The rightwingnutosophere is up in arms over MoveOn.org's potrayal of The General as a 'traitor' and the smearing of his good name. I understand that he was confirmed in an 81-0 vote in the Senate and that both Democrats and Republicans never questioned his integrity, we all wanted some form of success in Iraq and Petraeus appeared to be the best person to acheive that aim however either side defined success.
Betrayal can be defined in many ways and to make the leap to him being a traitor is a bit much, his betrayal is to the truth which, as with all Bush lackeys, he has buried under the murk of propoganda and manipulated figures. That is not treason, afterall, he has the full support of the White House here so how could it be construed as a crime against the state, which is how treason has always been defined.
No, The General is not a traitor, he has merely allowed himself to become a conduit for administration spin and obfuscation, he is therefore, a good soldier, in the mould of a Colin Powell or Westmoreland, a man more concerned with perpetuating and preserving his own legacy than serving the American people and their Constitution.
The press - for the most part - and the right wing have given him a free pass on the self-serving rubbish he presented to the House yesterday but some have looked deeper at the numbers - McClatchy for instance;
A chart displayed by Army Gen. David Petraeus that purported to show the decline in sectarian violence in Baghdad between December and August made no effort to show that the ethnic character of many of the neighborhoods had changed in that same period from majority Sunni Muslim or mixed to majority Shiite Muslim.
Neither Petraeus nor U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker talked about the fact that since the troop surge began the pace by which Iraqis were abandoning their homes in search of safety had increased. They didn’t mention that 86 percent of Iraqis who’ve fled their homes said they’d been targeted because of their sect, according to the International Organization for Migration.
While Petraeus stressed that civilian casualties were down over the last five weeks, he drew no connection between that statement and a chart he displayed that showed that the number of attacks rose during at least one of those weeks.
Petraeus also didn’t highlight the fact that his charts showed that “ethno-sectarian” deaths in August, down from July, were still higher than in June, and he didn’t explain why the greatest drop in such deaths, which peaked in December, occurred between January and February, before the surge began.
And while both officials said that the Iraqi security forces were improving, neither talked about how those forces had been infiltrated by militias, though Petraeus acknowledged that during 2006 some Iraqi security forces had participated in the ethnic violence. (C&L)
We just want the truth, we're adults, we can take it. If it is a godawful mess then tell us so... what this whole Iraq fiasco has taught us is that if we are to lead the world we better have the leadership capable of doing that. The Bush administration has proven itself woefully lacking in that department and, for the most part, the people they chose to take the flack for their incompetence have, incomprehensibly, done so willingly, so Petraeus has no one to blame but himself.
That the Right defends their man from name-calling and smears is understandable, they have nothing left but their irrational cults of personality. However, when the General stood in the bright white light of accountability he was exposed for what he is... a good man caught in a terrible dilema and incapable of telling a terrible truth.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Wow... Massive Progress In Iraq
General Betrayus speaketh, and the world listeneth:
Overall Assessment: “The military objectives of the surge are in large measure being met.” Most Important Development: The rejection of Al Qaeda by Sunni tribes in Anbar province. Other areas are following suit, he adds.
End of Surge: The troop levels in Iraq can return to pre-surge levels by the Summer of 2008, he said. “However, in my professional judgment, it would be premature to make recommendations on the pace of such reductions at this time,” he added.
Troop Cuts This Year: He said a Marine unit was set to leave this month, and a combat brigade of 4,000 troops could leave in December, as was reported this morning in The Times.
Violence: A slew of charts reports that violence is dropping in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq. The general says the number of attacks and deaths would be lower without Al Qaeda in Iraq’s attacks. One chart shows that two provinces have seen increasing violence during the surge.
Al Qaeda in Iraq: The deals with Sunnis in Anbar province and operations against leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq have left the group “off balance,” but not defeated, he asserted.
Iran: The general said there is evidence that the Iranian government is using its Al Quds force to help spur the insurgency in Iraq, a charge that the U.S. military has leveled before. The aim, he said, was to create a friendly organization in Iraq as Iran has in Lebanon with Hezbollah. The general closed his statement, which lasted about 30 minutes, by buttering up lawmakers.
Filched from the Lede (NY Times)
Not for nothing but, most of this is complete rubbish. And, when it isn't complete rubbish it's just made up stuff for the sake of a cheap sound bite-talking point.
It really is sad that this is the best this shower could come up with. Stale ideas, shabby reporting, propositions a five year old could conjure, it looks as if they really did not take this whole thing very seriously and threw something together the night before. Kinda like their entire Iraq strategy, so why did I expect more.
Overall Assessment: “The military objectives of the surge are in large measure being met.” Most Important Development: The rejection of Al Qaeda by Sunni tribes in Anbar province. Other areas are following suit, he adds.
End of Surge: The troop levels in Iraq can return to pre-surge levels by the Summer of 2008, he said. “However, in my professional judgment, it would be premature to make recommendations on the pace of such reductions at this time,” he added.
Troop Cuts This Year: He said a Marine unit was set to leave this month, and a combat brigade of 4,000 troops could leave in December, as was reported this morning in The Times.
Violence: A slew of charts reports that violence is dropping in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq. The general says the number of attacks and deaths would be lower without Al Qaeda in Iraq’s attacks. One chart shows that two provinces have seen increasing violence during the surge.
Al Qaeda in Iraq: The deals with Sunnis in Anbar province and operations against leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq have left the group “off balance,” but not defeated, he asserted.
Iran: The general said there is evidence that the Iranian government is using its Al Quds force to help spur the insurgency in Iraq, a charge that the U.S. military has leveled before. The aim, he said, was to create a friendly organization in Iraq as Iran has in Lebanon with Hezbollah. The general closed his statement, which lasted about 30 minutes, by buttering up lawmakers.
Filched from the Lede (NY Times)
Not for nothing but, most of this is complete rubbish. And, when it isn't complete rubbish it's just made up stuff for the sake of a cheap sound bite-talking point.
It really is sad that this is the best this shower could come up with. Stale ideas, shabby reporting, propositions a five year old could conjure, it looks as if they really did not take this whole thing very seriously and threw something together the night before. Kinda like their entire Iraq strategy, so why did I expect more.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Crisis, What Crisis?
Buried deep inside the 'Newspaper of Record' are the latest foreclosure figures.
They are sobering, but ya gotta love da spin:
“What continues to drive the national numbers,” Mr. Duncan said, “is what is happening in the states of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona.”
Home buyers in those four states relied on the low introductory costs of adjustable-rate mortgages. Payments on many of those loans are expected to climb over the next year or so.
The national foreclosure rate excluding those four states actually declined in the quarter, Mr. Duncan said.
If you take out those four states over the last six years, there would not have been a housing boom that, when times were real bad in this economy, was the only good news and driving force we had out of Bush's first recession.
It's preposterous to even make a statement like that. Let's just eliminate the foreclosure numbers from the four most prosperous states in the last decade and gee-whiz, we don't have a mortgage crisis at all.
They are sobering, but ya gotta love da spin:
“What continues to drive the national numbers,” Mr. Duncan said, “is what is happening in the states of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona.”
Home buyers in those four states relied on the low introductory costs of adjustable-rate mortgages. Payments on many of those loans are expected to climb over the next year or so.
The national foreclosure rate excluding those four states actually declined in the quarter, Mr. Duncan said.
If you take out those four states over the last six years, there would not have been a housing boom that, when times were real bad in this economy, was the only good news and driving force we had out of Bush's first recession.
It's preposterous to even make a statement like that. Let's just eliminate the foreclosure numbers from the four most prosperous states in the last decade and gee-whiz, we don't have a mortgage crisis at all.
Our Robust Economy II
Continuing signs of contraction and fall-out from the mortgage crisis.
The only, only reason the Fed tinkers with the interest rate is to head off a recession. Wall Street is practically begging the Fed to cut interest rates. Now, there are some very smart economists paid a gazzillion dollars to predict fluctuations in the economy and to 'lobby' the Fed to save their asses when all their predictions of continued strength and dynamism in the market proves groundless. Right now, those 'super' lobbyists are on bended knee. They see the future and they are worried.
The only, only reason the Fed tinkers with the interest rate is to head off a recession. Wall Street is practically begging the Fed to cut interest rates. Now, there are some very smart economists paid a gazzillion dollars to predict fluctuations in the economy and to 'lobby' the Fed to save their asses when all their predictions of continued strength and dynamism in the market proves groundless. Right now, those 'super' lobbyists are on bended knee. They see the future and they are worried.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
The Bad News
This is too funny...
JIM LEHRER: Yes, yes. Much has been made that the people who could give President Bush bad news, who knew him well enough over many years to look at him straight in the eye and say, "Hey, this isn't working" or whatever, with candor, those people are now gone. Is that true? Can you give the president bad news?
JOSHUA BOLTEN: Sure. I do every day. And I view it as an important part of my job and an important part of everybody serving the president to give him the story straight as we see it. And he accepts that. He accepts that very well.
In fact, on some of the rare occasions in which I've seen him angry are situations in which people have failed to give him their honest counsel or failed to give him the bad news out of fear that it's just unpopular to deliver bad news sometimes. So I don't see that as a problem at this White House, certainly not with this president.
Joshua Bolten is delivering bad news on a daily basis to the preznit who, in turn, delivers daily, good news to the American people. A disconnect? And, just what is that bad news arriving daily at the White House?
Joshua Bolten is a sycophant of the highest order. I watched the whole interview on PBS and during those brief moments where I wasn't being violently and copiously sick, I was crying on god's shoulder.
JIM LEHRER: Yes, yes. Much has been made that the people who could give President Bush bad news, who knew him well enough over many years to look at him straight in the eye and say, "Hey, this isn't working" or whatever, with candor, those people are now gone. Is that true? Can you give the president bad news?
JOSHUA BOLTEN: Sure. I do every day. And I view it as an important part of my job and an important part of everybody serving the president to give him the story straight as we see it. And he accepts that. He accepts that very well.
In fact, on some of the rare occasions in which I've seen him angry are situations in which people have failed to give him their honest counsel or failed to give him the bad news out of fear that it's just unpopular to deliver bad news sometimes. So I don't see that as a problem at this White House, certainly not with this president.
Joshua Bolten is delivering bad news on a daily basis to the preznit who, in turn, delivers daily, good news to the American people. A disconnect? And, just what is that bad news arriving daily at the White House?
Joshua Bolten is a sycophant of the highest order. I watched the whole interview on PBS and during those brief moments where I wasn't being violently and copiously sick, I was crying on god's shoulder.
DeBremerfication
Let's not bicker and argue about who lied to who...
Bremer III defends the 'process' whilst hyping the outcome.
Is he so far out of touch that he really wrote this:
Moreover, we were right to build a new Iraqi Army. Despite all the difficulties encountered, Iraq’s new professional soldiers are the country’s most effective and trusted security force. By contrast, the Baathist-era police force, which we did recall to duty, has proven unreliable and is mistrusted by the very Iraqi people it is supposed to protect.
Whilst in the same newspaper we read this.
It has been noted on numerous occassions that the Iraqi police force is but an extension of the Badr Corps and acts in concert with said militia as a kind of state sponsored death squad. Don't get me wrong but the Badr Corps are shi-ites and the Baathists secular Sunnis.
It would appear to me that the Interior Ministry, which controls the police force, underwent it's very own special kind of DeBaathification process without much help from Mr. Bremer or subsequent Viceroys and nabobs and is only mistrusted by the Baathists and Sunnis expunged from and unable to reinfiltrate it's unreliable and bloodthirsty ranks.
By the way, the Baathists and Sunnis are now our friends and allies battling with us against the 950 strong AQI. Confusing aint it.
Bremer III defends the 'process' whilst hyping the outcome.
Is he so far out of touch that he really wrote this:
Moreover, we were right to build a new Iraqi Army. Despite all the difficulties encountered, Iraq’s new professional soldiers are the country’s most effective and trusted security force. By contrast, the Baathist-era police force, which we did recall to duty, has proven unreliable and is mistrusted by the very Iraqi people it is supposed to protect.
Whilst in the same newspaper we read this.
It has been noted on numerous occassions that the Iraqi police force is but an extension of the Badr Corps and acts in concert with said militia as a kind of state sponsored death squad. Don't get me wrong but the Badr Corps are shi-ites and the Baathists secular Sunnis.
It would appear to me that the Interior Ministry, which controls the police force, underwent it's very own special kind of DeBaathification process without much help from Mr. Bremer or subsequent Viceroys and nabobs and is only mistrusted by the Baathists and Sunnis expunged from and unable to reinfiltrate it's unreliable and bloodthirsty ranks.
By the way, the Baathists and Sunnis are now our friends and allies battling with us against the 950 strong AQI. Confusing aint it.
Childhood - Part the Deux
This is the shortest 'piece' I could find...
The divine Mrs. B insists he was great, she may have seen him more than once but swears it was all drug induced and therefore groovy!
Still haven't ascertained which drug she was using but I'd imagine it would have to have been one of the stronger ones.
Fredrick of Hollywood
Where else would a 'serious' presidential candidate unofficially officially announce his intent to run but on the Jay Leno show.
Fred Thompson - practically a legend in his own make-up!
Fred Thompson - practically a legend in his own make-up!
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Childhood...
So the divine Mrs. Buffletucky and I were discussing pre-punk-most-mainstream-street-cred-destroying gigs we ever attended.
The best I could come up with, having been blessed with a nose for preposterous, posturing, pre-punk pomposity;
Sheffield City Hall, 1978 (I think) 'A Farewell To Kings' Tour.
Pretty loud three-piece though!
Mrs. Buffletucky's tomorrow... teh fun!
Our Robust Economy
Every time the Preznit mentions the US economy he uses words like vital, robust, dynamic well, as with all our dear leaders political speechifying whether it be Katrina, Iraq, Traditional Marriage, Family Values etc, etc it is pungent with the odor of sanctimony and incompetence. Far from the boom of his rhetoric, lays the potential carnage of an American economy on the verge of implosion.
For me, this is not a 'bubble' economy, fraught with those inherent and well documented dangers, this is something more significant, more entrenched and therefore more virulent.
This administration has encouraged i) the 'Ownership Society' based on home ownership providing equity to the masses, the premise being 'the more you borrow, the more you can borrow.' ii) the 'Ownership Society' based on accumulation of wealth by the ownership of stocks and shares, which with the huge cash infusion from the little guy could only go up, but, unlike a huge institutional investor or a rich bastard just trying to get richer, the little guy can't take repeated hits when his 'portfolio' under-performs. He/She will, reluctantly (because it is the only piece of the pie they actually have any vested interest in) pull their savings from the market and put them in a safer place, perhaps a modest interest bearing account at their local bank.
Now their local bank may be carrying a little bit of debt from the mortgage crisis, nothing to worry about right? How many local banks are independently owned and operated anymore?
So our 'growth' is based upon squeezing as much cash as we can out of the people who can least afford to lose it.
The signs of a contracting economy are everywhere, look here, here, here and here.
For me, this is not a 'bubble' economy, fraught with those inherent and well documented dangers, this is something more significant, more entrenched and therefore more virulent.
This administration has encouraged i) the 'Ownership Society' based on home ownership providing equity to the masses, the premise being 'the more you borrow, the more you can borrow.' ii) the 'Ownership Society' based on accumulation of wealth by the ownership of stocks and shares, which with the huge cash infusion from the little guy could only go up, but, unlike a huge institutional investor or a rich bastard just trying to get richer, the little guy can't take repeated hits when his 'portfolio' under-performs. He/She will, reluctantly (because it is the only piece of the pie they actually have any vested interest in) pull their savings from the market and put them in a safer place, perhaps a modest interest bearing account at their local bank.
Now their local bank may be carrying a little bit of debt from the mortgage crisis, nothing to worry about right? How many local banks are independently owned and operated anymore?
So our 'growth' is based upon squeezing as much cash as we can out of the people who can least afford to lose it.
The signs of a contracting economy are everywhere, look here, here, here and here.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Stupid Iranian Tricks
Michael Gordon has been transcribing this kind of stuff for this administration for quite a while now and, never seems to tire of it. You'd think after several failed attempts to get this story some traction you'd move on to something that could be independently verified or researched or real. Apparently Mr. Gordon has problems writing his own reports and relies entirely on unidentified WH or DoD sources to write his 'stories' for him. It's telling that Mr. Gordon's reports start on the main banner of the times first thing in the morning, slide to a small headline by lunchtime and require a search engine by tea.
The real question here is, can we, yes we, allow this administration, an administration that has shown itself to be completely incompetent in running just one war, to start another with a nation that has shown itself to be far more structurally, militarilly and politically capable than the tin-pot dictatorship of Saddam Hussein?
Or, are we in the 'mood' for a much larger bloodbath than the one we are in now?
As for me and the rest of August, much like our dearly beloved leader and the not so dearly beloved Iraqi parliament, I'm taking the rest of the month off.
Toodle-Pip
The real question here is, can we, yes we, allow this administration, an administration that has shown itself to be completely incompetent in running just one war, to start another with a nation that has shown itself to be far more structurally, militarilly and politically capable than the tin-pot dictatorship of Saddam Hussein?
Or, are we in the 'mood' for a much larger bloodbath than the one we are in now?
As for me and the rest of August, much like our dearly beloved leader and the not so dearly beloved Iraqi parliament, I'm taking the rest of the month off.
Toodle-Pip
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Cup - Half Full
Parsing the recent meeting between Bush and Brown can be a difficult execise. I watched Alastair Campbell (reknowned Spinmeister) on PBS and he was of the opinion that it was business as usual and that Brown and Blair were cut from the same cloth, two peas in a pod, co-joined political partners, nothing to see here, move along. I would expect that from Mr. Campbell, he has a vested interest in not sullying the, or rather, rehabilitating the Blair legacy as he was so closely associated with the rise and ultimate fall. Where the US commentator saw possible division and divergence Campbell saw only agreement and parallel goals. Now the dust has settled somewhat and the narrative digested we begin to see the first signs of policy manouvering by Brown and perhaps, a growing realization from the administration that they will, shortly, be on their own.
And why is that? Maybe it is because that whenever this administration attempts to spin the news out of Iraq, they get caught in a tragic, preposterous lie.
On July 26, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the second-ranking American commander in Iraq, said that the lower death toll was a “positive sign” but that it was too early to say whether the reduction was a “true trend.”
New York Times
2007 saw the deadliest July for US troops since the Iraq War began. It also saw a 23% rise in Iraqi deaths over June. July is like a blast furnace in Iraq, with temperatures approaching 120 degrees F. in the shade. Guerrillas typically lie low in this unfavorable environment, compared to other seasons, and so the casualty rates go down. Instead, this year the killing season has gone on as if it were spring.
Number of US troops killed in Iraq, July, 2007: 74
The Truth - Courtesy of Juan Cole (Read him every day, gentle reader)
But it is not just the military situation that continues to wear a grim face. The political situation is out of hand. Before the Iraqi parliament recessed, the turmoil continued.
Al Maliki's government is in chaos, the Kurds are threatening civil war against the Sunni's, the Shi'a militia's are as strong as ever and appear to control large areas of Iraq including most of Southern Iraq where the British are stationed which probably accounts for the relative stability of that region. The British have pretty much ceded security to the Badr Corps and the Mahdi Army, therefore making their presence irrelevant. It will be interesting to see what happens in Basra and it's environs once the British hand over control to the 'Iraqi Army.'
The escallation was supposed to allow the Iraqi government time to regroup under a less perilous security situation. The violence would subside in Baghdad and unity and reconciliation would break out all over. Early indicators (after six months of this continued stupidity) would suggest that the 'surge' has succeeded, moderately, in providing the Republican members of Congress breathing room, as for Iraq - not so much.
And why is that? Maybe it is because that whenever this administration attempts to spin the news out of Iraq, they get caught in a tragic, preposterous lie.
On July 26, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the second-ranking American commander in Iraq, said that the lower death toll was a “positive sign” but that it was too early to say whether the reduction was a “true trend.”
New York Times
2007 saw the deadliest July for US troops since the Iraq War began. It also saw a 23% rise in Iraqi deaths over June. July is like a blast furnace in Iraq, with temperatures approaching 120 degrees F. in the shade. Guerrillas typically lie low in this unfavorable environment, compared to other seasons, and so the casualty rates go down. Instead, this year the killing season has gone on as if it were spring.
Number of US troops killed in Iraq, July, 2007: 74
The Truth - Courtesy of Juan Cole (Read him every day, gentle reader)
But it is not just the military situation that continues to wear a grim face. The political situation is out of hand. Before the Iraqi parliament recessed, the turmoil continued.
Al Maliki's government is in chaos, the Kurds are threatening civil war against the Sunni's, the Shi'a militia's are as strong as ever and appear to control large areas of Iraq including most of Southern Iraq where the British are stationed which probably accounts for the relative stability of that region. The British have pretty much ceded security to the Badr Corps and the Mahdi Army, therefore making their presence irrelevant. It will be interesting to see what happens in Basra and it's environs once the British hand over control to the 'Iraqi Army.'
The escallation was supposed to allow the Iraqi government time to regroup under a less perilous security situation. The violence would subside in Baghdad and unity and reconciliation would break out all over. Early indicators (after six months of this continued stupidity) would suggest that the 'surge' has succeeded, moderately, in providing the Republican members of Congress breathing room, as for Iraq - not so much.
Friday, July 27, 2007
So Gonzo...
Abu must be feeling the heat... Meuller completely contradicts the AG's testimony. Now, remember Gonzalez is the highest law official in the land, he presides over our Justice system, he is a liar. What does that say about this country, what does this project to the world, what does this say about our administration?
TPM-Muckraker has the definitive breakdown/timeline for this escallating scandal.
I suggest you read it, gentle reader, before the spin begins and Tony Snow equates it to a storm in a tea cup or some such other trifling.
TPM-Muckraker has the definitive breakdown/timeline for this escallating scandal.
I suggest you read it, gentle reader, before the spin begins and Tony Snow equates it to a storm in a tea cup or some such other trifling.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Friedo...
Gonzalez has become practically synonomous with lying, so why should his most recent visit to the Hill have been anything different. The difference this time is that documentation exists that immediately refutes his sworn testimony of this week and poses some other interesting dilemas for this most abject of figures.
If, as he has stated for the record and under oath, he was not there to 'discuss' the TSP (Terrorist Surveillance Program) but some other intelligence program, what was that 'other' program. That the evidence suggests he was there to extend the life of the program then he clearly lied. If he was, indeed, there to discuss another program, would that be the same program Ashcroft, Comey and Meuller were willing to resign over because of its inherent illegality?
We know of two programs, the TSP and this other program that the highest law enforcement officials in the land had, under advisement, determined was so illegal that they were willing to resign en-mass before giving countenance to its use.
There may have been a third program or a fourth or fifth, who knows but we are aware, at this time, of only two. One which the FBI and DOJ were still uncomfortable with and the other one that they had deemed completely illegal.
Were Card and Gonzales at Ashcrofts bedside to argue the merits of extending the TSP or were they there to argue the legallity of spying on Americans communicating within the US, without warrants and without just cause.
I can't believe it was the latter... Fredo, you're fried!
If, as he has stated for the record and under oath, he was not there to 'discuss' the TSP (Terrorist Surveillance Program) but some other intelligence program, what was that 'other' program. That the evidence suggests he was there to extend the life of the program then he clearly lied. If he was, indeed, there to discuss another program, would that be the same program Ashcroft, Comey and Meuller were willing to resign over because of its inherent illegality?
We know of two programs, the TSP and this other program that the highest law enforcement officials in the land had, under advisement, determined was so illegal that they were willing to resign en-mass before giving countenance to its use.
There may have been a third program or a fourth or fifth, who knows but we are aware, at this time, of only two. One which the FBI and DOJ were still uncomfortable with and the other one that they had deemed completely illegal.
Were Card and Gonzales at Ashcrofts bedside to argue the merits of extending the TSP or were they there to argue the legallity of spying on Americans communicating within the US, without warrants and without just cause.
I can't believe it was the latter... Fredo, you're fried!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Friends Of Our Enemies
Musharaf has made such a pigs ear of his personal War on Terror, it makes you wonder if he got his graduate degree in Military Fiascos from Bush U or maybe Cheney Poly or The Rumsfeld Institute or sumpin'.
There are so many key phrases in the article that I urge you, dear reader, to read the whole thing, my personal favorite:
...Musharraf insisted yesterday that the vote would go ahead and dismissed speculation he would declare a state of emergency. He also claimed that al-Qa'ida was on the run.
By their own admission, al qaida controls large swathes of the border states nestled between Pakistan and Afghanistan, they are in an all out fight with a Pakistani Army that actually refuses to go into certain areas for fear of mass slaughter, there have been continual suicide attacks, bombings and assassinations over the past few weeks that have killed up to 241 persons. Seems to me al qaida is making it almost impossible for Musharaf to exert any conventional government pressure on these states and yet we are to believe that al qaida is on the run.
Maybe Musharaf got his HS Diploma from the Lieberman School for The Criminally Imbecilic.
Has to be something like that...
There are so many key phrases in the article that I urge you, dear reader, to read the whole thing, my personal favorite:
...Musharraf insisted yesterday that the vote would go ahead and dismissed speculation he would declare a state of emergency. He also claimed that al-Qa'ida was on the run.
By their own admission, al qaida controls large swathes of the border states nestled between Pakistan and Afghanistan, they are in an all out fight with a Pakistani Army that actually refuses to go into certain areas for fear of mass slaughter, there have been continual suicide attacks, bombings and assassinations over the past few weeks that have killed up to 241 persons. Seems to me al qaida is making it almost impossible for Musharaf to exert any conventional government pressure on these states and yet we are to believe that al qaida is on the run.
Maybe Musharaf got his HS Diploma from the Lieberman School for The Criminally Imbecilic.
Has to be something like that...
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Let's Talk...
Mr. Bush announces a major Middle East peace conference and the response is somewhat underwhelming, all right I'm being polite, the response is laughable. Israel will not discuss, borders, Jerusalem or refugees (Palestinians). Hamas will not be invited which, considering they already declined the offer, is obfuscation of a high order. Syria may or may not come depending on the agenda and Egypt is fence-sitting as usual. That would leave Condi, Fatah and a low level Israeli delegation left to discuss what exactly, the weather?
Tony Snow, who is becoming more obtuse and deceitful with each passing second, provides the matrix necessary to understand our administrations intentions and goals with regards to this 'conference':
The White House moved to douse expectations. "I think a lot of people are inclined to try to treat this as a big peace conference. It's not," Tony Snow, the White House's press secretary, told reporters.
So what is it? It's a distraction is what it is... from this, this and this.
Tony Snow, who is becoming more obtuse and deceitful with each passing second, provides the matrix necessary to understand our administrations intentions and goals with regards to this 'conference':
The White House moved to douse expectations. "I think a lot of people are inclined to try to treat this as a big peace conference. It's not," Tony Snow, the White House's press secretary, told reporters.
So what is it? It's a distraction is what it is... from this, this and this.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Plus Ca Sea Change...
In this rather depressing summation of the events in Iraq over the last few days is the quote by Gen. Peter Pace about the 'sea change' in the security situation over the last few weeks... it is followed by a litany of explosions, executions, double crosses and mortar infractions into the Green Zone.
That the piece itself is headlined by the news that al Sadr's bloc has returned to parliament seems insignificant and trivial given the content and contradictions of the rest of the article however, al Sadr bloc returning to parliament is a big deal, they are returning for two reasons, i) make al Maliki's life even more miserable than it already is and ii) to block passage of the much vaunted and Bush favorite, oil legislation. The parliament needs a quorum, al Sadr is determined to give them one.
Upon defeat of pretty much all pending legislation al Sadr will return to the weeds laughing his turban off the whole way.
This administration has been so played.
That the piece itself is headlined by the news that al Sadr's bloc has returned to parliament seems insignificant and trivial given the content and contradictions of the rest of the article however, al Sadr bloc returning to parliament is a big deal, they are returning for two reasons, i) make al Maliki's life even more miserable than it already is and ii) to block passage of the much vaunted and Bush favorite, oil legislation. The parliament needs a quorum, al Sadr is determined to give them one.
Upon defeat of pretty much all pending legislation al Sadr will return to the weeds laughing his turban off the whole way.
This administration has been so played.
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