Iraq
mikethemadbiologist | March 24, 2007It's about time someone told the warmongers on the Washington Post editorial board to go fuck themselves. In the words of Democratic congressman David Obey:
Speaker, yesterday a number of members on the Republican side of the aisle sought to belittle the legislation before us because in addition to funding the needs of the troops in Iraq it contains money to address a number of domestic priorities. To ridicule that legislation, they suggested -- they tried to belittle items such as funding for levees in New Orleans and agriculture disaster payments . And in that they have been joined by…
mikethemadbiologist | March 16, 2007
Hear the Mighty Roar of the Peter Pan Conservatives: those conservatives who think that policy failures are not due to strategic, tactical, or logistical flaws but solely due to to a lack of will. It appears that this way of thinking has completely permeated Little Lord Pontchartrain's brain. Neocon Irwin Stelzer had a luncheon meeting with the president. His description is chilling.
Stelzer describes four 'lessons' that were discussed. Here's the second lesson:
Second lesson: Will trumps wealth. The Romans, the tsars, and other rich world powers fell to poorer ones because they lacked…
revere | March 12, 2007If anything should signal the dire shape of the US food safety problem it's FDA's announcement last week that it is extending the warning over Salmonella contaminated Peter Pan peanut butter to products bought as far back as October 2004. FDA warnings about Peter Pan peanut butter have been steadily pushed back from May 2006 to December 2005 and now to October 2004.
ConAgra makes Peter Pan peanut butter products at a single plant in Sylveter, Georgia. It is also marketed by Wal-Mart as Great Value Peanut Butter with lot number 2111. The product recall for the Peter Pan and Wal-Mart Great…
mikethemadbiologist | March 12, 2007The latest snafu from the War Department: we're sending soldiers to Iraq who are unfit for combat. From Salon:
"This is not right," said Master Sgt. Ronald Jenkins, who has been ordered to Iraq even though he has a spine problem that doctors say would be damaged further by heavy Army protective gear. "This whole thing is about taking care of soldiers," he said angrily. "If you are fit to fight you are fit to fight. If you are not fit to fight, then you are not fit to fight."
As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort…
mikethemadbiologist | March 11, 2007Here's a topical Senate speech for you; see if you can guess who said this:
Every senator in this chamber is partly responsible for sending 3,000 young Americans to an early grave. This chamber reeks of blood. Every Senator here is partly responsible for that human wreckage at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval and all across our land - young men without legs, or arms, or genitals, or faces or hopes.
There are not very many of these blasted and broken boys who think this war is a glorious adventure. Do not talk to them about cutting and running, or national honor or courage. It does not take any…
mikethemadbiologist | February 26, 2007A recent Gallup Poll about support for the Iraqi Occupation notes something very interesting: Jews are more likely to oppose the war, even after party affiliation is taken into account. Gallup states, "It is unclear why Jewish Americans show such strong opposition to the war." My answer?
Because we're fucking smart.
Just kidding. Seriously, here are some reasons why I think Jews disproportionately oppose the war (full disclosure: I'm Jewish):
1) Back in 2001, when Bush referred to our anti-terrorism efforts as a crusade, many noted that Muslims would feel threatened by this language. But…
mikethemadbiologist | February 26, 2007...the man who helped bring you Iran-Contra, you know you've gone too far. Seymour Hersh has a new article in the New Yorker about the Bush Administration's Middle East 'strategy.' It's more ridiculous than Iran-Contra.
Why do I say that? Because we're backing indirectly Sunni groups in Lebanon opposed to Hizbollah that are linked to Al-Queda.
Let's replay that last sentence:
Because we're backing indirectly Sunni groups in Lebanon opposed to Hizbollah that are linked to Al-Queda.
[sound of jaw hitting floor]
I swear to the Intelligent Designer, these guys are dumber than Conservapedia.…
mikethemadbiologist | February 22, 2007...we might want to issue them rifles. From the NY Times:
"We're behind the power curve, and we can't piddle around," Maj. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, commander of the Oklahoma National Guard, said in an interview. He added that one-third of his soldiers lacked the M-4 rifles preferred by active-duty soldiers and that there were also shortfalls in night vision goggles and other equipment. If his unit is going to be sent to Iraq next year, he said, "We expect the Army to resource the Guard at the same level as active-duty units."
...Capt. Christopher Heathscott, a spokesman for the Arkansas…
mikethemadbiologist | February 21, 2007By now, you might have read this NY Times article about Senator Clinton's difficulties in dealing with her vote to go to war. While others have commented on her disturbing belief in executive authority--which gets awful close to the 'unitary executive' concept espoused by the Bush administration, a loyal reader pointed out a very interesting part of the article that I had overlooked:
Mrs. Clinton's belief in executive power and authority is another factor weighing against an apology, advisers said. As a candidate, Mrs. Clinton likes to think and formulate ideas as if she were president --…
mikethemadbiologist | February 17, 2007Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) had a great speech on the House floor yesterday:
"You go to war with the President you have, not the president you wish you had."
Heh heh.
mikethemadbiologist | February 6, 2007Over at Hullabaloo, Tristero describes this conversation with a respected journalist about the manufactured smear of CBS reporter Lara Logan's coverage of the Haifa Street battle:
Well, recently, I was at dinner with a friend who is a major journalist at a major media outlet in New York City. (I will not identify the person further, including whether my friend is male or female, or what kind of media s/he works for - video, print, or online). In the course of the conversation, I brought up the Lara Logan video and s/he said, with certain authority, "I know about that. Y'know, there's a lot of…
mikethemadbiologist | February 4, 2007...so we can fight among ourselves here? I don't think the Iraq War was supposed to work that way. The Sunday edition NY Times has a story about Sunni-Shiite conflict in... Dearborn, MI. Fortunately, it's only reached the level of vandalism. What adjective do you use when events surpass surreal?
mikethemadbiologist | February 3, 2007There's a very interesting poll about Iraq from The Financial Times. In short, 72% of U.S. troops want the U.S. to leave Iraq within twelve months:
Most American troops in Iraq believe the US should withdraw within the next year, according to the first poll of US military personnel there.
President George W.âBush, whose overall approval rating fell to a new low of 34 per cent this week, has repeatedly said the US would finish the mission in Iraq.
But a Zogby International/Le Moyne College poll found that only 23 per cent of US troops believed they should stay "as long as they are needed".…
mikethemadbiologist | January 26, 2007
This is not George Bush
(image from here)
The Peter Pan syndrome is in full effect at the White House. After meeting with George Bush, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the meeting (italics mine):
In an interview, Pelosi also said she was puzzled by what she considered the president's minimalist explanation for his confidence in the new surge of 21,500 U.S. troops that he has presented as the crux of a new "way forward" for U.S. forces in Iraq.
"He's tried this two times -- it's failed twice," the California Democrat said. "I asked him at the White House, 'Mr. President, why…
mikethemadbiologist | January 24, 2007I compliment Sen. James Webb on his post-State of the Union speech, and he goes and votes against Sen. Dodd's amendment to require Congressional approval to increase troop numbers in Iraq. Also voting in surprising fashion were Democrats Casey, Cardin, and Nelson. Republican senator Hagel showed that he's another all-talk Republican: despite his blistering criticism of the Bush administration, he also voted against Dodd's resolution.
Biden also voted against the resolution, but at least he has a good reason:
I'm not for capping for a simple reason: It maintains the status quo. I don't want…
mikethemadbiologist | January 14, 2007The frustration of the soldiers in Afghanistan must have just 'surged'. Why? Because, as part of the Bush-McCain surge, soldiers in Afghanistan will be withdrawn and sent to Iraq just in time for a Taliban offensive:
A US Army battalion fighting in a critical area of eastern Afghanistan is due to be withdrawn within weeks to deploy to Iraq.
Army Brigadier General Anthony J. Tata and other US commanders say that will happen as the Taliban is expected to unleash a campaign to cut the vital road between Kabul and Kandahar.
The official said the Taliban intend to seize Kandahar, Afghanistan's…
mikethemadbiologist | January 12, 2007By way of Litbrit at Shakespeare's Sister, I came across a Greg Palast article about possible motivations for a troop increase in Iraq. Palast writes (bold in original; italics mine):
Here's my question: Who asked the waiter to deliver this dish? Who asked for the 21,000 soldiers?
We know the US military didn't ask for the 21,000 troops. (Outgoing commander General George Casey called for a troop reduction.)
We know the Iraqi government didn't ask for the 21,000 troops. (Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is reportedly unhappy about a visible increase in foreign occupiers).
So who wants the…
mikethemadbiologist | January 11, 2007Right-wing dorkball* Michael Ledeen has discovered why Iraq has not gone exactly as planned:
Note that an increase in embeds doesn't necessarily require an increase in overall troop strength. We've got lots of soldiers sitting on megabases all over Iraq. They should be out and about, some of them embedded, others just moving around, tracking the terrorists, hunting them down. I don't know how many guys and gals are sitting in air-conditioned quarters and drinking designer coffee, but it's a substantial number. Enough of that.
It was the "designer coffee." Not a complete failure of strategy,…
scientificactivist | January 11, 2007From a news analysis by Sheryl Gay Stolberg in today's New York Times:
By stepping up the American military presence in Iraq, President Bush is not only inviting an epic clash with the Democrats who run Capitol Hill. He is ignoring the results of the November elections, rejecting the central thrust of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and flouting the advice of some of his own generals, as well as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq....
In a sense, it is a predictable path for Mr. Bush. This, after all, is the same president who lost the popular vote in 2000, was installed in the White…
mikethemadbiologist | January 10, 2007White House spokesvermin Tony Snow yesterday just propelled us a little bit further down the path of either tyranny or impeachment:
"You know, Congress has the power of the purse," Snow said, then added: "The President has the ability to exercise his own authority if he thinks Congress has voted the wrong way."
No, he doesn't. If Congress does not allocate funds for a troop increase, then the president is illegally using money appropriated for another purpose. It's that simple, although Senator Kennedy laid it out far more eloquently. Snow also said that he doesn't "want to play junior…