ISRAEL’S OLMERT RUSHED INTO ‘SHOCK/AWE’EXPERIMENT: The investigating commission reproached him sharply for NOT showing prudence & caution.

One hypothesis: The threat of bombing, even the incredible reality, did NOT force the VietCong to surrender. The only time bombing has really forced surrender was the nukes we dropped on Japan. So the Pentagon slogan was that all that works is ‘shock & awe’.

Olmert and Bush had planned beforehand a ‘shock/awe’ experiment. Using any excuse, bomb the hell suddenly out of Lebanon; this would shock/awe them into ousting Hizbollah.

The 2 kidnapped Israeli soldiers provided the excuse. At once, Lebanon’s infrastructure was destroyed. Only Hizbollah DIDN’T disappear; they ended up more in control of Lebanon than before.
The experiment was a fair one; its complete failure was instructive.

Now we’ll see if Olmert can brazen out the most humiliating defeat in Israel’s history.

 
AFGHAN villagers ran to main hwy, screaming "DEATH TO AMERICA !" (blaming Kharzai also) forUS bombs that killed women & children.
SanFranChronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/30/MNGMNPHU0T1.DTL

It doesn't matter what really happened. As long as we bomb, Afghans will believe complaining villagers.

 
BRAGGED-ABOUT RECONSTRUCTION FAILED:
Inspectors found that 7 of 8 sampled sites of US reconstruction in Iraq(costing $115 million) are not now functioning.
CBS/NEWS
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/29/iraq/main2739158.shtml

 
CARTOON FALLACY:

A cartoon in USATODAY (30April) shows ‘Baghdad Bob’ (the zany Saddamite spokesman who denied to the last minute that Americans had reached Baghdad) saying, ‘No Americans in Baghdad—never!” Next to him is Senator Harry Reid, saying “No Americans will be in Baghdad—never!”

This involves an elementary logical fallacy:
“A US enemy said X; and Reid says X—so Reid is a US enemy.”

That’s exactly parallel to this argument:
“This collie is a dog, and this spaniel is a dog—so this spaniel is a collie.”

 
‘IRAQI POLICE 5 YEARS FROM READY !’ says a police officer.
One in six policemen are lost every year to attacks or desertion.
[SeattlePI ]

 
PRETRAEUS: “HIGHER GI CASUALTY RATE UPCOMING.”

He says murders are down (Shia killing Sunnis retail) but this is offset by more SUNNI WHOLESALE bombings of Shia.

April is WORST month for US casualties in the ENTIRE 4 YEARS of war !
And GI casualties, he admits, WILL INCREASE.

Petraeus admits ‘American’ clock of war-support is ticking, not just D.C. Dems.
UnitedPress

The American clock has tolled—only one in four supports Bushie war.

 
RATIONAL STRATEGY OF alQuaeda:

230 SHIA CASUALTIES IN HOLY CITY OF KARBALA:
WHAT’S THE POINT?
AL JAZEERA

The point is to make Shia really hate Sunnis, finally turning murderously on ALL Sunnies (whom they outnumber 3 to 1).

AlQaeda worries that US might succeed in SPLITTING insurgent ranks, persuading SECULAR SADDAMITES to turn on their fanatic allies. But IF Shia slaughter enraged ‘moderate’ Sunnis enough, then the Saddamites wouldn’t DARE make a separate peace.

So far this Shia killing of Sunnis is just retail; but it may soon turn wholesale, like the Sunni slaughter of Shia--whether Americans stay on or not.

 
DUMB ARTILLERY BARRAGES IN BAGHDAD:

Explosions are heard at night—but this time US artillery shells exploded during the day in a Sunni neighborhood.
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18377300/

It’s true that most Sunnis are sympathetic to insurgents, so our generals may THINK we lose nothing by such collective punishments for whole neighborhoods. But there are 4 DEGREES of guerilla support:

The outside circle (the large majority) are those who TALK support, but don’t help the guerilllas actively.

In the middle circle, people hide and fund guerilllas, but don’t engage in the active killing.

In the inner circle are the ‘hard men’ who kill and die for the cause.

In the inmost circle are those who volunteer as suicide bombers.

Being bombed or shells MOVES THE SURVIVORS INWARD: talkers may become hiders/funders;
Hiders may become killers; mere killers may become suicide bombers.

So bombing/shelling neighborhoods is counter-productive, CREATING MORE ENERGY for insurgency than it eliminates.

This is a lesson our generals will never learn. Even Petraeus, who’s supposed to be more sophisticated, obviously OK’d these dumb artillery raids.

 
ALL REFORMS DEMANDED BY BUSHIES ARE PRO-SUNNI !
a) a ‘fair share’ of oil on Shia or Kurd lands must go to Sunni Arabs.
b) Saddamites must be admitted to the ‘central govt’ in Baghdad.
c)constitution must be amended in the ways Sunnis demand.
Otherwise, it’s said, US ‘support’ for Maliki’s regime may ‘disappear’.
SeattlePI
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_Crunch_Time.html

Does this mean Bushies will bugout and blame it on Maliki? (One can’t imagine
the Shia/Kurd majority in Parliament yielding MEANINGFULLY on these issues.)

The Saudi/US/Israel coalition is turning obviously on the Shia (who are too close to hated IRAN !) If we DON’T bugout, we may find the Shia turning on our GIs (3 times as many Shia as Sunni/Arabs.) And this appeasement of Sunnis might NOT stop bombs from killing our GIs (almost 100 in April).

 
GENERAL SAYS BUSH IS ‘AWOL’; “Our Commander-in-Chief is absent without leave.” Says Gen. Odom.
“He’s neither acting nor talking as if he’s in charge.”
UnitedPress

 
DIPLOMAT: “KHARZAI’S AFGHAN REGIME IS LOSING SUPPORT.”
In other words, we’re losing THAT war also !
GUARDIAN

 
GENERALS' LIES: Earlier I discussed their blatant lies about Pvt.Lynch & Tillman.
On 28Apr, rMtnNews ran a devastating cartoon whose theme was this:
Generals fight TRUTH in Iraq so they won't have to fight it at home.

 
TURK CONFLICT: ISLAMIST GOVT. VS. SECULAR ARMY:
REUTERS

This govt. refused to help Bush invade Iraq, after the army promised they would help.
And for the first time, the army backed down. (That was good—but their motivation might have been anti-American.)

We are faced with 2 unpleasant alternatives in Turkey. The army seems more likely to favor an attack on our Kurdish allies in Iraq. (US could warn them we will defend Kurds--but suppose Turks are dumb enough to call our bluff !) Bushies have involved us in the snakepit of MiddleEastern politics !

 
THIS IS MY FIVE THOUSANDTH POST SINCE 2002. Anyone can read my early posts to see that my criticism of Bushie follies has been based on FORESIGHT, NOT HINDSIGHT.
------------------------------------------

‘ECONOMY OF FORCE’ hobbles US in Iraq:
The Bushie idea of sending JUST ENOUGH TROOPS to contain insurgents, but not enough to WIN…
UnitedPress , 27April

They haven’t contained insurgents. We would have had to send in HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS to have any hope—even that might not work.

Sending enough trooops would have required DRAFT, lost Bush the '06 election. And Bushies care more about retaining power than about ANY foreign issue !

 
THAT OTHER WAR:
Taliban killed mayor & police chief in Afghanistan, and took over DISTRICT office.
Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4754910.html

Why couldn’t reinforcements be sent in during five-hour battle?

Taliban will likely be ousted—but the symbolism of their temporary victory is upsetting.

 
PETRAEUS FOOLS FEW:
Gen.Petraeus says that our Surge has decreased ‘intersectarian’ violence in Iraq. But a poll shows that only 1 American in 4 thinks the Surge is ‘making things better’ in Iraq. (More think it’s making things worse !)
USATODAY,27Apr, p. 10a

GOP legislators really should think again about opposing ‘bugout’ timetable.

a) Withholding this money for a while NEED NOT handicap our fighting men.
Of the $1200 MILLIONS PER DAY shoveled to the Pentagon, only a small part goes for our 2 wars. The rest is ‘miscellaneous’. Pentagon could move money from ‘miscellaneous’ to war-support. But Bushies, like many bureaucrats, propose to cut the meat from the budget, not the fat.

b) by Nov. ’08, Dems should be able to persuade voters that this isn’t just a BUSH war, it’s a GOP war. Almost TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND GI families are furious that their GIs' combat stint has just been EXTENDED !

 
GEN.PETRAEUS SAYS IRAN’S ROLE IN ARMING & ADVISING SADRITE INSURGENTS IS INCREASING.

But he admits they have no real proof of this
UnitedPress


. And by far most GI casualties are caused by SUNNI bombs.

(Bushies have tried silly claim that Shia Iran is aiding SUNNI guerillas, who are murdering Shia wholesale !)

 
SUICIDE IS PROTECTOR OF HUMAN DIGNITY:
Cassius in Shakespeare’s JULIUS CAESAR says that his freedom lies in the knife he carries, ready to off himself if the tyrant turns against him.

When the Roman Church went to bed with post-Constantine emperors, suicide became one of the worst human sins—the most spiritually fatal: you could dump your murdering guilt in Confession—but the suicide dies unabsolved. (So Catholics are subject to torture; no cyanide pills.)


(Shakespeare, living under Elizabethan police-state, defends political suicide indirectly, but as directly as he dares.) Shakespeare's uncle was tortured.

Of course suicide by an adolescent is foolish, when the adolescent doesn’t really know what his life will be at 30—perhaps pleasant and rewarding.

Today the real issue is one of aged people who feel their bodies falling apart, and perhaps their mind slipping away. In a place where assisted suicide is legal, they can wait until they’re sure there’s no other way out. But in most places, they must shoot themselves or suffocate themselves before they are really sure, but while they still have the ability to commit COMPETENT suicide. This is an important social issue.

The Catholic Church will of course fight any reforms tooth-and-nail, as will the billionaire owners of big nursing-homes. The government, drained by Social Security and Medicare for the Baby Boomers, might favor legal assisted suicide, as might the health-insurance companies.

This controversy may soon become more intense than the one over abortion.

 
UN CONTRADICTS GENERAL:
Gen.Petraeus says ‘intersectarian violence down by 1/3d.’ But UN agency says Iraqis WORSE OFF SINCE SURGE BEGAN in Feb.(top story in 26Apr. PRINT version of USATODAY, but disappeared in online version!!
Google search for UN IRAQ does not reveal this story on first page.)

One thing sure: GIs are worse off ! In April FOUR A DAY have been killed, with likely another 12 each day maimed or wounded badly enough to be evacuated to German hospital.

 
TWO SETS OF BLATANT ARMY LIES:
one about Ms. Lynch (who says she did NOT behave heroically before her capture)
and one about the ex-football-star Tillman (he was shot by US TROOPS !)
[ abc/news/tv ]

When you hear a glamorous story about war, you should remember
about generals who don’t mind orchestrating mass killing—
why would they hesitate to tell blatant lies--for FREEDOM ?

 
LYONS OBJECTIVE?HELL,NO!
OBJECTIVE, NO /INFORMATIVE, YES.
A critic has noted that I’m not really objective—so he says I’m not informative..
I’m NOT objective; I save all my space for stories of Bushie follies—a puny attempt to counter floods of proBushie propaganda from, say, FOX network.

But my posts are informative, citing mainline media for facts.

 
'TANK ERA' ENDED:
The US has invested billions in heavy-armored tanks.
But Iraq insurgents just used a cheap ‘molten-metal’ missile to penetrate our heaviest tank (costing millions), with driver losing both legs and other GIs wounded.
GUARDIAN, 24 Apr.

 
BUSHIES CARE ONLY ABOUT THE SHORT RUN:
The chair of the House Armed Svcs.Commission says the ‘gated communities’ Bushies want to construct in Baghdad (over OPPOSITION by Maliki’s govt.) might increase security
IN SHORT RUN (by barring pedestrian Shia gunmen from entering Sunni enclaves to revenge WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER OF SHIA by Sunnis. )
UNITED PRESS (UPI.COM) , 24April


But obviously such walls will PREVENT any real reconciliation between the 2 groups.

But then Bushies care only to POSTPONE admission of complete failure.
(They can’t postpone admission till after next election !)

 
APPEASING SUNNIS: TEN GI's killed Monday by Sunnis (more wounded).
YET Bushies are trying to appease Sunnis, picking fight with Shia.
(If Shia really turn against us, there are 3 Shia for every 1 Sunni. They can cut off our supplies to Kuwait, chase us out of Iraq.) NUTTY BUSHIES.

 
GUNMEN KILL 69 AT (Chinese-run) ETHIOPIAN OIL FIELD:
WASH.POST
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042400604.html

binLaden called for his fanatics to attack oil facilities all over the world, shrewdly intending to harm America and other oil-consumers economically.

This may backfire, if oil-needy China offer some of their huge surplus of males as guards for oil-facilities.

 
US, trying to APPEASE Sunni insurgents, IS PUSHING FOR DE-DE-BAATHIFICATION (for ending block vs. Saddamites in new govt.)
However, Shiites dominating new parliament will castrate the new bill. Anyway, local govts. (dominated by Shia) would not obey central govt. in admitting more Saddamites to power.
ABC/NEWS
http://abcnews.go.com/International/CSM/story?id=3066121

In fact the Shia ‘Pope’ Sistani has already vetoed this US move, making it even more likely that it will fail.

Just because original blockage of all ‘Saddamites’ was stupid, it doesn’t follow that readmitting them now is sensible. Perhaps by now they have become hardened enemies of U.S. and Shia govt.—and would use their new govt. posts to infiltrate for the insurgents !

Maliki is US puppet--but he doesn't control Parliament !

 
toCOLORADOAN:
WARNIK RALLY IS USEFUL:
Your story on 22 April was biased in favor of the pro-warniks on the East side of College & Mulberry in Ft.Collins…there are not usually 50--rarely more than a dozen there-- making much noise. On the West side, the quieter peaceniks have about the same number most weeks.

Actually, the noisy warniks are helping the peacnik cause. Most people want to forget about Bushies’ loony war, heartless, brainless and winless as it is. The warniks keep them reminded that the pointless slaughter continues, just as the peaceniks do.

 
ALTERNATIVE TO ROBOTS: I said earlier that because of shortage of US enlistees, Pentagon would shortly turn to infantry robots. But there is another alternative: have the fed.govt. pay for quick English lessons for Latino immigrants, and let them enlist to earn their citizenship (as many of them have done already, I'm sure.)

That would be very preferable to an army of robots, who would without hesitation turn on Americans if Pentagon decided to stage an open coup here.

On the other hand, as long as the present govt. shovels over $1200 MILLIONS EACH DAY to Pentagon, the military-industrial honchos probably think an open coup is not worth the trouble. Let's hope they're not insatiable.

 
BIDEN CALLS AGAIN FOR PARTITION:
Of course he won’t admit it’s ‘partition’, only DIVISION into Kurdland,SunniArabLand, & Shialand—‘with central govt. surviving’.
MSNBC

Of course this ‘central govt.’ will have almost NO POWER over the 3 deFacto ministates
(Kurdland is already a deFacto ministate!) –so his proposal is in fact for partition.

That’s all right; partition is the only WORKABLE solution to Iraq dilemma.
(Bushies won’t admit this, loathing thought of Shia ministate with most Iraqis, most oil, the only seaport, ALLIED WITH SHIA IRAN !) But partition is inevitable eventually.

Biden is probably correct in saying that most Dem candidates in ’08 will finally join him in this sensible call.

 
FIRST US CRITICISM OF IRAQI KURDS:
A top aide of Condoleeza has criticized Kurdish threat to Turkey.
Turkey is a huge, powerful country which could wipe out Iraqi Kurds quickly. Turks face a (perhaps justified) Kurdish rebellion within Turkey, aided (they say) by guerillas crossing back and forth between Iraq & Turkey.

Turkey fiercely wants the Kurds NOT to control the oil-soaked area of Kirkuk in Iraq, not wanting the Kurds to be strengthened by that extra money. Iraqi Kurds are determined to control Kirkuk; they are Bushies’ only allies in Iraq. Kurdish leader foolishly just threatened to help the Kurdish guerillas in Turkey if Turkey keeps ‘interfering’ with Iraqi policy—thus provoking first-ever criticism from US.

(If Bushies’ picking fight with Shia results in their cutting off our supplies from Kuwait, GIs will have to flee into Kurdland first, on way to Turkey. Thus Bushies face a great dilemma, siding either with Turkey or Kurdland in this quarrel. Another result of US ignorantly butting into tangled Mideast politics.)
SEATTLEPI

 
WAR IS NOT AN ALL-ABSOLVING FIT !

Someone quoted the general who bombed Dresden (pointlessly) as saying that War is Hell; once you’re in a real war, anything goes.

That has never been the teaching of ‘just-war’ theorists. They have always discussed, not just jus belli (moral rules about entering a war) but also jus in bello (rules against abuses during war).

Anyway, IF war is an irrational, unlimited SPASM, then ENTERING a war can NEVER be justified, except to ward off an invasion. (Trading bomb-attacks pointlessly against cities can never be rational or moral.).

 
ANALYST PRAISES ‘NEW IRAQ TEAM’ AS NONDOGMATIC PRAGMATISTS, CRITICAL OF EARLY BUSHIE MISTAKES.
GUARDIAN

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6576477,00.html

He mentions Adm. FALLON, the new TOP commander, but doesn’t discuss him at all: he is a man with NO experience in ground warfare, only in bombing.

Fallon's naming was either a) preparing for a disastrous (for America) blitzkrieg on IRAN

Or (b) a big bluff (along with 2 vulnerable carriers just off Iran’s coast).

We’ll see if Bushies are really nutty.

 
THE NEW TACTIC: WALLS BETWEEN SUNNI AND SHIA NEIGHBORHOODS:
Even war-critic Cordesman says this new tactic is not CERTAINLY doomed to failure.
CHI.TRIBUNE


But think it out: you’re a soldier at one of the GATES in such a wall. A suspect vehicle is coming toward you. If you stop it, the suicide bomber will DETONATE RIGHT THERE, bringing you instant martyrdom. Often the soldiers will let it proceed inside the targeted community.

Also, rockets and mortars can be fired over walls. (Often they land inside the mighty ramparts of the GreenZone !)
--------------------
It's becoming obvious that US is concerned to protect Sunnis from retail killings by Shia, while the WHOLESALE killings of Shia by Sunnis proceeds. (The 'gated'' communities can't stop truck bombers, as noted above--but it may stop Shia pedestrian vigilantes from entering Sunni neighborhoods for revenge.)

However, Shias can get rockets and mortars from Iran to fire over the walls at Sunni neighborhoods. Maliki has 'ordered' stoppage to wall-building, and US says it will 'respect' his wishes....but NOT that they will stop building walls. The pseudo-sovereignty of Maliki's regime is thus exposed; suppose he now calls for 'US OUT !'

As I have noted before, this obvious US bias toward Sunnis--even tho they are the main killers of GIs ! --may make Shia take up arms against U.S. and cut off our supplies from Kuwait, forcing our forces to flee from Iraq.

 
FIGHTING FOR ITS OWN SAKE—now obsolete.
In the primitive Norse & Celtic sagas, the heroes did NOT fight for a noble cause;
they fought for the manly thrill of fighting, for the rewards of a chance at rape and pillage.

Interestingly, in the 4 pep-songs of WWII--army, navy,marine corps—(‘The Caisons’,’Anchors Away’, ‘Off we go..”, and “From the Halls of Montezuma’—there are NO hypocritical references to ‘defending Americans’ or ‘fighting for our Freedom’. The only motivation offered is the simple (illusory) thrill of military adventure.
[I forgot lines in these hymns that DO hypocritically picture war as for a noble cause--not true since 1945.]

But a big change is on the horizon; we are running short of military volunteers (who wants to be part of a LOSING team ?) so the Pentagon will have to manufacture and use infantry robots just as it now uses robot planes. (They’re already designed.)

So war will no longer be a matter of manly confrontation. Our forces could be mean old ladies, safely miles away from the front, manipulating infantry robots by long-distance control. The glamour will be in the IT skills of the manipulators (scarce in dumbed-down US !), not in the sweaty muscles of Rambo.

Most US males are war-cheerleaders (unless we’ve clearly lost the war)—they have no desire to get in the actual ‘game’.

Of course in movies and computer-games, Rambo will still be prominent.Males will FEEL more manly when they watch this artificial combat…in fact their testosterone will spike up when they watch ‘their’ team win. Unfortunately in 21st century, high testosterone is a counter-productive poison.

 
SHIA IRAN ARMING SUNNIS ? ! (as Bushie generals claim) ?
An analyst admits this is quite unlikely, but then tries to make it sound possible.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Iran and Sunnis agree that US should get out!
IF Iran could get reliable promises from insurgents that weapons will be used vs. Americans, NOT VS. IRAQI SHIA!…..

UnitedPress

But would such promises be reliable? (Not by alQuaeda, who hate Shia as much as they hate Americans!) If Iraqi Shia knew that Iran was arming Sunnis, their friendship would wither. (Very likely, these unlikely claims are being made by Bushie generals PRECISELY in a vain attempt to alienate Iraq Shia from Iran !)

 
US GROUND FORCES EXHAUSTED:
We are running short of manpower and equipment, thanks to the loony wars in Iraq & Afghanistan.
UnitedPress

“For the 1st time since Civil War, number of men available is determining policy, not strategy determining how many men to recruit.”

 
SUMMER DEADLINE?

Gates said US will reconsider this summer the SURGE. By then all the extra troops should be in place; Gates reminded Iraqi leaders that ‘the clock is ticking’, and that our commitment to support them is ‘not open-ended’.
SeattlePI
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Gates_Iraq.html

Two special (pro-Sunni)‘reforms’ US is demanding:
a) an oil-law that will give Sunnis a fair share of the Money
(How could this be enforced on Shia/Kurds by the vestigial central govt?)

b) admission of Baathist Saddamites into the govt.
(But Shia ‘Pope’ Sistani has already vetoed this proposal—will Shia parliamentarians defy him?)

 
‘US MULTINATIONAL’ corporations are hiring 9 times as many foreigners (by percentage) as US workers.
RMtnNews,20Apr


No surprise there. There is no such thing as a ‘US’ corporation. Money has no national loyalties.

 
WALL TO PROTECT SUNNIS:
Americans are building a 3-mile wall to protect a Sunni neighborhood surrounded by Shia neighborhoods. (Are they taking as much care to protect Shia, the main victims?)

They have built other walls and sand-berms to isolate certain areas—but the Sunni slaughter of Shia continues.

US general says, “We are NOT building gated communities; our goal is to UNITE Baghdad residents, not divide them.”
MSN

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18227048/

This is an obvious lie. The only way to ‘pacify’ Baghdad is to prevent Sunni trucks,etc., from entering Shia neighborhoods loaded with explosives.

Of course the poor soldiers manning the ‘gates’ will know that suicide bombers will, if necessary, detonate right at the gate. So these bombers will be allowed through.

 
IMPLICATIONS OF WEDNESDAY’S HORRIFIC BOMB ATTACK:
This was not a ‘lucky hole’ Sunni insurgents found in our defense of Iraqi civilians. It was the continuation of a steady, successful, SURGING strategy.

Our SURGE CAN’T WORK: Not enough troops; what’s more, not enough LINGUISTS. We are NOT able to infiltrate the Sunni ranks of insurgents.

These attacks followed closely on alSadr’s pulling out ‘his agents’ from the farcical Iraq ‘central govt.’.Both events make clear to Shia that they can’t count on this govt. for protection from Sunni bombers. They need Sadr’s militia (even that might not work.)
(They will resort to ‘vigilante’ murders of suspected Sunnis. Sunni rage will prevent the 'reconciliation' the Bushies dream of.)

We of course should get the hell out of this nightmare.
UnitedPress

 
A FLICKER OF HOPE:
An analysis corp. has just DOUBLED previous estimates of Iraq oil-reserves ! And many reserves are in Western Iraq, the quarrelsome SUNNI/ARAB section.

HOUSTON CHRONICLE
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4730086.html

HOPE would be that SunniArabs, facing new wealth in PEACETIME, would squash the alQaeda fanatics (who don’t care about wealth) and settle for PARTITION into Kurdland, SunniArabLand, and Shialand.

 
COST OF MORBID CURIOSITY:

Our instincts are often hardwired into us; since evolution is so slow, our instincts may be proper only to a world which has disappeared thousands of years ago ! So Plato and Aristotle were right that we should train our ‘passions’ to follow the lead of REASON.

One strange human instinct is the quasi-sexual lust to see every detail of bloody massacres like the one at Virginia Tech. I felt a desire to follow these details, but—following my Reason--resisted this temptation and avoided all detail-stories on TV or in newspapers.
(I read mysteries, but skip over the gore pages.)

Naturally the media, run for money, fulfilled the average person’s morbid desires to follow every detail. Indeed, the killer mailed in details to NBC, thus achieving INFAMY (no longer distinguished from fame !) all over the world.

He’s set a new record in US killings. Surely some copycat loon will set out to top this record, and thus achieve similar delicious infamy.

When a mass-killer (or a wife-killer) kills himself, we should put his corpse up in a cage and let it rot in public view. That would satisfy morbid viewers, and perhaps take some glamour off such killings.

But our Constitution allows only CRUEL AND USUAL punishments. Some other country will have to try this experiment.

 
190 KILLED WEDNESDAY (how many more were wounded? 12 killed today, Thursday.
Apparently the suicide bomber went thru a checkpoint.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2007/April/focusoniraq_April136.xml§ion=focusoniraq

Think it out: You’re a policeman in a checkpoint, with a suspect vehicle headed this way. If you stop him, he’ll likely detonate near you, rendering you another martyr.
Checkpoints are useless vs. suicide bombers.

Govt. arrested officer in charge of that area—but what could he have done?

US SURGE HAS ALREADY FAILED to minimize violence in Baghdad, let alone the rest of Iraq ! The only thing that would work under present govt. is massacring all Sunni/Arabs, millions of Iraqis !

The only acceptable remedy: partition into 3 ministates, (Kurdland, SunniArabLand,Shialand) with US trying to minimize slaughter in inevitable ethnic cleansing (already well underway).

But Bushies won’t accept a prosperous, oil-soaked Shialand allied with Iran.

However, they can’t really prevent this, just delay it, causing thousands more casualties.

 
IRAQI OIL LAW NEARS PASSAGE: It would allow central govt. to make contracts with foreign oil-explorers. It would divide oil-revenue ‘fairly’ among Shia, Kurds, and Sunnis.

SeattlePI


But how will vestigial central govt. ENFORCE these provisions? When Shia go into deFacto secession (as Kurds have done already) will these defacto ministates funnel enough money to ‘central govt.’to pacify the Sunni insurgents?

Will these ministates honor contracts signed by ‘central govt.’?

 
A SOFT CALL FOR PARTITION:
RalphPeters is an old-time hawk. But even he has finally seen the only solution for Iraq: partition into 3 separate ethnic ministates: Kurdland, Shialand, and SunniIraqLand.
(Timidly, he doesn't even mention the word 'partition' !)

USATODAY

He says that our refusal to consider partition is based on our misguided reverence for borderlines drawn by European imperialists. (Iraq’s present borders were drawn by British bureaucrats.)

However, the real reason Bushies oppose partition is likely this: the Shia ministate would have most population, MOST OIL, the only seaport—and would be allied with hated Shia Iran !

So instead, Bushies pick a fight with Shia, inviting a second front and the cut-off of our supplies from Kuwait.

 
SURGE HAS FAILED

It’s past time to admit that our SURGE hasn’t worked--can’t work--to cut violence in Iraq. (It does work to spike up US casualties!)
USATODAY

UnitedPress

Gates has hinted that we might pullout if we see SURGE doesn’t work.

Let’s hope his possible threat of resignation might finally move Bush’s constipated mental bowels.

 
"IRAN WON'T NUKE; US WON'T ATTACK."
So says United Press analyst


If Iran nuked Israel or SaudiArabia, it would kill thousands of Muslims, and lose any hope of influencing Muslims.

If US bombed Iran, their retaliation would slaughter Iraq GIs next-door, and lose GOP any hope of prevailing in ’08 elections.

He advocates stronger econ. Sanctions vs. Iran; Iran must import 40% of its gasoline!

 
GATES TALKS LIKE A HERETIC !
Of course he says he opposes timetables; but he says the Congressional debate on the issue is useful, because it signals Iraqis that US does NOT have an ‘open-ended’ commitment to stay on in Iraq !
SeattlePI

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Gates_Iraq.html
No wonder Bush is trying to set up a ‘war czar’ so he can go around Gates. Gates seems far too sane for Bush’s taste!

 
$1000 MILLIONS up the flue!
Bushies’ ‘DON’T HAVE SEX !’ campaign a big flop.
GUARDIAN


Let’s give Bushies credit for some brains.
This campaign was NOT aimed at discouraging teen-age sex,
but at appeasing fundamentalists with govt. $,
so they’d contribute millions to GOP campaigns.
------------------
Fundamentalists say the only sure-fire way to avoid pregnancy and STD is to decide on abstinence. But teens can' t just decide to SUCCEED at abstinence, only to TRY for abstinence.
Since such attempts fail so often, they must know about condoms and morning-after pills.

 
Bushie general HINTS AT ‘INDICATIONS’(but elaborately denies claiming proof) that SHIA IRAN is arming BOTH the the Shia & the SUNNI insurgents !
United Press
Such a counter-intuitive claim (probably trying to alienate Iraqi Shia from Iran !) needs strong proof, not just ‘indications’.

 
BENNY WILL NAME TOP US BISHOPS:

[USATODAY,15APR ]

Knowing Benedict’s absolute power, his ruthless determination to UNDO VATICAN II—

AND his lack of prudence (demonstrated by his publicly insulting Mohammed !) –

smart Americans will ignore remarks by these pontifical puppets.

 
TALIBAN RETURN

Whether it’s Pakistan’s fault, or Kharzai’s govt’s fault, or undermanned US fault,
many Taliban are able this Spring to get into Afghanistan.

(They are now using road-bombs and suicide bombers, as in Iraq.)

USATODAY

 
SUPPOSE WE’RE WRONG? Practically all scientists says Global Warming is caused by humans; a few disagree, and say that no human remedies would affect the outcome.

Suppose we implement the majority-scientists’ view, and it’s wrong? We’d waste some money—but many of the recommended moves have OTHER justifications besides global warming.

Suppose we hold off on big remedies, as oil companies, Bushies, and these few minority scientists advocate—and they’re wrong? Then an awful disaster will happen WHICH WE COULD HAVE PREVENTED at relativelymoderate cost.

https://webmail.colostate.edu/MBX/dlyons/ID=46227F40/MSG:3

 
LESS TV CARNAGE? Civilian deaths down in Baghdad, up in rest of country. GI deaths up in Baghdad. What advantage?
SEATTLEPI


It may be a big concern among Bushies that deaths in Baghdad, EASILY CAUGHT ON TV, be cut. But the bomb in the Green Zone cafeteria and the downed big bridge in Baghdad made dramatic TV pictures. Insurgents are quite sophisticated in using TV.

 
‘ABSTINENCE’ propaganda DOESN’T WORK WITH TEENS! Surprise.
Bushies spend $180 million on this farce.

Mothers should keep ‘morning-after’ pills in their medicine-cabinets for their daughters.

Ruthless young males should carry ‘morning-after’ pill (to avoid child-support). If she’s dumb enough and meek enough to accept unprotected sex, she’ll probably let you feed her an ‘m-a’ pill.

This pill doesn’t protect vs. VD (gonhorrea is now immune to medicine)—but the only person worse-off than a teen girl with VD is a PREGNANT teen with VD !

 
BRIDGE BOMBING: The melodramatic bombing of Parliament took attention away from the ‘incredible’ destruction of one of Baghdad’s main bridges.
Temporary bridges can be built quickly by wartime techniques. But the question is the public image of failure of the SURGE attempt to ‘pacify’ Baghdad.
SeattlePI


Security in the Green Zone has been weakening for some time. Not only are the rockets getting more accurate (showing that some insurgents have infiltrated, guiding the rockets)—but one thousand people can come into the zone and the parliament building without really showing any reliable ID ! (So said a reporter from WallStreetJournal--just back from Iraq-- on Jim Lehrer’s news show.)

The question is when Gates, the new secy ofDefense, will admit the failure of the SURGE. He just said that its continuation is NOT guaranteed.

Bush of course will never admit failure. He’s been trying to set up a ‘war czar’ to GO AROUND GATES—so far, 3 retired officers have refused the post, understandably.

 
U.S. ‘INTELLIGENCE’ IS STILL STUPID!
Sixteen agencies can’t be coordinated, being still dominated by the military, who think mainly of short-run tactical issues.
UnitedPress

And of course no real progress has been made in solving the crucial lack of an adequate cadre of agents understanding foreign languages and foreign cultures !

What can we do about it? Drop out for now from 'international affairs' and concentrate on Homeland Defense !

 
WAR WITH TURKEY? Kurdish guerillas are alleged to hide out in Iraq, then attack in Turkey. Turkish mil. Leader wants to invade Iraq. But Kurds are the only U.S. allies in Iraq; will Bushies allow such an invasion?

USATODAY


U.S. forces might have to flee to Turkey, if Shia insurgents cut off our supplies from Kuwait. Suppose Turkey refuses permission? (as they refused to let us use Turkey in Iraq invasion)….
You’d think Turkey could just close oil-outlet to sea for No.Iraq oil. That would intimidate Iraq Kurds. But so far, guerilla sabotage has prevented most such oil from GETTING to Turkey !

Another example of the FOLLY of ignorant Bushies entangling us in MidEast squabbles.

 
NEW WAR CZAR? Bush is trying to set up a top-level ‘war czar’ to report directly to him, GOING AROUND GATES the secy of Defense ! Trouble is, Gates is too sane.
GUARDIAN,11Oct

 
Bushies go on claimng that IRAN is arming and training Shiite insurgents.)
SEATTLEPI
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq.html
Perhaps, but U.S. claims only 170 GIs have been killed so far by Shiites, whereas total number killed (mainly by Sunnis) is 3200 !

IF Iraqi Shia are really mobilizing to attack Americans & Brits, we are in real trouble;
3 times as many Shia as our enemy Sunnis! One analyst says they could cut off our supplies from Kuwait, chasing us back into Turkey.

We have deliberately picked fight with Shia--BOMBING THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS! to our certain grief.

 
20 INSURGENTS KILLED, 16 GIs wounded:
REUTERS


It’s not hard to figure that the insurgents won the battle. They outnumber the GIs tremendously, anonymous--wearing no uniforms—backed by practically all Sunnis.

So losing 20 of their number is not as harmful to them as U.S. having 16 knocked out of commission. Also, Americans at home object more strongly to our losses, and the day of bugout is hurried.

 
UP-TO-DATE PACIFISM: An interesting lecture by Prof. Deane, theologian at JohnXIII in Ft.Collins, reminded us that Until Roman Church went into bed with Roman empire, early Christians were pacifists..’rationally’ persecuted by the State.

Universal, timeless pacifism is against common-sense. Pacifist country would soon be conquered and ruled by NON-pacifists.

But there are arguments for universal opposition to US ‘preemptive’ war today:
1) with super-weapons, whole human race is threatened by, say, a nuke exchange
.
2) BURDEN-OF-PROOF argument:
a)Imagine Joe saying, “I can’t prove my killing Fred would prevent a worse evil; but you can’t prove otherwise, either; so it’s OK for me to kill Fred !” Absurd—defender of killing has the burden of proof to show, with high objective probability AT THE TIME OF DECISION that the killing very probably WILL prevent worse evils.

b) US has super-lousy intelligence services.


They can NEVER show beforehand, with reliable probability, that ANY war they want to start will prevent more evils than it constitutes !

SO all such wars count as unjust.

 
SOME INSURGENTS TURNING AGAINST AL QAEDA: Good sign, but ONLY IF US BUGS OUT !
GUARDIAN

 
MALIKI VS. SADR: M. denies need for ‘timetable’ for US bugout—
opposing Sadr and his millions of followers.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Japan_Iraq.html

Of course M.’s regime would collapse quickly if GIs pulled out. M. and parliamentarians like the pay they get for running the nearly-fictitious ‘govt.’

 
HAWK SWITCHES: V. Carroll, surprised us on Tuesday 10April (in rMtnNews) by doubting whether pulling out GIs would notably increase the sectarian killing in Iraq.

What he doesn’t say is that our forces in Iraq DON’T MINIMIZE sectarian killings! Our SURGE is cutting the RETAIL killing of Sunnis by Shia, but not the WHOLESALE killing of Shia by Sunnis using bombs. Sooner or later, WITH OR WITHOUT our troops, the Shia will turn on ordinary Sunnis (outnumbered 3 to 1 in Arab/Iraq) for real slaughter.

The Shia, provoked by our bombing and inspired by Sadr, will likely also turn on our GIs, cutting off our supplies from Kuwait and chasing our army into Turkey.

That might not be so bad.

 
WHY THE WAR-SILENCE OF MOST RELIGIOUS LEADERS?
We shouldn’t be surprised..these clergymen are entertainers, not leaders. For instance, Catholic preachers rarely condemn contraception or divorce (rampant among their flocks!)

Preachers may cite Jesus’ praise: “Come unto my kingdom; for when I was hungry, you fed me…” But one NEVER hears about his next line “Depart from me ye cursed, into the everlasting flames prepared for the devil and his angels.. because I was hungry and you refused me food..!”

A sadly-comic movie about a worldly suburban priest told the story. He reproaches his overly-conscientious assistant: “You’ll preach no kick-ass sermons in MY church. The sermon comes right before the collection, and that’s no accident..it’s like a Nielsen rating.’

These worthies may assiduously comfort the afflicted; but you can bet they’ll never afflict the comfortable !

 
SURGE IS WORKING ? ! C’mon !
Joe Lieberman, (the renegade Bushie former-Dem) says our SURGE is working ! Evidence? AlSadr’s call for Iraqis to quit attacking each other and unite to chase Americans out of Iraq. (His call for govt. army to join in attacking Americans will be heeded by many individuals in this pathetic force.)

But, says Lieberman, our SURGE is working: ‘Sadr’s not calling for a resurgence of sectarian conflict. He’s striking a nationalist chord.’
[ RockyMtnNews,9April, p.23 ]

Was that the purpose of the SURGE? To minimize attacks on Iraqis and maximize ‘nationalist’ attacks on GIs? (TEN GIs killed this weekend; probably 30 more evacuated to German hospital.)

Tens of thousands of Shia on Monday are joining a great procession to back Sadr in this project. They can cut off our supply-lines from Kuwait, says one analyst, and thus FORCE us to flee to Turkey !

How many marched vs. US on MOnday? A TV reporter in Baghdad said some estimates were up to HALF A MILLION PROTESTERS ! He also said that US casualties in Baghdad had doubled since the Surge began.

US media headline says big march was 'in honor of Saddam/Baghdad fall'. Only later do they admit that universal cry was for Americans to BUGOUT of Iraq !

Clever Bushies to pick a new fight with millions of Shia Sadrites, guaranteeing that we face a two-front war !

 
A GREAT LETTER TO COLORADOAN:

Dear Editor: 4/7/07

In the Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down column, in the Coloradoan, on 4/7/09, someone complained about the protests for and against the Iraq War at the corners of College and Mulberry every Saturday, for the past four years, at noon-1 p.m. The critic said that both sides ask God to bless the USA and accomplish little more than distracting the passing drivers.

Not quite true. Those of us on the west side of College, who oppose the continuation of the war, frequently carry a sign which states, “GOD BLESS THE WHOLE WORLD, NO EXCEPTIONS.” I believe that God does not bless the evils that many nations do -- and instead condemns those evils. I also believe that God approves of all efforts to end all wars and promote peaceful relations between all of God’s children. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peace-makers, for they are the children of God.”

If some 2/3rds of the American people oppose the war, as polls indicate, why does the war continue? If more of the 137,000 population of Fort Collins were not distracted and cared enough, there would be a lot more than the 20 people who gather on both sides every Saturday. I admire the war-supporters on the east side, since they, at least, are not part of: “the apathetic throngs, the cowed and the meek, who see the world’s great wrongs, and dare not speak”

The war continues primarily because too few people care enough to raise their voices in anger. The 3,300 dead and 24,000 wounded Americans, and the 655,000 dead Iraq civilians -- and their grieving families--have not aroused the consciences of the American public sufficiently. The lack of a draft, the silence on this issue by most religious leaders and the failure to impose heavy war taxes have also contributed to the nation’s apathy about the war.

Joe Stern
----------------
from Lyons: Most Americans have always been apathetic. They say that one in three Americans were 'neutral' in Revolutionary War. (Only one in three were active on the side of Revolution; another one in three supported the Brit invaders !)

 
Al SADR: ‘PUSH U.S. OUT OF IRAQ !”

A message with his personal seal enjoins his followers (and all Iraqis) to concentrate on pushing US out of Iraq (NOT fighting each other !)
MSNBC

Bushies have insisted on picking a fight with Sadr (bombing Sadrite neighborhoods!);
it looks as if this NEW fight will happen, to our grief.

 
MALIKI OFFERS PENSIONS (belatedly !) to Baathist officers. This appeasement gesture gives them a motive NOT to want collapse of Maliki regime--but they still might help insurgents attack Americans !

 
USELESS CHECKPOINTS:
When soldiers manning checkpoints see a suspect vehicle approaching, they know that if they don’t let it thru, the suicide bomber will detonate right there, making martyrs of them all.

Certainly Iraqi soldiers would have prudence to bugout..& US troops…?
-----------
THE ONLY SOLUTION: forbid all traffic (at least all truck traffic) on certain roads--then bomb the hell out of any vehicle that shows up.

 
TRUCK-BOMBS: Even tho the NUMBER of attacks has been lowered by our SURGE, the casualties are high--because SUNNI insurgents are using BIGGER bombs in each attack, bombs now augmented by chlorine gas or mustard gas (m.gas killed one million people in WWI.)
UnitedPress

Such tactics were also used by IRA, but Brits
(a) had allies among the Prot. majority of population--
and (b) were able to infiltrate the IRA
(c) and/or extort info from captives, to anticipate place & time of attacks.

US in Iraq is not able to use any one of these 3 tactics vs. Sunni insurgents.
-----------------
Instead, US is stupidly PICKING FIGHT with Shia Sadrites, guaranteeing that our GIs will face a TWO-FRONT war !
We're again BOMBING Shia neighborhoods. Looony !
GUARDIAN

 
‘JOBLESS RATE FALLS’—i.e., number of NEW applicants for jobless benefits falls
(a small amount)..

This means very little; it could be
(a) because more workers have USED UP their benefits, or
(b) because more potential workers have given up and quit applying for jobs (especially likely among black males without high-school diploma).

The only meaningful figure would be the FRACTION of potential workers who actually have jobs. The denominator here has to include women, since they are competing for jobs with the men.

This latter figure is RARELY offered ! Pollyanna rules the US economic media. They sometimes talk of 'invisible' unemployed. They keep this number invisible.

 
JOBLESSNESS:
FRENCH JOBLESS WORK FOR FREE:
GUARDIAN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,2051463,00.html

I concede that US job-situation (few absolutely jobless, but low-pay) is better than French/German policy of comfortable subsidy for jobless, but high numbers of jobless..

Joblessness undermines a man’s self-respect more severely than does lowpay.
(Of course lowPay is horror for, say, single mothers!)

 
'HUMAN INTELLIGENCE' SHORTAGE:
Intelligence chief doesn’t mention linguist-shortage. He’s complaining about shortage of managers and computer technicians---but he doesn’t mention the most crucial shortage—of people who speak foreign languages and understand foreign cultures !
UnitedPress

 
NEW INSURGENT TACTICS:

ANOTHER CHLORINE BOMB, ANOTHER ‘MOLTEN SHELL’ ATTACK, ANOTHER COPTER ATTACK.
8 GIs killed IN OR NEAR BAGHDAD this last weekend. So much for chatter about ‘Baghdad improvement.’

Blair backs off of a flat accusation against Iran (re the molten shell) but HINTS STRONGLY…
USATODAY

 
GOOD, BAD NEWS
GOOD & BAD NEWS:
Good news: deaths are down IN BAGHDAD, thanks to (temporary) presence of extra GIs there.
Bad news: Iraqi deaths all over Iraq ROSE from feb. to March. Obviously, Sunni insurgents are just moving operations out of Baghdad, TEMPORARILY.

Iraqi ‘govt/army’ remains mainly a fiction. Progress is made only where US GIs are in the lead.

UNITED PRESS, 6Apr.

 
ANOTHER HELICOPTER SHOT DOWN BY SUNNIS:
Significance: If our road-supply-lines from Kuwait are interrupted, (because of the fight we’re picking with Sadrites) we can’t count on helicopters safely ferrying in supplies.
----------
PIPELINE EXPLODES IN SOUTHERN IRAQ:
Till now, practically all pipe- sabotage has been in Northern iRAQ.
Now what?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_Oil.html

 
JAPAN: ‘We need Iraq oil !”
Japanese spokesman admitted they need friendship with Iraq, which has 3d highest oil reserves in world. (Japan imports most of their oil.)
UnitedPress,4April (So Japan may back partition of Iraq into 3 ministates—the only way it can be stabilized and start again exporting oil.)
--------------------------
Japan must also need Iranian oil—so they’ll be furious if we blitzkrieg Iran, spiking up world prices.
But what can they do about it? Well, they hold huge amounts of vulnerable US bonds. If they threatened to combine with China (also fearing oil spike) to start selling off our bonds—causing a lethal crash-- that might deter crazy Bushies.

A drop in worth of our bonds would of course hurt big holders like Japan and China—but if they figured the bonds will drop sooner or later anyway, then they’d see that the holders who sold out first would lose less !

 
IRAQ NONSENSE:
in RockyMtnNews, (4Apr) a dovish analyst points out that we can expect new attacks in Sadrite areas, like SadrCity, now that new militia, perhaps trained in Iran, are infiltrating the city again. Our ‘Surge’ is not likely to produce permanent benefit.

But then the writer concedes sarcastically that when the enemy disappears (temporarily), 'our casualties do drop'. In fact our Iraq casualties have remained high: 80 killed in March, likely 300 seriously wounded (evacuated to German hospital.)
-----------------------------------------------
In USATODAY, 4Apr, an analyst recommends that we ARM Sunni ‘moderates’ so they can finish off alQuaeda. That might be OK AFTER we pull out all troops, but remember that practically ALL Sunnis approve of attacking Americans. The real ‘moderates’ are a tiny minority.

After we bug out, AFTER Iraq splits into Kurdland, Shialand, and Sunni/Arab land, and after ALL our troops are safely removed, then it might be a good idea to hand the last region over into secularist Sunni Baathists, and perhaps arm them to slaughter al Qaeda. But even then, the newly armed (crazy) Sunnis might attack instead the separate ministates of Kurdland and Shialand !

SaudiArabia will probably arm the secular Sunni forces; we needn’t chip in.

 
SISTANI VETOES RE-ENTRY OF BAATHISTS INTO GOVT:
US is trying to appease insurgents into stopping their bomb attacks on US. Thus Bushies’ demand that former Baathist big guns be readmitted into leadership positions. (They were all dumbly excluded by earlier Bushie decisions.)

But ‘Pope’ Sistani says NO to this move, ‘admitting criminals into govt.’ So very likely the Shiite majority in Parliament will say NO. Also the Kurds say NO, and together, Kurds and Shia make up 80% of Iraq population.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_Shiites.html

It was dumb to exclude ALL Baathists originally. Many joined the insurgents. But by now they may be COMMITTED to insurgency—if admitted into govt, they may just be infiltrating for insurgents!

 
TALIBAN: 'Thousands of suicide bombers !'

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSISL15115720070402?pageNumber=1

Afghan govt. pooh-poohs these numbers..
but even if Taliban have only HUNDREDS of suicide bombers available,
our troops are in grave danger.
----------------
What about Dem chatter on moving $ from Iraq to Afgh. conflict?
Both wars are hopeless, but Americans aren't so aware of hopeless Afghan conflict.
So it sounds sensible to quit funding 2 wars and concentrate on one.

 
PENT. THREATENS TROOPS:
PENTAGON WARNS OF DAMAGE IF ITS BUDGET IS CUT:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2048052,00.html

One hopes, perhaps in vain, that Dem spokesmen will point out that actual costs of both wars are a small part of stupendous P. budget, over $1200 millions each day !

Huge cuts could come safely from hundreds of billions of 'miscellaneous'.

But of course like all bureaucrats, they threaten to cut out the meat, not the fat.

 
NUTTY IRANIANS?

Before the ‘captured Brit sailors’ crisis, Iranian criticism of the loony President was rising, because of domestic troubles. But now support for the ‘hardliners’ is rising ! http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iran_Britain_Standoff.html
If Iranians are this nutty in the face of possible blitzkrieg, imagine how reckless will be their retaliation--perhaps vs. our Homeland !-- AFTER the blitzkrieg, when they have 'nothing to lose'. They have significant retaliatory power.

 
OUR SUPPLIES CUT OFF ? !

An analyst takes seriously the possibility that with our picking a fight with Sadrites, they could cut off our supplies from Kuwait.

Then we’ll have no alternative but retreating to Turkey !.

He lays out the difficulties we’ll face, and makes some suggestions.
UnitedPress
http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20070329-051441-5365r

 
'Surge' USELESS SO FAR:

1 BOMB: 500 CASUALTIES
Talafar is a city our pols have bragged about pacifying.
But on Tuesday one truck bomb (2000 lb of TNT) killed or maimed 500 civilians.
(It's important to count the total casualties not just the dead--because, especially with primitive hospital conditions, the wounded may be worse off than the dead !

(47 others (Sunnis) were killed by Shia reprisals.)

[nytimes1Apr]