Where do you think his speech was on the Bullshit Meter? Off the fucking charts.
Well, what did you think of his plan man? Same shit, different President.
Did ya think he sold it to the majority of Americans? Oh hell no.
Do ya think it’s a war worth fighting for another eight fucking years? Not only no but fuck no.
Do ya think he sounded like an eloquent used car salesman who is trying like hell to sell ya a piece of shit yet he makes it sound like the best deal out there? Yep, that sums it up.
I know he told us that he would continue to fight this war, but for the love of Buddha..why prop up another fucked up regime with billions borrowed from China? Don’t ask me I am just a pissed off voter..nothing more and nothing less. And there are millions just like me, Dems, Repubs and Indy’s alike.
it’s that time of year again where the leaves blow in the cold autumn wind and folks all over america suddenly get thankful for family and friends who get on their nerves the other 364 days a year. yep- it’s almost thanksgiving. in the interest of full disclosure, thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
i must say that i have been reviewing my life lately- as i have reconnected with my past over at facebook- and i am so very thankful i live the life i do. at this moment in my life, i wouldn’t change a thing. i have good friends and a faithful, loving family who puts up with me- and i even have folks who enjoy reading what i write and, because i live in america, i am not the one getting blown to bits by americans over in foreign lands. i can live in safety because my countrymen are busy depriving others of theirs.
and, in full, decadent, american style- i am serving turkey with all the trimmings. all homemade because i have the luxury of time. i have time to devote the effort and love needed to make my loved ones happy. i have loved ones to make happy. i am indeed one of the most fortunate women on the planet. i did not say the richest- i said the most fortunate.
i hope everyone is thankful for what they do have- and takes a moment to dwell on that instead of what they don’t have. namaste.
It began with Labor Day. To be sure, the week felt markedly like a transitional one. During the week President Obama spent a great deal of time at the podium, making a number of verysignificant speeches. NASA watched over its STS-128 mission and released a number of spectacular images on Wednesday from the newly refurbished Hubble telescope. On Friday, the anniversary of 9/11/01, the President and First Lady spent time giving service to the community, as did thousands of people across the nation marking a National Day of Service. The week’s news was full of stories about the politics of health care reform in a Congress now back to work, opinion about the growing divide amongst the electorate, and uneasy reports about the future of the war in Afghanistan, as well as the future of the U.S. space program.
What has changed, if anything? There is a bigger divide between members of the two major parties, evident in the behavior of Republicans during the President’s speech Wednesday evening to a joint session of Congress. There seems to be growing opposition among many Americans, as well as rank and file Democrats, to the war in Afghanistan and its climbing casualty figures. This may have caused President Obama to say in his 9/11 speech at the Pentagon that he does not want Americans to forget the true nature of al-Qaeda, reports Scott Wilson of the Washington Post.
Opposition to health care reform has now grown to the point that organizers were able to stage a 9/12 march on Washington. Tens of thousands (according to the Washington Post estimate) of a loosely organized coalition of conservative “tea party” protesters marched on the nation’s capitol Saturday. Jeff Zeleny of the NYT, summarized the tone:
Their anger stretched well beyond the health care legislation moving through Congress, with shouts of support for gun rights, lower taxes and a smaller government. But as they sang verse after verse of patriotic hymns like “God Bless America,” sharp words of profane and political criticism were aimed at Mr. Obama and Congress.
At the same time a crowd of over 10,000 people came to enthusiastically stand and cheer at President Obama’s health care rally at Minneapolis’ Target arena. The President told the crowd that now is the time for action and warned against the scare tactics being employed by the opposition, reports Reuters.
What has stayed the same? A year later, little has changed on Wall Street, according to the New York Times‘ Alex Berenson. Big banks have not really restructured, financial stocks are on the rise, complex derivatives remain in play, few hedge funds have closed and executives are still pulling down huge bonuses. For instance, “30,000 Goldman Sachs employees will earn an average of $70,000 this year.” Worst of all the Obama administration’s proposed regulatory changes have gone nowhere in Congress. And the passage of time decreases the chances of significant crisis-driven reform.
The space shuttle Discoverycompleted another highly successful mission to resupply the International Space Station Friday, landing safely at Edwards AFB in California after battling bad weather in Florida for a couple of days. To quote Reuters:
Discovery had carried more than 7.5 tons of food, laboratory equipment, science experiments, spare parts, a new treadmill and crew quarters for the space station. The outpost is a $100 billion project involving 16 nations, which is nearing completion after more than a decade of construction.
NASA is turning over crew transport to the station to Russia, at a cost of about $50 million per seat, as it begins phasing out the shuttle. The space agency is also considering hiring U.S. commercial firms to ferry its astronauts. . . NASA has six flights remaining to finish outfitting the station and then plans to move on with development of a capsule and rocket that could ferry crews to the moon. Barack Obama considers the results of a study that has determined NASA’s lunar ambitions exceed its budget by about $3 billion a year.
A report suggesting that NASA’s space travel goals are too ambitious for its budget is imperiling efforts by Florida and Texas lawmakers to win more money for the agency’s budget.
“The full Final Report is still being prepared and will be released when complete” is also via Twitter from NASA_HSF, the U.S. Human Space Flight Committee. Look for it to be released in early October.
What will not change is the mainstream media’s fascination with conflict, who is winning or losing, with outrageousness and with the mistaken idea that any old lie is merely the other side’s point of view. The week of September 7-14 saw President Obama seeming to regain his stride and the right-wing crazies more determined than ever to keep him off stride. The election in Afghanistan remains undecided and more and more war casualties occur. Nor has the President decided the future of the U.S. space program. Congress has its hands full with health care reform, and has no time (nor perhaps the stomach) for financial regulatory reform. Maybe it would be a good idea for everybody to take an occasional day off and catch their breath.
It is hard work but somebody’s got to do it – Today’s post is a roundup of some of the best investigative journalists you might want to follow: I include where and what they write, along with a couple of samples of their recent work.
ACLU Blog of Rights – “Because Freedom Can’t Blog Itself” is from the American Civil Liberties Union. Posts are about capital punishment, civil liberties, drug law reform, closing Guantanamo, free speech, government spying, human rights, immigrant rights, LGBT rights, racial justice, religion & belief, reproductive rights, torture and abuse, Supreme Court, voting rights and women’s rights. On August 20, the ACLU headlined, “Court Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Unconstitutional Spying Law.
Secrecy News is a publication of the Federation of American Scientists. The FAS Project on Government Secrecy reports on new developments in government secrecy and provides public access to documentary resources on secrecy, intelligence and national security policy. It is written by Steven Aftergood. Here’s a recent good story: “Information Sharing as a Form of Secrecy” (8/17/09).
Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler) writes at Firedoglake. Marcy is the very best at investigative digging, and is a widely respected member of the collaborators that do the major investigative work in the blogosphere. Here is a typically good piece of work (this time on Dick Cheney): “The crazy man above the garage” (8/18/09). See also “Scahill on the Blackwater Rent-an-Assassin Service (8/20/09).
Suburban Guerilla is by former journalist Susie Madrack. Her slogan is “Keeping a jaundiced eye on corporate media.” Featured as a moderator at the recent Netroots Nation Convention, she also writes for Crooks and Liars. Her post on Matt Taibbi’s searing article on progressives and health care reform (8/18/09) is worth the read. See also, ” The Stress Manifesto (8/20/09).
Control freaks, power addicts and adrenelin junkies, have we got the job for you!!! Own the road! Visit people’s homes without an invitation! Do what you want as you will be issued a high powered assault rifle AND a bunch of friends to back you up!!! All meals provided and clothing too!!! Even a small check each month to help your family back home!!!
You really don’t want the wife/husband nagging you daily do you? The everyday mundane tasks of child rearing can be someone else’s job. Yours can be exerting fearful control over other people who don’t look like the folks in YOUR neighborhood back home!!!
Sound like something you would like? Well…just come sign on the dotted line and all of your dreams will be realized!!! The military is the life for you!!!!
(disclaimer! PTSD and other combat related psycological problems will be totally ignored and treatment will not be available when you do get home…if you really want to come back, that is)
While I have known that the companies like Blackwater and Halliburton hire(d) their mercenary soldiers from the militaries of the world I have never really thought about these folks much. The NEWSWEEK article, Love Is A Battlefield: For Some Soldiers, There’s No Place Like Combat, gave us an inside look at how these guys think.
Some feel a duty to their country and continue serving long after their first deployment is over. But it seems the majority of these soldiers need to be in that kind of a situation to be happy. Their homelife is boring after living on the edge for awhile and the need for the constant rush doesn’t go away that quickly. The war front is much more appealing to them. They have all of their decisions made for them and they just do what they are told. No worries if the decision is a bad one, someone else made it for them. Besides they get to bully people and shoot them if they piss the soldiers off.
Now, I am in no way suggesting that all of the soldiers have this need to continue a war life. In fact it is probably the exception rather that the rule. Most of what I got from the article is that those interviewed seemed to think they couldn’t be a “man” unless they were in that situation constantly. And that they feel that only the pussies go to shrinks and admit to the PTSD the war has caused them. That in itself is a symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
It’s the thrill of the kill for these few. Apparantly the way I was supposed to feel when, as a teen, my dad forced me to go hunting. I never got that thrill because I didn’t do any real hunting. As I was too young to go to Viet Nam and had no desire to live a military life at any time, I never had those experiences that made me unhappy in the mundane workaday American life.
The combat veterans I have known over the years were happy not to be in those situations either. They did their duty to their country and returned, happily, to the place they had fought for. The freedoms they were told they were fighting for were mostly intact and the knowledge they had served all of us was enough for them. It isn’t that way for some I guess and that kinda makes me sad.
As a peaceful old guy I may never understand this kind of mind frame. But sitting here in the peaceful environment of my living room (complete with the 1967 Grateful Dead playing on the jukebox), understanding is far from me. It’s a mystery to me why anyone would want to live that life. But for those with that desire, or need, I guess there will always be a war or forceful conflict for them to fight.
not much new to report on the garden front- things are growing and it has been chilly and rainy here so they are growing slowly. i haven’t spent much time perusing the news and whatnot but i have managed to pick up on the fact that not much has changed from last year at this time. i don’t mean with the new administration- i mean with the old one. the neocons and their minions either don’t seem to realize that they lost the election for a reason- or they are too arrogant to see that it does indeed matter that they lost. what i have come to realize by listening to people talk or reading essays and articles online- or even chatting up my local neighbors- most people are worried. they are worried and angry about their lives- financially and environmentally. and as my husband says, ‘downturns are good times for innovation and change’- well, it’s a paraphrase. he can be longwinded at times.
what you don’t hear on the msm- people for the most part are ignoring newt, big dick, pat b., and their ilk. they are looking for ways to be more ‘green’ and save more money. some are just looking for a way to feed their family or pay for a loved one’s healthcare. they could care less that the rich, elite whiners want to keep the haves and the have nots for their personal indentured servants. well, that’s good and bad. forewarned is forearmed- and i think that’s where we have to persevere- bloggers i mean. trust me, i understand- i am tired of their bullshit too and just want them to go away. no chance. they will fight to the bitter end- and it will always be dirty. it’s just a matter of- do we outlast them or do they outlast us?
i may be tired- but i am also stubborn. they aren’t worth the earth they stand on- the coulters, malkkkins, hannitys and limbaughs. we can show them that they are irrelevant in their ‘new world order’- but make no mistake, we will never be totally rid of them. anyhoo- my plans for the rest of the week- finish planting my sister’s garden in between raindrops and continue trying to tame her wild yard. it has gotten a bit unruly through my neglect. mother nature has a way of bringing me back to reality. no matter how much money or power these ‘people’ amass, it will do them no good if there is nothing to buy and no one to control. namaste.
(and no, that is not a picture i took- it’s from wikipedia)
Today is a day set aside to remember those who gave their lives defending the American way of life.In the last 250 years hundreds of thousands of brave soldiers, medical personnel and support folks have made the ultimate sacrifice to insure my freedom. Yours too. This day is for remembering and thanking them for their contribution.
It doesn’t mean a bargain at the department store or an excuse to get shitfaced at a bar b que. It isn’t really a relaxing day for me nor many others who are going to be honoring these men and women who have died defending our country.
Some of the wars fought were legitimate in my eyes. Others like Viet Nam and Iraq were huge mistakes but the soldiers who fought in them were men and women of the highest class and intent. They all signed on to do their job making sure we can live in comfort and a relatively free society. They died defending our rights, no matter how quickly they seem to be dwindling. Each of them are special to me and mine. We wouldn’t be here (on a free internet in a country that is based on freedom) if it wasn’t for them.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your sacrifices. Without you I would be lost.
this absolutely blew me away. i don’t know what it means or how it may help- but it is certainly a case for advocating math and science over creationism.
The rule of law was severely compromised under the George W. Bush administration. But President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice determined to release a significant number of Office of Legal Counsel legal memos in early March. This post is for use as a reference to what the most important investigative bloggers wrote about the events at the time.
“More OLC Memos Released,” came from ACLU Blog of Rights (3/2/09). To quote: “There are still more outstanding OLC memos that the Justice Department has yet to reveal. You can see which ones are still missing here.” Earlier, the ACLU issued a “Memo to OLC: Time to Walk the Talk,” 2/26/09), discussing the Obama administration’s nominee to head the OLC, Dawn Johnston.
. . . when you consider two of the other memos that have not been turned over–Steven Bradbury’s own March 2005 memos, memos he wrote as an audition to try to convince David Addington he’s make a good head of OLC. The memos have been reported as re-authorizing the torture approach that Jack Goldsmith had withdrawn in 2004.
In other words, the memos released yesterday do as much to point to the loopholes that they’ve exploited to be able to keep torturing as they reveal any big reversal from those policies.
“Memos Reveal Scope of the Power Bush Sought” was the headline from The New York Times (3/3/09). “The secret legal opinions were issued by Bush administration lawyers after the Sept. 11 attacks. Thoughts: Does Bradbury’s memo absolve the administration of criminal behavior. And to which memos does it apply? Just torture? What about warrantless wiretapping?”
One of the central facts that we, collectively, have not yet come to terms with is how extremist and radical were the people running the country for the last eight years. That condition, by itself, made it virtually inevitable that the resulting damage would be severe and fundamental, even irreversible in some sense. It’s just not possible to have a rotting, bloated, deeply corrupt and completely insular political ruling class — operating behind impenetrable walls of secrecy — and avoid the devastation that is now becoming so manifest. It’s just a matter of basic cause and effect.
“Was Yoo spreading Pixie Dust on the Geneva Convention?” was from Firedoglake (3/3/09). “Pixie Dust” was how Senator Whitehouse described the Bush OLC practice of ignoring their own executive orders or international treaties.
Attorney General Eric Holder is indicating that he is reluctant to examine detainee treatment under the Bush administration. This followed the publication of information about a 2007 International Red Cross report containing detainee interviews that claimed torture. Holder did say that he would be bound by “wherever the law and the facts take” the DOJ, noting once again that they do not want to criminalize policy differences. The DOJ has recently had discussions with European officials about taking some of the detainees. The AG reported that they are looking who and what method might be used to try other detainees, suspected of crimes. This comes from CQ Politics of 3/18.
The Obama administration’s new definition of terrorists looks a lot like the old one, says Christopher Weaver, writing for ProPublica on 3/17. The administration is no longer using the phrase “war on terror” and now, “enemy combatant.” In a detainee habeas corpus case, the DOJ did not substantially change the claim to hold suspected terrorists, as it is tied to the 2001 Congressional resolution known as the AUMF. New rules will still have to be adopted. To quote the article’s conclusion:
The filing is littered with ambiguous phrases like “private armed groups” and a “novel type of armed conflict” instead of “enemy combatants” and the “war on terror.” The scrapping of martial lingo backs away from the Bush-era argument that asserts the commander in chief’s right to lead the military independently from Congress. However, in a press release the Justice Department explained that the latest definition still relies on the international laws of war as they apply to a 2001 congressional resolution that authorized the president to use military force.
“They’re recognizing a right to detain,” Madeline Morris, a Duke law professor who helped prepare a major brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of several detainees. “They’re recognizing that that right is not governed by existing [laws of war],” in these cases, and that new rules will need to be articulated.
What they’re not doing, so far, is showing their hand, our experts agree. “In every way, it’s better than the old definition,” said Mariner, the Human Rights Watch expert. “It’s just not substantially different.”
Several Republican senators are attempting to derail the nomination of Christopher Hill as the new Ambassador to Iraq, according to CQ Politics (3/17/09). Led by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), five senators sent a letter to President Obama urging the withdrawal of Hill’s name from consideration. Brownback has also threatened to but a hold on the nomination. The others are Jon Kyle, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, James Inhofe and Christopher Bond.
Just exactly how to engage with Iran was the subject of a very interesting analysis by Adam Graham-Silverman of CQ Politics on 3/16. The headline points to a “just right approach.” Dennis Ross is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s special adviser on the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia. In addition to Ross, Richard Haas, Senator Kerry, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, and Zbignew Brzezinski also weighed in with opinions. It is a good read. To quote further:
The administration’s review of U.S. policy toward Iran could be completed this week and will have to provide answers to some pressing questions, from what concessions and pressure the United States can bring to the table to what kind of Iranian nuclear program it can accept
In conclusion, here are a couple of excerpted paragraphs regarding the Middle East from my most recent CQ Behind the Lines newsletter by David C. Morrison:
Courts and rights: . . . another Post piece has the ACLU calling for an independent prosecutor to investigate CIA torture allegations. . . Old terror case files are being dusted off as the Obama administration considers prosecuting high-profile Guantanamo Bay detainees in civilian courts, focusing on pre-9/11 crimes, AP reports. . .
Over there: . . . “What failed in Iraq, fails in Afghanistan,” The Strategy Page flatly concludes — as The Long War Journal sees two Taliban leaders denying recent reports that their leader is in peace negotiations with the Afghan government. The White House is considering expanding strikes inside Pakistan against Taliban power centers beyond the tribal areas currently targeted, The New York Times reveals.
More U.S. troops will be deployed to Afghanistan, a total of 17,000 — a Marine unit this spring and an army one this summer — but the new regional strategy remains a work in progress. The troops will supplement the current force of 38,000, and their orders could not wait on the strategy, the President said. Members of Congress are calling for planning that will include more non-military interventions, while generally supporting the Commander in Chief. Part of the plan presupposes a successful drawdown of forces in Iraq, leaving thousands in place for support, training, etc., without jeopardizing the gains already in place there.
General David McKiernan, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, was in Washington yesterday and gave an extended press briefing. He said it will be a “tough year” in Afghanistan, and that at this point the situation in the south is, at best, “stalemated.” Officials feel that the current troop increase will handle U.S. needs through the summer election there.
President Obama is visiting Canada, his first official “foreign” trip. In addition to a number of other important issues, talk will surely turn to Canada’s considerable contributions to the NATO efforts in Afghanistan, upon which the United States heavily depends. President Obama will not ask them to reconsider their troop withdrawal in 2011.
On the subject of needing more troops –Memeorandum and the New York Times add an interesting twist to the news. It turns out that the U.S. military will begin to recruit skilled immigrants with temporary visas, offering them a chance to become U.S. citizens in as little as six months.
CQ Behind the Lines is a very fine national security newsletter, by David C. Morrison, (2/18/09) from which I quote:
Over there: An ex-Gitmo detainee who became an al Qaeda field commander after being repatriated has surrendered, Yemeni officials tell AP — while The New York Timeshas four Gitmo detainees sent back to Iraq, where they are being interrogated. Pakistani immigrants in New York say Taliban enforcers single out their families for threats and violence, the Times tells.
President Obama faces a very delicate dance with U.S. armed forces deployment. Drawing down in Iraq without destabilizing the country’s security, and ramping up in Afghanistan while demanding a significant increase in diplomacy and development, means that our limited military will need to be very carefully managed. I like it that former general Jim Jones is the President’s National Security adviser. He is smart and tough, and was NATO’s commander not that long ago. If any group could do this dance on a knife edge, this new administration has the talent.
And soon we will be saying goodbye to George W. Bush, The Decider, the commander in chief.
On the 20th day from today President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office. Between now and then gives us a chance to make judgments about what we would hope our next President might avoid or modify during his tenure. But one thing is certain; there will be change and uncertainty for some time to come.
More than meets the eye – Many of us are still asking, as did AlterNet’s Gary Brecher, “How did we let this guy get away with being a war president#?” Unfortunately, the bill for our current president’s so-called “war on terror” is not going away anytime soon. Time Magazine reported recently that the tab will be a trillion dollars#. They say that it is even costlier than expected, “$775,000 a year for one soldier in Afghanistan.” In December of 2006, the NYT reported, “The Iraq war will cost more in 2007 than the $110 billion projected by the White House, said the head of the administration’s budget office#.” This figure was just a tad off, I would say.
We wondered whether this would ever happen — “Iraq takes control of the Green Zone from the U.S.,” is the headline from the 1/1/09 Yahoo! News. To me war has never been about the threat of WMD, the politics of sectarian divisions within the country, or which brilliant General was in charge. To me the war has always been about the fatalities, both American and Iraqi. To quote:
The United States handed over control of the Green Zone and Saddam Hussein’s presidential palace to Iraqi authorities on Thursday in a ceremonial move described by the country’s prime minister as a restoration of Iraq’s sovereignty.
. . . Violence around Iraq had plunged in 2008, with attacks declining to an average of 10 a day from 180 a year ago. The murder rate in November was less than 1 per 100,000 people — far lower than many cities in the world. U.S. military deaths in Iraq also plunged by two-thirds in 2008 from the previous year, a reflection of the improving security following the U.S. military’s counterinsurgency campaign and al-Qaida’s slow retreat from the battlefield. According to a tally by The Associated Press, at least 314 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq in 2008, down from 904 in the previous year. In all, at least 4,221 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since the war began in 2003. For Iraqis, the fatalities had also plunged: During 2008, at least 7,496 Iraqis died in war-related violence according to an AP count, including 6,068 civilians and 1,428 security personnel, down 60 percent from 2007.
And we have no idea what will happen in Iraq in 2009 – On C-SPAN last evening I watched a fascinating presentation by U.S. News‘ author Linda Robinson, who wrote “Tell Me How This Ends: General David Petraeus and the Search For a Way Out of Iraq.” Her analysis was solid, her reporting excellent and her conclusion open-ended. In the same vein about a month ago Time Magazine asked, “When the U.S. Leaves, Will Iraq Strut or Stumble?“# To quote:
. . . don’t expect peace to break out anytime soon. In a country seething with ancient animosities, it’s almost certain that politics will be attended by violence. Ahead of provincial elections in January, there’s a potentially explosive Shi’ite-vs.-Shi’ite clash brewing in the south. In Sunni areas to the west and north of Baghdad, a new alliance of tribal sheiks, many of them U.S.-funded ex-insurgents, are challenging the Sunni parties currently in power.
But it is in Kirkuk where the disputes seem most intractable. At its simplest, this is an old-fashioned turf war. The Kurds want the city and its hinterlands to be folded into the northern province of Kurdistan. Turkomans (a distinct ethnic group sharing ancestry with modern Turks) and Arabs would prefer it to remain outside Kurdish hegemony, in the separate Tamim province. Each group points out that the city was once ruled by its forebears. All know that outside Kirkuk is one of Iraq’s largest oil fields. Also at stake is the larger, constitutional question of whether Iraq should have a powerful central government, favored by Turkomans and Arabs, or highly autonomous regions, as the Kurds wish. And finally, there are outside influences: Turkey backs the Turkomans and, with Iran, opposes greater Kurdish power.
Even in these tough economic times the remainder of the Military Industrial Complex continues to thrive. See this 12/15/08 essay from Mother Jones: “Back to the future with the Complex.” To quote:
Is it possible that one of the Pentagon’s contractors has a tripartite business model for our tough economic times: one division that specializes in crock-pots, another in adult diapers, and a third in medium caliber tactical ammunition?
. . . It isn’t hard to imagine more civilian firms, especially ones which are already Pentagon contractors, getting into (or back into) the weapons game. After all, when the Big Three Detroit automakers were scrounging around for a bailout just a few weeks ago, they used America’s persistent involvement in armed conflict as one argument in their favor. For example, Robert Nardelli, Chrysler’s chief executive, told the Senate that the failure of the auto industry “would undermine our nation’s ability to respond to military challenges and would threaten our national security.” While that argument was roundly dismissed by retired Army Lt. Gen. John Caldwell, chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association’s combat vehicles division, it probably wouldn’t have been if the automakers made more weapons systems.
Will Presto be the back-to-the-future model for Pentagon contractors in the lean times ahead? Only time will tell. At the very least, it seems that, as long as Americans allow the country to wage wars abroad, require their salads to be shot, and have bladder issues, National Presto Industries has a future.
The wars will move to Afghanistan, or Palestine, or Iran, or Pakistan, or India or . . . We will arm our own soldiers or sell arms to others. The complex seems dug in for the foreseeable future.
Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are “betmo*” and Jon#.
“There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again . . . If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.”
President Elect Barack H Obama speaking about Pakistan. August 1, 2008, on the campaign trail
Today Secretary Of State Rice said the minds behind the attacks in India must be brought to justice. The attackers base is reported to be in Pakistan
Over the past few weeks US planes, based in Afghanistan, have flown attack missions into Pakistan.
Mr. Obama has said he will have all combat troops out of Iraq in 16 months. He repeated that this morning after publicly announcing he will keep Robert Gates on as Defense Secretary. The theories abound. Hell…I have a few myself. After all, how can a guy live in Roswell and not start thinking like a conspiracy theorist. I am surrounded by that attitude daily here.
I have heard, read and thought about these things coming together for a while. From the beginning, when I heard that Osama bin Laden had moved to Pakistan, I was sure George W Bush would invade there as well. Then I realized he couldn’t. He had been exposed to the world as a warmongering fool with a grudge against Hussein that used his military to overthrow him. After all, daddy got humiliated by Saddam a few years ago and needed to have his honor avenged.
But how long has the machine had Pakistan in its sights and to what extent did they go to insure John McBush wasn’t our Commander In Chief? How could a Bushie lead us into war with yet another country without being questioned? A fresh face with the promise of change on his lips can sell it better than the Same Ol’ Same Ol’. They couldn’t put Hillary Clinton in there now as they have different plans for her down the road.
After the attacks in India this past holiday weekend, invading Pakistan seems imminent. The pre warning by Obama before he was elected. The withdrawal of troops from Iraq to Afghanistan as promised. The rumors of bin Laden in Pakistan instead of Afghanistan. The necessity of placing another American friendly puppet government into a volitale anti western area. The proximity of Afghanistan bases to Pakistan. The sell to the American masses will be easy.
It HAS been proven to us that the invasion of Iraq was based on lies and deceit. Americans, and the rest of the world Do feel our invasion of Afghanistan had merit because al-Quaida was “based” there. An invasion of Pakistan WOULD be okayed by the world.
Now that it seems hostilities are simmering down in Iraq, we will be paying more attention to Afghanistan. Readers will remember Afghanistan, it is, after all where the United States first struck back in the War on Terror. We were successful back then in overturning the Taliban led government and routing the Taliban, who were known to have provided a safe haven to Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts. Then George W, Bush took his eye off the ball and headed out to Iraq for his next conquest.
Barack Obama, during the campaign season told us that one of his priorities will be to get back in to Afghanistan and finish the job that George W. Bush bungled. So as we draw down troops from Iraq, we will be sending replacement troops (likely troops currently recovering back home from their last deployment in Iraq) back in to the fray in Afghanistan.
Just so everyone reading along here can get up to speed on Afghanistan, and what we are in for, here are some of the recent headlines that were likely overlooked during all of the recent political coverage in the media (each of the headlines below are links to full aritcles):
If the articles linked to above don’t get readers worried, then I suggest they take a gander at the PBS Frontline documentary titled The War Briefing. A Frontline news documentary unit was embedded with U.S. troops deployed at an isolated outpost on the Afghan frontier, and the film clearly brings home the fact that we are barely surviving in a holding operation in the country, we are not wining hearts and minds, we are not routing the Taliban and we are not capturing or killing Al Qaeda. The central government in Kabul has virtually no power to protect the people of Kabul or in the countryside, and the Taliban has regrouped and is intent on taking back control of the country.
Having lived through the war in Vietnam, observing the history of the Russians in Afghanistan, having lived through the war in Iraq, it gives one pause to contemplate just what kind of a quagmire are we getting ourselves in to in Afghanistan? And after viewing the entire Frontline documentary, one wonders when we will find our military forces drawn in to full scale hostilities in Pakistan.
I believe that president-elect Obama is an intelligent person, he is pragmatic, calculating and deliberate in his thought processes. I hope that some of the rhetoric that he used during the campaign was calculated to demonstrate his bonafides in terms of being a strong leader and commander-in-chief when necessary, but I am more hopeful that he will rely on his intelligence, his pragmatic and calculating mind and also listen to all voices that he can bring together who will present him with all facets of the issues, and only then will he and his staff and advisors and his subordinates think strategically and will act with all appropriate caution and deliberation, as they address the issues facing us in the region.
I am not ready for us to simply move our base of operations from Iraq to Afghanistan, I am not ready to see more of our blood and treasure expended because we have failed to learn from the past.
For starters I am going to suggest that the new puppy promised to Sasha and Malia Obama come from a no kill shelter or local pound. Considering there are thousands of dogs needing rescue this would be a great opportunity to show Americans that change is really here. Instead of getting some highly bred big money dog it could be a pup that needs rescuing. A great example of change. Rescuing those in need.
Lots of Americans need some kind of rescue right now. There are homeless folks who lost their houses in the mortgage fiasco of 2008. Families with sick kids that can’t afford to get proper medical care. Jobless folks in this time of high unemployment. A huge amount of our young people stuck in a foreign country fighting a people who didn’t do anything worth dying for. That war is based on lies and deceit so the troops need to be rescued from the insanity.
How does a guy like me get to talk to President Elect Barak Hussein Obama? It’s easy now. I found the website for The Office Of The President Elect today. One of the pages there gives you a link to write your concerns and ideas. Now it’s up to me to write. Oh…you too.
and, because i live in america, i am not the one getting blown to bits by americans over in foreign lands. i can live in safety because my countrymen are busy depriving others of theirs.
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For starters I am going to suggest that the new puppy promised to Sasha and Malia Obama come from a no kill shelter or local pound. Considering there are thousands of dogs needing rescue this would be a great opportunity to show Americans that change is really here. Instead of getting some highly bred big money dog it could be a pup that needs rescuing. A great example of change. Rescuing those in need.
