Everyone with the faintest knowledge of how the Middle East worked could have predicted it. Anyone who had studied history could have seen it coming. Only the blind, right wing, conservative, cakewalk-and-dancing-in-the-streets crowd were in denial. The killing in Iraq’s streets and the massacres that have taken place in her capital have long since outstripped any of the horrors that Saddam Hussein and his henchmen brought down on that country. Mass murdering was on the agenda with rows of bodies lining the streets, as many as a 100 a day dying in Baghdad alone.
Since the so-called “Surge,” violence has decreased in Iraq as a whole. So why don’t we hear cries of victory from the top brass? According to a Newsweek article, the reason is that violence has not dropped as much as we think:
The problem—and the reason no one from U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus on down is declaring victory yet—is that those statistics do not tell the whole story. Body hunters like Sowadi, Baghdad residents and local gunmen all say that militias are making more of an effort to disguise their grisly handiwork—burying bodies in shallow graves, dumping them in city sewers. …."Many militia groups just make people disappear,"
Whereas before, militias left the corpses, beheaded and evidently tortured on the open streets, they are now taking pains to bury them in shallow graves, with several new mass graves appearing in various parts of the city.
The sheer number of human lives this senseless war will have destroyed will surely never be known but it will certainly be in the hundreds of thousands by now. Certainly the Neocons who lusted after this war and those who supported the decision to go to war based on what the rest of us knew were lies, will never own up to having been part of the holocaust that Iraq has become.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
The Flip-Flop
It’s been a long time coming but the International Community in Bali finally humiliated the United States delegation to the Climate conference into an agreement. The reluctant US team fought the agreement for days before capitulating in what was referred to as a flip-flop of never before seen proportions as reported by Yahoo News:
In a day of drama and emotional speeches, nations had berated and booed the U.S. representatives for holding out. A wave of relief swept the room when the United States relented.
Having fought any and every agreement on climate change since the US pulled out of the Kyoto agreement 10 years ago the US delegation took an unprecedented pounding from the committee members of the other nations. Bereft of its usual allies the US stood alone in trying to reject the wording for the agreement which some countries still referred to as too weak and finally, had to cave in as reported by Time Magazine:
In the end, the U.S.'s total isolation was too much for even it to bear. "We've listened very closely to many of our colleagues here during these two weeks, but especially to what has been said in this hall today," said lead American negotiator Paula Dobiansky. "We will go forward and join consensus." Boos turned to cheers, and the deal was essentially sealed.
In a day of drama and emotional speeches, nations had berated and booed the U.S. representatives for holding out. A wave of relief swept the room when the United States relented.
Having fought any and every agreement on climate change since the US pulled out of the Kyoto agreement 10 years ago the US delegation took an unprecedented pounding from the committee members of the other nations. Bereft of its usual allies the US stood alone in trying to reject the wording for the agreement which some countries still referred to as too weak and finally, had to cave in as reported by Time Magazine:
In the end, the U.S.'s total isolation was too much for even it to bear. "We've listened very closely to many of our colleagues here during these two weeks, but especially to what has been said in this hall today," said lead American negotiator Paula Dobiansky. "We will go forward and join consensus." Boos turned to cheers, and the deal was essentially sealed.
Toeing The Line
Michael B. Mukasey is toeing the line as expected. Congress’ attempt to investigate the destruction of the CIA tapes showing the waterboarding of prisoners has been blocked by the Justice Department as reported in The Washington Post. Why aren’t we surprised?
Congressional leaders from both parties alleged that Justice is trying to block their investigation and vowed to press ahead with hearings.
…..
"We are stunned that the Justice Department would move to block our investigation," Reps. Silvestre Reyes (D-Tex.) and Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) said in the statement. "Parallel investigations occur all of the time, and there is no basis upon which the Attorney General can stand in the way of our work."
But there is a basis. It’s called the Bush basis, which is that the demarcation lines between the executive branch and the Justice Department no longer exist. It makes the Justice Department an extended arm of the White House and the Attorney General a lap dog of the President.
As Alberto I-can’t-recall Gonzalez before him, Mukasey is bowing to pressure from the White House to prevent any investigation into this affair.
Bush, who turned the United States into a country that tortures, has also turned it into a country that dissembles the truth on par with the worst of the world’s dictatorships.
Congressional leaders from both parties alleged that Justice is trying to block their investigation and vowed to press ahead with hearings.
…..
"We are stunned that the Justice Department would move to block our investigation," Reps. Silvestre Reyes (D-Tex.) and Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) said in the statement. "Parallel investigations occur all of the time, and there is no basis upon which the Attorney General can stand in the way of our work."
But there is a basis. It’s called the Bush basis, which is that the demarcation lines between the executive branch and the Justice Department no longer exist. It makes the Justice Department an extended arm of the White House and the Attorney General a lap dog of the President.
As Alberto I-can’t-recall Gonzalez before him, Mukasey is bowing to pressure from the White House to prevent any investigation into this affair.
Bush, who turned the United States into a country that tortures, has also turned it into a country that dissembles the truth on par with the worst of the world’s dictatorships.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Repression Begins At Home
Climate change is not a myth, it is a fact. The only point of contention is whether humans are directly or indirectly affecting it. The fact that the earth’s mean temperature is on the rise and Global Warming is taking place is not questioned by any serious scientist who is not on the payroll of a major oil corporation. It is almost inconceivable that the excess carbon gases that we as humans produce are not having some effect, if not actually creating and accelerating the process.
In a free country, where free speech is touted as being of paramount importance, one would want people to be free of government censure. That is what we express as freedom of speech. In accordance with that, if an expert in his or her particular field expresses an opinion, countries that then either punish the person in question or stifle their opinions are considered repressive.
More directly, governments that prevent people from expressing an opinion are considered to have something to hide in that particular area. So it comes as no surprise to hear that the Bush Administration has been doing just that.
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been investigating the White House for the past 16 months. More directly, they’ve been investigating allegations that the Bush Administration has been systematically interfering on a political level with scientific evaluations and expressed opinions on Global Warming.
The accusations range from exerting “unusual control” over public statements of federal scientists on climate change to extensively editing climate change reports.
The evidence before the Committee leads to one inescapable conclusion: the Bush Administration has engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming.
It's worth reading the whole thing. If you're still not scared about what Bush, Cheney and Rice have done to this country after reading this you are probably beyond redemption of any kind.
In a free country, where free speech is touted as being of paramount importance, one would want people to be free of government censure. That is what we express as freedom of speech. In accordance with that, if an expert in his or her particular field expresses an opinion, countries that then either punish the person in question or stifle their opinions are considered repressive.
More directly, governments that prevent people from expressing an opinion are considered to have something to hide in that particular area. So it comes as no surprise to hear that the Bush Administration has been doing just that.
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been investigating the White House for the past 16 months. More directly, they’ve been investigating allegations that the Bush Administration has been systematically interfering on a political level with scientific evaluations and expressed opinions on Global Warming.
The accusations range from exerting “unusual control” over public statements of federal scientists on climate change to extensively editing climate change reports.
The evidence before the Committee leads to one inescapable conclusion: the Bush Administration has engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming.
It's worth reading the whole thing. If you're still not scared about what Bush, Cheney and Rice have done to this country after reading this you are probably beyond redemption of any kind.
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Greatest Criminals Known to Man
Which government wishes to govern with fear? Which government wishes through fear, to intimidate its citizens into toeing the line? What type of government would want to cow its citizens into a behavioral pattern?
Why would anyone threaten World War III when they knew it wasn’t on the cards?
"I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon,"
President Bush, 10/17/2007
Why would anyone threaten war without cause? The answer is someone who avoided military service because of a butt boil:
US Vice President Dick Cheney says Washington considers military action against Iran as a possible solution to Tehran's nuclear standoff.
What does it mean when the drums of war are beaten to the tune of an unconfirmed rumour?
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Bolton said if Tehran does not voluntarily stop its nuclear program, the US has to use force.
That was this morning. This afternoon, the absolute slap in the face for the crippled and morally bankrupt Bush Administration: according to a NIE Report on Iran’s nuclear program, Iran halted work on the development of nuclear weapons FOUR YEARS AGO as reported by Yahoo News!
A new U.S. intelligence report concludes that Iran's nuclear weapons development program has been halted since the fall of 2003 because of international pressure — a stark contrast to the conclusions U.S. spy agencies drew just two years ago.
Is anyone, anyone at all, going to assert that Bush, Bolton and Cheney actually didn’t know this?
It’s unbelievable that they are going to get away with this and it’s unbelievable that there’s a single American citizen with half a brain left, who’s willing to back these bozo’s. With many of us doubting the rumours of Iran's nuclear arsenal, so many still believed that the threat was real because they are driven by fear, blindly hanging on to any piece of news that will confirm that this is the state to be in. It's a political disaster for Israel and a phenomenal, brutal denunciation of the Bush regime's ultimate and continued efforts to sow seeds of hatred and dissent and their willingness to destroy the world for their own ends.
Impeach, impeach, impeach. It’s not too late and it certainly couldn’t come soon enough. Impeach, try, imprison and throw away the key. There is no single greater danger to peace and the good of humanity than these people. They are the epitome of evil and the pinnacle of hypocrisy.
Why would anyone threaten World War III when they knew it wasn’t on the cards?
"I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon,"
President Bush, 10/17/2007
Why would anyone threaten war without cause? The answer is someone who avoided military service because of a butt boil:
US Vice President Dick Cheney says Washington considers military action against Iran as a possible solution to Tehran's nuclear standoff.
What does it mean when the drums of war are beaten to the tune of an unconfirmed rumour?
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Bolton said if Tehran does not voluntarily stop its nuclear program, the US has to use force.
That was this morning. This afternoon, the absolute slap in the face for the crippled and morally bankrupt Bush Administration: according to a NIE Report on Iran’s nuclear program, Iran halted work on the development of nuclear weapons FOUR YEARS AGO as reported by Yahoo News!
A new U.S. intelligence report concludes that Iran's nuclear weapons development program has been halted since the fall of 2003 because of international pressure — a stark contrast to the conclusions U.S. spy agencies drew just two years ago.
Is anyone, anyone at all, going to assert that Bush, Bolton and Cheney actually didn’t know this?
It’s unbelievable that they are going to get away with this and it’s unbelievable that there’s a single American citizen with half a brain left, who’s willing to back these bozo’s. With many of us doubting the rumours of Iran's nuclear arsenal, so many still believed that the threat was real because they are driven by fear, blindly hanging on to any piece of news that will confirm that this is the state to be in. It's a political disaster for Israel and a phenomenal, brutal denunciation of the Bush regime's ultimate and continued efforts to sow seeds of hatred and dissent and their willingness to destroy the world for their own ends.
Impeach, impeach, impeach. It’s not too late and it certainly couldn’t come soon enough. Impeach, try, imprison and throw away the key. There is no single greater danger to peace and the good of humanity than these people. They are the epitome of evil and the pinnacle of hypocrisy.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Who'd a Thunk It?
The lack of forethought to the Iraq occupation is staggering. So is the theft from government agencies and public resources apparently, according to a New York Times article. It isn’t like no one expected this – excepting the Bush Administration of course, but the level of theft has progressed to such an extent that it has reached epidemic proportions. Everything from water to pain killing cancer drugs are stolen and offered on the black market.
The Iraqi government is, to all intents and purposes bankrupt, except for the payrolling from the United States coffers. So the result is….yes, you guessed it:
Some American officials estimate that as much as a third of what they spend on Iraqi contracts and grants ends up unaccounted for or stolen, with a portion going to Shiite or Sunni militias.
Iraq now ranks as the world’s third most corrupt country and even as violence is abating, officials are watching the country slip into an unparalleled level of lawlessness. When looting broke out after the initial fall of Baghdad, Donald Rumsfeld, in his eternal wisdom, God bless his soul, said “that is what free people do.” It didn’t occur to the IQ bereft Defense Minister that this was a sign of how things could develop.
Corruption is everywhere – not least in the very administration that brought us the Iraq catastrophe. But that a country overtaken by a power vacuum, steeped in poverty and flooded with money and weapons available only to a select few would not degenerate into the world’s most lawless place never occurred to anyone in the White House.
The Iraqi government is, to all intents and purposes bankrupt, except for the payrolling from the United States coffers. So the result is….yes, you guessed it:
Some American officials estimate that as much as a third of what they spend on Iraqi contracts and grants ends up unaccounted for or stolen, with a portion going to Shiite or Sunni militias.
Iraq now ranks as the world’s third most corrupt country and even as violence is abating, officials are watching the country slip into an unparalleled level of lawlessness. When looting broke out after the initial fall of Baghdad, Donald Rumsfeld, in his eternal wisdom, God bless his soul, said “that is what free people do.” It didn’t occur to the IQ bereft Defense Minister that this was a sign of how things could develop.
Corruption is everywhere – not least in the very administration that brought us the Iraq catastrophe. But that a country overtaken by a power vacuum, steeped in poverty and flooded with money and weapons available only to a select few would not degenerate into the world’s most lawless place never occurred to anyone in the White House.
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