Iraqis bid farewell to Bush - with shoes

"This is a goodbye kiss, you dog"

- Iraqi journalist Muthathar al Zaidi, who was called 'courageous' by fellow Iraqi journalists, gave Bush an appropriate Iraqi farewell - with both his shoes.



Watch it - it's hillarious

Bush desperately tries to rewrite history on the Iraq war while his administration covers up the war crimes by denying the Obama transition team documents on wiretapping and torture.

Unfortunately for Bush and America, this history of failure will be with us a long time. It was an expensive failure and America is hurting for it.

Official US gov't historical document: Iraq reconstruction a $117 BILLION failure

More of the Bush legacy...

A 513 page federal history on the Iraq reconstruction was compiled by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, led by Stuart W. Bowen Jr., a Republican lawyer who regularly travels to Iraq and has a staff of engineers and auditors based here. Here are some of the accounts in this first official federal historical document on the Iraq reconstruction entitled “Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience" -

• Ignorance: Pentagon planners efforts were crippled by spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure.


• Lies: when the reconstruction began to lag — particularly in the critical area of rebuilding the Iraqi police and army — the Pentagon simply put out inflated measures of progress to cover up the failures. Colin Powell said the Defense Department “kept inventing numbers of Iraqi security forces — the number would jump 20,000 a week"


• Incompetence: The Bush Administration has in place neither the policies and technical capacity nor the organizational structure that would be needed to undertake such a program on anything approaching this scale.


• Politics over planning: Republicans put a greater priority on making things "look good" for Bush because of the 2004 election instead of efficient and competent use of money. Office of Management and Budget balked at the American occupation authority’s abrupt request for about $20 billion in new reconstruction money in August 2003, a veteran Republican lobbyist working for the authority made a bluntly partisan appeal to Joshua B. Bolten, then the O.M.B. director and now the White House chief of staff. “To delay getting our funds would be a political disaster for the President,” wrote the lobbyist, Tom C. Korologos. “His election will hang for a large part on show of progress in Iraq and without the funding this year, progress will grind to a halt.” With administration backing, Congress allocated the money later that year.


• Poor planning: As an example of the haphazard planning, a civilian official at the United States Agency for International Development was at one point given four hours to determine how many miles of Iraqi roads would need to be reopened and repaired. The official searched through the agency’s reference library, and his estimate went directly into a master plan.


• Early miscalculations: The history records how Jay Garner, Chief of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, presented Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld with several rebuilding plans, including one that would include projects across Iraq. “What do you think that’ll cost?” Mr. Rumsfeld asked of the more expansive plan.“I think it’s going to cost billions of dollars,” Mr. Garner said.“My friend,” Mr. Rumsfeld replied, “if you think we’re going to spend a billion dollars of our money over there, you are sadly mistaken.”

Conclusions:

"...the government as a whole has never developed a legislatively sanctioned doctrine or framework for planning, preparing and executing contingency operations in which diplomacy, development and military action all figure.”

And to think in the midst of this recession in America, billions of dollars are flying out of America every week to try to repair the damage of the Bush legacy.

Iraqis want us out

As we have seen, the Iraqis will not agree to US bases in their country and they want us out. Things have been going well in Iraq lately but just as we get optimistic...

[TP] Yesterday, a “wave of attacks in Baghdad and areas north of the capital…shattered a relative lull in violence, killing 16 people and injuring 15.” The attacks came just one day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared that his government had “defeated” terrorism in Iraq. Today, a female suicide bomber “killed nine people and wounded 12 others in an attack on an Iraqi market.”

Now Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wants the US out, he has proposed a timetable for US withdrawl:

Reuters:

"Today, we are looking at the necessity of terminating the foreign presence on Iraqi lands and restoring full sovereignty," Maliki told Arab ambassadors in blunt remarks during an official visit to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.

"One of the two basic topics is either to have a memorandum of understanding for the departure of forces or a memorandum of understanding to set a timetable for the presence of the forces, so that we know (their presence) will end in a specific time."

Conservative talk radio host on Iraq: "We've let down 3000 individuals, 3000 innocent Americans ... we've squandered resources in Iraq."

"I have never voted for a Democrat for President. I could do it on the strength of this issue alone because of my disagreement with the Administration and my fear that John McCain represents more of the same."

-- Michael Smerconish sitting in for Bill O’Reilly to host the Radio Factor

Yesterday, conservative radio host Michael Smerconish sat in for Bill O’Reilly to host the Radio Factor and discussed the NYT story about how the Bush War on Terror has FAILED and al Qaeda has established a base of operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. WATCH IT. As I had noted previously, this was also verified by a government report (pdf).

NYT:

Bin Laden Hunt at Dead End - "We're all hurting because of Iraq"

But it is increasingly clear that the Bush administration will leave office with Al Qaeda having successfully relocated its base from Afghanistan to Pakistan’s tribal areas, where it has rebuilt much of its ability to attack from the region and broadcast its messages to militants across the world. ...

Just as it had on the day before 9/11, Al Qaeda now has a band of terrorist camps from which to plan and train for attacks against Western targets, including the United States.

When American military and intelligence officials requested additional Predator drones to survey the tribal areas, they were told no drones were available because they had been sent to Iraq.

“We had to put people out in the field who had less than ideal levels of experience,” one former senior C.I.A. official said. “But there wasn’t much to choose from.”

One reason for this, according to two former intelligence officials directly involved in the Qaeda hunt, was that by 2006 the Iraq war had drained away most of the C.I.A. officers with field experience in the Islamic world. “You had a very finite number” of experienced officers, said one former senior intelligence official. “Those people all went to Iraq. We were all hurting because of Iraq.”

“The United States faces a threat from Al Qaeda today that is comparable to what it faced on Sept. 11, 2001,” said Seth Jones, a Pentagon consultant and a terrorism expert at the RAND Corporation.

------------------------------

When looking at the progress of the War on Terror since 9/11 - what does this tell us about the rationality, awareness and intelligence of people who say, "Bush has won 2 wars"... and "the surge has worked" ... and "there's not a lot of anti-war sentiment out there"?? It is more than simple denial. It is a desperate authoritarian effort to save face and cling to the status quo.

McCain's "100 years in Iraq" problem

McCain sums up the confusion over his “100 years” remark by stating his case that he wants to stay in Iraq until no more Americans are getting killed, no matter how long it takes and how many Americans get killed achieving that goal—that is, the goal of not getting any more Americans killed. And once that goal is achieved, we’ll stay.

Got that?

Problem: McCain is a warrior that is dumb about war. No wonder he finished at the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy.

Like Bush, McCain thinks the solution is our presence in the Middle East. No, the problem is our presence in the Middle East. As long as we’re setting up shop in the heart of the Arab world, we’re not keeping America safer. Winning the War on Terror comes down to this: what will make us safer Arabs who are willing to die to kill Americans? There are a number of good answers to that question, but occupying their land for the next 100 years is not one of them.

Al Qaeda has us exactly where they want us, waging an expensive unilateral war, depleting our military in a war where there is no defense against suicide bombers, where our economy is being sucked dry slowly and surely while feeding the hate for America by our presence in Iraq - the best recruiting campaign that al Qaeda could hope for. That's what we can expect from John McCain.

Gen. Casey says the Army needs 3 or 4 years and substantial resources to recover from Iraq and that the “current demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply."

America is less safe today because of the strain two wars, that aren't anywhere near conclusion, are straining the military to a point that the US could not handle an additional conflict if one where to arise according to Army Gen. Cody in Senate hearings three years ago.

We could be hiring 10,000 new border patrol guards for a year to protect this country from illegals with the amount that is spend in Iraq EVERY DAY. Think about that and what is best to defend America.

Bush war crimes confirmed

After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

-- Maj. General Antonio Taguba

A new report released by Physicians for Human Rights: Broken Laws, Broken Lives, presents irrefutable medical evidence that confirms first-hand accounts of men who endured torture by US personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay. These men were never charged with any crime.

This year's Oscar winning documentary, Taxi to the Dark Side, also chronicles the Bush Administration's moral values on torture. The story is about the controversial death of an Afghan taxi driver named Dilawar. Dilawar was beaten to death by American soldiers while being held in detention at the Bagram Air Base.

Impeachment would not be a sufficient for such crimes. A war crimes tribunal is in order.

Bush - one of the world's least trusted leaders

WPO: "A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of 20 nations around the world finds that none of the national leaders on the world stage inspire wide confidence. US President George W. Bush is one of the least trusted leaders..."

Is anyone surprised?

WorldPublicOpinion.org conducted the poll of 19,751 respondents in nations that comprise 60 percent of the world's population. This includes most of the largest nations--China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Russia--as well as Mexico, Argentina, Britain, France, Spain, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Turkey, the Palestinian territories, South Korea and Thailand. Fielding was conducted between January 10 and May 6. The margins of error range from +/-2 to 4 percent.

The authoritarian conservative war on America

They say, if you don't support Bush, you're a Democrat who is giving "aid to the enemy," "invested in defeat," and "not supporting our troops." It is a partisan attack, 'us and them', where all Democrats are the enemy and in support of 'surrender.'

Did it ever occur to these authoritarians that lifelong Republicans - like military generals who'd seen a lifetime of military service have called the Iraq venture "a night mare without end" (Gen. R. Sanchez), and "the war in Iraq has fueled recruitment of violent Islamic extremists" (Gen. John Batiste). They also said about Bush: "there has been a glaring, unfortunate, display of incompetent strategic leadership within our national leaders" - Sanchez; and Bush has run a "failed strategy that is breaking our great Army" - Batiste.

Do these career Generals want to lose? Do they want to help the enemy? I can quote many more high ranking military that have spoken out. Included on this list are Generals Newbold, Eaton, Odom, Swannack, Zinni, Riggs, Clark and others. Many are life long Republicans. Below is a photo of General Charles Swannack, an Iraq vet and 30 year career soldier who spoke out against the incompetence of the Bush war plan. Does he look like a 'candy-ass liberal' invested in aiding the enemy?

And you Bush supporters have the balls to tell me I "don't support our troops"? If you support Bush, YOU certainly do not support the troops.

1. Bush sent in troops to Iraq with out adequate body armor or vehicle armor resulting in mass casualties including 320,000 brain injuries. A 2006 study showed that 80% of marines killed from upper body wounds would have survived, if they'd had adequate body armor.

2. Bush's "Stop-Loss policy" had prevented at least 50,000 troops from leaving the military when their service was scheduled to end - just since 2006.

3. Bush used National Guard troops for his surge that was overburdening units already stretched to their limits according to both Republican and Democratic governors.

4. Bush is sending troops in without adequate training. Two army brigades had to forgo their desert training to accommodate Bush's escalation schedule. Soldiers who were classified as medically unfit to fight are now being sent to war.

5. Bush has opposed pay raises for military, time and time again.

6. Bush proposed cutting funding for military housing and medical facilities. In the fiscal year 2004 budget the President Bush proposed spending nearly $1.5 billion less on these critical facilities than the previous year. (House Appropriation Committees)

7. Bush proposed rolling back increases for imminent-danger pay. Soldiers on the front lines recieve a small monthly payment as compensation for being placed in imminent danger. Bush proposed cutting this fee from $225 a month to $150 a month. (Army Times)

8. Bush eliminated aid to schools located on military bases. He sliced $125 million in federal subsidies for education children of troops. The cuts affected "about 900,000 children nationwide and 63 percent of children in military families." (Seattle Times)

9. Bush has said he would veto the Webb bill providing troops with increased education benefits. The first president in history to veto a benefits bill for those who served.

And you Bush supporters have the balls to tell me I'm "aiding the enemy"?

When a Government report flatly states that an al Qaeda attack is now likely because the Bush Administration has not met US security goals to destroy the terrorist threat and close the al Qaeda's safe haven. Further, the report states that the Bush Administration has no plans to eliminate this known terrorist threat.

87 months after Richard Clarke first insisted that the Bush Administration develop a strategy to combat Al Qaeda, 62 months after the Bush Administration announced its intention to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries, 45 months after the 9/11 Commission called for the Administration to develop a strategy to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries, 258 days after Congress required the Administration to submit a strategy to combat terrorist safe havens in Pakistan within 90 days, the GAO releases a report (pdf) finding:

No comprehensive plan for meeting U.S. national security goals in the fight against terrorism has been developed, as stipulated by the National Strategy for Combating Terrorism (2003), called for by an independent commission (2004), and mandated by congressional legislation (2007).

Result: al Qaeda is stronger than ever

If you support Bush, you are either a misinformed idiot, you buy the unreasonable fear that is peddled to control you, or you are an authoritarian ass-kisser whose only interests are to yourself and your politics, not to the well being of America or our military - your only interests are to save face because you are not man enough to admit you made a mistake by supporting an incompetent president who has severely damaged America. And all they can talk about is Rev. Wright, Tony Rezko, and the GOP swiftboat du jour... while trying to rationalize any & all failings of the Bush administration while they hide and tap dance - trying every way possible to avoid oversight, investigations, and accountability til time runs out in the term.

We must succeed in Iraq and with new and competent leadership, we can hopefully repair the damage of the Bush years, abandon the isolationist arrogant foreign policy and look to the world to build more partners in the war on terror. Gen Batiste has praised the recent gains in Iraq but notes: "Ultimately, however, these military gains must be cemented with regional and global diplomacy, political reconciliation, and economic recovery...tools yet sufficiently utilized." Without diplomacy, a willingness to reach out and a comprehensive world view, victory will be only temporary. This war should not have lasted this long and should not have been shouldered soley on the backs of our military. We have paid a terrible price due to the policies of GW Bush.

Not one single country in the world supports the US occupation of Iraq

The most recent comprehensive international poll on the subject - completed 7/26/07 - shows that of 23,000 people in 22 countries polled, not one single country supports the US occupation of Iraq. Further, the study shows anti-occupation sentiment growing as compared to a 2006 poll.

Overall:

A majority of citizens across the world (67%) think US-led forces should leave Iraq within a year, according to a BBC World Service poll of 23,000 people across 22 countries. Just one in four (23%) think foreign troops should remain in Iraq until security improves.

Muslim countries are among those who most strongly support an immediate US withdrawal from Iraq: Indonesia (65%), Turkey (64%), and Egypt (58%).

Even Israel supports withdrawal. 52% of Israelis want the US out immediately or within a year as compared with 40% who want the US out only when security improves. The Philippines and Kenya offer the most support for a US occupation with a slight majority opposing.



Change is in the air. The most recent Zogby Poll - the only poll that takes into account the candidacies of Bob Barr and Ralph Nader - shows Obama with a solid 10 point lead over McCain.

Bush also has hit a record low approval rating on Zogby of 23%.

Bush admitted to McClellan that he authorized illegal intelligence leak - Today Show interview

UPDATE - Breaking: RS - Lawyers working for the House Judiciary Committee are meeting with former White House spokesman Scott McClellan regarding the explosive revelations contained in his new tell-all memoir, and the committee's chairman says he may renew hearings on the administration's leak of a CIA officer's identity now that new details have been published.

In other words - Bush at the very least committed an illegal and impeachable offense. The case could be argued that this would be tantamount to treason. Instructing underlings to selectively leak information resulting in a breach of national security, damage to US counterintelligence, and the outing of a CIA agent - Plame, who was working to monitor Iran's nuclear program. This was done to undermine a critic of the Iraq war.

It had long been suspected that Bush illegally leaked 'cherry picked' information from a classified National Intelligence Estimate and subsequently feigned ignorance of his involvement, keeping the public and the investigators from being able to seek accountability. Now it has been proven by Scott McClellan in his Thursday May 29, interview on the Today Show with NBC's Meredith Viera:

McClellan: But the other defining moment was in early April 2006, when I learned that the President had secretly declassified the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq for the Vice President and Scooter Libby to anonymously disclose to reporters. And we had been out there talking about how seriously the President took the selective leaking of classified information. And here we were, learning that the President had authorized the very same thing we had criticized.

Viera: Did you talk to the President and say why are you doing this?

McClellan: Actually, I did. I talked about the conversation we had. I walked onto Air Force One, it was right after an event we had, it was down in the south, I believe it was North Carolina. And I walk onto Air Force One and a reporter had yelled a question to the President trying to ask him a question about this revelation that had come out during the legal proceedings. The revelation was that it was the President who had authorized, or, enable Scooter Libby to go out there and talk about this information. And I told the President that that's what the reporter was asking. He [the reporter] was saying that you, yourself, was the one that authorized the leaking of this information. And he [Bush] said "yeah, I did." And I was kinda taken aback.

Why this is illegal:

It violates specific procedures on declassifying intelligence as detailed in an Executive Order that Bush signed on March 25, '03. To see more specific info on the law violated, the time line, and the statements [lies] Bush made on the record after authorizing the leaks (according to Libby's sworn testimony on pg. 39 of his filing), SEE THIS LINK.

Scott McClellan stated today in the same interview his noble motivations for telling the truth:

"I have a higher loyalty than my loyalty necessarily to my past work. That's a loyalty to the truth and it's a loyalty to the values I was raised on. I talk about my upbringing in a political family that talked about the nobility of public service and the importance of speaking up and talking about making a positive difference. I hope that this book will help do that."

95% of people surveyed on CNN this morning believed McClellan more than Bush. It's time for Bush supporters to do a gut check. What is more important to you, authoritarian loyalty, or the truth and the rule of law? Time to take a stand, which is it? Integrity and ethics, or loyalty, lies, and abuse of power?

Bush loyalist and top aide Scotty McClellan: White House ran a culture of deception

New book by Former White House Press Secretary, Scotty McClellan:
“What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception”

This excellent inside source, Bush staffer observed the way Bush used propaganda to deliberately lie to the American people about the Iraq War. On the war, McClellan remarked:

"the decision to invade Iraq was a serious strategic blunder. ... What I do know is that war should only be waged when necessary, and the Iraq war was not necessary.”

He further confirmed the story that the NYT broke in April, that Bush used lies in the form of carefully crafted propaganda to sell the war.

He commented that the tone of the presidency was set by: "...decisions President Bush had made, including, first and foremost, the failure to be open and forthright on Iraq and rushing to war with inadequate planning and preparation for its aftermath.”

To anyone who is remotely aware of the repeated pattern of deception that has marked the way the Bush White House has operated, none of this would come a s a surprise... (except maybe for those whose awareness doesn't extend beyond American Idol).

UPDATE: McClellan's book is a #1 best seller on Amazon with a 3 week waiting list.

Bush administration caught red-handed in organized war propaganda effort

So what? The fact is that it is likely an illegal Pentagon-constructed psychological operation aimed at the American people to sell a government policy through lies in the media.

The NYT exposed the first details of the Pentagon's Military Analyst Program and now there are calls for a Congressional investigation. So, what's this all about?

This program was launched in early 2002 by then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria Clarke to recruit "key influentials" such as retired military to help sell a wary public on the planned Iraq invasion. More than 75 retired officers have been coached by government and military officials to spin the news about Iraq or simply lie on countless network and cable channel news programs and talk shows over the course of the past five years or more. Fox News has led the way in presenting these individuals to the public and other networks followed. Watch this short video story.

NYT: "Internal Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as 'message force multipliers' or 'surrogates' who could be counted on to deliver administration 'themes and messages' to millions of Americans 'in the form of their own opinions.' ... Don Meyer, an aide to Ms. Clarke, said a strategic decision was made in 2002 to make the analysts the main focus of the public relations push to construct a case for war"

So? Why is this illegal?

Because "covert" propaganda is illegal. Covert propaganda is defined as "materials such as editorials or other articles prepared by an agency or its contractors at the behest of the agency and circulated as the ostensible position of parties outside the agency."

Kathy Gill notes one of many likely illegal uses of propaganda:

"Pentagon officials helped two Fox analysts, General McInerney and General Vallely, write an opinion article for The Wall Street Journal defending Mr. Rumsfeld. The military "analysts" did not disclose to the networks, the papers or the public that they were parroting the Bush party line or working in their defense. Instead, they were presented as "experts" -- one assumes vetted for neutrality by the networks. We're only now finding out that they were in fact paid to appear on TV, [possibly also paid to write the op-eds]."

The most insidious thing was that many of the 'analysts' have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air. They were promoting a war that they stood to profit from.

Of course, the Bush family knows a lot about war profiteering.
I urge everyone, read the whole story of how your news was written by the government.

Trouble for McCain the war candidate - opposition to Iraq war at all-time high

The most recent USA Today/Gallup poll finds 63% of Americans saying the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq.

Check out these facts and statements by Gallup:

• This is the highest "mistake" percentage Gallup has ever measured for an active war involving the United States -- surpassing by two points the 61% who said the Vietnam War was a mistake in May 1971.


• The average percentage saying the war is a mistake has increased every year of the conflict...majority opposition to the Iraq war is basically cemented.

Sadly, it looks as if this month will be the worst death toll of US troops since Sept '07 if the present trend continues.

Speaking of polls, I see in the RCP poll of polls, both Clinton and Obama are slightly ahead of McCain now. This margin will widen considerably once a Dem candidate is chosen, I guarantee it.

Gov't Report: Bush administration's war on terror is abject failure

Title of new report (pdf) from the Government Accountability Office:

The United States Lacks a Comprehensive Plan to Destroy the Terrorist Threat and Close the Safe Haven in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas

The report flatly states that an al Qaeda attack is now likely because the Bush Administration has not met US security goals to destroy the terrorist threat and close the al Qaeda's safe haven. Further, the report states that the Bush Administration has no plans to eliminate this known terrorist threat.

Bushie ... you're doin' a heckuva job.

• Summary of report


• News articles on this story


• Time line of Bush Administration failure to act

It's not like they haven't been warned or been given enough time:

87 months after Richard Clarke first insisted that the Bush Administration develop a strategy to combat Al Qaeda, 62 months after the Bush Administration announced its intention to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries, 45 months after the 9/11 Commission called for the Administration to develop a strategy to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries, 258 days after Congress required the Administration to submit a strategy to combat terrorist safe havens in Pakistan within 90 days, the GAO releases a report finding:

No comprehensive plan for meeting U.S. national security goals in the fight against terrorism has been developed, as stipulated by the National Strategy for Combating Terrorism (2003), called for by an independent commission (2004), and mandated by congressional legislation (2007).

Abject failure in the war on terror, an expensive quagmire in Iraq with no end in sight, and a faltering economy. That's the legacy of GW Bush.

Colin Powell supports Iraq withdrawl and praises Obama

Colin Powell was the best, most qualified, and most intelligent military person in the Bush Administration. It is not surprising that he was fired, he was too smart to be a part of an incompetent regime that has considerably weakened America.

It is no surprise that he is a voice of reason in military matters and can see how the disaster of Iraq is affecting the American military and worse, how the present Iraq policy of "no end in sight" could do real serious damage to our military in the future. For that reason, Powell supports a withdrawl from Iraq:

"I'll tell you what they're all going to face — whichever one of them becomes president on Jan. 21 of 2009 — they will face a military force, a United States military force, that cannot sustain, continue to sustain, 140,000 people deployed in Iraq, and the 20 (to) 25,000 people we have deployed in Afghanistan, and our other deployments.... [The president] will have to continue to draw down at some pace. "

-- Powell told ABC's Diane Sawyer

Further, Powell commended Obama on reaction to the Rev. Wright controversy:

"I think that Sen. Obama handled the issue well . . . he didn't look the other way. He didn't wait for the, for the, you know, for the storm to go over. He went on television, and I thought, gave a very, very thoughtful, direct speech. And he didn't abandon the minister who brought him closer to his faith. It was a good (speech). I admired him for giving it. And I agreed with much of what he said." -- Colin Powell

Do I see an Obama/Powell ticket? Awesome, unbeatable.

Bringing freedom to Iraq - Bush style

This is what freedom means to Iraqis:

• 43% of population lives in absolute poverty


• prior to war 19% of children suffered malnutrition; today 28%


• last year 75% elementary-aged kids went to school; now 30%


• 70% lacked access to clean water


• only 50 of 142 primary health care centers are open to public

Read what the Red Cross is saying about conditions in Iraq. Most Iraqis were absolutely better off under Saddam.

This is what the war means to the United States of America:

• U.S. troops killed: 4,028


• U.S. troops wounded: 29,676


• U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since September 2001: Nearly 1.7 million


• U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan more than once: More than 599,000


• U.S. servicemembers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan who have children: 782,000


• Percent of current and former military officers who believe the Iraq war has “stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin:” 88%


• Percent of these officers who say the U.S. military is weaker than it was five years ago: 60%


• Percent of U.S. troops that have served in Iraq or Afghanistan at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.): 20%


• Amount the United States is spending on the war in Iraq every month: $10.3 billion

According to Gen. Petraeus, any gains in Iraq are marginal and fragile. Only more of the same commitment of troops and money will preserve the fragile gains. When asked about this lack of basic necessities for Iraqis and the billions of dollars pouring into the country, Gen. Petraeus responded: “Security conditions made it difficult to bring projects to closure in a timely fashion.”

No shit.

In other words...there is no end in sight.

Thanks dumbya. Now all we need is another dumb warmonger to continue the Iraq debacle.

Crossposted at TNFree

Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker admit that US war on terror is misdirected

Joe Biden asked Amb. Crocker where it would be better for American national security interests to eliminate Al Qaeda in Iraq or Al Qaeda along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Crocker had to answer the question:

Crocker: I would therefore pick Al Qaeda on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

So, the Ambassdor to Iraq just admitted that Iraq is not the central front in the war on terror. This was seconded by Gen. Petraeus when asked about where Al Qaeda's primary base of operations are.

Sen. Feingold: You would agree that their greater safe haven and greater operability is in Pakistan/Afghanistan rather than in Iraq, correct?

Gen. Petraeus: I believe that is so.

Calling all wingnuts and Bush ass kissers... please answer this question:

What level of incompetence can be justified so as to allow terrorist safe havens in Afghanistan, the country from which the 9/11 attacks were launched, such that Al Qaeda is even stronger today than they were 7 years ago?

We spend nearly a $ half billion a day in Iraq while our economy suffers, our military is weakened, our major infrastructure collapses, and Al Qaeda gets stronger. Now the neo-cons want to start another war with Iran.

Republican Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) nailed it. He said because of the Iraq war, “we’re at a point where we’re really strained and stressed out. I hate to agree with Sen. Feingold, but I think Osama bin Laden is sitting back right now looking at this thing [and saying] in effect, ‘We’re kinda bankrupting this country.’

Bingo. The chimp has waged a poorly executed, ineffective, incredibly expensive, ill advised, misdirected, and most of all ... a very unintelligent war. 12 US soldiers have died in Iraq since Sunday.

Speaking of unintelligent, McCain again demonstrates he's clueless about Iraq and Al Qaeda. Speaking of Al Qaeda, McCain said today:

MCCAIN: [Al Qaeda is] certainly not an obscure sect of the Shi’ites overall?

PETREAUS: No.

MCCAIN: Or Sunnis or anybody else.

Wrong again idiot. Al Qaeda has nothing to do with Shi'ites and IS in fact an obscure sect of Sunnis.

Yet another story on McCain's temperament emerges. He apparently called his wife a "cunt" and a "trollop" in public.


crossposted at TNFree

Cheney doesn't care what the troops think

The troops want to cut 'n run. Better call out the swiftboats

What? Are they cowards? Hell no, they've been lied to, under supplied, put in a war with unclear and changing objectives, and returned for numerous tours that have been extended beyond reasonable. The troops have been abused by an incompetent administration. The troops recognize their work is done.

Bush and his wingnuts suggest that pulling the troops out would, "undermine the morale of our troops by betraying the cause for which they have sacrificed."

Really? Over two years ago, Zogby Poll found that:

72% of American troops serving in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year, and more than one in four say the troops should leave immediately

Dick Cheney vowed the U.S. would keep “a long-term military presence in Iraq until al-Qaida is defeated” there. After Cheney's rousing speech to the troops in Iraq last month, ABC correspondent Martha Raddatz spoke with soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan about their political preferences, and found that most of the soldiers she spoke to favored candidates who supported withdrawal from Iraq.

So does the Iraqi military. They overwhelmingly favor Democrats for president.

According to a new CNN poll, just 36 percent of the American public believes that “the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over." Do you think Dick Cheney really cares about what the troops or the American public think? Here's your answer:

RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No.

crossposted at TNFree

Bushie Neocons in Fantasy Land

Crossposted at TNFree
H/T - Michael aka "Doc at the Autopsy"
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"...we've broken the grip of al Qaeda on the capital. We've weakened the influence of Iranian backed militias. We've dramatically improved security conditions ..."
-- GW Bush, 3/27/08

"The Civil War in Iraq is over. And until the American domestic political debate catches up with that fact, we are going to have a very hard time discussing Iraq on the basis of reality." -- Fred Kagen, 3/24/08

Less than 24 hours after this statement by Kagan and before Bush's statement above, this came across the wire:

With Iraq's top leaders directing the battle, Iraq's army and national police pressed a major operation Tuesday to wrest control of the southern port city of Basra from the Shiite Mahdi Army militia. Fighting between government forces and the militia quickly spread through Iraq's south and into Baghdad.

and...

BAGHDAD — American-trained Iraqi security forces failed for a third straight day to oust Shiite militias from the southern city of Basra on Thursday, even as President Bush hailed the operation as a sign of the growing strength of Iraq’s federal government.

The fighting in Basra with the Mahdi Army, the armed wing of the political movement led by the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, set off clashes in cities throughout Iraq and major demonstrations in Sadr City, the huge Baghdad neighborhood that is Mr. Sadr’s base of power, and other Shiite neighborhoods in the capital.

Two Americans have been killed and the Green Zone in Iraq is under attack. The level of denial is amazing. Bush is just tap dancing til he can hand his mess over to someone else to deal with.... leaving America in a shitty situation, with a faltering economy and a weakened military.

Republican Senator and Vietnam Vet Chuck Hagel said it best:

"This is another episode of 'Alice in Wonderland.' ... What do you mean stability and security? Baghdad has been over the last year essentially ethnically divided. You've separated the Sunnis and Shiites. To make some assertion somehow that things are looking much better in Baghdad and it's calm and it's back to where it used to be is just not the case. . . and when you look at the casualties the United States has taken since the so-called military surge, over 900 deaths, you look at 30,000 wounded and the money we've put in there, then the other point of this is if, in fact, the surge has calmed things to a point where the president and others are saying, well, they've done a great service, they've achieved terrific things; why are they talking about keeping more troops in Iraq for the rest of the year? This is still a serious, dangerous situation in Iraq."

John McCain proved 3 times last week that he is dumb about war.

Old soldiers never die, they get young soldiers killed

McCain said for the third time in two days, that Iran, a Shi’ite stronghold was training al Qaeda a militant Sunni organization. This complete misunderstanding was more than a mere gaffe. Fox News' Brit Hume called McCain's confusion a "senior moment". Perhaps pushing this misconception will give McCain the groundwork as a possible future president to, in his words sung to the Beach Boys song... "Bomb, bomb, bomb ... bomb, bomb Iran".

Of course Gen. Petraeus refuted this claim of an Iran / al Qaeda link on CNN:

"As you know the flow of foreign fighters and suicide bombers that help out al Qaeda typically is through Syria." - Gen. David Petraeus.

Unwittingly, with Bushies in tow, GW has done more to strengthen al Qaeda than they could have ever accomplished on their own - FACT. Ahjmadinejad smooches Iraqi leaders and our enemies have become united. Are the Bushies too oblivious to see this?

McCain is in total agreement now with bin Laden and al Qaeda. McCain wants to continue the Bush "stay the course" doctrine - playing right into the hands of the enemy. Al Qaeda has us exactly where they want us, waging an expensive unilateral war, depleting our military in a war where there is no defense against suicide bombers, where our economy is being sucked dry slowly and surely while feeding the hate for America by our presence in Iraq - the best recruiting campaign that al Qaeda could hope for. That's what we can expect from John McCain.

Speaking of the fact that McCain clearly doesn't understand the war we're in, as usual Bill Maher, nailed it:

"But it’s not just a ‘gaffe,’ it’s what McCain really thinks. And therein lies the paradox of this campaign: McCain’s strength is really his weakness. He’s a warrior who’s dumb about war. Whoever read The Art of War, chapter three of The Art of War says, “Know thy enemy.” And John McCain plainly doesn’t. He thinks the solution is our presence in the Middle East. No, the problem is our presence in the Middle East. ... he’s exactly the same as Bush on the war. They both don’t get the same thing. As long as we’re setting up shop in the heart of the Arab world, we’re not keeping America safer. ... Winning the War on Terror comes down to this: what will make us safer from pissed off Arab teenagers who are willing to die? There are a number of good answers to that question, but occupying their land for the next 100 years is not one of them."

Do we really want someone who has "senior moments" and is dumb about war with his finger on the trigger? Just a reminder here, we could be hiring 11,000 new border patrol guards for a year to protect this country from illegals with the amount that is spend in Iraq EVERY DAY - now nearly a half billion ($435 million / day).

A vote for McCain is a vote for GW Bush, more war, and a continually worsening economy.