Some Iraqis are alleging that they were told . . . well . . . let’s listen to their words: ”Two of the food dealers I know told me personally that our food rations would be withheld if we did not vote,” said Saeed Jodhet, a 21-year-old engineering student who voted in the Hay al-Jihad district of Baghdad. I’m not … Read More
Vietnam Redux?
Does this sound familiar to anyone? U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote: Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2) WASHINGTON, Sept. 3– United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam’s presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting. … Read More
What Iraqis Want
This is one hell of a fractured country. I’m glad they are going through the mostly symbolic, but still important, act of voting. But that is of course only step one in building a country. The hard work hasn’t even begun. Here are some interesting finds from a Zogby poll of Iraqis: (76%) of Sunni Arabs say they definitely will … Read More
Good Question Re: Iraqi Voting
Anyone know the answer to Thomas Schaller’s questions? Of the 234,000 [Iraqis eligible to vote] living in the United States right now, only 90,000 are estimated to be foreign-born (presumably in Iraq); the remaining 140,000 or so were born here. At what point does your foreign voting eligibility cease, may I ask? For instance, if your grandparents were Iraqi refugees, … Read More
More Torture Bedtime Stories for Neo-cons
Hey, kids! Press "play" on your recording of Lee Greenwood’s "Proud to be an American" and snuggle up to this wonderful story: Female interrogators tried to break Muslim detainees at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay by sexual touching, wearing a miniskirt and thong underwear and in one case smearing a Saudi man’s face with fake menstrual blood . … Read More
Undoubtedly
I think the experts are right . . . don’t you? Hat tip: Wonkette
Another $80 Billion
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Bush administration plans to announce as early as Tuesday that it will seek about $80 billion in new funding for military operations this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, administration and congressional sources said on Monday. The new supplemental budget request would come on top of the $25 billion in emergency spending already approved for the current … Read More
Changes In Foreign Policy?
Arab world: Bush’s speech was a bunch of empty long-winded words, meaning nothing. Bush White House: Bush’s speech was a bunch of empty long-winded words, meaning nothing. George Bush 41: My son’s speech was a bunch of empty long-winded words, meaning nothing.
American Foreign Policy
Matt Yglesius is right. Can anyone look at the countries as categorized below (reflecting the statements of the Bush Administration), and come up with a coherent foreign policy or doctrine? "Outposts of Tyranny" Cuba Burma North Korea Iran Zimbabwe Belarus Allies In the War On Terror Tunisia Saudi Arabia Uzbekistan Egypt Jordan Kuwait Ambiguous Third Category Russia China Vietnam Syria … Read More
Stupid Product
You be the judge. Yes, friends — that unbiased rag known as World Net Daily rises to new heights in fear-marketing to the paranoid, as it shills that latest in technology.* Yes, it’s the . . . NUKALERT! In this day of nuclear-terror vulnerability, KI4U Inc., markets several products to help families survive any type of nuke incident, including a … Read More
A Man With Integrity
So rare are people in the Bush Administration with integrity, that I delight when I see one acting in a very straightforward and honest manner. And I must pass it on. The man is Dick Armitage, the Deputy Secretary of State under Colin Powell. Actually, he’s now the former Deputy Secretary of State. Maybe that was why he was so … Read More
Progress in Iraq?
The security situation in Iraq is so critical now, NBC News has learned, that the Iraqi interior ministry has recalled two full battalions — about 2,000 men — from Saddam Hussein’s army, the same army the United States dissolved. All of them are retrained as special police to battle terrorism expected at polling stations on Jan. 30. Source. Meet the … Read More
Once Again, I’m Smarter Than The Bush Administration
Although admittedly, it is not hard. Iraq New Terror Breeding Ground By Dana Priest Washington Post Staff WriterFriday, January 14, 2005; Page A01 Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of "professionalized" terrorists, according to a report released yesterday by the National Intelligence Council, the CIA director’s think tank. Iraq provides terrorists with "a training … Read More
No. THIS Says It All . . .
Courtesy of The Poor Man: Rathergate vs. Saddam’s WMD – A Quantitative Comparison Rathergate Saddam’s WMD Investigation recently concluded? Yes Yes Use of highly questionable supporting documents? Yes Yes Central claims disproven? No Yes Media spread questionable information? Yes Yes Number of firings resulting from investigation 4 0 Number of high-profile reassignments resulting from investigation 1 0 Number of wars … Read More
