Monday, November 27, 2006

Cordesman to Bush Administration: "Stop Lying"






Once again, Anthony Cordesman--the hawkish military analyst at the Center for Strategic & International Studies--has accused the Bush administration of misleading the public about the harsh realities of Iraq. Every few months, he produces a report that socks it to the White House and the Pentagon. And he has new one out today. The paper starts:

Iraq is already in a state of at least limited civil war, and may well be escalating to the level of a major civil conflict. What began as a small resistance movement centered on loyalists to the Ba'ath and Saddam Hussein has expanded to include neo-Salafi Sunni terrorism, become a broadly based Sunni insurgency, and now a broader sectarian and ethnic conflict.

The current combination of insurgency, Sunni Arab versus Shi'ite Arab sectarian conflict, and Arab versus Kurdish ethnic conflict could easily cause the collapse of the current political structure, leading to a Shi'ite or Shi'ite-Kurdish dominated government, with strong local centers of power, and an ongoing fight with Iraq's Sunnis. It could escalate to the break up of the country, far more serious ethnic and sectarian conflict, or violent paralysis. It has already led to widespread ethnic cleansing in urban areas by militias and death squads of all three major ethnic and religious groups. If Iraq is to avoid split-up and full-blown civil war, it must do far more than create effective Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). No such effort can succeed without an integrated strategy to forge a lasting political compromise between its key factions: Arab-Shi'ite, Arab Sunni, and Kurd ‚ while protecting other minorities. Political conciliation must also address such critical issues as federalism and the relative powers of the central and regional governments, the role of religion in politics and law, control over petroleum resources and export revenues, the definition of human rights, and a host of other issues.


Who's to blame for the mess? Cordesman doesn't hold back:

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the US has never implemented a realistic, self-critical, or forward-looking approach to any aspect of its policy in Iraq. It is unclear that it could have succeeded under the best of circumstance, and one of its most critical failures has been to consistently deny the fact it was pursuing a high effort in nation building andstability operations that could easily fail.

In practice, however, the US has neither anticipated the problems it must solve or rapidly learned and adapted to the emerging realities in Iraq. Its national security leadership has become a self-inflicted wound, and the US has lurched from delayed response to response, always reacting too slowly, with two few resources and changes, and in a state of quasi-denial.


He blasts the Bush administration for trumpeting its policy of standing up an Iraqi security force so the U.S. can stand down. The development of an effective ISF can only occur, he notes, if there is progress in the bigger game: achieving a viable government. Yet, he writes, the "present reality is that progress in Iraq is slow or faltering in each of the are as necessary to make Iraqi force development successful."

Even when it comes to the attempt to create a working Iraqi security force, Cordesman notes, there's no way to tell if the Pentagon is making any headway:

Progress is difficult to gauge, because so much US reporting grossly exaggerates progress, ignores or understates real-world problems, and promises unrealistic timelines. The US Defense Department has stopped releasing detailed unclassified material about Iraqi Army, Police, and Border Enforcement readiness, only giving information about how many units are "ready and equipped" and "in the lead." These are vague, if not meaningless categories – "in the lead" does not indicate the level of independence from US support, and we do not how many "ready and equipped" soldiers quit or deserted the force.

He also says:

To put it bluntly, the US government and Department of Defense must stop lying about the true nature of Iraqi readiness and the Iraqi force development....Like all elements of strategy, Iraqi force development needs to be based on honesty and realism, not "spin," false claims, and political expediency.

Cordesman maintains that there may still be a way to win in Iraq. This will take time and the continued presence of U.S. troops, he writes, and success will depend on the resolution of the internal political conflicts:

Things can only go well, however, if Iraq can create a working compromise between its sects and ethnic groups, and if US and other outside powers will have the patience and will to support Iraq as it develops into such a state for at least two to three more years of active fighting. Iraq will also need massive additional economic aid to help Iraq unify and develop. Major assistance and advisory programs will be in place until at least 2010, and probably 2015.

These are big ifs. Cordesman is no optimist. He writes, "The present odds of such success are less than even." More likely, Iraq will end up in "years of turmoil, with no particular sect triumphing--or the nation will become divided into parts, officially or informally. His report is rather somber reading. (James Baker, take note.) Cordesman is no fan of withdrawing troops. But he describes a situation that has been so screwed up by the Bush administration that victory--however that might be defined--may well be beyond reach.

Posted by David Corn at November 27, 2006 12:59 PM

43 comments:

capt said...

Mr. David Corn,

The truth is Bush will never stop lying but we all must call him on each and every lie.


Thanks for all of your work.

Kirk

capt said...

Vulcans Triumphant: The Victory Bash



"Tucked away in fine print in the military spending bill for this past year was a lump sum of $20 million to pay for a celebration in the nation's capital "for commemoration of success" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not surprisingly, the money was not spent ... A paragraph written into spending legislation and approved by the Senate and House allows the $20 million to be rolled over into 2007." - New York Times

Victory Gala: The Program

Processional: Triumphal March from "Aida" (G. Verdi) (Camels Courtesy of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company)

Benediction by Rev. Ted Haggard, New New Life Church, San Francisco

FESTIVITIES, PART ONE

Parade of Looted and Subsequently Recovered Artifacts from National Museum, Baghdad

Synchronized Waterboarding Display by Team Guantanamo (Reflecting Pool)

Parade of Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish Militias

Parade of Tajik, Uzbek, and Pashtun Warlords' Private Armies

Procession of Ambulances and Collection of Survivors (American Red Cross)

LUNCHEON

Cranberry Shrub

Roast Baby Quail, Buckshot Fries, Chitlins of Austin Attorney

De-Accessioned Wild Game from Baghdad Zoo, Grilled Over Texas Mesquite and Ashes of Classic Arabic Texts from Iraqi National Library

Selection of Sesame, Chocolate, and Tutti-Frutti Halvah (Courtesy of Operation Just Desserts, Bethesda, MD)

REMARKS

"A Visionary War": Reading of Selections from "The Prophet" (K. Gibran) by Vice President Cheney

Remarks By Not Yet Assassinated Members of Iraqi and Afghan Parliaments

Presentation of Flowers by Grateful Children of Ahmadinejad Grammar School and Revolutionary Shiite Madrassa, Basra

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

Dance of the Liberated Muslim Women, Veils I through VI (R. Strauss)

"The Impossible Dream," from "Man of La Mancha" (J. Darion, M. Leigh), performed by former Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz, countertenor, and Secretary Rice, piano

Extraordinary Rendition of "Detainees" (W. Guthrie) by CIA-OMFUG All Stars

FESTIVITIES, PART TWO

Dedication by former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld of New Rumsfeld SegwayTM Light Tank

Armored Limousine Motorcade of Halliburton Directors

Parade of National Guard Families and "Flat Daddies"

Parade of Veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom / Demonstration of Otto Bock Prosthetics

Parade of Captured Weapons of Mass Destruction (in Closed Freight Containers for Reasons of National Security)

Triumphal Display of Cage Containing Captured Osama bin Laden Look-Alike

Flyover by Non-Highjacked Passenger Jets

Flyover by President George W. Bush in Navy S-3B Viking Jet, Crash Landing into National Archives, Immolation of Constitution of the United States ("Mission Accomplished")

Fireworks Display (Courtesy of Hamas USA)

Malediction by Sheik Safar al-Hawali, ExxonMobil Mosque of Perpetual Jihad, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Recessional: "Pomp Under Unlikely Circumstances March No. 3" (E. Elgar)

More HERE

O'Reilly said...

"I've got to say, Chris [Wallace of FOX News], you have an odd view of balance. […] I am struck by the tenor of your questions. You advertise this as giving us a chance to talk about what we're going to do, but everything is aimed at trying to put us in a kind of a bad light and look at the most controversial and not very representative things that we plan to do."
- B Frank

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/11/27/barney-frank-to-chris-wallace-you-have-an-odd-view-of-balance/

O'Reilly said...

link

O'Reilly said...

Pelosi: Ethics reform first order of business

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On the campaign trail this fall, House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said "maybe it takes a woman to clean house."

Now, Pelosi has vowed to places ethics reform on the top of the Democratic agenda when the party takes control of the chamber in January.

"The People's House should not be an auction house, with legislation being sold to the highest bidder," Pelosi said Monday in a statement. "For that reason, the first order of business will be ethics reform."

Pelosi announced last week the 110th congress will commence on January 4th , 2007

link

O'Reilly said...

Dingell pledges oversight investigations

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is promising an array of oversight investigations that could provoke sharp disagreement with Republicans and the White House.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., pledged that Democrats, swept to power in the Nov. 7 elections, would govern "in the middle" next year. But the veteran lawmaker has a reputation as one who has never avoided a fight and he did not back away from that reputation on Sunday.

Among the investigations he said he wants the committee to undertake:
--The new Medicare drug benefit. "There are lots and lots and lots of scandals," he said, without citing specifics.
--Spending on government contractors in Iraq, including Halliburton Co., the Texas-based oil services conglomerate once led by Vice President Dick Cheney.
--An energy task force overseen by Cheney. It "was carefully cooked to provide only participation by oil companies and energy companies," Dingell said.

link

O'Reilly said...

Justice Department watchdog to review domestic spying program

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department's internal watchdog said Monday it has opened an investigation into the agency's use of information gathered in the government's warrantless surveillance program.

In a letter to House Judiciary Committee leaders and obtained by The Associated Press, Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said his investigators would focus on the Justice Department's role in carrying out the spying program run by the National Security Agency.

Fine wrote that he wants to ensure that prosecutors are following laws governing the handling of information NSA gathers when spying on suspected terrorists in the United States.

link

Gerald said...

Here is my position with regard to the Democrats and Republicans.

Little Difference

As we enter the twenty-first century, I have come to the realization that there is little difference between the Democrats and the War Party of the bushits. Even with little difference between the two parties I may still vote because I do not want to give up my right to vote.

The reason for me now questioning to vote for Democrats is the Democrats are also warmongers. The Democrats will give you a bone with some meat on the bone so the soup can have some flavor. The bushits will give you a bone but they scrape all the meat off the bone. How you enhance the flavor of your soup that is for you to figure out. With either party in power it will be important for the 90% of Americans to master the art of making soup. Each home will be a soup kitchen for the poor and disenfranchised 90% of Americans.

In trying to find out the difference between the Democrats and the bushits there is now little difference between the two parties. The Democrats will ram a poker up your ass and the poker is straight with a curved section at the end that is similar to the War Party. Pulling the poker out of your rectum will create problems and healing will take a long time.

The bushits will ram a poker up your ass. The poker is straight and attached to the poker is a curved section as we see with some fireplaces to spread the burning wood. This poker goes in but when the bushits pull the poker out of your ass, your rectum is shot to hell. Healing of the rectum takes a long, long time. As you can see, there is little difference between the Democrats and the bushits or War Party regarding the pokers that are rammed up your rectum.

Either party is going to screw the 90% of Americans and the Democrats are now linked to the bushits and they are operating with little difference from the War Party. So either way you look at it you are going to have a poker rammed up your ass.

P.S. I have one more point to make that either party will give Nazi Americans shit. The Nazis will give us more shit and the Democrats may give us less shit. Yet, we cannot forget the fact that we will have to chew on shit. The only difference will be more shit or less shit for our shit eating smiles.

P.P.S. B.O.H.I.C.A.! What an appropriate word for our times! Bohica means BEND OVER HERE IT COMES AGAIN! Do you have that feeling of constantly bending over to be rammed by some Nazi? If you do, please remember to protect and hold onto your cajones so they are not rammed by the Nazis. A shot to hell rectum is enough of a bad experience. Try to avoid the ball busting experience as much as possible!!!

capt said...

Still Deciding!

Cartoon by Mark Fiore

David B. Benson said...

From today's student newspaper ---

STUDENTS AIM TO EDUCATE OTHERS ABOUT PRISONERS OF HURRICANE KATRINA

More than 3,000 prisoners in New Orleans are waiting for trial or waiting for release.

By Nhan Pham, staff reporter

A little awareness goes a long way, even as far as 2,500 miles.
WSU students in Assistant Clinical Professor Christine Oakley's sociology class were assigned a project to raise awareness of a subject that does not usually get much attention: the treatment of prisoners in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"Our goal is to make people aware of what happened to the prisoners during that time because a lot of people have no idea what happened, and what happened is realy sad," said Amanda Greer, a junior criminal justice major.
Greer and several of the team's other 11 members described a tragedy when prison officials abandoned prisoners in the Orleans Parish Prison as Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Most of these individuals, including children as young as 13, were in custody for minor offenses. These ranged from failure to pay parking tickets to sleeping in public, according to Human Rights Watch.
THe group also studied the case of a man named Roeshaw Addison. Addison was supposed to be in custody for 10 days for trespassing, with a release date of Aug. 29, 2005 --- the day Hurricane Katrina hit.
Instead of calling for an emergency evacuation, Sheriff Marlin Gusman left the prisoners in their cells. THe Orleans Parish Prison was ill-equipped to handle the tempest, so the storm wiped away power in many facilities, WSU group members said.
Addison, along with other inmates, were abandoned for three days at the prison without enough food, clean water or sanitation as they waited for rescuers to arrive. Desperation kicked in as many detainees had to salvage any food they could find, even bits that had fallen into filthy water. They waited as the water rose nine feet in their cells, WSU team members said.
"This negligence is outrageous, and as students of government, we would like to see something concrete done to prevent such happenings in the future," said Alyssa Berg, a group member and a senior political science major.
The effects of Katrina still linger. More than 3,000 Katrina prisoners in New Orleans are still waiting for trials or to be released, resulting in overcrowded prisons, according to Human Rights Watch.
"What happened to the prisoners during and after the hurricane is inexcusable," Greer siad. "They were treated as if they had no rights and didn't deserve the right to live."
Reform, according to group members, is the only acceptable solution.
"It is pertinent that the issues and lasting impacts of Hurricane Katrina aren't lost with the media coverage," said Lorraine Parrish, a group member and senior criminal justice major. "It goes beyond the Gulf Region, it exposes the errors our overall justice and political systems possess. Without continuing dislogue and awareness of Katrina and its aftermath, things will stay the same. And that is not a good thing."
This may be a small group of students, but they feel letting this story go unnoticed is unacceptable.
"By getting the word out that people still need help, we feel that we are doing our part of restoration," said group member Amber Smith, a junior criminal justice major.

capt said...

A Socialist in the Millionaires' Club: An Interview with Bernie Sanders



Mother Jones: What's your first-100-days agenda?

Bernie Sanders: The first thing I want to do is to force reality onto the floor of the Senate so that we can end this stupid discussion about how great the American economy is. The economy is not great. The economy is a disaster for the middle class.

Second, I want to focus on an issue that is almost never talked about on the floor — that is the power of big money. What are the moral implications? What do these people do when they have tremendous amounts of money? They use that money to perpetuate their own wealth and their own power. Every day, Congress works on behalf of big-money interests.

Third, I want to take a look at some of the good things that are being done around the rest of the world that are almost never discussed in the United States. How often is it discussed that the American people work the longest hours of any industrialized country in the world? The two-week paid vacation is almost a thing of the past; meanwhile in Europe you get four to six weeks vacation, and maternity leave with pay. We don't know about these things. I want to take a look around the world and see what workers are receiving, and compare that to the United States — from an educational point of view.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Go Bernie!



capt

capt said...

"This may be a small group of students, but they feel letting this story go unnoticed is unacceptable."


Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
~ Margaret Mead


*****

Thank all that is good in this world for the thoughtful people who show they care.

capt

capt said...

US stocks mark worst drop in months; Wal-Mart falls


[...]

"The dollar weakness has caught some by surprise, but what's mostly going on is we're getting the first blush of what we might see for Christmas," said Paul Nolte, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates, in Hinsdale Illinois. "Wal-Mart has been indicating some weakness for some time, and they are a bellwether for the retailers. It might not just be a Wal-Mart issue".

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 158.38 points, or 1.29 percent, at 12,121.79. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 19.02 points, or 1.36 percent, at 1,381.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 54.34 points, or 2.21 percent, at 2,405.92.

For the Nasdaq, it was the biggest net point decline since Sept. 24, 2003. The S&P 500 notched its biggest percentage decline since early June and the Dow fell its most since early July.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Ouch, and the FOREX is looking very bleak.



capt

Saladin said...

"Pelosi has vowed to places ethics reform on the top of the Democratic agenda when the party takes control of the chamber in January."
========
clinton said the same thing many times, still waiting. Talk is cheap, I want to see these people thumb their noses at the big bucks, and start listening to we the people for a change, then I will believe it. Until then it's just so much hot air, like it always has been before.

Saladin said...

Capt, the days of artificial market manipulation may be coming to an end, I think Asia is finally getting hip to the Fed. scam. Gold and silver are doing great, I hope people were able to take advantage of 5 and 6 dollar silver back when I was ranting about it 18 months ago, real money always wins! You really can't go wrong, today silver is at $13.50, still a great bargain. I believe it will only go higher once the fiat currency jig is up.

Saladin said...

Monday, November 27, 2006
Colorado Homeowner To Be Fined For Peace-Sign Wreath

Bob Geiger

While the overwhelming Democratic victory in the midterm Congressional elections gives us huge reason for hope, we still receive signs on a daily basis showing just how much work we have to do in repairing our country. One piece of evidence today comes from Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where Lisa Jensen is in deep trouble with her homeowner's association for having the gall to hang a holiday wreath shaped like a peace sign on the side of her house.

"I just wanted to put a message of peace out there," said Jensen, who put the wreath up about one week ago, not intending it to be a statement against the Iraq war. "I was really trying to be in favor of something - peace."

But she's found out that such a radical sentiment may not fly in Archuleta County, which the Bush-Cheney ticket carried easily, with 62 percent of the vote in 2004, and she has been threatened with a fine of $25.00 per day by the Loma Linda Homeowners Association until the wreath is removed.

According to Bob Kearns, the association's president, three or four residents have complained and at least one believes Jensen's decoration is a symbol of Satan.

"The peace sign has a lot of negativity associated with it. It's also an anti-Christ sign. That's how it started," said Kearns. "Somebody could put up signs that say drop bombs on Iraq. If you let one go up you have to let them all go up."
Kearns ordered a committee in the homeowner's association to require Jensen to remove the wreath and, when the five-member panel refused -- saying they saw nothing wrong with the festive decoration -- Kearns fired all five members from their posts.

The association has strict rules prohibiting "signs, flags etc. that can be considered divisive" but says nothing about general holiday decorations.

Meanwhile, despite risking up to $1,000.00 in total fines, Jensen says she's sticking to her guns and will not take the wreath down until after Christmas.

"Peace is way bigger than not being at war. This is a spiritual thing," she said. "Now that it has come to this I feel I can't get bullied. What if they don't like my Santa Claus?"
=========
Maybe I'm not nearly cynical enough?

capt said...

"So let us regard this as settled: what is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be to your advantage. The mere act of believing that some wrongful course of action constitutes an advantage is pernicious." Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

=
"A man who has in mind an apparent advantage and promptly proceeds to dissociate this from the question of what is right shows himself to be mistaken and immoral. Such a standpoint is the parent of assassinations, poisonings, forged wills, thefts, malversations of public money, and the ruinous exploitation of provincials and Roman citizens alike. Another result is passionate desire - desire for excessive wealth, for unendurable tyranny, and ultimately for the despotic seizure of free states. These desires are the most horrible and repulsive things imaginable. The perverted intelligences of men who are animated by such feelings are competent to understand the material rewards, but not the penalties. I do not mean penalties established by law, for these they often escape. I mean the most terrible of all punishments: their own degradation."Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

=
"Find out just what people will quietly submit to, and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." : Frederick Douglass, African-American slave, and later abolitionist.

=
"The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do." : Samuel P. Huntington

=
A quote included in yesterdays newsletter ("It is better to die standing than to live on your knees.") is misatributed to Ernesto "Che" Guevara. "It is better to die standing than to live on your knees." or "Más vale morir de pié que vivir de rodillas" was the battle cry of Dolores Ibárruri, Catalán Comunist Leader, during the Spanish Civil War (1936 -1939), and adopted by the International Brigades fighting on the side of Republican Spain. She died in 1989 at the age of 94.

===
Read this newsletter online http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

O'Reilly said...

" Glenn Greenwald asks: "Is withdrawal -- whether incremental or total -- considered to be an 'extreme view' that the Washington 'centrists' have not only rejected but have excluded in advance even from consideration? That's what this article seems to suggest, and that would definitely be consistent with conventional Beltway wisdom -- that withdrawal is advocated only by the fringe radicals and far leftists (such as the individual whom Americans just knowingly installed as Speaker of the House)

-Glenn Greenwald

O'Reilly said...

Despite the negative portrayal of cynics, some would argue that such people simply “refuse to look through rose-colored glasses” and do not fear to openly criticize typical societal behaviour. Cynics themselves tend to take this view, regarding themselves as enlightened, and their critics as unwilling to accept the harsh reality who “bury their heads in the sand". Extreme cynicism in an individual can lead cynics to see themselves as depersonalized and self-serving inhabitants of a meaningless, facetious, and shallow world.

- wiki

O'Reilly said...

"Saddam Hussein and the autocracy he ruled were the product of a dysfunctional politics, not the cause of it. Reform of such a politics was always going to be a task of incalculable complexity. Faced with such complexity, and determined to have their war and their democratic revolution, the President and his counselors looked away. Confronted with great difficulties, their answer was to blind themselves to them and put their faith in ideology and hope -- in the dream of a welcoming landscape, magically transformed. The evangelical vision may have made the sense of threat after September 11 easier to bear but it did not change the risks and the reality on the ground. The result is that the wave of change the President and his officials were so determined to set in course by unleashing American military power may well turn out to be precisely the wave of Islamic radicalism that they had hoped to prevent."

- Mark Danner NYT Review of Books

Saladin said...

ya know o'reilly, you've had a burr in your side with me lately. It isn't because I'm cynical, Capt, Gerald and quite a few of the "old" Corn bloggers are very cynical as well, plus, I have been posting as the Devils Advocate for a long time. What's up with you? Is it my harsh view of the Zionist Neocons of Israel? Or is it just my general doubts as to the sincerity of politicians? You must be as old as I am, or at least not much younger, why do you take exception to my writing above all others? Or will you deny, like micki always did, that you are referring to me? If you don't like my attitude, you can always skip past, or as Carol admitted, can you not resist the lure of the dark side?! (I hope you know I am being facetious!)

capt said...

Carter: Israeli 'domination' over Palestinians is 'atrocious'



Robin Roberts told Carter that "many people find surprising that you come down a little hard on Israel, and that there have been some key Democrats who have distanced themselves a little bit from your view on Israel."

"In fact, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said 'it is wrong to suggest that the Jewish people would support a government in Israel or anywhere else that institutionalizes ethnically based suppression, and Democrats reject that allegation vigorously,'" Roberts said. "What is your response to that?"

"Well, Robin, I have spent the last 30 years trying to find peace for Israel and Israel's neighbors, and the purpose of this book is to do that," Carter responded. "But you can't find peace unless you address the existing issues honestly and frankly."

Carter said that there was "no doubt now that a minority of Israelis are perpetuating apartheid on the people in Palestine, the Palestinian people."


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

I trust President Carter chose his words very carefully.




capt

capt said...

Hajji,

Come on - it's just a flesh wound.


HA!



capt

O'Reilly said...

Saladin, I respect you and I disagree with your cynical view about the new Democratic majority in Congress. I can handle the cynicism; it’s the negativity I have trouble with. Anyway, post as you will and I will too. All the best.

capt said...

Kissinger to Serve As Papal Adviser?



Pope Benedict XVI has invited Henry Kissinger, former adviser to Richard Nixon, to be a political consultant and he accepted.

VATICAN CITY — Over the course of his long and controversial career, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has had many titles. Now he reportedly has one more — adviser to the Pope.

According to the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Pope Benedict XVI has invited the 83-year-old former adviser to Richard Nixon to be a political consultant, and Kissinger has accepted.

Quoting an "authoritative" diplomatic source at the Holy See, the paper reported Nov. 4 that the Nobel laureate was asked at a recent private audience with the Holy Father to form part of a papal "advisory board" on foreign and political affairs.

As the Register went to press, Kissinger’s office was unable to confirm or deny the report. La Stampa stood by its story, although the Italian press is less rigorous in its authentication of stories as is the United States Press.

If true, there is speculation on which issues Kissinger would advise the Holy Father. Relations with Islam, Palestine and Israel, and Iraq — Kissinger has been critical of the conduct of the war but opposes a quick withdrawal — are likely to be high up on the agenda.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Some very curious goings on.



capt

capt said...

Harman: In Her Own Words



Over at the New Republic's Plank blog, Michael Crowley raised eyebrows with a couple striking pre-invasion quotes from could-be House intel chair Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA). Glenn Greenwald added a couple more, detailing Harman's for-it-but-against-it take on the NSA's domestic wiretapping program.

If Democrats are looking for a chief intelligence overseer who will be strong on constitutional protections and intel analysis that "gets it right," these quotes indicate they may want to look beyond "the best Republican in the Democratic party," as Harman has called herself.

Harman on-the-record quotes are legion, likely owing in no small part to her love of the spotlight (and the microphone). We've put a few we dug up together with those already unearthed. Heard a good Harman quote? Send it along.

On Colin Powell's U.N. speech: "I happen to know that our intelligence agencies made absolutely certain that it was totally accurate, and that anything put out there had been reviewed 100 times to make sure it was accurate." (Fox News, Big Story with John Gibson, 2/6/03)

On Saddam Hussein's WMDs: "There's a strong intelligence case that Iraq has not destroyed its weapons of mass destruction and is building the capability to use them." (Washington Post, 1/30/03)

On the Iraq-al Qaeda connection: "There's a growing al Qaeda presence in Iraq, and I think the case can be made that there is a growing affiliation [between the two.]" (Washington Post, 1/30/03)

On victory in Iraq: "[V]ictory will mean displaying for the world the evidence of weapons of mass destruction, and the horrors and torture of a generation of abuse by this dictator and then rebuilding the country with a multi-national coalition, and the emergence of an indigenous, transparent, moderate, democratic regime in Iraq run by the people of Iraq for them. I think that that will be a marvelous victory." (CNN, Larry King Live, 3/19/03)

On the NSA domestic surveillance program: "I believe the program is essential to US national security and that disclosure has damaged critical intelligence capabilities. . . . Due to its sensitive nature, I have been barred from discussing any aspect of this program. . . .[However] I am deeply concerned by reports that this program in fact goes far beyond the measures to target Al Qaeda[.]" (Harman press release, 12/21/05)

On the leak to the New York Times which revealed the program's questionable operations: "I deplore that leak. . . I think it is tragic that a lot of our capability is now across the pages of the newspapers." (NBC, Meet the Press, 2/12/06)

Eric Kleefeld contributed to this post

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

This is leadership? Progressive? Liberal? Democratic?



capt

Saladin said...

JANE HARMAN (D-CA)
Top Contributors
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2 Raytheon Co $17,050
3 National Technical Systems $13,600
4 Loral Space & Communications $12,000
5 Northrop Grumman $11,000
6 Intelligent Optical Systems Inc $10,400
7 Apollo Advisors $10,250
========
Really quite ironic how all these so-called peace loving dems have as their top supporters a bunch of war profiteering corporations.

Saladin said...

Capt, kissinger and the pope?? How utterly appropriate, a marriage conceived in Hell.
Hajji, thank you for that dramatic rendition of "Ode to a Witch!" Who told you that I've upgraded my broom?

Saladin said...

Does It Matter What You Call It?
Genocide or Erasure of Palestinians
By KATHLEEN and BILL CHRISTISON


Counterpunch

...There are no gas chambers; there is no overriding urgency. Gas chambers are not needed. A round of rockets on a residential housing complex in the middle of the night here, a few million cluster bomblets or phosphorous weapons there can, given time, easily meet the UN definition above.

Children shot to death sitting in school classrooms here, families murdered while tilling their land there; agricultural land stripped and burned here, farmers cut off from their land there; little girls riddled with bullets here, infants beheaded by shell fire there; a little massacre here, a little starvation there; expulsion here, denial of entry and families torn apart there; dispossession is the name of the game. With no functioning economy, dwindling food supplies, medical supply shortages, no way to move from one area to another, no access to a capital city, no easy access to education or medical care, no civil service salaries, the people will die, the nation will die without a single gas chamber. Or so the Israelis hope...
===========
pelosi and all her Israel first cronies are in 100% support of this murderous behavior. For that reason alone I do not trust them as far as I could throw them. Mr. Carter is well aware of the atrocities Israel is committing against these poor people and is one of the few with the courage to stand up and call it what it is.

Detroit Don said...

Hajji,

Speaking of mining films, have you ever seen Matewan directed by John Sayles? It's a fictional account of a clash between mining company thugs and workers attempting to organize. Takes place near my father's home town in West Virginia. Highly recommended if you haven't seen it.

ObMP&THGref: "This is a wedding. It's supposed to be a happy occasion! Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who!

Detroit Don said...

I should clarify: the film Matewan is a fictional retelling of a true story.

capt said...

Washington Post equals White House propaganda on Iraq



This is an unbelievable segment which shows how screwed up the Washington Post is. Dana Priest says that The Washington Post doesn't label the incredible amount of violence in Iraq a "civil war" because government officials won't. Am I missing something here or are they getting an Armstrong Williams check or committing "negligent journalism?"


Video-WMP

Video-QT


Priest: Well, I think one of the reasons the President resists that label is because it equates almost with a failure of U.S. policy. I'll say for the Washington Post, we haven't labeled it a civil war and I've asked around here today to see why not or what’s the thinking on that and really our reporters have not filed that. We try to avoid the labels, particularly when the elected government itself does not call its situation a civil war. Certainly—and I would agree with General McCaffrey on this — absolutely the level of violence equals a civil war…

Just tell the TRUTH. Please just beat me with a stick.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

My how times have changed:

"The Press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of the government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people." : Justice Hugo L. Black - (1886-1971) US Supreme Court Justice - Source: New York Times v. Unites States (Pentagon Papers) 1971



capt

Saladin said...

Bringing Bush to Court
by Tom Engelhardt and Elizabeth de la Vega


Lew Rockwell

Keep in mind, I've run Tomdispatch.com for only a few years, but I've been a book editor in mainstream publishing for over 30 years. Sometime last spring, I was on the phone with former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega talking about books she might someday write, when she suddenly said to me, "You know what I'd like to do?" When I asked what, she replied, "What I've done all my life."

"What's that," I wondered innocently enough.

"I'd like to draft an indictment of President Bush and his senior aides, and present the case for prewar intelligence fraud to a grand jury, just as if it were an actual case of mine, using the evidence we already have in the public record. That's the book I'd like to do."

A Fraud Worse than Enron

By Elizabeth de la Vega

Elizabeth de la Vega, appearing on behalf of the United States. That is a phrase I've uttered hundreds of times in twenty years as a federal prosecutor. I retired two years ago. So, obviously, I do not now speak for any U.S. Attorney's Office, nor do I represent the federal government. This should be apparent from the fact that I am proposing a hypothetical indictment of the President and his senior advisers – not a smart move for any federal employee who wishes to remain employed. Lest anyone miss the import of this paragraph, let me emphasize that it is a DISCLAIMER: I am writing as a private citizen.

Obviously, as a private citizen, I cannot simply draft and file an indictment. Nor can I convene a grand jury. Instead, in the following pages I intend to present a hypothetical indictment to a hypothetical grand jury. The defendants are President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. The crime is tricking the nation into war – in legal terms, conspiracy to defraud the United States. And all of you are invited to join the grand jury.

We will meet for seven days. On day one, I'll present the indictment in the morning and in the afternoon I will explain the applicable law. On days two through seven, we'll have witness testimony, presented in transcript form, with exhibits...
=========
Listen up you newly empowered dems, you were elected for a reason, and that reason is to bring we the people justice. If you won't do it, we can find someone who will.

capt said...

Orders for Manufactured Goods Plunge



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Orders for big-ticket manufactured goods plunged in October by the largest amount in more than six years, in another sign of a slowing economy.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that demand for durable goods fell a larger-than-expected 8.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted $210 billion, reflecting a big drop in demand for commercial airplanes, a category that had soared in September.

It marked the third month in the past four that orders have either fallen or shown no gain, providing evidence that the nation's factories are beginning to feel the impact of the slowdown in the overall economy.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Talk about more bad news. I hope we are not seeing the economic "perfect storm" that many have feared.

There are only a few economic indicators that are not negative.

UGH!


capt

capt said...

IHOP Changes Policy of Asking for IDs



QUINCY, Mass. (AP) -- John Russo has been a victim of identity theft. So when he was asked to fork over a photo ID just to be seated at an IHOP pancake restaurant, he flipped. "'You want my license? I'm going for pancakes, I'm not buying the Hope diamond,' and they refused to seat us," Russo said, recounting his experience this week at the Quincy IHOP.

The restaurant now has agreed to reverse the policy of requiring customers to turn over their driver's licenses before they can order - a rule that was enacted to discourage "dine and dash" thefts.

WCVB-TV in Boston reported the Quincy restaurant's policy had been enacted without corporate approval.

IHOP Corp., based in Glendale, Calif., released a statement Monday night to WCVB that said an employee felt the policy could eliminate the problem of people leaving without paying.

"This was done without the knowledge or approval of management. ... We apologize to any guest who was inconvenienced," the statement said.

Russo said a security guard at the restaurant had "at least 40" licenses in hand when he arrived to eat.

"Identity theft is rampant. I wouldn't want to give my license, with my address or Social Security number to anyone that I'm not familiar with," Russo said. "I'm going just for breakfast."


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

This is the world in which we live. Land of the free and home of the brave? I'm thinking not-so-much on both counts.



capt

capt said...

The next two years


[…]

It is good to hear Democrats talking about their intentions to investigate and to exercise oversight and impose limits on the administration's behavior, but it is vital that they recognize that doing that is not going to happen easily. It will require some extremely contentious confrontations and very difficult fights to enforce the rule of law.

There are going to be all sorts of pressures placed on those who want to impose genuine limits on this President -- from the bipartisan/centrist fetishists in the media who will condemn such measures as shrill and extremist to threats and attacks from the administration's filth machine to Congressional Democrats eager to win Beltway approval by showing they are serious, sensible, responsible, etc. But there is no more urgent task than restoring the basic principles of our system of government, and it remains to be seen whether there are Democrats in Congress who are up to that Herculean task.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

This misadministration can duck and cover for 24 months.



capt

Detroit Don said...

Damn, Hajji, you never cease to amaze. Worked on a Sayles film, friends with 'Til Tuesday band members, rafted the New River...what haven't you done?

Unfortunately, I haven't yet rafted the New River, but that is indeed the area my father grew up around. He grew up in a little town called Shady Springs between Beckley and Hinton (where my pa was once arrested when he was a scrawny sixteen year old hillbilly boy for his part in a drunken street brawl). We still have lots of family down there; one of my uncles lives on a mountain in a town called Flat Top off of 77. It's been about 10 years since I've been through there, but you're right about the New River Gorge. Closer to the ground - true, that. Gotta get back down there soon!

[And I apologize, Cornbloggers, for taking up bandwidth with personal stuff...it's been a while!]

capt said...

Psychotics 4 Bush!



Study finds the more psychotic the voter, the more likely they were to vote for Bush.



To be filed under duh:

[Christopher Lohse], a social work master’s student at Southern Connecticut State University, says he has proven what many progressives have probably suspected for years: a direct link between mental illness and support for President Bush.

…Lohse's study, backed by SCSU Psychology professor Jaak Rakfeldt and statistician Misty Ginacola, found a correlation between the severity of a person's psychosis and their preferences for president: The more psychotic the voter, the more likely they were to vote for Bush.

The study began in part as an advocacy project "designed to register mentally ill voters and encourage them" to vote, while assessing "knowledge of current issues, government and politics." The Bush trend emerged in the course of the study, according to Lohse, who describes himself as a "Reagan revolution fanatic" who nonetheless finds Bush "beyond the pale." During the course of the study, it emerged that "Bush supporters has significantly less knowledge about current issues, government and politics than those who supported Kerry," and that greater levels of psychosis predicted Bush support.

"Our study shows that psychotic patients prefer an authoritative leader," Lohse says. "If your world is very mixed up, there's something very comforting about someone telling you, 'This is how it's going to be'."

None of this is actually new information. That liberal voters tend to be much better informed as a group and tend to reject authoritarianism is well documented, from both the chicken came first angle and the egg came first angle. But it's nonetheless amusing to have further evidence that the people constantly calling progressives unhinged lunatics are, you know, way more likely to be nutzoid than the targets of their gleeful finger-pointing.

Via Tom Tomorrow, who dryly notes: "Anyone who's spent any time reading right wing blogs already understood this to be true." Indeed.

(This Modern World)

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

It kind of goes without saying.



capt

capt said...

Don,

Bandwidth here is free - so anything goes! (whole articles and long stuff no problem)

If the thread ever gets slow for the dial-ups I will just open a new thread.

"it's been a while"

Been too long, glad to read your posts again.



capt

Detroit Don said...

Thanks, capt. It's good to be back!

capt said...

Bush berates hesitant Nato allies



US President George W Bush has berated Nato members reluctant to send troops to Afghan hotspots, demanding they must accept "difficult assignments".


Speaking just before a Nato meeting in Latvia, Mr Bush said members must provide the forces the alliance needs.

Several Nato nations have caveats that keep their troops out of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan, where Taleban forces are strengthening.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

I hope Crusader Bunnypants speaks his mind it shows how detached he is from reality and by berating or belittling others he begs for the same in return.


capt

Detroit Don said...

As I've always said, my only talent is to somehow be able to surround myself with people who actually HAVE talent!

Ah, but that is a true talent indeed. Imagine if the Idiot Boy-King had such a talent...

capt said...

New thread!