Just hours before Bush’s arrival in Baghdad a couple of weeks ago, the U.S. Embassy wrote a confidential cable talking about what the situation was like outside the safe Green Zone. The assessment is based on interviews with Iraqi staff members who work in the Embassy and live in Baghdad. The cable is here (PDF format). The subject of the … Read More
Morons Can Use The Bible For Anything These Days
I recently had a discussion with a friend, a born again Christian, the other day. She tried to convince me that the Bible is THE TRUTH. You know, with a capital "T". She couldn’t say why it was THE TRUTH, because to question why is (apparently) some form of heresy. Anyway, I came across this article which demonstrates (per my … Read More
2,500
Just so you know.
Haditha Apologists
Tom Tomorrow says: If you listen to Limbaugh or Hannity, you’ll learn pretty quickly that the right wing party line on Haditha is that we should not “rush to judgment.” By discussing the case as it unfolds, by printing information clearly supplied to them by military sources, the media are apparently making it impossible for Our Troops Who Are Defending … Read More
More Iraqi Murders
Not Haditha, but just as heinous: The fatal shooting of an Iraqi man could lead to murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges against a group of Marines and a Navy corpsman, an attorney for one of the men says. "The Los Angeles Times and NBC News said troops may have planted an AK-47 and shovel near the body to make it … Read More
New York Has No Important Monuments
That’s what the Department of Homeland Security says in its report justifying why it was cutting anti-terror funds to NYC by 40 percent–from $207.5 million in 2005 to $124.4 million in 2006. NY Mayor Bloomberg has to state the obvious for the obvious-impaired people at the DHS: "All I can tell you is if you look at their worksheets, and … Read More
The Truman Show
Bush and Rice have been quoting Harry Truman a lot recently, as part of their never-ending propaganda war to reclaim support for the real one. Nobody’s buying it: Bush and Rice are correct that Truman saw tyranny as a threat to world peace and believed in resisting it, by means that included force. At West Point, Bush quoted Truman’s famous … Read More
Things Fall Apart
This Haditha thing just keeps getting worse. Bad enough that U.S. Marines summarily execute 24 Iraqi non-combatent civilians (including children) in cold blood, an act that is far worse than the Abu Gharib scandal (at least the abused prisoners in Abu Gharib were, you know, supposedly combatents). But now there’s strong evidence of a cover-up by Marine superiors: The U.S. … Read More
Last Throes Blah Blah Blah
May 30, 2005 — Dick Cheney: "I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency." One year later: The Pentagon reported yesterday that the frequency of insurgent attacks against troops and civilians is at its highest level since American commanders began tracking such figures two years ago, an ominous sign that, despite three years of combat, … Read More
What WMD Would Jesus Use?
Apparently, some sort of biochemical weapon. It looks like some Christian fundamentalists are using homemade weapons of mass destruction to terrorize porn stores. But don’t take my word for it: WALDO, FL — Evidence teams plan to put on protective gear and seal the room as they search for any clues left behind on a contraption that investigators are calling … Read More
Last Throes = One Year (At Least)
Dick Cheney: "I think we may well have some kind of presence there over a period of time. But I think the level of activity that we see today, from a military standpoint, I think will clearly decline. I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency." — Dick Cheney, May 30, 2005
Memorial Day
Today is Memorial Day (yesterday we observed it). It’s the time to remember fallen heroes who, as is so often said, protect our freedoms. Ironically, a fallen soldier by the name of Patrick Stewart is being denied his freedom of religion: Stewart was a follower of the Wiccan religion, which is not recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs for … Read More
Bush Admits Mistake And STILL Gets It Wrong
In the week leading up to Memorial Day, the president acknowledged that some of his childish taunts hadn’t been in America’s best interests. … (S)aying "bring it on," kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner — you know, "wanted dead … Read More
Are We Safe?
Apparently not. (1) Natural disaster drill canceled because of red-tape confusion: A mock evacuation that was supposed to be part of a two-day statewide hurricane preparedness drill was canceled after a misunderstanding about who had jurisdiction over a Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer park. Imagine what would have happened if it was not a drill. (2) New Jersey toxic chemical … Read More
How To Pay For Border Guards
Buried deep in this Washington Post article (in fact, the last paragraph) is this tidbit of news: The White House said the new budget request by Bush would cover the $750 million-plus Guard deployment, new agents, fences and barriers, five helicopters and two new unmanned surveillance aircraft. The money would be offset by delaying other military purchases, according to the … Read More