Foreign policy: reasons to be cheerful?

Alex says: Well, that’s probably pushing it. Obama’s announcement that he is sending nearly fifty percent more troops to Afghanistan could easily go either way. We might, in a few years, have pictures of US troop withdrawals that mirror these memorable images of the Red Army retreating from the same hills. Critics, especially on the left, are worrying that this might turn into a gruelling counterinsurgency and make Iraq seem lightweight. More than a couple of times in the past week, news reports have made reference to the dreaded ‘J word’: implying that Obama’s domestic reform agenda might get bogged down by a divisive and costly war on the other side of the planet, just as Johnson’s Great Society was destroyed by Vietnam. This is particularly worrying as the centrality of a surge in Afghanistan to Obama’s foreign policy credentials means that a lot of presidential credibility is on the line.

But whilst the region is undoubtedly still hanging in the balance, I think this kind of prediction is too precipitous. Indeed, in the Mid East and Central/South Asia region there are actually a few reasons to be cautiously optimistic about the future, reasons which should be set alongside any reasonable concerns about the region:

1. No, I don’t think a surge will work in Afghanistan. But it didn’t work in Iraq, either. At least not alone. The success of the Iraq surge was contingent upon a political shift amongst the US generals towards negotiating with militant groups who were strongly religious, nationalist and anti-American, but not necessarily supportive of al-Qaeda. There’s no reason to suppose that similar strategic realignments are impossible in Afghanistan, either. Probably the best we can hope for is pinning back the recidivist insurgency to Helmand province and bumping up spending on the rest of the country – not so much to ‘reconstruct’ Afghanistan as to construct a nation that wasn’t there in the first place. If this produces jobs and material benefits for Afghanis, and especially if it is channelled through institutions which empower local elites and reduce the foreign presence in safer regions, there’s no reason to suppose it won’t have a degree of success. It’s not perfect, it certainly doesn’t meet the absurd expectations raised in the Bush era, but perhaps constructing a functioning Afghani central state and limiting the insurgency to a single region may turn out to be enough to reduce the feasibility of international terrorist attacks.

2. Raising the troop numbers must give a better chance of disrupting uncontrolled Pakistan-Afghan movements. This may help to undermine the insurgency in Afghanistan. But, more importantly, it may provide a breathing space for the Pakistani government to try and get out of the terrible fix it’s in at the moment. History suggests that taming borderlands is a notoriously fruitless enterprise. If the goal is of a genuinely secure border, think again (if the border from the United States to Mexico can’t be managed, what hope would one have for this one?) 100 percent success is an unrealistic expectation, then, but some progress is better than nothing.

3. News today that Egypt has released long-time dissident Ayman Nour. The subtext of this story is clear: real US pressure towards democratic opening can have an impact, as long as the president has real power. So this can be chalked up as another thing that the Obama administration has achieved in a month that the Bush administration failed to achieve in eight years. Liberalisation in Egypt is likely to produce some brown trousers times in the near term, as there is clearly a great deal of frustration from below that has been boiling for decades, and it will be important to manage any process of opening very carefully. (Witness Iran in 1979.) But in the long term, it has to be welcomed as a positive development in the region. More than that, it's unavoidable - and later rather than sooner just means more dangerous for everyone.

4. The fact that Netanyahu is winning in Israel doesn’t necessarily seem to be great news (at least to me). But the truth is that he will have a stronger mandate for meaningful negotiations than Olmert, whose politics was entirely driven by aggressive attempts (in Lebanon and Gaza) to assert his nationalist credentials to a suspicious public against just this kind of challenge from the right. If the US can ever get the Israelis and Palestinians to the table, they will only be able to secure a deal that their leaders can get accepted at home. That was the unbridgeable gap with Ehud Barak. So things here lie in the balance: a wider war arguably as likely as a meaningful breakthrough. But in a certain sense, at least a hard-line victory will let the US be able to talk to people who really matter.

5. Meanwhile, President Assad is making extremely unsubtle noises about a positive response from Syria to any potential overtures from the Obama administration. The path to Hamas and Hizbollah lies through Damascus and Tehran, and the great chance for a major strategic realignment in the region will come with an overture there that parallels Nixon’s visit to China. Who knows, perhaps even Ahmadinejad might lose the forthcoming elections in Iran? With stronger ties on the Arab / Persian side, then, Obama would have a greater ability to offer security reassurances to the Israelis. This in turn would allow him to make more demands from them in terms of territorial concessions. It’s very hard to see any possibility for progress given the horror of Gaza earlier this year. But perhaps in time we might see Gaza not as the beginning of a terrible era in the region's history, but the end of a failed phase in US and Israeli military strategy.

Don’t get me wrong: the Middle East remains arguably the most dangerous part of the world. There are a hundred ways things could go wrong. Iraq remains a concern of the first order (especially if, as is a possibility, the process of strengthening the military against the insurgents raises the possibility of a coup from that direction). Saudi Arabia is in an intractable bind, since a liberal path here will likely produce a collapse in a regime that has virtually no legitimacy beyond the sword. The Persian Gulf region is likely to be hit badly by the collapsing world economy. But all that said, there are opportunities here for constructive action if the Obama administration acts judiciously.

Alex Goodall
Papamoka’s European Contributor
From A Swift Blow to the Head

Viagra Winning Afghanistan War

Believe it or not, the way to a mans heart has been surpassed with great food for his stomach. Go a few more inches south on the human male anatomy and add a magic little blue pill. Apparently, the logic goes that if you make an Afghan Chieftain happy in one of his many bedrooms, then you get more information than you can handle. Finally, America has a comparative drug to the poppy fields of Afghanistan but ours is legal all around the world and makes older men very, very, very happy.

Check out what the CIA has been doing in Afghanistan according to the Washington Post…

Little Blue Pills Among the Ways CIA Wins Friends in Afghanistan

By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 26, 2008; Page A01

The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.

Four blue pills. Viagra.

"Take one of these. You'll love it," the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.
The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes -- followed by a request for more pills.

For U.S. intelligence officials, this is how some crucial battles in Afghanistan are fought and won. While the CIA has a long history of buying information with cash, the growing Taliban insurgency has prompted the use of novel incentives and creative bargaining to gain support in some of the country's roughest neighborhoods, according to officials directly involved in such operations. - Washington Post

So we have heroine addicts from poppy fields in Afghanistan and now we are finally exporting Viagra back to the people growing the crops that poison and kill our people. This isn’t a fair exchange when you really think about it. One drug is addictive to the point of death and the other just puts a smile on two peoples faces.

I’m thinking that in the next few years there is going to be a baby boom in Afghanistan because of the magic little blue pill courtesy of the CIA drug lords. By all accounts are we or are we not growing future terrorists by default? This RAISES more than one issue. While the CIA is passing out happy little blue pills it is also INCREASING the chances for misinformation. Addicts to the little blue pill will say and do anything for a fix. Eventually, their wives will say and do anything for a day or weeks supply of little blue pills.

Then again, if the older daddy’s in Afghanistan are always smiling and happy then maybe the kids will not grow up in a world full of negatives where they have to join organizations like the Taliban. Screw it, pass out the little blue pills all over the country, carpet bomb them with the little suckers. Gives a whole new meaning to the sixties call to arms of “Make Love Not War” doesn’t it?

All I have to say about this issue is that Afghanistan will look kindly on America as long as the supply keeps up with demand. I think America has finally stumbled on the ultimate weapon of war. I can actually picture super tanker bomber airplanes being built to seed problem areas of the world with pretty little blue pills. I also wonder if the next mega export to Afghanistan will be hearing aids for the men after years of abusing this drug? Hearing loss verse happy potential terrorist men is a give and take though. Then again, this could be good for the economy here at home with the CIA buying Viagra by the ton?

My thanks to Memeorandum for the tip…

Papamoka

McCain Invasion Thoughts

Over the next couple of days you are going to see a few of these posters created by SteveO of Bring It ON! SteveO has a very creative mind and I'm very thankful to him and the rest of my friends at BIO for letting me sort of steal these thought provoking pictures that he is creating on a daily basis.

Did Senator McCain forget about Afghanistan and Iraq?

Papamoka

McCain Oxymoron

This next Presidential election can make or break this country when you really think about it. America is about looking forward, it isn’t about looking back other than learning from our mistakes. John McCain is running for President based on his life experience and not on the possibility of what we can be as a people. I have enormous respect for Senator McCain but his vision of the future of America scares the hell out of me. Where he sees progress in Iraq, I see a quagmire that could never end if he is elected and then 100 years of American troops dying in Iraq would in fact be a reality.

Is that a promise of change or is that a guarantee of more of the same in thinking that the body bag factory will be in the black for another hundred years? Red state or Blue state, your children are in our military and that is just to high a price to pay for a war that was a lie to begin with. Afghanistan, hell yes! That is where the Taliban and the scum bag Osama Bin Laden were in co-hoots. One hundred years more in Afghanistan, no! Just like Iraq, Afghanistan must stand on its own and defend itself against scum like Al-Quaida and any other terrorist threat. Our nation can not be the police for the world. If that is what the world expects of us then the United Nations needs to fork over a check for one trillion dollars every year to the U.S. Treasury.

Getting past all of that war crap and the lies that go with it, our nation is broken, busted, out of sink, and on a downward spiral. The damage of W is done and it will take a decade to recover from it. While our government is spending hundreds of billions of dollars to defend a people that really don’t want freedom, our own people are falling by the wayside. Do you think that the billions of dollars allocated for the war in Iraq could have paid for a national health care plan times five?

How about making higher education free for all children in America? How far would a hundred billion tax dollars go to pay for that and actually for the American people every three months? How about taking care of our elderly that need nursing home care? How far would a couple hundred billion every three months go to pay for that? What about our infrastructure and roads and bridges that are in serious disrepair? What about putting one hundred billion into Social Security to make sure it is funded past the year 2100? This list could go on and on but McBush is more of the same and I can’t honestly see even one reason to vote for him for President. George Bush is all about spending billions of our tax dollars overseas and claiming to be a conservative when it comes to any spending bill when it comes to real life Americans. John McCain has voted in favor of every Bush intitiative for spending more overseas and against anything for American's including Veteran benefits and care. Billions for Iraq, nothing for Americans?

Hope, change, and a different perspective is coming from a new generation of Americans and if the message of Obama is change then his plans to make it happen can be a reality if he is elected President. Hope is a funny word, it means that better days are ahead and better times are coming. Isn’t that what all parents want for their children and their future? Given what President Bush has done to this economy, John McCain pointing his campaign of four more years of the same just isn’t selling well. Or he just can’t sell it as a candidate for President.

Many folks in the Libertarian and Conservative movement are abandoning McCain because his message is just weak. You can’t sell a policy of more of the same that busts the treasury and still claim to be a conservative. That is an oxymoron and you just can't sell a message that busts the federal budget when you claim to be a budget hawk.

Papamoka

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Obama in Afghanistan

One of the things that I think people see is the extreme difference of personal interaction between Presidential candidates. John McCain is the old uncle that likes children, loves family, enjoys a good time but he is not a people person. Over on the other side is a young man, with a very young family, loves children and people, very energetic, and to the dismay of the McCain Camp very interactive with the troops in Afghanistan. Then to top it off he does not mind a hug or two from the troops in the field in return.

For the record, I didn’t know that Obama has a dead eye shot at a free throw in basketball. Don’t even think of going racist on that sentence and if you do, grow the hell up! I wish I had his abilities on the court. Check the Video out here at this link if the one below does not work for you. Barack nails it from the three point zone!

Over at YouTuBe they have this interesting video on Obama’s current visit to the troops in Afghanistan. One thing you will notice watching this video is the lack of the suit coat or rolled up sleeves that most politicians use to show ampathy, the lack of the troops being held back from him, and most importantly how much they simply love Barack Obama. He is a rock star among the military in country and that speaks volumes onto itself.



As you read this article, Senator John McCain is at WalMart buying a sweat suit and planning his next trip to Afghanistan to visit not just the General's but maybe touch the flesh and maybe hug a vet, (Photo Op only and the selection process is going to be vetted by the White House I'm sure) in the war zone. Then again that touches into the icky factor for McCain? Maybe there will not be hugs for McCain, but the sweat suit shot will be cool?

One thing is certain, the Obama trip to the war zones is going far better than ever expected. That in itself shows that he has what it takes by far to be the next President of the United States of America.

Rock on Obama, rock on!

Papamoka

Real Clear Politics Polls

Over at Real Clear Politics (RCP) they are showing a huge move from red state to moderate, middle of the road, on the fence thinking about their votes for Obama over McCain. This is a huge upset for the Republican Party and the damage is their political parties own damn fault! All of the lies, deception, “Can’t touch me”, and “Those laws do not apply to me because I am an elected official of the US Congress” are catching up fast and furious to the red state Republican’s. That and the fact that the current President has pretty much torn up the Constitution because his interpretation of “We the People” is far different than what the founding father’s actually stated. That might explain his current approval rating at 28% and the Congress at 17%.

I’m going to be straight with you and tell you right now that the next election will look nothing like the past two for President of the United States of America. This will not be even a close race for several reasons and I’ll list them out for you. Number one is the war in Iraq and the lies that lead all of us into it. WMD’s were a lie, Yellow Cake was a lie and the Plame scandal outing a CIA operative in the field just added up to more lies on top of more lies.

Number two is the corruption or thought of probable corruption with no bid contracts for that war with the largest of chunks of billions of tax dollars going to none other than the former firm CEO that is our Republican Vice President Dick Cheney. Then to avoid the long arm of the law the firm Cheney once headed pulled up stakes in America and moved its world headquarters to… Dubai!

Three, and this one is really important, the mass exodus of die hard conservative and staunch Republicans from red states through resignation or indictment that supposedly had strong “Family Values” but assisted in, were part of, tried covering up, or were actually accused of sexually deviant adventures as elected members of the Congress. You can not preach family values, God, the Bible, and American values and then do the exact opposite.

Four, Americans do not like to be told that you just have to deal with it because you are an oil addict. President Bush’s only answer to our nations energy crisis and the cost of gas at the pump is to drill for more oil, not research programs to fund alternative sources exploration, not science programs to expand our knowledge of potential new resources, just a slap upside the head from a former oil executive that “We the People” are addicts and should be ashamed. President Bush has never, not once, nope, not even during a time of war asked “We the People” to cut back, conserve energy during a time of war. Just his statement that we should all go “Shopping”!

Last but not least, coming in fifth is the tax cuts for millionaires that President Bush passed and Senator McCain who as a Conservative once thought was a fiscal disaster now wants to keep in the worst way. Ergo, taxes on the rich are bad, which McCain is in fact one, with his wife’s assets estimated at over $100 million dollars. Passing the buck to the little people makes more sense somehow in McCain's mind. After all there is more of them than people like him above it all so to speak.

With all of these reasons, John McCain with his following of Bush on every major issue is in fact a clone now known as John McBush. People see through the path that Bush once plowed into a field that will never even grow weeds and that is why the following states are now no longer diehard red states:

Nevada
Colorado
New Mexico (Bush wanted to Annex it but it was already a state)
Missouri
Indiana
Ohio
Virginia
North Carolina
Florida

Dare I add other states to this list? Damn straight if Obama shows some Presidential potential backbone on his current trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. Provided Obama does not screw up Sunni and Shia and other tribes names in Iraq, forget the name of the current leader in any nation he visits, or misspeak on any issue relevant to the nation he is in during this trip, then he should or could change the polling numbers by a large percentage in other red states as well. Just a thought for you to think about, if you are worried about his messing up facts and details… Obama is a Harvard University graduate that was at the top of his class. He studies topics and recalls them fairly well when asked about it. He is not George Bush or John McCain. He is never one to quote Homer Simpson with a “Dhut” explanation.

When you really think about it, the Bush administration has allowed corporate America to run shotgun on our economy and in doing so we have lost our way on how to be the best in the world. While not just jobs but entire industries have been sent overseas the current occupant of the Presidency is the actual cause for this failing economy and is still looking the other way. So is the Republican nominee for President of the United States of America.

Salvation, hope, whatever you want to call it is not in electing just a President but electing someone that actually believes in honest change for the better. While McCain is grasping and gasping for the Bush 28% approval rating he has lost his way like oh so many of us in America. change of the status quo just isn't in his heart and he can not sell it. That is why "We the People" will change our own lives for better times come November.

Papamoka

U.S. Military Barracks Squalor

I don’t have any children serving in the military but if I did I would be very proud of them. Parents can stand proud when telling a neighbor or a friend of the great service their child is offering our nation. What I am ashamed of is how we continuously have to find out from our sons and daughters is where the military is letting them down.

Wasn’t Walter Reed enough of an eye opener for the government to see that the American people will not tolerate our children serving in our military subjected to squalor and inhumane conditions. This isn’t about conditions in Iraq or Afghanistan, this same kind of treatment is happening at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Over at Yahoo News they have this on it…

By ROBERT BURNS,
AP Military Writer Tue Apr 29, 7:29 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Army officials said Tuesday they are inspecting every barracks building worldwide to see whether plumbing and other problems revealed at Fort Bragg, N.C., last week are widespread.

Brig. Gen. Dennis Rogers, who is responsible for maintaining barracks throughout the Army, told reporters at the Pentagon that most inspections were done last weekend but he had not seen final results.

Snip N Flush

Rogers said it was too soon to know whether the Fort Bragg problem was an isolated incident. He acknowledged the revelations from a video shot by the father of an 82nd Airborne Division soldier showing poor conditions such as mold inside the barracks, peeling interior paint and a bathroom drain plugged with sewage.

The soldier's father, Ed Frawley, said he was disgusted by the conditions that greeted his son and the rest of his 82nd Airborne unit that returned on April 7-8 after a 15-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

"We let our soldiers down, and that's not like us," Rogers told reporters. "We let our soldiers down. That's not how we want America's sons and daughters to live. There's no good excuse for what happened." - Yahoo News

Below is the video from the father of the soldier. Or click here for the VIDEO. It runs about 8-9 minutes but worth viewing it all. To be honest with you, I’ve seen prisons in far better conditions…




Please write, email, phone or contact your representatives in the Congress and voice your anger. Our troops should not have to live in third world conditions while wearing our nations uniform on American soil! They have defended this nation and now it is our responsibility to defend them here at home and make our voices loud and clear that this kind of treatment and abuse will not be tolerated.

Papamoka

Other folks talking about this issue:

The Left Coaster

Fox News

Pat Dollard

Drudge Retort

Syndicated:

Michael Linn Jones.com

Bring It On!

To the Center

Feel free to link to and borrow this post…

BUSH ADMINISTRATION HELPS ROLL UP "WELCOME BACK" MAT FOR RETURNING VETERANS

BY MICHAEL LINN JONES



Back in the 1980's comedian Richard Belzer had a routine poking fun at President Reagan. Sarcastically referring to Reagan as "the most sensitive man in America," Belzer would voice words that his target never used. It was comedy, the warping of reality to get a laugh.

In one segment, he remarks on unwed mothers, welfare recipients....and veterans. I cannot recall the exact wording, but it was something like, "Unemployed vets.....just keep on marching fellas." It indicated either an insensitivity to veterans in trouble or suffering from a tin ear when it comes to recognizing a simple decency. It was, perhaps, unfair. But comedy is unfair, even if making a point; that point being....what do "we" owe veterans?

So here we are two decades later. In Belzer's America, Ronald Reagan was addressing Vietnam veterans. However, unlike that time, we have a full-blown conflict on our hands. The president who started it is still in the White House. He's the decider. He's the man in charge. Et cetera & ad nauseum.

And, of course, he CARES about veterans. So why am I seeing a story like this from AP's Hope Yen: RETURNING TO WORK A PROBLEM FOR RESERVISTS?

WASHINGTON - Strained by extended tours in Iraq, growing numbers of military reservists say the government is providing little help to soldiers who are denied their old jobs when they return home, Defense Department data shows.

The Pentagon survey of reservists in 2005-2006, obtained by The Associated Press, details increasing discontent among returning troops in protecting their legal rights after taking leave from work to fight for their country.

It found that 44 percent of the reservists polled said they were dissatisfied with how the Labor Department handled their complaint of employment discrimination based on their military status, up from 27 percent from 2004.

SNIP,

"Most of the government investigators are too willing to accept the employer's explanation for a worker's dismissal," said Sam Wright, a former Labor Department attorney who helped write the 1994 discrimination law protecting reservists.

"Some of it is indifference, some of them don't understand the laws involved," Wright said. "But the investigators establish for themselves this impossibly hard standard to win a case. As a result, reservists lose out."

Under the law, military personnel are protected from job discrimination based on their service and are generally entitled to a five-year cumulative leave with rights to their old jobs upon their return. Reservists typically file a complaint first with a Pentagon office, the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), which seeks to resolve the dispute informally.

If that effort fails, a person typically can go to the Labor Department to pursue a formal complaint and possible litigation by the Justice Department.

A report by the American Bar Association as early as 2004 noted problems in which the government was "not seen as an aggressive advocate for the returning veteran." A presidential task force chaired by former Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson earlier this year found that agencies could do a better job of educating troops and veterans. The report did not address government enforcement of the law.

I know what the explanation is for this: watch the film "Airplane!" and wait for the segment where two political pundits are discussing what to do about the passengers stuck on a crippled airliner that might not make it. One commenter says, "They bought their tickets; they knew the risks....I say LET 'EM crash!"

Of course it will not be spoken thusly in public, but many companies will mouth patriotism. Many will flap their yaps about "supporting the troops" which has become as damaged a cliche as the "war on drugs" or the "war on terror." No one can adequately define them because.....well, they just aren't there to be defined.

I look upon the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts as a national football game. We're all for cheering the guys and gals out on the field. But if dead, injured, or finished with their duty the powerful step over them to keep sending replacement players into the fray.

It's shameful, but then "shame" is a word to describe a condition or attitude that requires contrition. And there is the rub: many have no ability to be contrite about anything. Serving your country is all fine and dandy, but geez louise....don't think for a moment that doing so is going to interfere with COMMERCE.

If there is a federal law that requires employers to take back returning veterans then it should be obeyed. It's a damned shame we even NEED such a law in the first place, but sometimes the legislature recognizes that the excesses of greed and expediency interfere with national security, whatever about common decency.

And that law needs enforcement by the executive. It requires the chief executive of the nation to step on a few toes to ensure that these returning reservists are granted the full extent of that law. But President Bush himself has declared the "haves" and "have-mores" as his base. If this story gets the attention it deserves, like Katrina and Walter Reed, expect photo ops of the president solemnly declaring that he will do something. Yeah. Sure. Almost seven years in office and NOW he might find a problem?

I hark back to the first year of the Kennedy administration. The major steel companies had announced that they were raising the prices of their products. Not because of any inflationary pressure; no, they just wanted more money. The executives were invited to the White House. During a break of the jaw-boning session, Kennedy was seen to exit the conference room in a state of deep anger.

Turning to an aide he said, "My father was right; they're all just sons of bitches." He was referring to the attitude of men whose greed was impaired neither by decency or the thought of the common good.

Anybody who turns their back on a returning soldier/airman/sailor/marine is a son of a bitch, too.

And so are those who allow them to get away with it. What a lousy way to approach Veterans' Day.
***********************
Cross-posted at Michael Linn Jones.com

Is Bush Taking on Iran Too?

Picture courtesy of U.S. Department of Defense


In my own mind I can picture the President setting up his game board of the Middle East with his tin soldiers with the full intent of stamping the entire region as “Property of BIG U.S. OIL”. You can literally see the President staging the props for his next conquest and that target is Iran. Piece by piece he is building the set. Iran is building “Nuc’lar” weapons, Iran is funding the terrorists, Iran is going to wipe Israel off the map and as the President builds the set and arranges the lighting the stage and reasoning for his last “Preemptive War” is set.

It should be interesting to see him try and pull this one off now that the entire press of the United States and the world knows that his sources for information are not credible or reliable. His own personal reputation and his word is no longer acceptable as “Good enough for me too” amongst even our staunchest allies anymore.

Over at the Washington Post they have just a sound bite on yet another part to the Bush reasoning to attack Iran. I found it interesting that this information was released in Paris of all places…

U.S. Envoy Says Iran Is Arming Taliban
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 12, 2007; 1:10 PM

PARIS -- A senior U.S. diplomat accused Iran on Tuesday of transferring weapons to Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, where NATO forces are deployed to bring stability to the country.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, speaking to reporters in Paris, said Iran was funding insurrections across the Middle East and "Iran is now even transferring arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan. - Washington Post

All of this preparation for the President to pull the trigger on Iran will give him the reasons he needs to tell the people why our sons and daughters will be fighting and loosing their lives on yet another front. I’m beginning to think this President hates all nations that start with a vowel!

Tell me that I am wrong but wasn’t this the same information we started to hear about Iraq before he gave the go ahead to invade. Was Iraq not lead by a leader that despised the United States so much that supposedly he too was building weapons of mass destruction. The list of accusations went on and on and most of them turned out to be false. Other than Saddam Hussein being a bastard to his own people there was no reason for our troops to invade Iraq.

With all of the suggested possibilities for reasons to attack any sovereign nation given by the Bush administration, I’m keeping a real close eye on them Canadians. They have to be plotting against us during them long cold winters. They might not have yellow cake but I’m pretty sure there just might be some biscuits hidden in a bread drawer somewhere up there.

Mexico is okay because nobody really lives there anymore but that is another discussion for another day.

Papamoka

Cross Posted at Bring It ON!

A SUGAR-COATED LEGACY

Contributed by Michael Linn Jones

George S. Patton was a brilliant tactician. He served his nation well despite his tendency at times to put his foot in his mouth. His nickname was "'ole blood and guts." Some of the soldiers who served under him groused that yes, it was his guts, but their blood. In other words, Patton's roaring rhetoric was paid for by someone else's physical sacrifice. It must be said, though, that General Patton was no coward; he was a brave man, a throwback to 19th century thinking that even generals should be prepared to stand the front lines if need be.

I mention this because it has come to the forefront of my mind that enough is enough. The much-vaunted "Operation Iraqi Freedom" has become nothing more than a huge millstone around the neck of the United States of America. It has become a disease eating at the vitals, and the vitality of our nation.

Say what you want about anyone in the Bush administration involved in starting the debacle on its downhill lurch towards disaster. Take your list of names....Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Wolfowitz, Pearl, Rice, and so on. The fact is, no buck stops with them. It stops, one way or the other, in the Oval Office. And the man currently employed there by the American people is the ONLY one who matters. It is HIS judgment that we live with.

The point has been reached where the grasping of straws is commonplace; the tried and true method of blowing smoke up the ass of the populace. But....but, as Lincoln said, not with all the people all of the time. When I hear these complaints that the media is not telling the "full story" on Iraq, that the wonderful works being done with schools and hospitals is going unheeded in the press.....I no longer cringe. I get angry.

For, it is put across like some dubious business deal. Look at all this great stuff that's been done in Iraq. They have water, electricity, facilities, their zoo is making a comeback. And ALL it is going to cost you to 3,500 (so far) totally forgettable people and a mere trillion dollars or so. So give us your son or daughter, and even if they return home in a coffin, well, you get a free flag. And, the eternal thanks of a nation.....along with a passing glance by the man at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Maybe a tear or two if the cameras are rolling.

I woke up thinking about the scene from the film "Full Metal Jacket." Sgt. Hartman discovers a contraband jelly doughnut in the footlocker of Private Leonard Lawrence, branded by Hartman as "Gomer Pyle." Hartman has the entire platoon do push-ups while Private "Pyle" stands on his footlocker and eats the jelly doughnut. He tells "Pyle" to enjoy it, because the other marines are paying for it.

And so goes our nation. We have a rich boy who will never really grow up sitting in the White House. His flawed decision making is evident in business and politics. After 9/11 he really broke bad and proved to his daddy that he, not his father, has the bigger pee-pee. What is life, after all, if one is asked to face the consequences of their own decisions? Such burdens are for the little people.

So, enjoy your sugar-coated jelly doughnut, Mr. President. In 2009 you can do the 1,000-mile mosey back to Crawford and rest your laurels. Enjoy it all, because everyone else is going to be paying for your sweet tooth for a very, very long time.

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