended in Iraq little did we know that we were only at the beginning on a long, perilous journey.
That day now seems like it was at least a decade ago and "Mission Accomplished" is a sad reminder of lies told and promises broken.
The day Bush proclaimed "Mission Accomplished" has become associated in my mind with the day the real war began in Iraq.
Now we are drawing close to the fourth anniversary of our botched occupation/liberation, and we are further from the ultimate goal than we were during the good old days of the "Mission Accomplished".
Iraq has descended into a state of chaos. Sectarian militias roam the neighborhoods of Baghdad and al Anbar province, protecting some, massacring others
It is common place for a suicide bomber to pretend he is an employer looking for day laborers, only to detonate himself when the crowds of impoverished job seekers come close enough for maximum impact.
Beheadings have declined since the demise of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who had a certain penchant for decapitation, but still occur, even to woman.
Bodies riddled with bullet holes that show signs of torture wash upon the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, the location many biblical scholars believe to be the location of the garden of Eden.
Children who do not even understand the situation cannot attend school. Soon we risk a new generation that knows only war that may evolve into the next generation of terrorist, rather than the new generation to rebuild Iraq.
A trip to the market is necessary and can be deadly. Some hospitals have even become sectarian, throwing out patients of the opposite sect.
Iraq has become a complete and utter state of anarchy that is teetering on the brink of being uncontainable and close to spilling over it's borders.
Rather than pouring aid and resources into Iraq, it's neighbors who complain of the American occupation do little to help the Iraqi's themselves and as we well know some of Iraq's neighbors contribute to the chaos.
Inadequate Administrations, in both the United States and in Iraq have only contributed to the problem. The refusal to honestly address the problem with earnest intentions has thwarted all attempts to contain the situation.
For instance the Presidents of these counties, Talabani and Bush, have failed to live up to even the slightest of expectations.
Both puppets can offer criticism of the report just released by the Iraq Study Group or of any suggestions of a drawback of US troops, but neither has any original or useful ideas of their own. In fact these two have done little to help the situation at all except run their respective mouths.
Every approach to Iraq has failed very possibly because the United States should have never been in Iraq in the first place, the United States should have been tracking down Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, not thinking it can somehow suddenly transform the world now that the trade centers are gone.
The focus should have always been on the elimination of those responsible for 9/11 and the securing of our own country, including borders and ports.
Instead, we blundered into Iraq, wasted our resources and our time while Osama bin Laden is probably in a silken palace somewhere smoking shishna laughing about how he never thought the United States to bleed itself in Iraq, rather than in the pursuit of him.
A living Osama bin Laden is walking testament to our enemies that one can attack the United States and live to tell the tale.
Iraq took the main force of the blow in the War on Terror, though it had no ties to the attacks on America and did not possess the alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction the Bush Administration had claimed it had.
Our invasion and occupation has contributed to the picture we see today in Iraq. Though now the violence is now aimed mostly between Sunni and Shia the state of lawlessness which allows for such behavior would not have been present if not for our mission of ill logic.
Not only is a speedy resolution reasonable, it is necessary. Reconciliation talks need to be more than lip service. Iraqi leaders have to take responsibility, but the United States cannot just hand the burden over without offering it's assistance and advice.
Advice which should not come from someone with such a poor understanding of the Middle East and Democracy as George W. Bush.
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