Secretary Rice protecting Blackwater?Blackwater may be smuggling guns to Islamic terrorists through Iraq. The Iraq government tried to throw Blackwate

Blackwater may be smuggling guns to Islamic terrorists through Iraq. The Iraq government tried to throw Blackwater’s mercenaries out of Iraq for killing civilians. Two of Blackwater’s civilian employees have made plea bargains that call for 20 years behind bars AND public testimony against others.

Yet, no one in Congress is investigating!

Secretary Rice is said to be protecting Blackwater by blocking corruption probes.

Interesting bedfellows. Who else is hiding under the sheets?

Someone in Iraq and within the United States government is making money in kickbacks from Blackwater.

Is it Rice?

Link

Cheney using Israel to start US-Iran War

"US Vice-President Dick Cheney has considered provoking an exchange of military strikes between Iran and Israel in order to give the US a pretext to attack Iran, reports said yesterday."

From the Australian today, Dick Cheney thinks he can be General Patton. General Patton in the days following Germany's surrender wanted to fight the Russians. The Russians, he said, can be tricked into an incident that will make it look like the resulting war was their fault.

Whose fault it is or isn't doesn't matter to the dead.

Cheney has no respect for our war dead and never has with his five deferments from his youth.

Yet, Cheney would trick our youthful soldiers into another "patriotic" quagmire.

"The news comes amid reports that Israel launched an air strike against Syria this month over a suspected nuclear site.

Mr Cheney's former Middle East adviser David Wurmser had claimed earlier this year that Mr Cheney was considering asking Israel to strike the Iranian nuclear site at Natanz."

May Cheney burn forever in Hell.

George W. Bush is a Windshield Cowboy!

Yup! He's scared of horses.

He's confined to wearing his hat and boots during those daring rides in a pick-up truck.

Does he wear his seat belt, too?

Only his Secret Service hairdresser knows for sure.

Link from the Australian

U.S. Security Company Supplying Iraq Terrorists with Weapons

Two men have already entered into guilty pleads with agreements to testify in the future.

The future testimony may help uncover how 100,000 U.S. weapons came to be 'missing' in Iraq.

Cashwell and Grumiaux, two former Blackwater employees, pleaded guilty in early 2007 to possession of stolen firearms that had been shipped in interstate or foreign commerce, and aided and abetted another in doing so, according to court papers viewed by The Associated Press. In their plea agreements, which call for a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the men agreed to testify in any future proceedings.

Blackwater has been providing security in Iraq for the United States civilian workforce. The United States put tremendous force on Iraq to keep Blackwater licensed after a slaughter of civilians. The civilian witnesses said Blackwater employees opened fire in a crowded street for no apparent reason.

There are several private security companies in Iraq plus over one hundred thousand U.S. troops. With troops guarding U.S. embassies around the world, why is Blackwater so important in Iraq that diplomatic travel was suspended when Blackwater was blacklisted by the legitimate government in Iraq.

I think our government is continuing the Reagan legacy by providing terrorists with support to justify and continue conflict.

Story

Karen Handel, SOS, "Absurd!"

Ms. Handel has a mouth. She also has a job as a Georgia Constitutional officer.

It's time for her to give up on having a mouth or having a Constitutional office.

Story Link from the Marietta Daily Journal.

In a 'nothing but a campaign stump speech,' Ms. Handel put her legislative ideas forward as if she were governor of our fair state and not the secretary. Certainly Secretary Handel wants to be Governor and will be using his Constitutional office to raise her political profile just like Cathy Cox.

Cathy Cox failed to win not only the Governor's office but the Democratic primary in the last election cycle. Cox however was a two term Secretary of State and she did an excellent job during those two terms.

Handel, in her first term, has more mouth than credibility.

The mouth was loose and fast calling voting rights "Absurd" because in her personal opinion the price tag was too high.

Yet, she praised the high standards set by the GOP legislature for voters.

Voters have to prove to the state that they have a right to vote.

The state, in Handel's personal opinion, does not have to prove the votes were counted.

Ms. Handel, shut your damn mouth and do your damn job.

Mike Parker

Listen to the Generals

Yes, we should listen to the professional soldiers with no political agendas, shouldn’t we?

Generals like Patton, who said he could start a war with Russia and make it look like the Russians were to blame. Patton, the great general certainly, was also a media whore. Why did he need any personal media coverage to win his handful of battles in a global war?

Generals like MacArthur, who ignored Chinese soldiers in October 1950 perhaps intentionally to start a nuclear war with those Godless Communists? The Chinese involvement began as early as October 8 with the first soldiers in Korea by at least October 13, and the first attacks on the 19th. The first Chinese prisoner was captured on October 24th. MacArthur ignored all the evidence that his armies were out numbered. His Armies, those were indeed Mac Arthur’s Armies, were going to attack China. Only China preempted our Medal of Honor winner. How many died while MacArthur tried to run his war, his way?

We should not expect to hear the word peace from a general, should we?

A good use for wiretaps - Senator Stevens of Alaska

The Bush plan for using wiretaps to stop terrorists should be hijacked by the Justice Department.

The 'non-partisan' attorneys would get more bang for the buck with wire taps on every GOP lawmaker, staff member, and patron.

A patron of a GOP lawmaker, caught in corruption, agreed to record his phone calls in cooperation with the FBI.

Who did the FBI catch? Why several state GOP lawmakers and Senator Stevens, (R) of Alaska.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the agency would not discuss any aspect of the ongoing investigation.

Allen testified in federal court last week that he called several people at the FBI's behest.

"It's been a lot of work," Allen said of his efforts for the FBI.

A judge had previously ruled that Allen could not discuss politicians currently under investigation.

Catching corruption and perverted Republicans might be 'a lot of work' like the man said, but it really feels as rewarding as any public service.

Crooks catching crooks. Looks like the saying, "No honor among thieves" will have to be changed to "No honor among the GOP."

Security has failed in Iraq

Time to face the music for Bush et al, in my opinion.

The surge didn’t work in Iraq.

The goal of the surge was to secure Baghdad and Anbar. Anbar, prior to consideration of the small surge, had already begun to experience a significant change. Taking credit for that change a year later is less than honest information from an administration with ’strained’ credibility.

Whatever credibility was left on the subject of Iraq died on Monday when the United States government banned all employee travel in Iraq.

In Iraq today, only the Iraqi citizens and our military can drive or walk.

That drive or walk isn’t safe or any safer than the ‘violent’ period of one year ago when the surge idea was revived and modified.

The surge was an idea rejected by the Iraq study group. The group did not believe our country had enough military power remaining to field the needed troops for a sufficient period of time to bring about real and lasting change.

Bush needed a change in policy when violence escalated last summer. So he modified the rejected plan.

This summer the good news is hardly good news. The news is that we have returned to the same level of violence that prompted the failed policy of a limited surge.

Clearly, the surge has maintained the status quo of one year ago with the additional news that without a healthy amount of private security forces, currently about 48,000 strong, U.S. civilian employees cannot travel.

Do we not have enough troops? Do we need another 48,000 mercenaries?

And, as the debate continues on the surge, demographics of the country continue to change, making even short-term comparisons irrelevant. We should not compare Iraq today with Iraq one year ago given the huge migration of innocent people forced from their homes.

This story, Migration, shows the rapidly changing face of Iraq.

The migration data, which are expected to be released this week by the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization but were given in advance to The New York Times, indicate that in Baghdad alone there are now nearly 170,000 families, accounting for almost a million people, that have fled their homes in search of security, shelter, water, electricity, functioning schools or jobs to support their families.

Yes, violence is trending downward from a recent high, but that doesn’t mean the surge caused the change.

A bird’s-eye view of the data suggests that since the bombing of a revered Shiite mosque in February 2006 triggered severe sectarian strife, Sunnis generally have been moving north and west, Shiites south, and Christians to the far north

The broader security situation within Iraq can’t be judged by a single reporter, from a single source, or by a single standard.

By my standards, the surge was a political ploy to delay admitting that military might and technology can’t quickly change the political processes in a country with 25 million people divided by several religions, social and ethnic backgrounds, and geography.

The Security Situation in Iraq

With the Iraqi government banning Blackwater Security, the United States government has suspended all travel within Iraq.

Bush and his hand picked generals can say whatever they want about how well the troop surge is working. But, if Blackwater isn't allowed to work, and if that means our non-military U.S. employees can't travel, then the troop surge isn't working.

I know my logic is way ahead of my language.

Our troops can't protect our diplomats, government agents, and clerical workers on the streets of Iraq. Nor, does the United States government think the streets of Iraq are safe enough with just Iraqi police, Iraqi soldiers, and American soldiers to protect even convoys in routine travel.

I just don't know how to say it better.

Our people aren't safe and our people are not being allowed outside.

Link

"No End in Sight"

No End in Sight is an excellent documentary movie on the Iraq invasion and the errors made by the Republicans.

Even Republicans will like the brutal straight talk and factual background presented in a politically non-biased film.

The film presents face to face video interviews with the people who were on the ground, insiders to the story, as the farce unfolded.

Information about the farce in Iraq overloads our senses, our newspaper, and our TV screens. We find it nearly impossible to screen through the huge amount of lies, misinformation, and rumor.

Avoid the rumors and see the movie when it comes out on DVD October 30, 2007.

Before then, here's a partial transcript from PBS.

BRANCACCIO: But, also, nobody, America, certainly not Iraq wanted to have happen what happened soon after the invasion, which was, because of a—apparently a power vacuum, the destructive looting that sweeps the country. You also had not enough—US troops—available to—for instance, safeguard ammunition dumps.

HUGHES: People were getting in all over the place, stealing things, because we didn't have enough soldiers there for it.

BRANCACCIO: This affects this whole thing with improvised exploded devices that—would crop up later.

HUGHES: Absolutely. Absolutely. The IEDs began with—artillery shells that were being wired together—singularly—being detonated. And they have now progressed, as you would expect an opponent in war to do.

BRANCACCIO: So, soon after this—watershed moment for Iraq, when Saddam was toppled, the military is defeated, is this other unplanned watershed moment, the looting and the destruction, and the film makes the argument that this is—this is seed of doubt that starts to creep into the Iraqi psyche. The idea that, "Why aren't the Americans protecting us?"

RUMSFELD: The images you are seeing on TV you are seeing over and over and over. And it's the same picture of some person walking out of some building with a vase

BODINE: I think that was probably the day we lost the Iraqis

RUMSFELD: And you think, my goodness, were there that many vases? Is it possible that there were that many vases in the whole country?

BRANCACCIO: And then, as things evolve in Baghdad, a series of key decisions that it is argued in the film, have radically altered prospects for Iraq in their wake. Number one, big decision, stop the early formation of an Iraqi government. Was that—did you worry about that decision?

HUGHES: Absolutely, because, at that particular point in time, we had raised the bar of expectation for the Iraqi people. They were thinking, "Hey, we're gonna be able to participate in a government." This is something they had never been able to do. They didn't know exactly how to do it, but they were anticipating a new day. And then, suddenly, it stops. And—they're questioning the Americans, like, "Don't you really know what you're doing here?"

Exposing more lies about the "Left"

By now, few people have faith in government, Congress, or the President. We can blame President Nixon and Watergate. Post-Watergate we have the Reagan hatred of government as the cause of all evil. Then, we have the evil culture of corruption that has too long a list of liars, weasels, and criminals to list here.

But, here we must face whatever reality a blogger can reveal, if that is any at all.

Each of us has favorite sources. Each and every source is prone to unconscious bias as well as pandering to special interests.

Of our interest this morning should be this story about the Nixon Centre, a right wing (?) think tank in Washington, D.C.

An expert on terrorism working at the Nixon Centre lied about interviews with Greenspan, Pelosi, Gates, and Barack Obama. These famous interviews never happened.

The expert also lied about having a Ph.D. but has admitted never conducting the interviews.

ABC News has used the ‘expert’ as a consultant. His writings have been published around the world.

This particular expert was quoted this past weekend as knowing the U.S. was about to bomb Iran, hitting 1200 targets over 3 days.

Although this expert will be punished, his lies cannot be undone.

Details in the Australian

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is a LIAR!

Some readers will say, "Well, he's Secretary of Defense for George Bush! Of course he lies!"

But, Gates is calling Alan Greenspan a liar for making the following comments about the war in Iraq.

"Whatever their publicized angst over Saddam Hussein's 'weapons of mass destruction,' American and British authorities were also concerned about violence in an area that harbors a resource indispensable for the functioning of the world economy," Greenspan wrote.

"I'm saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: The Iraq war is largely about oil," added Greenspan, who for decades had been one of the most respected U.S. voices on fiscal policies.

So what does Secretary Gates say about fighting a war of choice in the oil burdened country of Iraq?

"I think that it's really about stability in the Gulf. It's about rogue regimes trying to develop weapons of mass destruction. It's about aggressive dictators," Gates said.

"After all, Saddam Hussein launched wars against several of his neighbors," Gates said. "He was trying to develop weapons of mass destruction, certainly when we went in, in 1991."

What in those 57 words can be clearly seen as lies or even damned lies.

Gates lies when he says we went to war in 2003 because of events in 1991. Ah, 1991! We need to get out the time machine and fix that year in history! And, if we had found the same amount of WMD in 2003 as we did in 1991, no problem raising the WMD issue. It would have been a valid issue. But, 2003 isn't 1991 anymore. Someone needs to have Einstein travel through time and educate Secretary Gates.

Gates says Saddam started wars with "several" of his neighbors.

Six neighboring countries surround Iraq. Any war with Saudi Arabia and Iraq in the history books? What about a war with Jordan and Iraq? When exactly did Saddam, without warning, invade Jordan? What about the NATO member, Turkey? Did Saddam ever take a slice out of Turkey?

So Saddam has invaded or been at war with two of his neighbors. Iran and Kuwait.

We cheered his war with Iran and sent him Weapons of Mass Destruction that he used against the Iranians. While the Iranians were dying from poison gas, Ronald Reagan sent Donald Rumsfeld to shake hands with Saddam.

Did he maybe say, "You're doing heck of a job, Brownie?" Cause he didn't say, stop the war or else?

As the war raged, Reagan opened an Embassy!

That's how we punished Saddam in 1983.

If Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wants to deny the inconvenient truth about why our troops are dying in Iraq, let him speak in specific facts which are revelant to the discussion.

Why in March 2003 did the President of the United States invade Iraq?

Speaking directly to Mr. Gates, "You're the Secretary of Defense for the United States. Act like one and show a command of details."

Casey Cagle gets a cool quarter million under the table

Lt. Governor Casey Cagle benefited from secret donations made by real estate agents during the last election cycle. During the last election, the Georgia Association of Realtors collected and spent over $200,000 for banker Cagle. Cagle's staff denies any coordination of message or discussions of the secret donations. The donations, if that is what they were, were spent on advertising by a group called Realtors for Cagle.

The group, Realtors for Cagle, never disclosed the expenditures or even the collections as required by law. The law provides nothing worth mentioning in the way of penalties for this election breaking activity.

Elections, as everyone knows, should be transparent and honest. In this case, the very honest and innocent Cagle should not be able to shelter and hide his financial relationships with special interest groups.

Special interest groups are forbidden from donating more than $10,000 directly to a candidate for state wide office.

Related story and details here.

GOP hijacks Elections with Federal Help

Very poor head line but I don't know how to condense the truth down enough to fit the space.

Political appointees to the Department of Justice, under direction of Karl Rove and George Bush, rigged a state wide election. When the initial results gave a victory to the incumbent Democrats, GOP operatives changed vote tallies. That isn't real news. Nor is it news that the GOP got caught.

The news is how all these things link together with the attorney firings by the Bush White House.

The White House fired a group of impartial prosecuters with good performance reviews for ... performance issues. Well, performance issues were the first line of defense. When the performance records were reviewed, the second line of defense came screaming out of the Oval Office.

The Occupant of the Oval Office said he could fire anyone anytime for any reason. "I am the War President!"

So eventually, the President shifted the blame to Gonzales. Gonzales, like Libby, Rumsfeld, and Tenet took the blame for the illegal internal actions of the White House.

Meanwhile, before the White House got caught, some innocent people went to jail while corrupt election officials bragged a little too much about how they rigged a few elections, a few trials, and a couple convictions.

Don Siegelman, a former Democratic governor of Alabama, should be at the top of the list. Jill Simpson, an Alabama lawyer and Republican operative, is heading to Washington this week to tell Congressional investigators that she heard prominent Republicans plotting to use the United States attorneys’ offices to remove Mr. Siegelman as a political threat. The case should be the focus of a probing Congressional hearing this fall.

More details at the NYT, registration may be required.

Roger Williams, Georgia House District 4, Dalton

Roger Williams, Georgia House District 4, which covers Dalton, thinks he needs an education. The best place to get his education just happens to be on the beach at luxury hotels. Those hotels, in one way or another, were chosen for him by alcohol.

Williams is keeping the exact location and hotel names secret. But, it's no secret that Williams wants to help sell more alcohol with Sunday sales.

While most of his district spend Sundays in church, Williams wants to help them spend a few dollars on booze during the drive home.

The booze industry took Representative Roger Williams on four educational trips to help him learn how to sell Sunday booze.

The boozers went first to St. Simons island. St. Simons island during the month of June isn't cheap. Even a cheap room would be hard to get but I doubt the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association had much trouble booking a block of rooms several months in advance. After all, educating Representative Williams is an annual project of the booze industry as well as other industries.

Another booze industry group took the under-educated Williams to St. Pete beach. The St. Pete beach educational seminar was paid for by the Georgia Beer Wholesalers.

Not to be outdone by the beer wholesalers, the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores paid for Roger Williams to continue his education in Ponte Vedra Beach. Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida was named by Money Magazine as the best place to live in Florida. Of course, Dalton's favorite son wasn't living it up on Ponte Vedra while getting his educational needed full filled by liquor store owners.

Liquor store owners had a little competition for Roger as a student from the Georgia Food Industry Association. The association took Roger back to Florida for valuable class time.

All this time spent in educating Republican Representative Roger Williams cost boozers about $3,600 dollars. How those dollars were spent is another secret being kept by Roger. And, Roger isn't going to educate voters on the topics of his personal enlightenment.

Williams hasn't broken any laws but his secrecy about his alcoholic education and which luxury hotels provided him a view of the beach just sucks.

In my opinion, so does he.

Details for this story were gathered from here.

Selling Cancer for Fun and Profit

Story details

In one of the most horrifying stories from the corrupt Bush Administration, we have the FDA approving 'medical devices' that cause malignant tumors. The tumors were clearly caused by the microchips. When the FDA approved the cancer causing microchips, Tommy Thompson ran the Department of Health and Humans services, which supervises the FDA.

"Two weeks after the device's approval took effect on Jan. 10, 2005, Thompson left his Cabinet post, and within five months was a board member of VeriChip Corp. and Applied Digital Solutions. He was compensated in cash and stock options."

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients' medical records almost instantly. The FDA found "reasonable assurance" the device was safe, and a sub-agency even called it one of 2005's top "innovative technologies."

But neither the company nor the regulators publicly mentioned this: A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had "induced" malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats.

"The transponders were the cause of the tumors," said Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, explaining in a phone interview the findings of a 1996 study he led at the Dow Chemical Co. in Midland, Mich.

These tumors in humans are capable of killing in 3 to 6 months, yet no company produced document mentions the animal studies and the risk of cancer.

Millions of dollars are being spent to implant more people with the cancer causing medical devices.

To date, about 2,000 of the so-called radio frequency identification, or RFID, devices have been implanted in humans worldwide, according to VeriChip Corp. The company, which sees a target market of 45 million Americans for its medical monitoring chips, insists the devices are safe, as does its parent company, Applied Digital Solutions, of Delray Beach, Fla.

"We stand by our implantable products which have been approved by the FDA and/or other U.S. regulatory authorities," Scott Silverman, VeriChip Corp. chairman and chief executive officer, said in a written response to AP questions.

The company was "not aware of any studies that have resulted in malignant tumors in laboratory rats, mice and certainly not dogs or cats."

Just not aware? Companies have no awareness.

• A 1998 study in Ridgefield, Conn., of 177 mice reported cancer incidence to be slightly higher than 10 percent — a result the researchers described as "surprising."

• A 2006 study in France detected tumors in 4.1 percent of 1,260 microchipped mice. This was one of six studies in which the scientists did not set out to find microchip-induced cancer but noticed the growths incidentally. They were testing compounds on behalf of chemical and pharmaceutical companies; but they ruled out the compounds as the tumors' cause. Because researchers only noted the most obvious tumors, the French study said, "These incidences may therefore slightly underestimate the true occurrence" of cancer.

To the list of Halliburton, Enron, and others corrupt corporations with ties to Bush and Cheney, will we be adding the carcinogenic company now directed by Tommy Thompson, former Bush cabinet member?

Where is the government/police when you need then?

"Where's a cop when you need one?"

I've heard that question dozens of times. The question usually comes up on the highways not on the railroads.

But, today it's the railroads that makes people beg for a cop or more properly, a government!

The government and the cops have done nothing about a horrible situation in the Gainesville area.

Just southeast of Gainesville, a CSX train derailed. The derailed cars didn't kill anyone. But, no one has come to fix the mess. And, it's Mell of Hess, transposing a couple letters to keep the content child safe.

To access the full story in the Gainesville Times, click here.

The contents of the derailed car isn't child safe after six weeks of exposure to 100 degree weather and a couple of nice thunderstorms.

With the thunderstorms and heat, the contents are rotting just a few feet away from a daycare center with 108 children.

This isn't a private matter for the daycare center or a private matter for the railroad. The railroad through neglect has endangered the public health. The public is suffering not only the smell of rot but subject to the creatures attracted to garbage.

Where are the cops when you need them? Where is the state EPD? Where is the GOP led government?

Too downsized to be a force, too poor to confront a railroad, too poor to clean the mess up and send the bill to CSX.

Good job, Chambliss, Deal, Perdue, Cagle, Richardson, Johnson, Rogers ... and welcome to the consequences. As if any of these suckers ever cared about the health of small children.

Carl Rogers and the Talmo Lagoon Fire

Talmo firefighters are not trying to put out the blaze in the waste treatment lagoon. The privately owned treatment plant is very similar to the one owned by Hulsey Environmental Services in that both plants 'inject' waste products into the ground.

The Hulsey plant was protected through legislation championed by Carl Rogers, 26th District Representative, a life long friend of Mr. Hulsey.

Mr. Hulsey's facilities in White County are exempt in certain ways from county level supervision.

As the supervised fire in Talmo burns, perhaps spewing flammable waste chemicals into the surrounding homes, Rogers should be packing his bags so he can live next to such a harzardous private waste treament plant.

The Gainesville Times on February 7th, 2005 covered this issue. Debbie Gilbert was the Times Reporter for "Legislation would protect septic farm."

Today's issue of the Gainesville Times covers the Talmo fire and you may access that story through this link.

Institutional Racism in Augusta

Yeah, yeah. People are tired of hearing about how white elected officials in the South are still racists. Southerners wants the federal government to just leave the South alone to take care of its own laws on voting rights.

But, I’m not hawking a candidate or a party. Just trying to get the facts out from time to time on how and why racism remains an institutional problem for the south. Maybe good Southerners will see why the South will be ’supervised’ for another 25 years for civil rights for all citizens.

I actually hate this piece of news. So let’s give the non-apology first.

“Barbee, who is white, said he regretted the message became public and that it didn’t reflect his official position as an authority member.

“I’m terribly sorry a poorly worded, private e-mail concerning issues that have been brought forth before was disseminated through the public as an official statement when it’s not,'’ he said.

Then, the most harmful part of the email:

““We will be making the downtown Whiter with moving 200 whites in and moving 500 blacks out!'’ he wrote.”

It would seem at first that a better Augusta would be a whiter Augusta.

“‘Barbee wrote that development of new property in the area “is high income folks who will tend to be White and now we are closing GM (Gilbert Manor housing project) and moving Black folks out.'’”

The story is from the Associated Press and has been picked up by several Georgia newspapers, including the Rome News Tribune on 9-5-2007.

Iraq Surge Is Working

WASHINGTON - Iraq’s security forces will be unable to take control of the country in the next 18 months, and Baghdad’s national police force is so rife with corruption it should be scrapped entirely, according to a new independent assessment.

The study, led by retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, is a sweeping and detailed look at Iraq’s security forces that will factor heavily into Congress’ upcoming debate on the war. Republicans see success by the Iraqi forces as critical to bringing U.S. troops home, while an increasing number of Democrats say the U.S. should stop training and equipping such units altogether.

The 20-member panel of mostly retired senior military and police officers concludes that Iraq’s military, in particular its army, shows the most promise of becoming a viable, independent security force with time.

At least two years from now …

Full Story

Australia hates Bush's America

From time to time, Australia makes the news in the United States. The President of the United States isn't liked there, isn't welcome there, and has been called a criminal there.

And, Australia is one of our allies in the glory ridden war on terror.

For details on how some Australians see Bush, see this link to the Australian, owned by Robert Murdock who also owns Fox Cable News.

The Prime Minister's support for the war provided "political cover" to Mr Bush's "dangerous political agenda", said Matt Howard.

His message on behalf of the Iraq Veterans Against the War was timed to coincide with the arrival in Sydney of Mr Bush for the APEC summit.

Tactically, Australia's 900-strong military contribution in Iraq was so small it made no difference compared with the 160,000 US troops there, but politically it was indispensable for the Bush White House, Matt Howard said.

"Mr Bush should be tried for crimes against humanity over the killing of the tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children who were victims of the war, Mr Howard said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Government was "entirely comfortable" with Britain's decision to withdraw its troops from their base in the southern city of Basra and redeploy them in the nearby airport."

George W. Bush, Master of Goats

The Master of Goats, scapegoats, George W. Bush has abused his office and the people under him.

Gonzales took the fall for the illegal firings at the Justice Dept.

Rumsfeld took the fall for WMD and al-qaeda links to Saddam.

Libby took the fall for leaking secrets about the CIA's Valerie Plame.

Tenet took the fall for the early failures in Iraq and not catching bin Laden.

Bremer took the blame for firing all Iraqi police and disbanding the Iraqi Army.

The truth of these events is slowly leaking out.

For the story on how deeply Bush was personally involved in disbanding the Iraqi Army, open this link to the NYT story on the communications from Bremer to Bush. [Registration is required at the Times.]

What did Bush think of the plan before Bremer acted? "You have my full support and confidence.”

Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, and Tom Winter

I signed up for a news letter from a "Human Events," an online conservative thing of some sort. I just wanted to know what sort of a news letter had been 'leading the conservative movement since 1945."

Since signing up, Ann Coulter has revealed the ugle truth about the founder of Islam to me 38 times. The first time might have been revealing. Now it's way past being redundant.

Tom Winter is teaching me that the Bible is not as violent as the Koran. Apparently, it's just the actual history of Christians that refuses to turn the other cheek.

Newt Gingrich has been thanking me, over and over, for reading him. I don't read him at all.

Human Events has printed one story with the exciting title, "This story is completely factual!" I thought all stories in Human Events were completely factual. Now, I'm waiting for the disclaimer, No facts were harmed in the making of this issue.

Too many Dems take issue with the communication skills of the GOP. Yes, the GOP really gets the word out. I've gotten the word hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times. But, the word has no real content. Slogans abound but content escapes these prolific writers like Ann, Newt, and Tom.

"The Dems have no plan."
"The Koran is more violent than the Bible!"
"Thank you for being a faithful reader."
"I'm for Law and Order!"
"Islam vs. Christianity!"

Now that I'm well versed in GOP prose and posing, I've canceled my subscription to ' the most important newsletter you will ever read!'

I'm not waiting for the movie to come out, either.

Real human events do not come in movies, newsletters, or emails.

Army kills medical research designed to save lives!

Over 320 soldiers volunteered to be in a medical study hailed by the CDC as "one of the best organized [conceptually and operationally] that I have been privileged to collaborate on," the CDC's Dr. William Reeves wrote this summer to Gonzalez's commanders."

The idea drew support from top scientists and won $250,000 in an Army research competition.

But, the study has been KILLED. The information gathered has be destroyed. The author, a colonel with a Bronze Star and a combat surgeon, is under arrest. His office space taken away and converted into a break room.

The study was examining the debilitating impact of stress on recruits. About one out of five recruits fail to complete basic training. The study would have covered that failure, chronic fatigue, Gulf War syndrone, and Post Tramatic Stress Disorder.

Why has the Army stopped the research... into things that hurt the military, it's soldiers, and civilians? It's not like the researchers waterboarded human beings.

Story from the AJC

No planning for Iraq

Old news from new sources.

British Generals, now that the UK has abandoned Basra, are telling the harsh truths about the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The U.S. invaded Iraq without any plans for a post-invasion Iraq.

I've heard this truth in many forms from many sources. The latest sources are the highest ranking U.K. generals involved prior to the March 2003 invasion.

From Reuters

"He [Rumsfeld] didn't want to hear that message. The U.S. had already convinced themselves that Iraq would emerge reasonably quickly as a stable democracy," Cross told the Sunday Mirror.

"Anybody who tried to tell them anything that challenged that idea -- they simply shut it out," Cross, the most senior British officer involved in planning post-war Iraq, added.

His comments echoed those of General Mike Jackson, head of the British army during the invasion, who was quoted by The Daily Telegraph on Saturday as describing Rumsfeld's approach as "intellectually bankrupt."

He might have added morally bankrupt.

More details from the Australian

Major General Tim Cross, the top British officer involved in post-war Iraq planning, said he raised serious concerns with then US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that the country could descend into chaos.

But Mr Rumsfeld "ignored" or "dismissed" his warnings, he told the Sunday Mirror newspaper.

In 2003, General Cross was the deputy head of the coalition's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.

"Right from the very beginning, we were all very concerned about the lack of detail that had gone into the post-war plan - and there is no doubt that Rumsfeld was at the heart of that process," he said.

If Rumsfeld was the heart of it all, who was the soul?