Are We at War?

Exactly what war are we in? How many wars are we in? Are we in any war at all? Everyone keeps using the word, but what the hell does it mean?

First the War on Terror.

This one is easy. For all that the administration's propaganda campaign has very effectively dismissed the idea that 9/11 was a criminal act doesn't mean that 9/11 wasn't a criminal act. A gang of ideological thugs killed lots of people and destroyed lots of property. What is the threshold beyond which a criminal act becomes an act of war? Is there any such threshold? Al-Qaeda is not a state. Osama may be a criminal folk hero (Aren't the best folk heroes also criminals?), but he isn't a head of state. He isn't the commander of an army. Al-Qaeda isn't that type of organization. Al-Qaeda's activities fit nicely under the category of 'organized crime.'

So what's all this War on Terror stuff? Well now, if we're at war the government gets to do all kinds of things it otherwise wouldn't be able to. Convince enough people that we're at war then those who don't think so can be targeted as 'enablers', 'collaborators', 'traitors'. The electorate can get so busy not liking each other that the administration can, in the meantime, rearrange national policies and institutions to its ideological liking.

Arrangements that the elecorate wouldn't stand for absent a good dose of fear. Fear is to the collective mind what a lobotomy is to the individual.

Haven't you noticed?

Also, this War on Terror will never end. Nothing like a constant state of war for consolidating power. Terror isn't an enemy. Terror is a strategy. You can't win such a war by killing terrorists. You can only win such a war by seperating the terrorists from their passive base of support.

And you can only do that by convincing that passive base of support that such support is against their best interest. Are we doing that?

No. Something else you can do in war is not worry about 'collateral damage'. You can't kill all the neighbors while trying to get a criminal. So when the military goes after a terrorist, like it did recently in Pakistan, and kills a bunch of women and children this is written off as 'what happens in war.'

However, this doesn't get us very far in convincing Al-Qaeda's passive base that Al-Qaeda isn't worth supporting.

Rather, the result is:



So we fuel the support for the terrorists and the war continues. Whether our feckless leaders do this in order to maintain a constant state of war, or they're just supremely incompetent doesn't matter. The end result is the same.

And since we are children (see last weeks commentary) and therefore, well, democracy is weak, civil liberties need a little trimming here and there for the common good, right?

Don't believe it for a moment. This "War on Terror" is a war of the mind.

Now the "War in Iraq"...

Aren't wars over when the government falls? Were we still at war when Tokyo or Berlin fell? No, those became "occupations". One major difference between the occupations of Japan and Germany and the occupation of Iraq was the presence of millions of Allied soldiers in those two countries compared with the 130,000 we have in Iraq.

So much for that comparison.

Besides whether or not we should have invaded Iraq in the first place, and you know where I stand on that one, we need to ask whether the post invasion plan was in any way competent or effective. The answer of course is , "Duh." (See commentary from two weeks ago.)

Afghanistan, which we don't hear too much about, isn't really faring any better. Taliban activity is on the rise and opium production is soaring. Invading Afghanistan did make sense: that's where the bad guys were and a state was protecting them. If there was a government in the modern world needing a take down it was the Taliban. But instead of concentrating our resources on fully repairing and rebuilding that country and making sure Osama and his henchmen were gotten 'dead or alive' we divided those limited resources and created two perfect messes, both of which are either bordering on or in a state of civil war.

Are we at war? We should be.

We should be at war against a dysfunctional and incompetent government that is busy doing more damage to our republic than Osama bin Laden could ever dream about.

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Now some news from the occupation disquised as a war:

Over 34,000 attacks in Iraq in 2005? Gosh, the occupation is not going well. That's... let's see... hmmm... about 90 attacks every day.

That info is from the U.S. Military.

34,000 is up 30% from 2004. No doubt BushieRummieRove believes that to be direct evidence that we have 'turned the corner.' After all, if the 'insurgents' weren't so scared of losing, they wouldn't be trying so hard to win.

Makes perfect sense.

"'We are succeeding, and the Iraqis are succeeding,' said Marine Corps Maj. Tim Keefe, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad."

You go Major!

Hey! How many of those 34,000 were reported? We may be hearing only the bad news out of Iraq, but it sure as hell ain't all the bad news!

(And for those who wish to hear about all the good news supposedly being suppressed, you just don't admire the nice new coat of paint in the upstairs bedroom when the kitchen is on fire. Nope. You get the hell out of the house.)

Here's the good news:

The number of U.S. military deaths last year, 846, was nearly identical to the previous year, 848, while the number wounded in combat last year -- 5,939 -- fell from 2004's total of 7,989.

Hold onto that you true believers! At this rate we'll get the number of U.S. military deaths down to zero in only 423 years!

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You may have noticed the lack of attention here on the Sam Alito nomination. Well, given all the bad news on the Republican side of the aisle these days I can only stand in disgust at the lack of intestinal fortitude in the Democratic party. They haven't convinced enough of the Great Uninformed that Alito deserves anything other than confirmation. They fear a November backlash if they take a stand. Kerry and Kennedy stand up and the party falls apart in disarray.

I reluctantly joined the Democrats a few years ago. Figured Bush was important enough to take a side in our badly dysfunctional two-party system. The Democrats have allowed, very probably, two elections to be stolen (read the Pick of the Week below) without any fight whatsoever. They still can't build any effective, unified front against a scandal saturated Republican majority and a corrupt, criminal administration. All they can do is appease and hope for some better opportunity in some make-believe future.

The Green Party is looking real attractive right about now.

Cheers,
Clemsy



QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

Supreme Court Upholds Assisted Suicide
Administration hails decision as go-ahead to ignore global warming. ~The Ironic Times

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. ~The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution

There should not be a single American who today remains confident that it couldn't happen to them. ~Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla on domestic surveillance

We don’t even bother to raise the terror alarm anymore when the Qaeda mass murderer releases a tape. The scare-level color code was a more useful tool before the 2004 election. ~Maureen Dowd

Despite his assertion of unlimited power, Bush surely will not interfere in the lives of most Americans; just the small number who somehow get in his way. Most Americans probably won’t even notice their altered status, from citizens to subjects. ~Robert Parry

A Syrian official before the war told a journalist friend of mine that people in the Middle East had been seeing these sorts of invasions since Napoleon took Egypt in 1798. "Well," he shrugged, "usually they leave behind a few good things when they finally leave." ~Juan Cole

Clearly, Mr. Rove continues to believe that terrorism provides political opportunity for Republicans. Uniting Americans to combat terrorists seems far less important to him than dividing (Americans) and conquering (Democrats). ~The Courier-Journal

I find it peculiar that an awful lot of Americans who would be outraged by the burning of the American flag are positively sanguine about the trampling of the Constitution. ~Al Gore

The bumbling Bush team that ignored the warning "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States" also ignored one that went something like: "Katrina Determined to Attack New Orleans." And now the White House is trying to inhibit Congressional questions on Katrina, just as it did for the 9/11 inquiries. ~Maureen Dowd

Because we are stuck with this administration for another three years, I think it important to begin to get past the defensiveness and drawing attention away and blame games that big messes provoke. And part of that calls on American journalism to get over reporting the Bush administration as though it were a credible source. We need to face facts. ~Molly Ivins

We're not fighting terrorism in Iraq. We're fighting a civil war in Iraq. We've got to give them an incentive. We fought our Civil War. Let them fight their civil war. ~Rep, John Murtha

Caution! Vulgarity below!

Then here's a brief list of reasons to filibuster Alito that have nothing to do with Savage Sammy:
- Because President Bush authorizes spying on Americans without a warrant.
- Because President Bush authorized torture by Americans and through renditioning.
- Because President Bush detains people without charge for an indefinite period.
- Because President Bush ignores whatever laws he wants, even if he signs them.
- Because President Bush lied about Iraq to get us into the war.
- Because the Army is stretched "to the breaking point."
- Because the reconstruction of Iraq is being fucked up, too.
- Because President Bush refuses to acknowledge what it's gonna take to help the people of the Gulf Coast.
- Because Ford is getting rid of 30,000 employees.
- Because Karl Rove still has a job.
- Because President Bush and the Republicans fail to fully fund the bullshit "No Child Left Behind" program.
- Because President Bush denies the existence of global warming.
- Because the Medicare prescription drug program is a clusterfuck that will end up in people dying because of its existence.
- Because President Bush denies any connection to Jack Abramoff.
- Because President Bush refuses to speak before any audience that doesn't adore him.
- Because Dick Cheney exists.
- Because Osama Bin Laden is either living free or died free.
- Because Donald Rumsfeld still has a job.
- Because the White House has stymied every investigation into its fuck-ups.
- Because President Bush calls spying "terrorist surveillance" and pollution "Clean Skies" and money to churches "Faith-Based Initiatives."
- Because Richard Scaife doesn't need another tax cut.
- Because there has to be a line in the sand, somewhere; otherwise, it's just one long desert until who-knows-when. ~The Rude Pundit

In New Mexico, for example, we're told that Bush won by some 7,000 votes. We know of over 17,000 Democratic voters who were unable to cast a vote for president because the touch screen machines in their districts refused to record a vote for president. ~Mark Crispin Miller



QUOTES FROM THE HIVE MIND

Some have suggested that by liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein, we simply stirred up a hornets’ nest. They overlook a fundamental fact: we were not in Iraq on Sept. 11, 2001, and the terrorists hit us anyway. ~Dick Cheney (What? Did that make any sense?)

This is a man that we know has had connections with al-Qaeda. This is a man who would like to use al-Qaeda as a forward army. And this is a man that we must deal with for the sake of peace. ~George Bush on Saddam Hussein in 2002

I'm making sure that I have a thorough report back to you on that. And I'll get that to you, hopefully very soon. ~Scott McClellan, Jan. 5 on Jack Abramoff's staff meetings at the White House.

I don't get into discussing staff-level meetings. ~Scott McClellan, Jan. 17 on Jack Abramoff's staff meetings at the White House.

We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee. That's just a joke, for you in the media. ~Ann Coulter (She's such a ...stitch.)


PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Palace Revolt

They were loyal conservatives, and Bush appointees. They fought a quiet battle to rein in the president's power in the war on terror. And they paid a price for it. A NEWSWEEK investigation. (Late Addition: AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ)


They Know They Broke the Law By William Rivers Pitt

A defining moment of glittering idiocy took place on this road trip during an exchange with reporters on Monday. General Michael Hayden, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence and former director of the National Security Agency, was tapped to be the responsible face of the intelligence community for this junket. The façade didn't hold up for long.


Rove's Early Warning By E.J. Dionne Jr.

Perhaps it's an aspect of compassionate conservatism. Or maybe it's just a taunt and a dare. Well in advance of Election Day, Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, has a habit of laying out his party's main themes, talking points and strategies.

Election Theft Emergency

For GOP voters, the 2004 presidential election was little short of miraculous: Behind in the Electoral College even on the afternoon of the vote, the Bush-Cheney ticket staged a stunning comeback. Usually reliable exit polls turned out to be wrong by an unprecedented 5 percent in swing states. Conservatives argued, and the media agreed, that "moral values" had made the difference.

In his latest book, Fooled Again: How The Right Stole The 2004 Election, And Why They'll Steal The Next One Too (Unless We Stop Them), Mark Crispin Miller argues that it wasn't moral values which swung the election - it was theft.


HEADLINES

Audit Describes Misuse of Funds in Iraq Projects

A new audit of American financial practices in Iraq has uncovered irregularities including millions of reconstruction dollars stuffed casually into footlockers and filing cabinets, an American soldier in the Philippines who gambled away cash belonging to Iraq, and three Iraqis who plunged to their deaths in a rebuilt hospital elevator that had been improperly certified as safe.

The Coming Tug of War Over the Internet

But the nation's largest telephone companies have a new business plan, and if it comes to pass you may one day discover that Yahoo suddenly responds much faster to your inquiries, overriding your affinity for Google. Or that Amazon's Web site seems sluggish compared with eBay's.

Data Sought on Royalties Paid for Gas

Lawmakers in both political parties demanded on Monday that the Bush administration address concerns that energy companies may have been underpaying the government for oil and gas they produce on publicly owned land and in coastal waters.

Study: Army Stretched to Breaking Point

Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who wrote the report under a Pentagon contract, concluded that the Army cannot sustain the pace of troop deployments to Iraq long enough to break the back of the insurgency. He also suggested that the Pentagon's decision, announced in December, to begin reducing the force in Iraq this year was driven in part by a realization that the Army was overextended.


DOMESTIC SURVEILANCE: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING

Impeachment hearings: The White House prepares for the worst

Sources said a prelude to the impeachment process could begin with hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February. They said the hearings would focus on the secret electronic surveillance program and whether Mr. Bush violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

U.S. accused of spying on those who disagree with Bush policies

While the White House defended domestic surveillance as a safeguard against terrorism, a Florida peace activist and several Democrats in Congress accused the Bush administration on Friday of spying on Americans who disagree with President Bush's policies.

Googling Past the Graveyard

I don’t like the thought of Dick Cheney ogling my Googling.
Because what I’m Googling, of course, is Dick Cheney. I have to constantly monitor how Vice Voyeur is pushing the federal government to constantly monitor millions of ordinary Americans’ phone calls, e-mail notes and Internet searches.

The Other Big Brother

The demonstration seemed harmless enough. Late on a June afternoon in 2004, a motley group of about 10 peace activists showed up outside the Houston headquarters of Halliburton, the giant military contractor once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. They were there to protest the corporation's supposed "war profiteering." The demonstrators wore papier-mache masks and handed out free peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches to Halliburton employees as they left work. The idea, according to organizer Scott Parkin, was to call attention to allegations that the company was overcharging on a food contract for troops in Iraq. "It was tongue-in-street political theater," Parkin says.

But that's not how the Pentagon saw it. To U.S. Army analysts at the top-secret Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), the peanut-butter protest was regarded as a potential threat to national security.

The End of 'Unalienable Rights'

Every American school child is taught that in the United States, people have “unalienable rights,” heralded by the Declaration of Independence and enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Supposedly, these liberties can’t be taken away, but they are now gone.

Bush Defends 'Terrorist Surveillance'

President Bush pushed back Monday at critics of his once-secret domestic spying effort, saying it should be termed a "terrorist surveillance program" and contending it has the backing of legal experts, key lawmakers and the Supreme Court.

Chilling dissent

As the Bush Administration ratchets up domestic spying the FBI is collecting 'research' reports on 'direct action' environmental groups produced by right wing think tanks


OCCUPATION: IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

Documents Show Army Seized Wives As Tactic

The U.S. Army in Iraq has at least twice seized and jailed the wives of suspected insurgents in hopes of "leveraging" their husbands into surrender, U.S. military documents show.

In one case, a secretive task force locked up the young mother of a nursing baby, a U.S. intelligence officer reported. In the case of a second detainee, one American colonel suggested to another that they catch her husband by tacking a note to the family's door telling him "to come get his wife."

Insurgent attacks in Iraq jumped in 2005, US says

Insurgents in Iraq mounted more than 34,000 attacks last year on U.S. and other foreign troops, Iraqi security forces and Iraqi civilians, a nearly 30 percent jump from 2004, the U.S. military said on Monday.


OPINION

Democrats: Get Up and Walk Out By William Rivers Pitt

Understand this, congressional Democrats, and understand it well: you are not dealing merely with a body of political opponents in the GOP. You are dealing with a group of people that want you exterminated politically. The days of walking the halls of the Rayburn Building, sharing a bourbon with a colleague from the other side of the aisle, and hammering out a compromise are as dead as Julius Caesar. Collegiality is out. Mutual respect is out. They want you gone for good. Erased. Destroyed.


Top Ten Mistakes of the Bush Administration in Reacting to al-Qaeda By Juan Cole

Usamah Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri murdered 3,000 Americans, and they both issued tapes in the past week, blustering and threatening us with more of the same. Most of us aren't wild about paying for the Bush administration with our taxes, but one thing we have a right to expect is that our government would protect us from mass murderers and would chase them down and arrest them. It has not done that. When asked why he hasn't caught Bin Laden, Bush replies, "Because he's hidin.'" Is Bush laughing at us?

Who Will Stand Up for the Constitution?
by Bob Herbert

Americans do not seem especially concerned about this incredible affront to the integrity of the government and the rule of law. The attitude of a slender majority seems to be that if the likes of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney see fit to dismantle the heretofore sacred system of checks and balances, so be it.

Here Is The Big Gay Agenda Revealed! The horrifying secret plot to homo-amplify America. Also: Dig this hetero agenda! By Mark Morford

I have spoken with my gay friends. I have been to yoga classes and men's health spas and Restoration Hardware, chic rug shops and the Castro Starbucks and really cute restaurants featuring mixed baby greens that cost $12. I have observed. I have taken notes. I have checked the fashions and the cars and the skin-tight T-shirts, the newsletters and the bumper stickers and the secret codes hidden within the rainbow flag. (Great article. Must read.)

Big Daddy Bush, FISA, and a Message from Osama

Let's look at the behavior of George W. Bush from the context of this quote by his Chief of Staff, Andrew Card:

"It struck me as I was speaking to people in Bangor, Maine, that this president sees America as we think about a 10-year-old child."

Consider that for a moment and Bushie's unwarranted domestic eavesdropping makes perfect sense: You don't ask a ten year old for permission. You do what you think is best for a ten-year-old. In fact, you don't give ten-year-olds an equal voice. You don't even have to listen to a ten-year-old's opinion.

Of course the corollary of that quote is that Bushie is the only adult in the country.

Well, other than Cheney, Rummie, Wolfie, Rovie, Condie and Laura and Mom.

The relationship of a parent, or any adult, to a child is not democratic. Indeed, the relationship is parallel to that of the biblical god to an adult: Boss, Ruler, Dictator, Tyrant.

The FISA court has validated the vast majority of requests for warrants. In cases of emergency, the wiretapping can go ahead without a warrant, as long os one is applied for within 72 hours.

So why is George not bothering? Is the FISA court a child's game he doesn't have to play? Is there domestic data the NSA has collected that would not have been allowed by the FISA court? Data outside the purview of anti-terrorism? Data any good parent would want to have? To know exactly what his child is doing? Who he's talking to? What he's thinking? What his plans are?

My, my. The Law seems to be very much in the way of Father George being a good Daddy to his country.

Unless the Law only applies to the children and George is, well, above the Law.

Cheney, who seems to have absolutetly no compunction against bald-faced lying, said about warrantless wiretaps, in another in the long chain of statements invoking 9/11, "It's the kind of capability if we'd had before 9/11 might have led us to be able to prevent 9/11."

Actually, what was needed was more Arabic speakers to translate the intelligence on hand.

Can you imagine the opposition having no problem with Bill Clinton doing this? They would have impeached him just as quickly as Bush would be impeached if the democrats had a majority in the legislature.

But then if Bush were Clinton he would have been impeached on any number of issues between 9/11 and today.

And justifiably so.

Speaking of Clinton, the Bushies love to invoke him in the name of "Clinton did it too!"

The Clinton Administration obtained a warrant for every wiretap. Prior to 1995 unwarranted searches were conducted under the Clinton Administration. Such searches required a warrant under FISA in 1995, and such were obtained from then on.

If Clinton claimed the authority to conduct unwarranted searches and wiretaps, he was as wrong then as Bush is now. The repubs really need to stop invoking Clinton to justify their behavior.

"Well, he did it!"

Sounds childish.

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So Osama bin Forgotten turns up to say plans are in progress for a hit in the U.S. This comes as a surprise? I was told recently that the fact that we haven't been hit since 9/11 is a result of the security blanket Bush has us wrapped in.

Bullshit, says I.

Eight years passed between the first attack on the World Trade Center and 9/11/01. Yes they are terrorists. That doesn't mean they're frothy mouthed maniacs. They're smart and very, very patient.

And we are not ready to prevent another attack. The 9/11 Commissionwas quite plain about this recently:

We believe that the terrorists will strike again. If they do, and these reforms that might have prevented such an attack have not been implemented, what will our excuses be? --Thomas H. Kean, the panel's chairman and former Republican governor of New Jersey (LINK)

How about this, Tom? Knowing the bad guys were coming, our Father who art in Washington didn't lock the damn doors.

Careful, Daddy. The Bureau of Child Welfare may put us in foster care.

Cheers,
Clemsy


QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

Bush Touts Progress of Iraqi Economy
Unemployment rate of 40% likely over-stated since so many are employed in the insurgency.

An executive who arrogates to himself the power to ignore the legitimate legislative directives of the Congress or to act free of the check of the judiciary becomes the central threat that the Founders sought to nullify in the Constitution - an all-powerful executive too reminiscent of the King from whom they had broken free. --Al Gore

It's my belief that we should get out now. --Walter Cronkite

He’s [Pres. Bush] trying to fight this war with rhetoric. Iraq is not where the center of terrorism is. So when he says we’re fighting terrorism over there, we’re inciting terrorism over there.--- He said before there’s weapons of mass destruction. He said there’s an al Qaeda connection. There’s many things he said turned out not to be true. So why would I believe him... --Rep. John Murtha (Why would anyone believe him.)

Fact-based reporting is the lifeblood of a democracy. It gives people shared information on which to make political choices. But as people in new democracies risk their lives to gather such information, in this country fact-based reporting is under more relentless assault than at any time in my more than 40 years in Washington. --By Clark Hoyt

We do know, from the memoirs of former aides, congressional inquiries and leaked British documents, that Iraq was high on Bush's agenda as soon after he took office on Jan. 20, 2001. --Helen Thomas

If no one in conventional-wisdom politics has the courage to speak up and say what needs to be said, then you go out and find some obscure junior senator from Minnesota with the guts to do it. --Molly Ivins

Parliamentary democracy is by definition rotten, because it does not represent the voice of the people, which is that of the sublime leader. Doctrine outstrips reason, and science is always suspect. The national identity is provided by the nation's enemies. Argument is tantamount to treason. Perpetually at war, the state must govern with the instruments of fear. Citizens do not act; they play the supporting role of 'the people' in the grand opera that is the state. --Umberto Eco


QUOTES FROM THE BELEAGUERED HIVE MIND

Republicans have a post-9/11 view of the world. And Democrats have a pre-9/11 view of the world. That doesn't make them unpatriotic, not at all. But it does make them wrong, deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong. --Karl Rove


PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Purple Heartbreakers

IT should come as no surprise that an arch-conservative Web site is questioning whether Representative John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has been critical of the war in Iraq, deserved the combat awards he received in Vietnam. (By James Webb, a secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration, and was a Marine platoon and company commander in Vietnam.)

'We the People' Must Save Our Constitution by Al Gore

On this particular Martin Luther King Day, it is especially important to recall that for the last several years of his life, Dr. King was illegally wiretapped-one of hundreds of thousands of Americans whose private communications were intercepted by the U.S. government during this period.

The FBI privately called King the "most dangerous and effective negro leader in the country" and vowed to "take him off his pedestal." The government even attempted to destroy his marriage and blackmail him into committing suicide.

This campaign continued until Dr. King's murder. The discovery that the FBI conducted a long-running and extensive campaign of secret electronic surveillance designed to infiltrate the inner workings of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and to learn the most intimate details of Dr. King's life, helped to convince Congress to enact restrictions on wiretapping.

Not. Backing. Hillary. by Molly Ivins

Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone. This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges. (Molly is pissed! Must read!)

The Forgotten Wounded of Iraq By Ron Kovic
As this the 38th anniversary of my wounding in Vietnam approaches, in many ways I feel my injury in that war has been a blessing in disguise. I have been given the opportunity to move through that dark night of the soul to a new shore, to gain an understanding, a knowledge, an entirely different vision. I now believe that I have suffered for a reason and in many ways I have found that reason in my commitment to peace and nonviolence. We who have witnessed the obscenity of war and experienced its horror and terrible consequences have an obligation to rise above our pain and suffering and turn the tragedy of our lives into a triumph. I have come to believe that there is nothing in the lives of human beings more terrifying than war and nothing more important than for those of us who have experienced it to share its awful truth.

We must break this cycle of violence and begin to move in a different direction; war is not the answer, violence is not the solution. A more peaceful world is possible.


HEADLINES

White House Won't Reveal Details of Abramoff Meetings with Staff

Abramoff had "a few staff-level meetings" at the Bush White House, presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said Tuesday. But he would not say with whom Abramoff met, which interests he was representing or how he got access to the White House.


2002 Memo Doubted Uranium Sale Claim

A high-level intelligence assessment by the Bush administration concluded in early 2002 that the sale of uranium from Niger to Iraq was "unlikely" because of a host of economic, diplomatic and logistical obstacles, according to a secret memo that was recently declassified by the State Department.

...declassified as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group that has sought access to government documents on terrorism and intelligence matters. The group, which received a copy of the 2002 memo among several hundred pages of other documents, provided a copy of the memo to The New York Times.

Army Orders Soldiers to Shed Dragon Skin or Lose SGLI Death Benefits

Two deploying soldiers and a concerned mother reported Friday afternoon that the U.S. Army appears to be singling out soldiers who have purchased Pinnacle's Dragon Skin Body Armor for special treatment. The soldiers, who are currently staging for combat operations from a secret location, reported that their commander told them if they were wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin and were killed their beneficiaries might not receive the death benefits from their $400,000 SGLI life insurance policies...

Recently Dragon Skin became an item of contention between proponents of the Interceptor OTV body armor generally issued to all service members deploying in combat theaters and its growing legion of critics. Critics of the Interceptor OTV system say it is ineffective and inferior to Dragon Skin, as well as several other commercially available body armor systems on the market.

One of the soldiers who lost his coveted Dragon Skin is a veteran operator. He reported that his commander expressed deep regret upon issuing his orders directing him to leave his Dragon Skin body armor behind. The commander reportedly told his subordinates that he "had no choice because the orders came from very high up" and had to be enforced, the soldier said. (Who's making money on the Interceptor OTV armor contract? Hmmm? Follow the money.)

The Pacifist `Threat'

A group of Quakers who were protesting military recruitment efforts at a Florida high school recently learned their meeting was included on a secret Pentagon database of "suspicious incidents." When that news broke last month, it had a familiar ring for many American Quakers.

Poll: Concerns Shift From Economy to War

Economic worries have decreased over the last six months as the American public has shifted its concern more to the war in Iraq and problems faced by political leaders, AP-Ipsos polling found.

Pakistanis Condemn Purported CIA Attack

Pakistani officials on Saturday angrily condemned a purported
CIA airstrike meant to target al-Qaida's No. 2 man, saying he wasn't there and "innocent civilians" were among at least 17 men, women and children killed in a village near the Afghan border.

The drone, the CIA and a botched attempt to kill bin Laden's deputy

In the hunt for al-Qaeda, a missile attack on a mountain village killed women and children. The attack was precise, the intelligence was flawed, and the strained relation between Pakistan and the US has been pushed to breaking point.

3 Top al-Qaida Operatives Believed Killed

Pakistani security officials on Thursday said at least four top al-Qaida operatives were believed killed in a U.S. missile strike last week, including an explosives expert on the U.S. most-wanted list and a close relative of the terror network's No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri.

..."We do not have any evidence to prove that they have been killed, but we have indications that they were there and were among those bodies that were taken away," one official said, declining to elaborate.

The Pit's toll rising

James Zadroga, the 34-year-old Manhattan homicide detective buried this week, is believed to be the first member of the NYPD who worked on the Ground Zero cleanup to die.

But the Daily News has learned that an additional 22 men, mostly in their 30s and 40s, have died from causes their families say were accelerated by the toxic mix of chemicals that lodged in their bodies as they searched for survivors or participated in the cleanup after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Conservatives Step Up Activities Overseas

From Peru to the Philippines to Poland, U.S.-based conservative groups are increasingly engaged in abortion and family-planning debates overseas, emboldened by their ties with the Bush administration and eager to compete with more liberal rivals.

The States Step In As Medicare Falters

Two weeks into the new Medicare prescription drug program, many of the nation's sickest and poorest elderly and disabled people are being turned away or overcharged at pharmacies, prompting more than a dozen states to declare health emergencies and pay for their life-saving medicines.

Google Rebuffs Feds on Search Requests

Google Inc. is rebuffing the Bush administration's demand for a peek at what millions of people have been looking up on the Internet's leading search engine _ a request that underscores the potential for online databases to become tools for government surveillance.

Bin Laden Threatens Attacks, Offers Truce

Osama bin Laden warned in an audiotape aired Thursday that his fighters are preparing new attacks in the United States but offered the American people a "long-term truce" without specifying the conditions.


WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' FISA COURT

Spying on Ordinary Americans

In times of extreme fear, American leaders have sometimes scrapped civil liberties in the name of civil protection. It's only later that the country can see that the choice was a false one and that citizens' rights were sacrificed to carry out extreme measures that were at best useless and at worst counterproductive. There are enough examples of this in American history - the Alien and Sedition Acts and the World War II internment camps both come to mind - that the lesson should be woven into the nation's fabric. But it's hard to think of a more graphic example than President Bush's secret program of spying on Americans.

Congressional Agency Questions Legality of Wiretaps

The Bush administration appears to have violated the National Security Act by limiting its briefings about a warrantless domestic eavesdropping program to congressional leaders, according to a memo from Congress's research arm released yesterday.


WAR: IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

Cronkite: Time for U.S. to Leave Iraq

Former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 conclusion that the Vietnam War was unwinnable keenly influenced public opinion then, said Sunday he'd say the same thing today about Iraq.

Remember Afghanistan? Insurgents Bring Suicide Terror to Country

The new Taliban are deploying tactics that have torn Iraq to shreds, and Afghanistan is seeing a surge in the previously unknown practice of suicide bombings ­ 25 in four months. This is seen as the reintroduction of al-Qa'ida into Afghanistan ­ a devastating example of how over-extending the "war on terror" into Iraq is rebounding on the West with vengeance. Tony Blair declared after the overthrow of the Taliban and the retreat of Osama bin Laden and al-Qa'ida that "this time we will not walk away" , a reference to how Afghanistan was allowed to sink into its cycle of destruction after the West had used and then abandoned the country in the Cold War against the Soviets.


OPINION

The New Fascism By William Rivers Pitt

Say "fascism" to anyone you meet, and you will be greeted with the boilerplate response of the blithely overconfident: such a thing cannot happen here. This is the United States of America, land of the free and home of the brave. Ours is a nation of laws, of checks and balances, of righteousness and decency. Our laws and traditions stand as a bulwark against the rise of totalitarian madness. It cannot happen here. Thus we are indoctrinated into the school of our own assumed greatness.

Defense Department's Plan for Iraq: Chaos and Death

Today we spin Clemsy's "Basket of Bush's Botched Brainstorms"! Ready? Ah yes. An oldie but goodie...

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner wasn't named to lead Iraq's reconstruction until January 2003 and didn't oversee the first major interagency conference on postwar Iraq until Feb. 21, less than a month before the invasion.

At the Pentagon, the director of the Joint Staff, Army Gen. George Casey, repeatedly pressed Gen. Tommy Franks, the head of the Central Command, for a "Phase 4," or postwar, plan, the senior defense official said.

"Casey was screaming, 'Where is our Phase 4 plan?' " the official said. It never arrived...

Franks' Central Command did have an extensive plan to restore order and begin rebuilding the country, called Operation Desert Crossing, said retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, who drew up the plan and updated it continuously when he led Centcom until 2000. It was never utilized.

On March 17, 2003, two days before the war began, ground force commanders asked the Army War College for a copy of the handbook that had governed the U.S. occupation of postwar Germany, which began in 1945. LINK

I heard Jay Garner interviewed on NPR some time ago and he discussed that Feb. 21 conference. Apparently, there was some guy in the room constantly raising his hand and offering meaningful advice. I'll let George Packer of the New Yorker Magazine tell it:

Gordon W. Rudd, a professor from the Marine Corps’s Command and Staff College, who had been assigned to Garner’s team as a historian, noticed that a man sitting four rows in front of him kept interjecting comments during other people’s presentations. “At first, he annoyed me,” Rudd said. “Then I realized he was better informed than we were. He had worked the topics, while the guy onstage was a rookie.”

It was Tom Warrick, the coördinator of the State Department’s Future of Iraq Project...

You see, the State Department had been working on a post invasion plan for Iraq for some time.. like over a year. Read more about it HERE.

However, there was something of a territorial dispute between State and Defense at the time, and the plan was essentially discarded. Defense had mere weeks to come up with its own.

Anyway, Garner is impressed with Warrick and invites him onto his team. However...

Two weeks after the rock drill, after a meeting at the Pentagon, Rumsfeld asked Garner, “Do you have a guy named Warrick on your team?” Rumsfeld ordered Garner to remove Warrick from ORHA (Office Of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance), adding, “This came from such a high level I can’t say no.” Warrick, who had done as much thinking about postwar Iraq as any other American official, never went to Baghdad.

Why was post-invasion Iraq such a mess? Why was there so much looting, especially of sensitive sites containing nuclear material and conventional weapons and explosives? How many lives may have been saved from the ensuing chaos? How many children? Why is Iraq still such a mess? Not that everything would be hunky-dory if State's plan had been implemented, but it would have started with something other than Defense's "Make It Up As We Go Along" plan.

(Pertinent aside: Heard a former British governor of an Iraqi province interviewed on Fresh Air the other day. One image of the post invasion chaos he left me with was that of Sunni Baathists hanging from lamposts.)

There's only one word to describe the arrogance of the Bush Cabal, for whom Colin Powell decided to be a lap dog: hubris. It's one thing to go into a such a situation with no plan. It's another to have one and throw it out.

Usually, when these things happen, someone gets fired.

Defining quote! "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." --Mark Twain

Where should the blame for this be placed? Squarely on our dysfunctional two-party system in which one side takes all and a slim majority can be the endowment of "political capital". Perhaps, if this were a Congress controlled by the Democrats under a Democrat president, the same would have happened. Perhaps even probably. The point is that the Republican controlled Congress has exercised little oversight of the Bush administration. They waited forty years to control the executive and legislative branches and could not confront their dream being morphed into a nightmare.

Behavior such as that described above is simply unacceptable. Ideologues with no imagination get us what we've gotten: tens of thousands of unnecessary dead.

Remember Rummie's words when all hell broke loose? "Stuff happens."

Excuse me for finding this sort of incompetence just cause for anger and contempt. We all have our standards. For some it's a blow-job, for others it's death and destruction.

Blurbs...

So why is Iran getting so uppity lately? How's this for geo-politcial amateur theory:

Q: What country benefits the most from the removal of Saddam Hussein?

A: Iran.

Q: What connection do Iran and Iraq share?

A: Shia Islam.

Q: What could be a consequence of any Western threat to Iran?

A: A Shia uprising in Iraq.

Q: What country would benefit from a Shia uprising in Iraq?

A: Iran.

Just a thought.

...Re the story about the inadequate body armor the Marines are wearing: On one side of a news story I heard Sen. Warner saying that our troops get the best equipment in the world and their is no lack of money to get them what they need. On the other side of the story is a father saying he had to spend $500 to send his son the side armor he needed, and that thousands of families are doing the same. This father also mentioned that the commanding officer at one military base told him their is no budget allowance for this armor.

Tally up another reason for anger and contempt.

Clemsy's Silver Lining Thought of the Day: Alito's Supreme Court nomination will be confirmed. (The Democrats will look silly if they try to stop it.) Alito will push the Court further to the right.

This will keep the electorate on its toes for some time to come. That's a good thing.

LATE ADDITION:

The consistency of the right-wing smear machine is impressive, as is its effectiveness. Kerry's assassination by the Swift Boat folks revealed the lengths they will go to to ensure their story is a big event, and the eventual revelation about the truth a small one. Kerry should have responded with both barrels blazing and the MSM should have acted quicker in investigating the story instead of just reporting the accusations. The result is history.

Now come the attacks on Rep. John Murtha. Check this out from some pseudo-news organization: LINK.

The Washington Post picked up the story, and said this about Cybercast News Service, "Cybercast is part of the conservative Media Research Center, run by L. Brent Bozell III, who accused some in the media of ignoring the Swift Boat charges..." LINK

Cybercast News Service used to be called the Conservative News Service.

Need I say more?

Murtha's reputation as a Vietnam Veteran leaves him pretty impervious to attack by the administration, as noted by the quick back-pedalling when it was tried. So now comes the attempt to remove that reputation.

Murtha responded quickly HERE.

At this point folks, any accusations about the reputation of anyone opposing the policies of the Bush Administration from some no-name third-party (clever strategy, that) should be dismissed out of hand.

In all probability, Murtha is speaking for those in the military who dare not open their own mouths. Obviously, he is seen as in need of serious side-lining.

Cheers,
Clemsy


QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

U.S. Concerned With Staffing Of New Iraqi Government
Fears key positions will go to incompetent political hacks, cronies. --Ironic Times

A state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens. --Sandra Day O'Connor

With this gang, political victory and the propaganda needed to secure it always trump principles, even conservative principles, let alone the truth. Whenever the White House most vociferously attacks the press, you can be sure its No. 1 motive is to deflect attention from embarrassing revelations about its incompetence and failures. --Frank Rich

It is true that any Washington influence peddler is going to spread cash and favors as widely as possible, and 210 members of Congress have received Abramoff-connected dollars. But this is, in its essence, a Republican scandal, and any attempt to portray it otherwise is a misdirection. --Rich Lowry, from the National Review

Democracy is represented largely by the Democratic Party that Jefferson founded, and Greens and independents who respond to Jefferson's call. Aristocracy is represented largely by the Republican Party which grew out of the ashes of the Whigs and the Federalists when both tried to rule this nation by wealth, deceit, and backroom-deals, and continues to use those tactics to maintain power. --Thom Hartmann

Since 9/11, the expansion of efforts to gather and analyze information on U.S. citizens is nothing short of staggering. The government collects vast troves of data, including consumer credit histories and medical and travel records. Databases track Americans' networks of friends, family and associates, not just to identify who is a terrorist but to try to predict who might become one. --LA Times

According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, the definition of a civil war is a "war between political factions or regions within the same country." That is exactly what is going on in Iraq, not a global war on terrorism, as the President continues to portray it. --Rep. John Murtha

Everybody had thought that the chads were where all the bad ballots were, but it turned out that the ones that were the most decisive were write-in ballots where people would check Gore and write Gore in, and the machine kicked those out. There were 175,000 votes overall that were so-called “spoiled ballots.” About two-thirds of the spoiled ballots were over-votes; many or most of them would have been write-in over-votes, where people had punched and written in a candidate’s name. And nobody looked at this, not even the Florida Supreme Court in the last decision it made requiring a statewide recount. Nobody had thought about it except Judge Terry Lewis, who was overseeing the statewide recount when it was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court. The write-in over-votes have really not gotten much attention. Those votes are not ambiguous. When you see Gore picked and then Gore written in, there’s not a question in your mind who this person was voting for. When you go through those, they’re unambiguous: Bush got some of those votes, but they were overwhelmingly for Gore. --Lance deHaven-Smith

George Bush would be in severe political trouble if there were an opposition political party in the country. --Noam Chomsky

Money is the Achilles heel of democracy. --Eric Margolis


PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Proof Bush Deceived America by Ray McGovern

James Risen’s State of War: the Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration, may hold bigger secrets than the disclosure that President George W. Bush authorized warrantless eavesdropping on Americans.

Risen’s book also confirms the most damning element of the British Cabinet Office memos popularly called the “Downing Street memos;” namely, that “the intelligence and the facts were being fixed around the policy.” The result is that it is no longer credible to maintain that the failures in the Iraqi intelligence were the product of a broken intelligence community. The Bush administration deliberately fabricated the case against Iraq, lying to Congress and the American people along the way.

The Wiretappers That Couldn't Shoot Straight By Frank Rich

That the White House's over-the-top outrage about the Times scoop is a smokescreen contrived to cover up something else is only confirmed by Dick Cheney's disingenuousness. In last week's oration at a right-wing think tank, he defended warrant-free wiretapping by saying it could have prevented the 9/11 attacks. Really? Not with this administration in charge. On 9/10 the N.S.A. (lawfully) intercepted messages in Arabic saying, "The match is about to begin," and, "Tomorrow is zero hour." You know the rest. Like all the chatter our government picked up during the president's excellent brush-clearing Crawford vacation of 2001, it was relegated to mañana; the N.S.A. didn't rouse itself to translate those warnings until 9/12.

The Rapid Disappearance of America's Middle Class by Floyd J. McKay

In Harvard Magazine Warren documents what many of us have felt anecdotally: "During the past generation, the American middle-class family that once could count on hard work and fair play to keep itself financially secure has been transformed by economic risk and new realities. Now a pink slip, a bad diagnosis, or a disappearing spouse can reduce a family from solidly middle class to newly poor in a few months."

Al Gore really did beat George W. Bush in 2000. Six years on, this is still a problem?

After spending 36 days in the fall of 2000 in thrall to politicians, pundits and the press, Americans probably thought they knew all about the hanging, dangling and pregnant chads that helped decide the presidential election.

Turns out, those chads only distracted attention from much more grievous breakdowns during the 2000 election. (If only, if only...)


HEADLINES

Homeland Security opening private mail

Last month Goodman, an 81-year-old retired University of Kansas history professor, received a letter from his friend in the Philippines that had been opened and resealed with a strip of dark green tape bearing the words “by Border Protection” and carrying the official Homeland Security seal.


WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' FISA COURT

ABC's SCOOP: "MILLIONS" OF AMERICANS' PHONE CALLS TAPPED BY N.S.A.

ABC's "Nightline" last night aired a terrifying scoop: a former senior insider at the National Security Agency said that the agency has illegally spied on "millions" of Americans who make telephone calls overseas.

Why Run Around the Low-Hurdle of FISA? by Ray McGovern

If you were Christmas shopping on December 19, you may have missed an important press conference. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Deputy Director of National Intelligence Gen. Mike Hayden answered questions about eavesdropping on Americans by the National Security Agency, which Hayden directed from 1999 to 2005, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). More Kabuki dance than press conference, the event was not given much play in the media. However, the implications for privacy—and for our constitutional system of checks and balances—are immense. We do well to explore those implications.

You're being watched ...

CONGRESS WILL soon hold hearings on the National Security Agency's domestic spying program, secretly authorized by President Bush in 2002. But that program is just the tip of the iceberg.


WAR: IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

Extra Armor Could Have Saved Many Lives, Study Shows

A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor. That armor has been available since 2003 but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials.


US troops seize award-winning Iraqi journalist

American troops in Baghdad yesterday blasted their way into the home of an Iraqi journalist working for the Guardian and Channel 4, firing bullets into the bedroom where he was sleeping with his wife and children.

US army in Iraq institutionally racist, claims British officer

The blistering critique, by Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster, who was the second most senior officer responsible for training Iraqi security forces, reflects criticism and frustration voiced by British commanders of American military tactics.

Taliban Leader Vows More Attacks in Afghanistan

Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar on Monday vowed more attacks against U.S. forces in Afghanistan, a day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai suggested he ``get in touch'' if he wanted peace.

Precision killing in Iraq

A little more than a year ago, a group of Johns Hopkins University researchers reported that about 100,000 Iraqi civilians had died as a result of the Iraq war during its first 14 months, with about 60,000 of the deaths directly attributable to military violence by the US and its allies.


OPINION

Attack on Iran: A Looming Folly By William Rivers Pitt

The wires have been humming since before the New Year with reports that the Bush administration is planning an attack on Iran. "The Bush administration is preparing its NATO allies for a possible military strike against suspected nuclear sites in Iran in the New Year, according to German media reports, reinforcing similar earlier suggestions in the Turkish media," reported UPI on December 30th.

Challenging Abramoff's "Artificial Aristocracy"

That Jack Abramoff exclusively gave his money to conservative Republicans shouldn't surprise us. While the RNC will try to spin this as "politics" and not as a Republican scandal, much as Bush called his old friend and business associate Ken Lay an "equal opportunity corruptor," the reality is that it's not a corruption that has infected both parties, nor could it be.

Bush makes 'government incompetence' a reality by Molly Ivins

The great irony is that this was supposed to be the CEO administration. Bush was supposed to put people in charge of government who had track records in private industry, who did in fact know how to run a railroad. For just sheer incompetence, this administration sets new records daily. All those years the right wing sat around yammering about government incompetence, and it took this administration to make it true.

The 'Fin de Regime'? by Eric Margolis

China's Taoists philosophers warned that you become what you hate. We see this paradox in Washington, where the current administration increasingly reminds one of the old Soviet Union.

For the House GOP, A Belated Evolution, by George Will

Before evolution produced creatures of our perfection, there was a three-ton dinosaur, the stegosaurus, so neurologically sluggish that when its tail was injured, significant time elapsed before news of the trauma meandered up its long spine to its walnut-size brain. This primitive beast, not the dignified elephant, should be the symbol of House Republicans. (I don't agree with everything in this article, but he puts the blame right where it belongs.)

A Reply

Oh no. I don't bash conservatives on my blog. I bash Bush supporters and bought politicians. Mercilessly. There is a large difference. I quote conservatives quite often.

In fact I think I'll do so right now:

Liberals practice "K Street liberalism" with an easy conscience because they believe government should do as much as possible for as many interests as possible. But "K Street conservatism" compounds unseemliness with hypocrisy. Until the Bush administration, with its incontinent spending, unleashed an especially conscienceless Republican control of both political branches, conservatives pretended to believe in limited government. The past five years, during which the number of registered lobbyists more than doubled, have proved that, for some Republicans, conservative virtue was merely the absence of opportunity for vice. (LINK)

That was George Will.

Indeed, I've said more than once that the only people who can save us from the madness of King George are the true conservative Republicans, who are slowly realizing they've been in bed with the very devil.

There are 3 camps: 1) the Bush ideology is dangerously wrong and on top of that, he's an incompetent ass (that would be my camp). 2) The Bush ideology is right but he's an incompetent ass (growing camp among independents and repubs). 3) Everything is peachy keen and Bush is the greatest president of our time (diminishing camp).

Where are you?

The man drove the car into the ditch. Letting him drive the tow-truck is just dumb.

I insist, and you really haven't gotten this point, that anti-Bush does not = Left. Liberalism is far too often defined as opposition to American foreign policy. Noam Chomsky is lambasted as a left-wing extremist. Why? He's been pounding our foreign policy, and correctly IMHO, for decades. This makes no sense, and risks changing the word 'liberalism' from what it really means.

Might even be too late.

What does it really mean? Look HERE.

Personally, I consider conservatism and liberalism mutually dependent and necessary for a healthy country. Eliminate one you get Hitler. Eliminate the other you get Stalin. Churchill is wrong. Healthy people don't have to be conservative when they grow up.

Seems you haven't the faith in the Iraqi people I thought you had. The Kurds would kick al-Qaeda's ass. The Shi'ites? Who knows. As far as I'm concerned what's going to happen is going to happen whether we stay or leave. The Genii is out of the bottle and lots more blood will be spilled trying to get it back in.

That played into whose hands? Christ, the Taliban have been more effective in their insurgency because they've been sending people to Al-qaeda training camps... in Iraq. (LINK)

There's an irony.

As far as I'm concerned the only way to get out is to get rid of BushCo and sit down with the rest of the world, which would really love to like us again, and work the problem together.

That's what should have happened on 9/12. The cowboy had a golden moment and he blew it.

Right now it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario.

Nice job George.

As for writing stories... I'm the writer I am. No one else.

Cheers,
Brother Clemsy

Wiretapping, Abramoff, Iraqi Insurgency... Ain't It Hard to Keep Up?

Blurbs:

Amidst all this noise regarding Bushie's warrantless domestic spying program (in which there is no doubt, not even a smidgeon of suspicion as Bushie's track record for infallibility and honesty is impeccable), the Pentagon's own domestic programs are getting short shrift. We the People need to know exactly what those damn terrorist Quakers are doing, dammit!

Spent News years Eve with a conservative republican buddy whose existence proves that utter disdain for the Bush administration can be both friendly and bi-partisan.

"Who was the best republican president in recent history?" he asked.

Thinking a good conservative republican could have only one answer I say, "Ronald Reagan!"

"Nope," he replied. "Bill Clinton."

Think about it.

So Ahmad Chalabi looses his shirt in the Iraqi elections. Net effect: He's appointed oil minister.

Ain't losing a bitch?

Do we need a better reason than Jack Abramoff to dismantle the lobbying system?

That's a rhetorical question folks. Money lobbying runs the country.

At least voting still feels good.

Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned that the very interesting word, "Kurdistan," was being mentioned a lot lately? Well then... read THIS from Knight Ridder.

After all, a century ago the Kurds had their own homeland. Then it simply ceased to exist. They've been upset about this ever since.

Wouldn't you be?

Why wouldn't they be thinking about grabbing the brass ring of full independence? I think the Kurds will make a beautiful democracy. Good for them! (Good for us? Hmmm. Don't think that possibility was part of the plan.)

If Turkey doesn't, well, do whatever it is they've threatened to do...

Down south the liberated Shi'ites are already making friendly coo-coo noises towards Iran. Good for them! (Good for us? Hmmm. Don't think that possibility was part of the plan.)The Saudis? Who cares what they think! After all, Saudi Arabia is a tyrannical monarchy whose people probably deserve a little liberation.

The Sunnis? They get their turn at the short end of the stick, and will make sure somthing goes BOOM! every once in a while.

Osama? He'll enjoy every moment.

As of January 5th, 240 people have been killed in Iraq in 2006.

Apparently Iraq insurgents are upset with the Al-qaeda presence in Iraq. Iraqis have no interest in global jihad. They're busy enough getting a civil war up and running.

All this power the president is saying he has... does this mean he wouldn't have a problem with, say, Hillary Clinton having the same power?

Happy New year!

Clemsy


QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

Revealed: Pentagon Has Secret Database of War's Opponents
Closely monitoring over 200 million Americans. --Ironic Times

For God's sake, Republicans, show a little moral revulsion. --David Brooks

There are a series of behaviors, a series of attitudes, a series of crony-like activities that are not defensible, and no Republican should try to defend them. The danger for Republicans is to pretend this isn't fundamental or to pretend that they can get by passively without undertaking real reform. --Newt Gingrich

Kirkuk is Kurdistan; it does not belong to the Arabs. If we can resolve this by talking, fine, but if not, then we will resolve it by fighting. --Hamid Afandi, the minister of Peshmerga for the Kurdistan Democratic Party

Democrats on the committee said the panel issued 1,052 subpoenas to probe alleged misconduct by the Clinton administration and the Democratic Party between 1997 and 2002, at a cost of more than $35 million. --Washington Post (... and all they found was a blow job. Damn expensive blow job.)

It has been the dream of Republican neoconservatives at least since 1998 - and probably years before - to overthrow Saddam Hussein and to use the new client state of Iraq as the US's military and political base from which to pacify the complex and troubled Middle East. --Gary Hart (Someone else has been paying attention to the PNAC.)

We’re supposed to believe that the United States would have invaded Iraq if it was an island in the Indian Ocean and its main export was pickles, not petroleum. --Noam Chomsky

I would argue that the end of the Vietnam War enabled the people of the United States to shake the "war syndrome," a disease not natural to the human body. But they could be infected once again, and September 11 gave the government that opportunity. --Howard Zinn

"Whatever happened to those nuclear blueprints we gave to the Iranians?" --The Guardian


QUOTES FROM THE HIVE MIND

It is not our job to seek peaceful coexistence with the Left. Our job is to remove them from power permanently (LINK). --Jack Abramoff

The question in my mind is how many additional American casualties is Saddam worth? And the answer is not very damned many. So I think we got it right -- we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq. --Dick Cheney, August, 1992

You see, what that meant is if you got a wire tap by court order -- and, by the way, everything you hear about requires court order, requires there to be permission from a FISA court, for example. --George Bush, April 19, 2004

I've got the authority to do this [wiretap without a warrant]-- George Bush, December 19, 2005


PICKS OF THE WEEK:

After the War By Howard Zinn

When you look at the endless series of wars of this century you do not find a public demanding war, but rather resisting it, until citizens are bombarded with exhortations that appeal, not to a killer instinct, but to a desire to do good, to spread democracy or liberty or overthrow a tyrant.

Beyond the Ballot by Noam Chomsky

As is obvious to anyone not committed to the party line, taking control of Iraq will enormously strengthen US power over global energy resources, a crucial lever of world control. Suppose that Iraq were to become sovereign and democratic. Imagine the policies it would be likely to pursue. The Shia population in the South, where much of Iraq’s oil is, would have a predominant influence. They would prefer friendly relations with Shia Iran.

End This Evasion on Permanent Military Bases in Iraq by Gary Hart

Any attempt to find out whether the US is, or is not, constructing permanent military bases meets with frustration. The few who have attempted to get a direct answer to this question are met with evasion and purposeful confusion over what is or is not "permanent". But this is the ultimate test of true Bush administration intentions in Iraq. If we are, in fact, constructing permanent bases, "leaving" simply means a reduction of forces and the permanent stationing of US brigades in Iraq. If this "compromise" solution appeals to you, you might wish to refresh your memory about the disastrous French experience in Indochina or even certain phases of the British occupation of Iraq.

Wiretap Furor Widens Republican Divide

President Bush's claim that he has a legal right to eavesdrop on some U.S. citizens without court approval has widened an ideological gap within his party.


HEADLINES

Bush's Fumbles Spur New Talk of Oversight on Hill

After a series of embarrassing disclosures, Congress is reconsidering its relatively lenient oversight of the Bush administration. ("Relatively lenient" There's an understatement.)

CIA 'Ignored Iraqi Weapons Evidence'

According to the book, State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration, Sawsan alHaddad, sister of an Iraqi nuclear scientist, was one of 30 foreign-based Iraqis who agreed to contact relatives supposedly working on weapons development. Every one reported that the programs did not exist.

DeLay Gives Up Bid to Reclaim House Post

Rep. Tom DeLay, the defiant face of a conservative revolution in Congress, stepped down as House majority leader on Saturday under pressure from Republicans staggered by an election-year corruption scandal.


WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN FISA COURT

An NSA Whistleblower Speaks Out

So, you have to ask yourself the question: Why would someone want to go around the FISA court in something like this? I would think the answer could be that this thing is a lot bigger than even the President has been told it is, and that ultimately a vacuum cleaner approach may have been used, in which case you don't get names, and that's ultimately why you wouldn't go to the FISA court. And I think that's something Congress needs to address. They need to find out exactly how this system was operated and ultimately determine whether this was indeed a very focused effort or whether this was a vacuum cleaner-type scenario.

Talking Points For Felonious Republican Presidents

The Shills for Republican-Dictators Coalition (SRDC) have been producing the expected voluminous stream of unmitigated lies in the form of talking points, in order to defend the illegal domestic spying program authorized by their Dear Leader-King George Bush. As always, when the internets and airwaves are filled with fakery, it becomes "hard work" to keep track of it all. So, I thought it was time for a post to consolidate the well chronicled responses to the cornucopia of nonsense from the SRDC.

Report Rebuts Bush on Spying

A report by Congress's research arm concluded yesterday that the administration's justification for the warrantless eavesdropping authorized by President Bush conflicts with existing law and hinges on weak legal arguments.

Eavesdropping: High Tech, Low Legality

This latest White House-orchestrated performance shows that, with the help of highly questionable legal advice and the suborning of senior generals to disregard their solemn oath to defend the Constitution, the administration is edging this country ever closer to being a police state. A report released yesterday by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service states that the decision to eavesdrop on US citizens was based on weak legal arguments, and conflicts with existing law.


WAR: IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

Five Marines Killed in Iraq, Military Says

12 Dead After Helicopter Crashes in Iraq

Some 120 Killed in One of Iraq's Bloodiest Days

Two suicide bombers killed 120 people and wounded more than 200 in the Iraqi cities of Kerbala and Ramadi on Thursday in Iraq's bloodiest day for four months. 7 American soldiers died today.


OPINION

The Pentagon Breaks the Law

The National Security Agency story has pushed military spying on anti-war groups off the front pages, and the Pentagon appears to have seized upon administrative error to explain away its slide into domestic spying.

Newspapers Urge President to Quit

Outrageous, out of the question? Of course. Then again, here's what happened in the summer of 1998 when the president was named Clinton. Dozens of editorial pages clamored for him to quit (see this list). "He should resign," the Philadelphia Inquirer declared, "because his repeated, reckless deceits have dishonored his presidency beyond repair."

Cross Purposes: Conflicting Views About Religion Threaten to Divide Europe From the U.S.

In the early decades of the 20th century, it was a common conceit of the radical right that "Americanism" was as much of a threat to European civilization as Bolshevism. Americanism was associated with the cultural shallowness of capitalism, the rootlessness of multi-ethnic immigration and the vulgar mediocrity of liberal democracy. It is often forgotten that Americophilia was stronger among progressives than conservatives in Europe. After the second world war this began to shift. Some of the same prejudices about Americanism have traveled from right to left. Admiration for the US is now associated with conservatives.