Post #120
Subject: Again, George W. Bush defies the Constitution…
… and common sense.
American President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signed a "declaration of principles" two days ago on Monday that will guide talks next year on reaching agreements covering a long-term relationship between the two countries. In other words, a treaty to keep us mired in Iraq permanently – tho by not calling a treaty, a “treaty,” the Bushies manage to bypass Senate ratification. And, ultimately, you.
So, even if you agree with Bush and think that your loved one should die in a permanent occupation, you have no voice in our government – of the people, by the people, for the people [rolleyes].
While Maliki said any final deal would require the Iraqi parliament's approval, the accord would not need backing from the United States Congress, Lieutenant-General Douglas Lute, the White House deputy national security adviser, said.
Seems like the Iraqis have a better grasp on this Constitutional democracy thing than we do! :p
The principles include how to "deter foreign aggression against Iraq," help Iraq "fight terrorism," encourage foreign capital into Iraq - "especially American investments.” Iraqi officials told the Associated Press news agency they foresee a long-term presence of about 50,000 US troops.
Whatever happened to “we’ll stand down as they stand up” or “we’ll leave as soon as the job is finished?”
The obvious answer is that Bush has no idea what the “job” is. The best simile I heard about the War is that the administration was like kids playing with matches and it blew up in their faces – they’ve been inventing reasons ever since.
Lute said the bilateral agreements will not contain timetables for withdrawing US forces from Iraq, a move Bush continues to resist. He added that it was important for neighboring countries to know that the US considers Iraq a key factor in regional stability.
Simply, Bush wants to leave 50.000 US troops as a “trip-wire” – like our troops in South Korea – to deter aggression from obviously Iran. How many peeps had our soldiers being held hostage as an original reason for supporting Bush’s folly?
Like that famous quote about the Korean War, a lieutenant said, “we can’t win, we can’t lose, we can’t leave.” I guess that’s pretty much where the Iraq war is now.
Democratic Party Congressional leader Nancy Pelosi on Monday criticized Bush for planning to leave US forces mired in Iraq after his presidential term ends in January 2009. "President Bush's agreement ... confirms his willingness to leave office with a US army tied down in Iraq and stretched to the breaking point, with no clear exit strategy from Iraq," Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, said in a statement. "The president should take responsibility for his Iraq policy rather than expect the American people or the next administration to bear the consequences of his mistakes."
Oh, our children and their children will be paying for it. This is a War we can’t afford to lose, but we don’t have to pay for it either. I hope the kiddies enjoy the Iraq War bills in their Christmas stockings. :p
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Post #119
Subject: Faux news – false and unbalanced! :p
Has anybody else received that e-mail about China banning Bibles from the 2008 Beijing Olympics? The sources cited are the Fox News Channel and “other media sources.”
Fox News, huh?
Well, a quick Google search shows that the story is false – even Fox News itself is reporting it to be false….
Subject: Faux news – false and unbalanced! :p
Has anybody else received that e-mail about China banning Bibles from the 2008 Beijing Olympics? The sources cited are the Fox News Channel and “other media sources.”
Fox News, huh?
Well, a quick Google search shows that the story is false – even Fox News itself is reporting it to be false….
Friday, November 16, 2007
Post #118
Subject: “The war in Iraq has been won,” Pt. II
Well, I don’t know how to make it any clearer than in my Post #117 – I’ll include the link to that “cheerleading” article I referenced. :p
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22689634-5007146,00.html
I’ve tried short, practical views – my Post #58. I often refer to earlier Posts. I’ve used humor and quotes from others. I’ve responded to columns and TV transcripts. I’ve asked questions and have devoted whole Posts to questions – my Post #111, for example. But, still, all I hear is “let’s kick in a few more Baghdad doors.”
That attitude – “let’s kick in a few more Baghdad doors” – is a drain on and a diversion from the War on Terror. It is irrelevant, how we are doing in Iraq. Even if we whack every mole and turn Iraq into the 51st state, will that calm Osama? Of course not.
Simply, it’s time -- and has been for a while – to “run, run, run away, live to fight another day.”
Let’s say our military was at a Level 5 last summer when I started this blog. Now, we are weaker, our ability to respond to other threats is at Level 4. Let’s also say the world is a dangerous place, Level 5 last summer. Now, it’s Level 6 – indeed, Turkish troop have crossed the border of northern Iraq, Israel has committed an act of war against Syria. Does it make sense to continue to squander our military resources – blood and treasure –as the world becomes more and more dangerous?
Now, as we know from the book Dead Certain, the goal of George W. Bush is really to buy time so that the Republican Presidential candidates can be comfortable supporting the surge and a much longer military presence in the Middle East. And that is fighting terrorism how?
Oh, well, when you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:
A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001
Subject: “The war in Iraq has been won,” Pt. II
Well, I don’t know how to make it any clearer than in my Post #117 – I’ll include the link to that “cheerleading” article I referenced. :p
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22689634-5007146,00.html
I’ve tried short, practical views – my Post #58. I often refer to earlier Posts. I’ve used humor and quotes from others. I’ve responded to columns and TV transcripts. I’ve asked questions and have devoted whole Posts to questions – my Post #111, for example. But, still, all I hear is “let’s kick in a few more Baghdad doors.”
That attitude – “let’s kick in a few more Baghdad doors” – is a drain on and a diversion from the War on Terror. It is irrelevant, how we are doing in Iraq. Even if we whack every mole and turn Iraq into the 51st state, will that calm Osama? Of course not.
Simply, it’s time -- and has been for a while – to “run, run, run away, live to fight another day.”
Let’s say our military was at a Level 5 last summer when I started this blog. Now, we are weaker, our ability to respond to other threats is at Level 4. Let’s also say the world is a dangerous place, Level 5 last summer. Now, it’s Level 6 – indeed, Turkish troop have crossed the border of northern Iraq, Israel has committed an act of war against Syria. Does it make sense to continue to squander our military resources – blood and treasure –as the world becomes more and more dangerous?
Now, as we know from the book Dead Certain, the goal of George W. Bush is really to buy time so that the Republican Presidential candidates can be comfortable supporting the surge and a much longer military presence in the Middle East. And that is fighting terrorism how?
Oh, well, when you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:
A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001
Friday, November 09, 2007
Post #117
Subject: “The war in Iraq has been won”
But THE OCCUPATION continues….
Well, I am disappointed. I had an e-pal send me an article that said, basically, the surge is working, “[t]he war in Iraq has been won,” and “we’re making progress” – to use the phrase my e-pal used. I am disappointed that my e-pal could not anticipate my responses and offer his own responses to my responses.
I realize that few peeps, if any, will stumble upon this blog and read the other Posts to get a feel for where I stand – that is why I often refer to earlier Posts. Yes, there is a reason for referring to earlier Posts BEYOND being lazy! :p
To summarize, the article was full of “smiley-face” conclusions based on little or no evidence and ignoring evidence to the contrary. Can ya say “cherry-pick?” :p
For example, the article says “[t]he Kurds have not broken away.” How do ya explain Turkish troops crossing the border? Aren’t those troops fighting Kurds who want a Kurdistan that will include a portion of Turkey?
The article also says “[v]iolence is falling fast.” Only 27 Americans killed last month. See my Post #89. :p
And “[a]l Qaida has been crippled.” Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan? Al-Qaeda in Iraq? Al-Qaeda in Europe??? Well, who? Who are these bad men that we have crippled?
Could it possibly be that the terrorists we have crushed were not there BEFORE we invaded? As Ron Paul said in my Post #116, “We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. This war has cost more than 3,000 American lives, thousands of seriously wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars” How can anybody claim that defeating a problem that we created, at that price, was justifiable? And we are still vulnerable…. * sigh *
However, the ultimate “smiley-face” conclusion – “The war in Iraq has been won” – is correct. Isn’t it time to “Party like it’s 1969!” – my Post #26? :p
Our military has won the war. Success in Iraq has been ours. There were at least two chances to declare a “victory” that would have satisfied most people’s original reasons for supporting this mess. One, “victory” was achieved when our tanks rolled through the streets of Baghdad and our troops were not attacked with WMD. Two, “victory” was achieved when we found Saddam. At either point, had our troops come home, we would have begun adding George W. Bush to Mt. Rushmore.
That article also claimed “we went to war to free Iraq from a tyrant who had used weapons of mass destruction, and would not guarantee he would not do so again.” Um, I thought we went to war because the threat to us was imminent – fear the mushroom cloud, ya know! :p
If ya read Bob Woodward’s State of Denial, the account of General ‘Spider’ Marks and his inability to get a straight answer as to what to look for in the way of WMD makes clear that Washington did not really buy the WMD argument itself. It’s hard to believe that we were not lied into war.
Our civilian leadership has lost the peace. Military success has been squandered. Bush is making the mistake of defining “victory” as “a democracy that’s an ally in the War on Terror.” Unfortunately, Bush does not seem to realize that a democracy will not necessarily be an ally in the War on Terror – can ya say Lebanon? -- or that an ally in the War on Terror will not necessarily be a democracy – can ya say Saudi Arabia?
The trouble is, THE OCCUPATION continues….
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, September 11, 2007)
SENATOR RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: So the question we must answer is not whether we are winning or losing in Iraq but whether Iraq is helping or hurting our efforts to defeat al Qaeda. That is the lesson of 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Good Lord, people. This is getting so old. Let’s get out Iraq… now – let’s end THE OCCUPATION.. Rest our troops for other, more important battles in the War on Terror – stop squandering blood and treasure. Let’s go ahead and face the consequences of “losing” a war that we shouldn’t have started in the first place. Yes, it is past time for us to accept the consequences of the defeat Bush has inflicted upon us because those consequences get worse with each passing day. The Iraq War has been and remains a drain on and a diversion from the War on Terror and making us less secure as we continue to bleed, making the War on Terror – that is, the fight against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan – longer and harder. The Iraq War itself is giving aid and comfort to the enemy, our real enemy – we are losing the ability to respond militarily to other threats.
Subject: “The war in Iraq has been won”
But THE OCCUPATION continues….
Well, I am disappointed. I had an e-pal send me an article that said, basically, the surge is working, “[t]he war in Iraq has been won,” and “we’re making progress” – to use the phrase my e-pal used. I am disappointed that my e-pal could not anticipate my responses and offer his own responses to my responses.
I realize that few peeps, if any, will stumble upon this blog and read the other Posts to get a feel for where I stand – that is why I often refer to earlier Posts. Yes, there is a reason for referring to earlier Posts BEYOND being lazy! :p
To summarize, the article was full of “smiley-face” conclusions based on little or no evidence and ignoring evidence to the contrary. Can ya say “cherry-pick?” :p
For example, the article says “[t]he Kurds have not broken away.” How do ya explain Turkish troops crossing the border? Aren’t those troops fighting Kurds who want a Kurdistan that will include a portion of Turkey?
The article also says “[v]iolence is falling fast.” Only 27 Americans killed last month. See my Post #89. :p
And “[a]l Qaida has been crippled.” Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan? Al-Qaeda in Iraq? Al-Qaeda in Europe??? Well, who? Who are these bad men that we have crippled?
Could it possibly be that the terrorists we have crushed were not there BEFORE we invaded? As Ron Paul said in my Post #116, “We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. This war has cost more than 3,000 American lives, thousands of seriously wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars” How can anybody claim that defeating a problem that we created, at that price, was justifiable? And we are still vulnerable…. * sigh *
However, the ultimate “smiley-face” conclusion – “The war in Iraq has been won” – is correct. Isn’t it time to “Party like it’s 1969!” – my Post #26? :p
Our military has won the war. Success in Iraq has been ours. There were at least two chances to declare a “victory” that would have satisfied most people’s original reasons for supporting this mess. One, “victory” was achieved when our tanks rolled through the streets of Baghdad and our troops were not attacked with WMD. Two, “victory” was achieved when we found Saddam. At either point, had our troops come home, we would have begun adding George W. Bush to Mt. Rushmore.
That article also claimed “we went to war to free Iraq from a tyrant who had used weapons of mass destruction, and would not guarantee he would not do so again.” Um, I thought we went to war because the threat to us was imminent – fear the mushroom cloud, ya know! :p
If ya read Bob Woodward’s State of Denial, the account of General ‘Spider’ Marks and his inability to get a straight answer as to what to look for in the way of WMD makes clear that Washington did not really buy the WMD argument itself. It’s hard to believe that we were not lied into war.
Our civilian leadership has lost the peace. Military success has been squandered. Bush is making the mistake of defining “victory” as “a democracy that’s an ally in the War on Terror.” Unfortunately, Bush does not seem to realize that a democracy will not necessarily be an ally in the War on Terror – can ya say Lebanon? -- or that an ally in the War on Terror will not necessarily be a democracy – can ya say Saudi Arabia?
The trouble is, THE OCCUPATION continues….
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, September 11, 2007)
SENATOR RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: So the question we must answer is not whether we are winning or losing in Iraq but whether Iraq is helping or hurting our efforts to defeat al Qaeda. That is the lesson of 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Good Lord, people. This is getting so old. Let’s get out Iraq… now – let’s end THE OCCUPATION.. Rest our troops for other, more important battles in the War on Terror – stop squandering blood and treasure. Let’s go ahead and face the consequences of “losing” a war that we shouldn’t have started in the first place. Yes, it is past time for us to accept the consequences of the defeat Bush has inflicted upon us because those consequences get worse with each passing day. The Iraq War has been and remains a drain on and a diversion from the War on Terror and making us less secure as we continue to bleed, making the War on Terror – that is, the fight against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan – longer and harder. The Iraq War itself is giving aid and comfort to the enemy, our real enemy – we are losing the ability to respond militarily to other threats.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Post #116
Subject: Why America loves Ron Paul
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/war-and-foreign-policy/
War and Foreign Policy
The war in Iraq was sold to us with false information. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. This war has cost more than 3,000 American lives, thousands of seriously wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars. We must have new leadership in the White House to ensure this never happens again.
Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America. And now, there are new calls for a draft of our young men and women.
We can continue to fund and fight no-win police actions around the globe, or we can refocus on securing America and bring the troops home. No war should ever be fought without a declaration of war voted upon by the Congress, as required by the Constitution.
Under no circumstances should the U.S. again go to war as the result of a resolution that comes from an unelected, foreign body, such as the United Nations.
Too often we give foreign aid and intervene on behalf of governments that are despised. Then, we become despised. Too often we have supported those who turn on us, like the Kosovars who aid Islamic terrorists, or the Afghan jihadists themselves, and their friend Osama bin Laden. We armed and trained them, and now we”re paying the price.
At the same time, we must not isolate ourselves. The generosity of the American people has been felt around the globe. Many have thanked God for it, in many languages. Let us have a strong America, conducting open trade, travel, communication, and diplomacy with other nations.
* * *
Brief Overview of Congressman Paul’s Record:
He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
Congressman Paul introduces numerous pieces of substantive legislation each year, probably more than any single member of Congress.
Subject: Why America loves Ron Paul
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/war-and-foreign-policy/
War and Foreign Policy
The war in Iraq was sold to us with false information. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. This war has cost more than 3,000 American lives, thousands of seriously wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars. We must have new leadership in the White House to ensure this never happens again.
Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America. And now, there are new calls for a draft of our young men and women.
We can continue to fund and fight no-win police actions around the globe, or we can refocus on securing America and bring the troops home. No war should ever be fought without a declaration of war voted upon by the Congress, as required by the Constitution.
Under no circumstances should the U.S. again go to war as the result of a resolution that comes from an unelected, foreign body, such as the United Nations.
Too often we give foreign aid and intervene on behalf of governments that are despised. Then, we become despised. Too often we have supported those who turn on us, like the Kosovars who aid Islamic terrorists, or the Afghan jihadists themselves, and their friend Osama bin Laden. We armed and trained them, and now we”re paying the price.
At the same time, we must not isolate ourselves. The generosity of the American people has been felt around the globe. Many have thanked God for it, in many languages. Let us have a strong America, conducting open trade, travel, communication, and diplomacy with other nations.
* * *
Brief Overview of Congressman Paul’s Record:
He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
Congressman Paul introduces numerous pieces of substantive legislation each year, probably more than any single member of Congress.
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