53 dead U.S. soldiers so far this month, which means October is shaping up to be the third worst month since the Iraq War began.
Look At The Shiny Object
Billmon: QUESTION: Do you believe that the biggest drag on the Republican Party is the situation in Iraq? THE PRESIDENT: I believe that the situation in Iraq is, no question, tough on the American psyche . . . no question this is an issue, but so is the economy. And I believe there’ll be — I still stand by my … Read More
Iraq: We Can’t Win
How bad can things be for Bush when his own commission designed to assess Iraq gives him the bad news that Bush’s goals are unachievable? Here’s what Bush said yesterday in the Rose Garden two days ago: And so Iraq is an important part of dealing with this problem. And my vow to the American people is I understand the … Read More
Saddam Probably Isn’t Looking So Bad To Them Anymore…
Latest estimate of Iraqi civilian deaths since the Iraq War started: 655,000. Consider this: The total Iraq population is about 26,000,000. That means that roughly 2.5% of the population has been killed. 2.5 percent — In the United States (pop. 295 million) that amounts to 7,735,000 deaths. Heckuva job, Bushie.
Chummy Rummy
You know how North Korea — a member of the "Axis of Evil" — just set off its first nuclear weapon? You know how Republicans are trying to blame Clinton for that, even though Clinton managed to keep North Korea from becoming a nuclear power during his presidency? Well, funny thing ’bout that North Korean nuke. The nuclear material used … Read More
Magnitude 4.2 NORTH KOREA Monday, October 09, 2006 at 01:35:27 UTC
The US Geological Survey records a seismic event in North Korea: It wasn’t no earthquake. Feel safer yet? All North Korea wanted was (a) talks with the U.S. and (b) some humanitarian aid, in exchange for which they would cease their nuclear weapons ambitions. But nooooooo — we had to play "tough cowboy" (because diplomacy is for faggy hairdresser types, … Read More
Foley Blame Game & The Foley Effect
I wish I had kept this list earlier, because then I could hyperlink to examples. But off the top of my head, this is a short list of all the entities named by the right wing pundits on AM radio and the right blogistan who are actually responsible for Foley’s malfeasance: Demon alcohol Catholic priests Gay GOP staffers ABC’s Brian … Read More
In Other News
18 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq in the last four days… …including eight U.S. soldiers who died in gunbattles and bomb blasts Monday in Baghdad — the most killed in a single day in the capital since July 2005.
State Of Denial
Digby: "In the midst of all the excitement over the GOP congress’s under-age cyberstalking, I hope that we don’t lose sight of the other white meat — Woodward’s astonishing revelations in his new book ‘State of Denial.’" Slate’s John Dickerson says: The book paints the administration as clueless, dishonest, and dysfunctional. The behind-the-scenes anecdotes are irresistible. Laura Bush telling her … Read More
Too Depressed To Blog About This, But I Will
I don’t think most people understand what happened yesterday. Our country changed. In many ways, it changed more yesterday than it did on 9/11/06. On that day 5 years ago, many people lost their lives. But our country’s principle’s were unscathed. Yesterday, Congress passed a bill which sacrificed much of what this country stands for, effectually doing what our enemies … Read More
The Torture Bill’s Biggest Flaws
From the New York Times: Enemy Combatants: A dangerously broad definition of “illegal enemy combatant” in the bill could subject legal residents of the United States, as well as foreign citizens living in their own countries, to summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal. The president could give the power to apply this label to anyone he … Read More
NIE, NIE, NIE
If you’re interested in this subject, you’ve probably already discovered the controversial NIE already. The "key judgments" section was declassified by Bush and is available here [PDF format]. Even though the released portion of the NIE is three pages long, let me provide a summary of the summary done by Midtopia: Good news1. We’ve seriously damaged the leadership of Al-Qaeda. … Read More
Breaking News: Bush To Declassify Portions Of The Leaked NIE Report
Well, most of us would like to see the whole thing, but it’s a start.
Bush’s Church To Bush: “Get Out Of Iraq”
The United Methodist Church (Bush’s religion of choice) took a stance the past weekend: United Methodist Church leaders helped launch a week of protest and civil disobedience against the war in Iraq by signing a declaration of peace urging President Bush to pull U.S. troops out of the country. The Declaration of Peace, signed Sept. 21, is described as a … Read More
The Clinton-Wallace Smackdown, or “What Did Bush Do To Combat Terrorists Pre-9/11”?
I have little to say about the whole controversy, except this: Clinton was right. Hirsch explains: [W]hen Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace gently asked the former president “why didn’t you do more” to put Al Qaeda “out of business,” he sparked an unexpected blast. Clinton, who had granted Wallace an interview at his signature Global Initiative Forum in New … Read More