New York Times, 9/25/06: Col. Tom James, who commands the division’s Second Brigade, acknowledged that his unit’s equipment levels had fallen so low that it now had no tanks or other armored vehicles to use in training and that his soldiers were rated as largely untrained in attack and defense. The enormous strains on equipment and personnel, because of longer-than-expected … Read More
Bush Busted In A Huge Lie
Glenn Greenwald says "this report alone ought to dictate the outcome of the election." If you haven’t heard the news, a leaked internal government report — a government report from the Bush Administration — says "No". A classified intelligence report concludes that the Iraq war has worsened the terrorist threat to the United States, U.S. officials told CNN Sunday. Some … Read More
Generals Against The War
Can’t let this pass unnoticed: Retired military officers on Monday bluntly accused Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld of bungling the war in Iraq, saying U.S. troops were sent to fight without the best equipment and that critical facts were hidden from the public. "I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld and others in the administration did not tell the American people the … Read More
IRS Hassling Pastor For Giving Anti-War Sermon
The War on Christianisty indeed: This is just unbelievable. The IRS is suddenly ramping up its investigation of whether All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena violated its tax-exempt status with an anti-war sermon just before the 2004 elections. On Friday an IRS investigator served a summons on the current rector, Rev. Ed Bacon, ordering the church to turn over all … Read More
Bush Loyalty Trumps Experience
WaPo reports on how Jim O’Beirne’s office in the Pentagon valued blind loyalty to Bush over ability and experience in managing post-invasion Iraq: O’Beirne’s staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought … Read More
How Bad Is It In Iraq?
It’s so bad that Baghdad’s sewer system is clogged . . . with corpses.
Quote Of The Day
Christopher Buckley (former speechwriter for Bush 41): Bob Woodward asked Bush 43 if he had consulted his father before invading Iraq. The son replied that he had consulted “a higher father.” That frisson you feel going up your spine is the realization that he meant it. And apparently the higher father said, “Go for it!” There are those of us … Read More
On Bush’s Speech Last Night
This commentary in the New York Times nails it: Fending off the chaos that would almost certainly come with civil war would be a reason to stay the course, although it does not inspire the full-throated rhetoric about freedom that Mr. Bush offered last night. But the nation needs to hear a workable plan to stabilize a fractured, disintegrating country … Read More
Saddam: “We Will Crush Your Heads”
CNN: A Kurdish villager testified Tuesday that he fled an attack by Saddam Hussein’s forces 18 years ago, leaving behind his mother and two sisters. Years later, their identity cards were discovered in a mass grave, he said. "Congratulations! you are in a cage, Saddam," witness Ghafour Hassan Abdullah said as he stared at the ousted president. Hussein later lashed … Read More
Lowry, By The Numbers
Rich Lowry in Townhall: [T]he American public is not yet ready to quit. A CNN poll in August found that 69 percent of Americans oppose withdrawing American troops by the end of the year… The CNN poll that Lowry refers to: "Do you think the U.S. should withdraw SOME troops from Iraq by the end of the year, or do … Read More
Can’t Hide The Truth
Bush kas launched a public relations offensive designed to convince you how swimmingly Iraq is, and how Iraq nay-sayers (which constitute two-thirds of all Americans) are a bunch of terrorist-kissing pansy appeasers. His problem, of course, is that facts impede the lies message that Bush is trying to convey. Here’s a screen capture from CNN earlier today. Bush is giving … Read More
Spoke Too Soon?
Last Friday: A U.S. military commander in Baghdad says significant progress is being made in reducing attacks against security forces and civilians in the Iraqi capital since a large-scale operation was launched several weeks ago. Army Colonel Robert Scurlock made the remarks during a teleconference from Baghdad. Over the weekend: BAGHDAD, Iraq — Gunmen and bombers claimed at least 69 … Read More
The Incomprehensible War
What Anonymous Liberal says (emphases mine); It really is incomprehensible. It’s now been over three years since we invaded Iraq, and still, remarkably, no one can say with any certainty why we did it. There’s a tendency among political commentators (and I’m certainly as guilty of this as anyone) to discuss the Bush administration as if it were some monolithic … Read More
“Beautiful Dead Girls”
Since the media is once again obsessed with the death of adorable little Jon-Benet Ramsey, Kos diarist "hrh" thought he would shine the spotlight on some other beautiful dead girls — the ones the media doesn’t talk about. Read it. RELATED: Juan Cole has thoughts of his own, comparing the saturation news coverage of Jon-Benet Ramsey with another case: But … Read More
Bush Admits The Truth Three Years Too Late
This is the document that got us in to the War in Iraq: March 18, 2003 Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:) Consistent with section 3(b) of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243), and based on information available to me, including that in the enclosed document, I determine that: (1) reliance … Read More