Dan Lyons
~ Thursday, May 31, 2007
 
‘CAN’T TELL BY SEPT’ !
US commanders are ordered by Congress (GOP agreeing)to give an estimate
of SURGE’s success or failure.
Even Bush mentioned Sept. as some kind of deadline.

But now general says he WON’T KNOW by Sept.
SEATTLEPI
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_US_Iraq.html

(Everyone else knows already !)
 
GI CASUALTIES WILL RISE EVEN MORE:
UnitedPress

Commentator is worried that the Sunni insurgency (1 in 4 of Iraqi/Arabs) will be SUPPLEMENTED by a SHIA insurgency (3 in 4 of Iraqi/Arabs.) !

Not only are we NOT protecting Shia from Sunni bombs; we’re actually ATTACKING Shia directly ! (Bushies loathe their friendship with Shia Iran.)
 
NEAR RECESSION:
US economy grew over last 3 months ONLY .6%. (Worst since ’02)
ChinaView

Recession is defined as 3-month period when GDP DROPS.
So we’re less than 1% away from recession.

But Bushie Federal Reserve says that INFLATION is still worst danger,
(They’re worried that job-opportunities are too strong!)
so they’re NOT going to lower interest rates to goose economy.
 
‘US in Iraq for 50 years’ Bush implies.
USATODAY,
See also:
REUTERS
Bush says our troops will stay in Iraq for a long time, perhaps like Korea.
------------------
KOREAN SITUATION:
--Our troops there have suffered NO combat casualties for 50 years!
He doesn’t say how we could duplicate that situation in Iraq.

--We have been welcome in South Korea, because
a) we saved Korea from ruthless Japan occupation;
b) we saved South Korea from crude attack by N.Korea,
c) then (thru our bungling) from China.

--however, lately our thousands of idle, destructive troops have been resented..

--On the other hand, these troops serve now as HOSTAGES to N.Korea.
If we started bombing them, a huge battery of artillery and missiles could
slaughter our GIs..(and wreck So.Korea).

So US probably WON’T bomb N.Korea and thus destroy So. Korea.
So So.Korea gets alarmed at any US move to remove our hostage-troops.
--------------------------
--As invaders and ruthless occupiers,we are NOT welcome in Iraq.
The most powerful man in Iraq is NOT Maliki, but SADR (USTODAY)
And Sadr calls DAILY for US withdrawal timeline.

The mere POSSIBILITY that we would be stuck in Iraq for 50 years would be enough to wreck the GOP for years. Bush’s remark perhaps shows that he doesn’t care about GOP; he cares only abut the quixotic effort to save his reputation from failure.

This revelation will probably energize GOP rejection of Bush; it will also energize the insurgency in Iraq.
~ Wednesday, May 30, 2007
 
RIGHT-WING BUSH-BASHERS

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20251

2 traditional imperialists blast Bushie performance.
1 other critic traces our troubles to imperialist moves since WWII.

None of them,I suspect, mention the MAIN problem we have with empire:
Americans don’t care about the rest of the world, except as providing oil and Chinese junk. And they don’t care THAT much about these imports—not enough to study foreign languages and cultures, to administer our empire.

It would be OK if TYPICAL Americans were cheerfully ignorant—but we have no INFORMED CADRE large enough to administer an empire.

We should bow out of ‘world-leadership’ role and concentrate on Homeland Defense.
We won’t (too much money comes to a powerful few from our ‘empire’), but we should.
 
FURY OVER SEARCH:
5 Brit civilians were kidnapped in broad daylight by men in Iraq/Army uniforms.
Naturally, US & Britain engaged in an energetic and RUTHLESS search for them in Sadr City,destroying many homes.
REUTERS
5 people may seem all-important to foreign forces in Iraq, but not that important to Sadrites. Oh, well, we’re trying to make nice with SUNNIS (who murdered 10 GIs on Monday) , NOT with Shia--3/4ths of population of Arab/Iraq.
 
EXPERT ENDORSES DEM FUNDING BILL !
Cordesman says this bill is pretty good at putting pressure on Bushies and on Maliki-regime to show measurable progress in Iraq.

Most observers saw it as a cave-in to Bushies. C. says that's because they haven't actually
READ the bill !
UnitedPress
 
Worst 2 months ever:

April/May (219 GIs dead) was worst 2-month-period of the whole war.
USATODAY, 30May

How many wounded? We’re not told, tho some wounds are worse than death.

And what results from the SURGE? Iraqi deaths are as high or higher than ever.
4 bridges down; several helicopters down.

Do we need to wait till September to judge the SURGE an abject failure?
~ Tuesday, May 29, 2007
 
ASSISTED SUICIDE? Americans split.
To read details of this poll, click on
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18923323/

Unsurprisingly, ONCE-A-WEEK churchgoers and SOUTHERNERS are strong –if not too bright--opponents of legalizing Dr.-assisted suicide.

Also, Medical Assn. Once patient dies early, MD’s make no more money off them.


I predict that in 20 years, Dr.Kevorkian will be seen as a martyred hero.

US will then be flooded with SLOW-DYING and brain-addled aged.
Health-Insurance companies (and those of our rulers who want to save money on Medicare--to give more to Pentagon) will favor d-a-suicide.

Life-insurance companies and Billionaire stockholders of old-folks-homes (where patients are kept UNDEAD for as long as possible) will oppose d-a-suicide.
 
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE !
Congress adds four billion to pay for mine-resistant vehicles for GIs.
UnitedPress

--Four billion out of $650 billion for annual Pentagon budget.

…after FOUR YEARS of war; present production-capacity means we’ll BUG OUT BEFORE enough of these vehicles are produced.

About half a dozen GIs die from mines every day--6 yesterday
~ Monday, May 28, 2007
 
IRANIAN RETALIATION WARNING ?:
Whatever aid Iran is giving to the Shia militia (surely none to the SUNNIS!), this could be meant as a WARNING to Bushies about the SLAUGHTER of GIs they could unleash
IF we bomb the hell out of them, leaving their rulers with NOTHING TO LOSE.
 
BushiesMullPartialBugout:

Rumor says that within the Bushie camp, some (including RICE & GATES) want to pull out many US troops this year, stationing the rest ‘safely’ in a FEW BIG BASES..
ABC

These bases would be subject to mortar fire, rockets, perhaps gas attacks, as well as attacks on SUPPLY trucks, copters and planes.

These Bushies face the fact that the SURGE has failed miserably.
 
ALLIES IN DAYTIME, ENEMIES AT NIGHT:
A reporter interviewed many soldiers in one of the toughest US units, found that GIs don’t trust their Iraqi ‘colleagues’—so they don’t believe in Bushies’ ‘mission’, preventing civil war. ‘The minute we leave, they’ll go at each other.”
Actually, they're going at each other already !

These GIs still obey orders, from ‘professionalism’ and mutual loyalty.

SeattlePI
~ Sunday, May 27, 2007
 
OilLAW? Not Yet !
Bushies are muttering threats if IraqParliament doesn’t pass an oil law that will
(a) guarantee ‘fair share’ for Sunnis (how would this guarantee be enforced on Kurds/Shia when Iraq splits into 3 ministates ? !)
And (b) opens up Iraq’s oil to big Western corporations.

But the ‘deadline’ for such a law has passed with nothing achieved.

UnitedPress
 
HOUSE (with Dem majority!) VOTES $18,000 MILLIONS PER DAY TO PENTAGON ($650 BILLIONS FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR).
Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6641791,00.html

This amount :
a) is far greater than our annual federal deficit. In other words, the other govt. agencies are living within their means; only the Pentagon is rumning amok.
We should call this the ‘Pentagon’ deficit.
b)
Is far greater than the costs of the Iraq war (only $400 billion over 4 years.).
This shows the nuttiness of people saying that IF Congress didn’t pass the supplemental budget Bush asked for, they’d be depriviing Iraq troops.

(The Pentagon couldn’t afford a RUSH order for the new, safer vehicles—MRAPS. (One expert said we'll bugout before enough of these are produced.)

The humvees have an outside hook on the doors: after a bomb, soldiers are trapped inside, perhaps to be burned alive by insurgents on foot outside) unless another US truck shows up to tug on the hook and open the doors—and this second truck may well be attacked before it can rescue the GIs in the humvee!)
--------------------
Abandon hope from DEMS ! Savvy young people will prepare for possibly necessary emigration (if Pentagon takes over OPENLY). Learn a FOREIGN LANGUAGE. (SPANISH is spoken by ONE BILLION people worldwide.)Learn a HANDS-ON trade needed by intake-country (e.g., health-work or auto-repair.)
~ Saturday, May 26, 2007
 
Reactionary POPEwillRestoreTridentineMass: (restricted by VaticanII Ecumenical Council--equal in dignity to the Council of Trent--but not to the Pope by himself !)

We are assured that the traditional reference to ‘perfidious Jews’ will NOT be restored.
GUARDIAN


How will US Catholics react when the priest turns his back on them for a private conversation with God on their behalf?
--------------------------------
In the medieval Church, the celebrant and chanting canons in the 'choir' were separated from the mere laity by a Rood-screen.

And in the Eastern rites today, the clergy carry on in a separate room (with door and windows open--sometimes--for nosy laity) while the lay people carry on their own prayers or conversations.
 
Iraqi honcho says predictably that the FOREIGN INSURGENTS get into Iraq with the conscious aid of Syrians (that’s the US party-line..it MIGHT be true, in spite of that..or it might not).

But then he also says that the Baathist (secular) insurgents are helping the suicide volunteers to find suitable targets. This does NOT fit the US party-line—
Bushies are trying (with small success) to make a separate peace with the Saddamites.

SeattlePI
 
IRAN/IRAQ COOPERATION

Bushies must be FROTHING WITH RAGE over the news that Iran/Iraq will develop SHARED oil-fields together.
Also, Iraq has invited Iran to build 4 refineries in Iraq.
REUTERS
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2663403020070526

SO MUCH for MalikI regime APPEASING Bushies to prevent our bugout !
 
EARLY INTEL. INFO:
Before the invasion, our intel. Svcs. predicted the invasion would trigger Muslim militancy (1000 MILLIONS of Muslims worldwide !)
--and that hated IRAN would be the beneficiary.
Cheney and Bush ignored these predictions.


But now GOP complains that they DIDN’T predict damage to oil industry, or govt’s inability to provide electricity,etc.
UnitedPress


Enough disastrous results were predicted to persuade any rational administration NOT TO INVADE !
Extra, PREDICTABLE, disastrous results are an even worse indictment of Bushies.
 
EXPERTS DISCUSS IRAQ:
rMtnNews, 26May, p.30, featured 5 historical experts on Vietnam,
discussing parallels and differences with Iraq war:

--the prof at MarineCorpU of course gave the party-line, said we mustn’t bugout of Iraq;

--but the other 4 (able to speak their minds freely) all agreed that the war is lost,
and we’ll have to bug out--i.e.,pull out without prevailing.
--One says we can’t bug out ‘without consequences’, but tragically we must still get out.
--One says only a change in leadership can END a protracted, unpopular US war. (In other words, we’re stuck until ’09.)
~ Friday, May 25, 2007
 
“Iran in secret alliance with Sunni insurgents:”
Headline, then on for a long paragraph before adding ‘…US officials say.”
GUARDIAN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2085192,00.html

All this might be true--but who today would rely on anything important (perhaps war-starting) that Bushie officials say?
 
BidenPushesPartition:
Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6660613,00.html

JoeBiden is the only big pol facing fact that partition of Iraq into 3 ministates (Kurd, Shia, and Sunni/Arab)is the only solution. He acknowledges that NOT in our lifetime will there be a strong, democratic CENTRAL GOVT. meeting Iraqi needs.

This partition WILL happen, no matter what the Bushies want. (They hate thought of SHIA ministate, friendly with Shia Iran.)

The only flaw in his position is his claim that ONLY continued US presence can fight alQuaeda. Our presence has NOT HAMPERED alQuaeda ! Insurgents just blew up 4 bridges !
(In theory, bridges are easily defended from ground attack.)
 
TAME, LYING NYTIMES:
TAME NYTIMES:
NYT referred to Sadr (25May) as ‘at the center..of Iraq violence’. This is a flat lie. The centers of this violence are the US and the Sunni Insurgents, especially alQuaeda.
The retail revenge murders by Shia (NOT necessarily by Sadrites--and Sunnis are murdered by Quaeda as 'collaborators' !) are nothing compared to the wholesale slaughters inflicted by SUNNI alQuaeda.

The TIMES is endorsing the Bushies’ turn to supporting the murderous Sunnis (slaughtering our GIs !) against the Shia—just because the Shia are friendly to hated Iran!
~ Thursday, May 24, 2007
 
NewBritPMtoPullOutTroops

It’s said that Brown will leave only 2000 in by end of ’07, with others pulled out before he faces re-election in ’10.
TheScotsman, cited byInfoClearinghouse
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17738.htm

Poor Bush has lost his poodle, Blair.
 
UShonchoProdsMaliki,
…to push thru US-demanded PRO-SUNNI ‘reforms’.
At least he addressed them in ARABIC!
SeattlePI
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_Crocker.html

But parliamentarians resent any reminder that they are subservient to America.
 
TurkeyPMbacksAttackingIraqKurds
SeattlePI
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Turkey_Bomb.html

Is this a real concern (revenge for bomb in Turkey) or an excuse?
In either case, it puts Bushies in awful bind over WHICH of their few allies to side with !

Part of price of meddling ignorantly in MiddleEast snakepit.
 
HIGH, STEADY CASUALTIES
The recent GI death-rate (over last 3 weeks) is higher than for any similar period in the past TWO YEARS!

24 wounded each day—not a temporary spike, but a STEADY PRICE for our pointless, useless SURGE.
UnitedPress

Nearly 200 GIs dead in April & May--God knows how many evacuated to German or US Hospitals !
 
Fighting FOR America?


Fighting FWWII vs.LaterWars:

A headline in USATODAY (24May) was misleading: the writer claimed that reading the letters his grandfather wrote during WWII helped him understand better ‘the sacrifice our troops MAKE FOR OUR COUNTRY.”

He should have referred to the ‘sacrifice GIs ONCE MADE for the country.” Most would say WWII was fought for our country, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
But as for the later wars: the GIs suffered sincerely THINKING WRONGLY they were fighting FOR THEIR COUNTRY:

—none of which real wars we really won
--KOREA (defending one dictator from another, blundering to trigger China’s entry-- ending in a truce which necessitated 54 years of expensive and dangerous GI presence in South Korea, enraging N.Korea to develop nuke weapons—(our GIS actually ending up as HOSTAGES blocking any attack we’d make on N.K.) while S.K. undersold us in commerce)

--Panama (fighting a ‘loose-cannon’ crook WE SET UP in the country, but PERHAPS defending the Panama Canal—Noriega was a crook without ideology whom we could have BOUGHT OUT , instead of incurring serious casualties as we did… )

--several incursions into Haiti, leaving the country a physical and social wreck;

--Vietnam: an awful 10-year war we lurched into for no good reason and LOST without any real harm to the US; again, no real stake...

--remember Granada ? We did win that silly conflict with a helpless island;

--Afghanistan: our goofy bombing is enraging the natives to side with resurgent Taliban;
we have no real stake in this war; Afghans didn’t attack on 9/11, they were SaudiArabians; binLaden has escaped so far from our attentions—sooner or later we will bug out just as the Soviets did…

--and Iraq: our invasion and bungled occupation was NEEDLESS, because Saddam didn’t have WMDs OR an alliance with alQuaeda.
Our meddling has INCREASED TERRORISM all over the world, and crippled our National Guard, rendering it unable to help in domestic crises.

Bush just said again that we must stay in this fight OR face all the Iraqi Quaedas attacking our Homeland—as if all the available terrorists were tied up in Iraq! However, he’s right that Quaeda terrorists are getting TRAINED by our goofy war to attack elsewhere in the world.

Tragically, practically all our wars in the last 60 years have NOT been ‘FOR our country’ !
~ Wednesday, May 23, 2007
 
W’sNewCamouflageSchemes

It’s clear now that our SURGE is NOT going to work.
So Bush is going to try several new moves to DELAY admitting defeat:

--asking Congress for 6 months more funding even after Sept. report expresses failure.

--pleading with UN to help out (counting on new right-wing French govt.)

--pleading with Sunni neighbors to back Shia Maliki before he HAS TO turn to Iran for help.

--if worst comes to worst, backing naughty Sadr !

GUARDIAN
 
9 GIs KilledToday,80 thisMonth
(how many maimed/wounded?)
SeattlePI
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq.html

How many Americans will honor the dead by shopping on Memorial Day?
 
"AFGHAN WAR GOING WELL " !

1) No Taliban offensive like the one in ’06.
2) We’re killing some Taliban leaders.
Says A. Cordesman, an objective analyst.
UnitedPress

There is still plenty of havoc in the country, plenty of opium grown, plenty of road bombs, plenty of native rage against our indiscriminate bombing.

This is the only objective, optimistic analysis I've read.
 
ELIMINATE ‘ABUSIVE’ POLS is new Petraeus plan.
Emphasis shifts away from security-shift to Iraqi army, to short-term US protection of A FEW regions in Iraq (esp.Baghdad)—since we have too few troops there to protect all Iraq.
(Before, we ‘cleared’ but we didn’t ‘hold’--when we bugged out of an area, our supporters got assassinated. DUH !)

We're going to increase numbers in Iraqi army--hoping that when push comes to shove, these men & officers will not prove loyal to a militia,NOT to central govt.

Petraeus will try to persuade Maliki govt. to eliminate (elected Shia) pols who are obvious sectarian-combat leaders and obstructors of the PRO-SUNNI changes Bushies want.

We would NOT set up our own vigilantes; that would be ‘horrible’. We’d provide evidence of these trouble-makers to Maliki regime…their eliminating them would be ‘hard’. (probably impossible).

(Parliament adjourned yesterday—for how long?--without passing any of our ‘benchmarks’.)
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18775219/


[It’s hilarious to think our forces, NOT EVEN SPEAKING ARABIC, could help forge deals between Shia and their hated enemies, the murderous Sunnis !]

The deck-chairs on the Titanic are constantly being rearranged.
~ Tuesday, May 22, 2007
 
POTENT SADR:
SADRITES in touch with Iran AND with anti-Quaeda Sunnis !

In Sadr City, they enforce rules about head-veils and liquor.
People don’t like this, but see them as their ONLY PROTECTORS from Sunni attacks.

Leader of rival Shia group to Sadrites has left Iraq with cancer.
Guardian
 
1 in 4Young US MuslimsOKsuicideBombs ! (at least in rare situations).
ABC/NEWS
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3199951

Awful news. It shows absurdity of ‘We fight them there SO we won’t have to fight them here.” This assumes finite # of potential terrorists, who can be diverted to Iraq (TO KILL OUR GIs !) thus sparing our homeland.

Potential terrorists are all over the world, of every race and language. If only ONE I N TEN THOUSAND Muslims move to support terrorism—that’s ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND terrorists or supporters !

Bushies’ goofy wars in Iraq, Afghanistan (and the staggering Pentagon budget) divert our attention, our troops, and our MONEY away from urgent, expensive requirements of HOMELAND SECURITY.
 
USmideastAllies vs. Iran
SeattlePI

Rather, SUNNIS vs. Shia Iran (which will be the real winner of Bushies’ goofy Iraq war).
Sunnis have run MiddleEast for centuries; now they’re worried about Shia majorities in huge nations Iran, Iraq--and elsewhere—and grumbling Shia minority in the oil-producing part of SaudiArabia.
 
AlienTroopsCan’tPrevail
..says Brit ThinkTank. Al Quaeda is getting stronger among Sunnis; Sadrites are a permanent force that must be recognized, (not attacked!) among Shia.

We must accept Kurds’ demand for deFacto Secession.
HoustonChronicle

Of course, accepting KURD secession means we can’t block deFacto secession of SHIA, forming a ministate with most Iraqis, most of the oil, the only seaport—and the support of hated Shia Iran !
 
BOMBS UNDERMINE AFGHAN EFFORTS:
Air-strikes (mainly by US, you can bet) are enraging the Afghan people (who are reminded of Soviet air-strikes earlier).They’re undermining ‘combined combat and HEARTS/MINDS campaigns’.
REUTERS
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL38042.htm


C’mon ! US has not enough troops (and folks at home complain about GI casualties)-- so it bombs. Anyway, bombing is the ONLY REAL TALENT of the Pentagon.

Interesting that Bushies are u sing same lame excuse that ancient Athens used while enraging all their neighbors: “We could have done much MORE damage !”

ONCE AGAIN: If we can prevail ONLY by using COUNTER-productive tactics, then we can’t prevail PERIOD.
~ Monday, May 21, 2007
 
AFGHAN NATION-BUILDING NEEDED, not just combat
—says expert Cordesman.
UnitedPress

NOT LIKELY, while US insists on bombing civilians !
 
An Iraqi honcho said they’re preparing for a ‘worst-case’ scenario involving the sudden withdrawal of US troops. A rocket hit the parliament bldg in GreenZone, with no casualties. A Shia leader US was counting on to push the pro-Sunni changes that US is insisting on got cancer, had to go to US for treatment.
SydneyMorningHerald
~ Sunday, May 20, 2007
 
THINGS GOING WELL? FEW AMERICANS say so:
(3in10 men, 2 in 10 women
Near record lows.)

(Most cite the war and poor leadership.)
Guardian
 
CHAOS IN IRAQ PARLIAMENT: The Sunni Speaker SLAPPED another member, and claims that 3 in 4 parliamentarians are behind the ‘sectarian’ war (i.e., the retail Shia attacks retaliating for the WHOLESALE Sunni attacks on Shia). He has also said that those killing GIs (18 in last 3 days) are HEROES.

There’s talk of summoning honcho Maliki to Parliament to discuss his failure at security. But it’s expected that he’ll say that security is up to the Americans , not to Iraqis—so Yanks are to blame.
SeattlePI
 
HitAMissileWithAMissile?

So far, US has spent [150,000 TIMES 1,000,000] dollars trying to develop a missile that would eliminate missiles incoming at US—with NO success.
UnitedPress

Actually, this effort is not really defensive. It annoys Pentagon that OUR attacks against another nation could often trigger a nuke response. If we could eliminate this 2d-STRIKE DETERRENT, we could rule the world, with our thousands of H-bombs.

But we still can’t hit missiles with missiles. More and more countries (e.g., Iran) are hurrying to develop nuke weapons, and at least middle-range missiles, as 2d-strike deterrents. (Rulers would be mad as hatters to hurl nukes at America FIRST, when OUR 2d-strike deterrent could wipe them off the map.)

Even if we could eliminate retaliatory missiles coming from China or Russia, we couldn’t counter missiles hidden in freight-ships near our ports (half of Americans live near the sea !)
Also, we couldn’t counter pandemics started by suicide-attackers to retaliate vs. our attacks. (Germ-war is called the ‘poor nation’s nuke’.)

Superman still hasn't realized how much kryptonite is lying around.

Still, this money fits the Pentagon’s real mission—to shovel trillions to weapons-corporations.
~ Saturday, May 19, 2007
 
DANGEROUS TARIFFS?
A recent article in RmtnNews (19May, P.29) said there was some evidence that the Hawley-Smoot tariffs contributed greatly to the Great Depression (worldwide).

Perhaps so, but the situation has changed. A greater danger now may come from NO tariffs. Now our workers are competing with computers, robots, and workers world-wide who will accept wages ENORMOUSLY lower than our workers could live on.

Not only that, but firms face FICA tax on every dollar going to US workers, but none on their rivals.

Outsourcing threatens college grads, not just high-school dropouts. We might hope that these ‘elite’ workers would finally see they must show solidarity with all workers, not with the inheriting owners who are spiking their fortunes from this situation.

All workers should unite in demanding that the wealthy be taxed heavily, and then tax-rebates would go to firms FOR EVERY DOLLAR THEY SPEND ON HIRING US CITIZENS. If necessary, tariffs should raise hurdles on imports to solve our staggering trade deficit.Since our puny exports can’t match our insatiable imports, our workers might be better off if we had NO foreign trade at all !

However, the ‘elite’ workers identify psychologically—and foolishly--with the owner-‘winners’, not with the laborer-‘losers’. And many ordinary workers seem to care more about preventing gay marriage than about their own survival.

So the economic train will continue to hurtle toward workers who’ve tied themselves to the tracks.
 
“ONLY a MIRACLE could give quick success.”
LondonTimes sums up the odds against Bushie SURGE succeeding by September (the deadline hinted at by GOP Senators).

They point out that the new Brit PM will probably reduce the Brit army in Iraq to a token
Force.

The editorial errs on one point: they claim that US withdrawal would enable Quaeda to set up a new haven for terrorists. When (NOT IF) Iraq splits into 3 ministates, the SECULAR insurgents (hearing about all the oil-potential in the Sunni/arab ministate) would likely turn on their (outnumbered) fanatic allies and slaughter them. No outside oil-capital would flow into this region otherwise.
 
NUKE POWER? An article friendly to nuclear power was found on 19May, unsurprisingly, in right-wing RockyMountainNews, p.34. It mentioned ‘safety’ as one concern, but it was silent about the biggest safety issue.

The operators say that the 100 reactors themselves are safe from suicide airplanes crashing into them. But it’s the waste-ponds that are unprotected and radioactive. Our sky is filled with uncontrolled small planes, easy to steal. If some were crashed into nuke waste-ponds, the disaster would be immense.

I believe the government has advised people living within ten miles of nuke plants to keep chemicals in their medicine cabinet to counter radioactive poisoning of their families. Small wonder the rest of us say, “Not in MY backyard !”
~ Friday, May 18, 2007
 
HELICOPTERS on ground HIT by insurgent rockets. One destroyed, 9 damaged (says US; an Iraqi witness said SIXTEEN were damaged.)
If roads aren’t safe—and they won’t be for a year or more, until safer MRAPs show up—
US can’t count on copters to ferry safely troops (wounded or not)and supplies.
SeattlePI


It’s true that I tell only the BAD news from Iraq. I figure that FOX & other tame outlets convey what little good news there is.
 
STRANGE Assoc.Press headline says “GIs kill 6 insurgents’. But the story says that fifty insurgents attacked one of the small new US bases, and US has no comment—
so we don’t know if any GIs were killed.
GUARDIAN
 
RAND CRITICIZES ‘FOREIGN BASES’
The RAND think-tank says that our new military strategy NEED NOT overthrow dictators. Nor need it invade.
What is needed is to bolster our allies (including dictators !) to prevent destabilization themselves. (as if our incompetent intelligence services could help any ally overseas !)

RAND says airforce must quit producing snazzy fighter-bombers that need forward bases, and instead rely on long-distance bombers that can operate from US. (We bombed Afghanistan from midwest America.)

UnitedPress

(These ONE HUNDRED forward bases cost us billions, aggravating both our FEDERAL deficit and our TRADE deficit—funds for these bases count as IMPORTS that can’t be balanced by our PUNY exports.)

(They don’t comment on the problem that ANY KIND of bombing is counter-productive against individual, ANONYMOUS terrorists (recruiting new terrorists among enraged surviving relatives) .
Would bombs have prevented attack on London Transport? Or Spanish train? Or, for that matter, 9/11 ?)
 
ARMING IRAQ ARMY is ‘FIRST’ step in enabling them to fight insurgents on their own.
BBCNEWS

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6665759.stm

Such Nonsense! FIRST step is to make sure soldiers and officers are LOYAL TO CENTRAL GOVT., NOT to some militia! We’ll probably be arming the militias !

However, this move will justify more billions going to weapons-making corporations—and that is the main function of the Pentagon.
 
SOME DAY…
THE ‘MRAP’ vehicle is FOUR TIMES SAFER than the Humvee (after bombing, sometimes the doors of Humvee can be opened (releasing trapped GIs) ONLY using built-in hook for another truck to work on door IF ANOTHER TRUCK IS AVAILABLE, and IF THE 2D TRUCK DOESN’T GET ATTACKED.)

However, for various reasons, (including shortages of steel and rubber ! )MRAPs can’t be quickly produced.

One independent analyst says we may have bugged out of Iraq (i.e, pulled out without prevailing, as in Vietnam) before all the MRAPs needed get produced !
USATODAY


One recalls WWII, when US produced many, many huge ships quickly.
It’s a sign of the decline of America (i.e., the Bushie nincompoops running the Pentagon) that we now have trouble producing much-needed road-vehicles FOUR-PLUS YEARS INTO THE WAR !
~ Thursday, May 17, 2007
 
COSTLY GULF-WAR I:
Americans THINK the 1st Gulf War cost little in terms of US casualties. But now Pentagon admits (privately) that ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND GIs sustained PERMANENT, OBSERVABLE BRAIN DAMAGE from Saddam’s Sarin NERVE GAS. (Saddam didn’t inflict gas; US exploded canisters of nerve-gas.)
SeattlePI

Turns out Bush-DADDY will also be treated harshly by historians. In Gulf War I we were defending one dictator from another.

Turns out Saddam had WMDs once, but not by ’03.

But insurgents might GET AND USE Sarin yet on GIs. Gas-masks useless; space-suits impractical in blazing Iraq summer. (Mortar-shell with gas in GreenZone would wipe out our puppet govt AND THEIR US MASTERS. )
 
POSSIBLE SAUDI/IRAN PROXY WAR IN IRAQ (after we bugout):
Saudis backing Sunnis, Iran backing Shia.
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSKIM74750720070517

OUTCOME: An Iran/Shia triumph. Saudis have only airplanes; Iran has huge, combat-hardened army. Iraqi Shia outnumber Sunnis three to one !

Of course Bushies &their masters in Israel might use this conflict as excuse to bomb the hell out of Iran. But they don't need excuse--who would stop them? And excuse wouldn't help them--fearsome Iranian RETALIATION is the real issue.
 
44 ANTIWAR GOP SENATE VOTES !

GOP Warner’s move to cut off $ if Iraqi Govt doesn’t meet ‘benchmarks’ got 44 GOP votes!
Altogether 52 votes, (only 8 DEMS ? !) a majority of Senators, tho not enough to prevent a filibuster.
BostonGlobe

(Why is DEM leadership so afraid of filibuster? A long debate would enable them to lay out devastating facts.)

(By the way, the benchmarks are nonsense: proSunni moves that the Shia/Kurd parliament will never implement to benefit sensibly-hated Sunnis. The real function of these 'benchmarks' is to blame Iraqis for our bugout. That's OK, just so we bugout.)
~ Wednesday, May 16, 2007
 
SOME GOP SENATORS WANT TO CONDITION OUR STRATEGY ON IRAQI GOVT’S REACHING (unlikely, pro-Sunni) BENCHMARKS.
BOSTON.COM

DEM antiwar motions failed today. If DEMS back this measure, there might be a 2/3ds vote that would be veto-proof.

Suppose we cut off MONEY to Iraq govt, if not US troops. One quick result might be that Iraq parliament, no longer on US PAYROLL, would vote overwhelmingly for US OUT !
----------
Warner's toothless bill passed by only 52 votes in the Senate.
 
Possible Gas vs. GIs:
Lately, insurgents have used chlorine gas in car-bombs. Bushies have not admitted y et that any GIs have been gassed, but that’s inevitable.
NERVE-gas renders gas-masks useless. It kills if it touches skin.
Invading GIs wore preposterous space-suits.
But nobody can persuade GIs to wear them during blazing Iraq summer.
 
MORTARS INTO GREEN ZONE:
For the 2d day, mortars got into the Green Zone (9 today).
There were 76 attacks a day throughout Iraq in Jan, 176 in Oct, well after the SURGE was supposed to be in effect. And the new attacks were much more serious…some using chlorine gas.
USATODAY

US deaths have risen from 2 a day to over 3 a day, with number of wounded up proportionately. (3 a day evacuated to Germany for every one killed).

A US Commander OUTSIDE Baghdad says he needs THIRTY THOUSAND MORE troops.

TWO MORE BRIDGES destroyed; US can't even protect bridges !


And yet this paper says that the evidence of SURGE’s failing was merely potent, NOT YET OVERWHELMING! We’re supposed to let GIs suffer (killed, maimed, wounded) at least until September.
~ Tuesday, May 15, 2007
 
Potent,notOverwhelming?

USATODAY editorial itemizes all the evidence that the Iraq war is unwinnable, then summarizes that the evidence for pullout is ‘potent, moving toward overwhelming’.

What the hell? The evidence is already overwhelming. This paper comes as close as it dares to admitting that.
~ Monday, May 14, 2007
 
JORDAN’S KING WARNS CHENEY that lack of Palestine Peace is helping extremists all over Mideast. (US is NOT ‘honest broker’, backs any crazy move by Israel.)

Also, Quaeda-in-Iraq is sending TRAINED terrorists into Jordan.
SeattlePI


Bushies rant about porous Iraq borders with Syria and Iran, but are silent about terrorists entering Iraq thru our ‘allies’ Jordan & SaudiArabia.
 
Quaeda Demands US Quit Search for 3 kidnapped GIs..else they might kill them.
Boston.com

Actually, Bushies might be relieved if these soldiers were known dead. It’s their KIDNAPPED status that will generate continuation of those TV discussions further undermining war-support.

Also, ending search would free 4000 GIs for other duties.

And, while Americans certainly approve of thorough, destructive search, inhabitants may see it a collective punishment, and become even more supportive of insurgents.
 
We’ll know we lost the war only when alQuaeda takes over America, says letter-writer A.Edwards (RMtnNews)

Well,then ! Following his thinking, when we pull out of Iraq (as we soon will) and alQaeda does NOT take over America, then we will NOT count as losing the war.

So why not pull out right away?
~ Sunday, May 13, 2007
 
GENERALS BACK BUSHIES demanding pro-Sunni ‘reforms’ from IraqParliament.
So far these reforms are NOT being passed, and Parliament plans a two-month VACATION before acting on them.
UnitedPress

Nominal conformity with US demands might eventually happen (Elected pols don’t want to lose salaries!) but no REAL compliance (to benefit hated Sunnis) can be expected.

SO Sunni insurgents will NOT be pacified, will not quit methodically and efficiently killing GIs. ONLY IF US abolished present regime and set up a SUNNI STRONGMAN like Saddam over all Iraq would the secular insurgents be appeased.

Even then, Quaeda fanatics would keep killing Shia; eventually, Shia (outnumbering Sunnis 3 to 1) will start killing any Sunni they see. And they will pull back to form a defensible Shia ministate, allied with Iran.
 
US bombs suspected Taliban hideouts. Then local Afghans scream that innocent civilians were hit. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. Complainers are believed by other Afghans, who turn against foreign invaders. As long as we keep bombing...

Critics include OTHER INVADING FORCES, who point out that winning hearts & minds of Afghans is crucial to success there. On the other hand, US commanders note that WITHOUT bombing, we’d need MANY more troops there—and we haven’t got more troops available.
HoustonChronicle


IF we can’t prevail without using COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE tactics,
then we obviously can’t prevail period.
 
AlQaeda says it has 3 GIs. (MSNBC) US admits 3 missing.

Killed GIs are promptly forgotten here , (except by their friends),registered only in total killed.

But Kidnapped GIs remind TV watchers every day of their plight.

And insurgents are aware of that difference.
~ Saturday, May 12, 2007
 
NATL GUARD NOT READY to help in domestic crises like floods, tornados.
Too much of its equipment has been moved to Iraq !
GUARDIAN
 
NEW KIND OF WAR:
NEW BOOK ‘BRAVE NEW WAR’ predicts collapse of globalism (‘one-world super-state’)
4 points:
1)Modern states depend on complex systems (e.g., electricity grids) . Guerillas can disrupt by attacking weak points of such systems. (as Iraq&NigeriaInsurgents attack oil-pipelines, and guerillas in Spain/Britain attacked transport systems.

2)’open source’ guerillas. There are hundreds or thousands of willing terrorists, scattered all over the world. They don’t need centralized command. Each small group can plan its own attacks. So killing leaders won’t help. It’s just not so that ‘the best defense is a good offense’; terrorists are anonymous until they attack.

3)Globalism turns vs. itself, by technically training [metaphysically primitive] youths around the world.

4) The only antidote: LOCALIZED defense. Each town and factory must mount its own defense.
UNITEDPRESS
 
FIVE GIs DEAD SAT.12May, THREE MISSING:
CHINA VIEW
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-05/12/content_6090344.htm

Hawks will say I’m gloating. Absurd. I feel sorrow for these poor enlistees, who volunteered before the risk-judging part of their brain has completely developed—not till age 25.

I’m just pointing out that Bushies’ SURGE is NOT saving US lives. Bush wants us to wait till September to judge the Surge—but we already KNOW it’s not working.

Also, our efforts to APPEASE SUNNI INSURGENTS are not working.
~ Friday, May 11, 2007
 
Gambling with THEIR property--
WHEN IS REVOLUTION JUSTIFIED?
You have no right to gamble with others’ money, without their consent, even if outcome might benefit them—especially if the gamble is not very likely to succeed !
Even more so:
You may want to revolt against an unjust power. But you have no right to gamble LIVES of thousands of your fellows, WITHOUT their consent, WHEN THE ODDS ARE NOT PREDICTING that the gamble will do clearly more good than harm.

The actual outcome doesn’t matter, in judging morality of revolution-starters. What counts is the objective probabilities AT THE TIME OF DECISION.

The ‘fog of war’ usually means that NO prediction of expected net benefit is RELIABLE beforehand..so…

VietCong were NOT justified in resisting US aggression, nor are Iraqis justified in resisting US aggression. In both cases it was obvious that invaders would do INCREDIBLE damage before they bugged out.

"Iraqis unjustified" does NOT imply that we're justified !

US colonies vs. mighty England…?
 
DEMS LACK STRENGTH TO LEAD COUNTRY?
USATODAY Letter to Editor(11May)
Rather: BUSHIES lack power to lead Americans; 2 in 3 Americans would not now follow them to the bathroon.

Bushies also lack the strength to admit their blunder by pulling out of Iraq—even after majority of ELECTED Iraqis are ready to call for a pullout-timetable, as are majority of ELECTED (and unelected) Americans.
We hope Bushies will develop the strength to back out--once the GOP legislators turn against them.
 
REVOKE WAR AUTHORITY? Sen.JohnWarner (GOP !) suggests that Congress revoke their cowardly, stupid ’03 resolution that Bushies have used to authorize everything including torture.
UNITED PRESS

Question: could Bush veto this revocation? One doubts it.
 
RECESSION:1in3Chance
….THIS YEAR, Says Guru Alan Greenspan.
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18608776/

Given the professional optimism of economist/pols, likelihood is even higher.

This fits with the huge drop in retail sales last month, and with my noting that surprisingly, banks don’t want to guarantee high interest rates on CDs for 5 years.
~ Thursday, May 10, 2007
 
IRAQI POLS SAY: “US OUT !”
A majority of elected pols demand a TIMETABLE for US pulling out, also a CAP on number of GIs in Iraq.
SeattlePI
 
CHENEY FAILS to push Iraq govt. toward PRO-SUNNI measures (hoping fondly to appease Insurgents !)

Fatal Bushie blunder: setting up a majoritarian govt. where Shias plus Kurds outnumber hated Sunnis FOUR TO ONE.

UNITED PRESS
 
TOO LITTLE, FAR TOO LATE !
Earlier I described horror of bombed humvees, whose doors trapping GIs inside must then be opened with a hook, by another truck-IF one is around!. There are 160,000 GIs inIraq, with only 18k humvees available, plus another 1000 bomb-resistant MRAPs.

The marines have ordered another 1000 MRAPs, for yr. Two thousand eight !
Gates said he found out about safer MRAPs from a NEWSPAPER!
He now says production facilities are far too low for the needs.

USATODAY
(Headline says optimistically “GIs Get Safer Vehicle”
It should say that they MIGHT get these safer vehicles SOMEDAY.)

Someone says that road-bombs are our ‘Achilles heel’
No, our Achilles heels are the dumb, corrupt heels in the Pentagon !
 
POPE: “ABORTION POLS EXCOMMUNICATED THEMSELVES:”
SydneyHerald

Big Deal ! As I understand it, every Catholic who has not made his Easter Confession ‘excommunicates himself.’ That leaves very few in Communion with Rome !
 
FalseInflationAlarms: Tame economic journalists warn of ‘inflation’ every time, say, gas-prices increase. But ordinary people who are spending more on gas, must SPEND LESS on other things—so WALMART is hurting.
Bloomberg

Usually, the longer your term in buying CDs (e.g., 5 yrs) , the higher the interest rates (banks guarding against possible inflation). But now the rates are INVERTED, that is, best rates are for SHORT-term CDs. That means the banks don’t want to tie up high interest rates when we likely face DEFLATION and perhaps recession.
~ Wednesday, May 09, 2007
 
WESTERN INVADERS KILL NINETY AFGHAN CIVILIANS in past 2 weeks. (One US air-raid killed 21, says governor.)
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSSP27753820070509

It doesn’t matter what really happened. Afghans will believe these reports, mobilize to expel invaders--as they have often done before !
 
BUGGING OUT VS. BARGING IN

The recent poll reported in USATODAY(9May) showed an interesting disparity:
Nearly 60%of Americans think the invasion of Iraq was a mistake. 47% think the civil war will explode there even if we stay in.

But 55% say they’d be bothered (somewhat or a lot) if we admit defeat.

In other words, pigheaded Bush can count on some support from the childish American fear of humiliation. To avoid this, they may be willing to sacrifice more thousands of GIs killed,maimed, or wounded--and then we'll be humiliated worse, the longer we wait to bug out. (That's why Quaeda wants us to stay in !)

Mature adults would see that real humiliation comes from our BARGING IN to pointless, winless wars, NOT from our sensibly pulling out when we see our mistake.
 
EXCOMMUNICATE POLS?
Pope Benedict (who grossly and publicly insulted Mohammed, thus displaying his prudence—don’t think one billion Muslims will ever forget that !)
now says that pols who ‘support abortion should be excommunicated,
as ‘killing children’.
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0956318820070509

These pols are not killing anyone, nor is a new embryo a real child. (Even the Pope doesn’t suggest homicide-penalty in such cases !)

Not only that, these pols are not SUPPORTING abortion, just saying that it should not be legally punished. Not every sin is a crime—for instance the sin of contraception is now rarely counted as a crime, nor remarriage after divorce.

Whether a given sin should count as a crime is a political issue, not a moral one.

Let us rejoice that this Pope is rapidly accelerating the sag in Rome’s prestige. He displays all the fanaticism of JPII, without any of the charm.
~ Tuesday, May 08, 2007
 
US HAS TO COUNT ON SADR’S MILITIA to guard the most sacred Shia shrine.
US can’t do this, and we’d get blamed if Quaeda got thru to bomb the shrine.
Elsewhere, US is ATTACKING—sometimes BOMBING !--Sadrite militia.

SeattlePI
 
SHIAS KILLING MORE SUNNIS:
As Sunni AlQuaeda kills Shias WHOLESALE, ‘sectarian murders’ (mainly RETAIL revenge killings of Sunnis by Shia) are rising again.

Shia near a recent Qaeda explosion yelled against US.
Reuters


A cut in such Shia murders of Sunni has been the only ‘progress’ claimed for our SURGE.

We’re trying to APPEASE SUNNIS who go right on slaughtering our GIs.

Meanwhile we’re provoking Shia, so we may soon face a fatal SECOND FRONT.

Even GOP legislators say the SURGE must pay off by Sept..

We can already see that it WON’T pay off in 4 months.

But GI suffering continues.
 
NIGERIAN OIL-PIPES BOMBED;
Oil-prices have been dropping while US gas prices have spiked upward. But now Nigerian trouble is raising crude-oil prices.

It was said that observers hoped for less trouble after (openly corrupt) election.
Instead, more pipelines were sabotaged.
Reuters

It may be that Nigerian rebels are smarter than Ohio voters.
~ Monday, May 07, 2007
 
WAR CZAR?
Bushies are still looking for top-gun war-czar who’d report directly to Bush.
SeattlePI
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/314630_warczar07.html

(3 retired officers turned down the offer of this nutty post.)
Surely the Secretary of Defense is already such a czar, reporting directly to Bush.
What the hell?
It looks like the war-mongers don’t trust the new Secy, Gates.
He may be too sane for their tastes.
 
AWFUL HUMVEES: 1ST, not enough armor. Then ‘patched up’ with HEAVY armor. Then, after bomb, DOORS don’t work. Another patch: a HOOK so another truck—IF one is around!--can pull door open !

A new vehicle is safer vs. bombs—but almost none have reached Iraq—FOUR YEARS INTO THE WAR.
USATODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-06-humvee-doors_N.htm

It’s understandable that Pent. Can’t AFFORD safe vehicles for GIs (9 died Sunday/120since 1Apr/many more evacuated to German Hospital.)…
Pent. gets only $1200 MILLIONS EACH DAY.
 
RATS SNEAK TOWARD EDGE OF SINKING SHIP:
GOP House Honcho says they’ll think again about war support if ‘success’ is not evident by Fall.
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18530710/

Hawkish rMtnNews ran a half-page editorial [p.35May7] basically advocating bugout from Iraq. (‘Bugout’ is pullout without prevailing, where you can’t even pretend victory; Bush has been scaling down his definition of ‘victory’—now it’s just ‘an acceptable level of violence’…even this is unattainable).

Is SURGE working? The most hawkish Dem came back from Iraq, says “Things have not changed for the good.”

We’ll wait to see which GOP Pres.candidate turns first against war.
~ Sunday, May 06, 2007
 
SectWar ADDED to Anti-US war !

Media pass on Pent. Propaganda:
e.g. “..in the past year, war has shifted to sectarian war from insurgency’ (anti-US).
FinancialTimes


But more GIs than ever are getting killed—over 100 in April ! So war is NOT SHIFTING AWAY from insurgency! It’s just that insurgents are now able to ADD anti-Shia campaign to effective anti-US war !
 
GENERAL INCOMPETENTS: Trouble is, we select generals from among the colonels appointed by the incompetent generals—qualified by comfortable knee-pads & lip-balm.
(In CivilWar, North won because they happened to have TWO competent generals, while South had only one. )
UnitedPress
(Similarly, loony Popes are selected from among loony cardinals appointed by previous Popes !)

That’s OK: Pent. Isn’t really a war-machine at all—(they haven’t won a real war in sixty years)…it’s a MONEY machine for WAR-INDUSTRIES--& in that role, our generals are quite proficient.
 
INSURGENTS AND US STRIKE SHIA:
Car bomb causes over 100 Shia casualties; US bombs kill a few more.

PEOPLE’S DAILY (China)
http://english.people.com.cn/200705/06/eng20070506_372397.html

Sooner or later, Shia will turn on US in a big way. 3 TIMES as many Shia as Sunnis.
They can CUT OFF our supplies from Kuwait.

But Bushies must obey Shia-hating Israel and Saudi Royals.
 
QAEDA WANTS US TO STAY ON:
A Quaeda honco says PLAUSIBLY that they WANT US TO STAY in Iraq until 2 or 3 hundred thousand GIs are killed.
Ihttp://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=93429740&p=9343xx4z&n=93430120RISH EXAMINER
 
WIN/LOSE OBSESSION: Someone suggested to dumb McCain that in Iraq war, nobody would win. He disagreed, “If someone loses, then someone must WIN !”
(DenverPost6May)

But suppose we forget ‘win/lose’ language. If someone comes out WORSE OFFthan they were, it does NOT follow that someone else came out AHEAD of where they were.

“Win/lose” vocabulary assumes that life is a teeter-totter..if someone goes down, then someone else must go up. But the teeter-totter is broken; BOTH SIDEScould go DOWN..

Surely if SUICIDE bombers make us lose, it does NOT follow that THEY WON ! (assuming they’re wrong about Allah rewarding them in next life. ) Mad AlQuaeda doesn’t care about winning, about ANY final result; they just want to KILL Americans and Shia for its own sake. That posture gives them extra destructive power—but NO power to HELP themselves or others.
We should get out of this LOSE/LOSE conflict—the sooner the better, the later the worse
~ Saturday, May 05, 2007
 
HEARTS & MINDS—HELL !

One in ten GIs (over 15000) say they’ve personally mistreated civilians.
One in two wouldn’t report abusive colleagues.
One in three approve of torture.
ABCNEWS
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5275799

Forget about moral indignation.
Forget for a moment the suffering of these overstressed GIs.
Think of RESULTS:
Most Iraqis think GIs do MORE HARM THAN GOOD.
Most Iraqis approve of ATTACKING GIs.

One in 3 returning vets have either SHELL-SHOCK or BRAIN-DAMAGE.

Bushie Pentagon is EXTENDING stressful tours of ALL GIs in Iraq & Afghan.\

Bushies care for GIs the way Tyson cares for its chickens.
~ Friday, May 04, 2007
 
HELPLESS in Iraq: USATODAY (4May) ran a cartoon showing US & Iraq govt. both in wheelchairs, facing monster ‘Iraq’ challenge. US says to IraqGovt: “Why don’t you DO something? !”

This is the truth; US and our puppet govt. are both helpless in a situation where guerillas have support of most population (who say it’s OK to attack GIs), access to huge amounts of explosive, and an ample supply of suicide volunteers.

The difference: IraqGovt. is stuck there; we could bugout, if only Bush had any brains.
 
JOBS FALL, STOCKS RISE.
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3683270/

What could illustrate more clearly that the real clash of interests is between the INHERITING owners (who own by far most stock-value) and ALL the workers, elite as well as uneducated.

But the owners have no trouble convincing ELITE workers that they are ‘WINNERS’, vs. the lower paid or unemployed ‘losers’.

To see how ridiculous this is: imagine the person with [assets-debts= $50k] as ONE INCH along a line from the totally destitute person. On the same scale, the POOREST billionaire is EIGHT HUNDRED FEET to the right.
The $50k (net worth) worker is clearly among the losers-especially given his insecurity. This will be even more clear as owners accelerate outsourcing of middle-class jobs overseas.
~ Thursday, May 03, 2007
 
IRAQI LAWMAKERS PLAN VACATION:
…WITHOUT passing laws US is demanding...while GIs die 24/7.

Often there’s no quorum, because Sunni members are afraid to spend much time in Baghdad.

ABC/NEWS
Bush’s veto signifies that these pols will continue to get salary as long as Bush reigns.
 
ROCKET HITS INSIDE GREEN ZONE: kills 4 contractors.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6605259,00.html

US SURGE can’t even protect sacred US turf, with half-billion-dollar USembassy and Iraqi govt. offices..

(Only incompetents desperate for promotion will volunteer for Baghdad embassy.)

With 1000 people in embassy, only 6 are fluent in Arabic.
 
OUR PUPPET KHARZAI DENOUNCES US BOMBING:
It’s said 51 Afghans killed, including women & children. No Taliban are said to be around that village.
SeattlePI

It doesn’t matter what really happened. The Italian govt. worries that Italian soldiers would be endangered by Afghan rage.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/314122_afghan03.html

Bombing backfires vs. guerillas. But bombing is the ONLY thing Pentagon does well. So we’ll keep on bombing, RECRUITING NEW TERRORISTS all over the world. (Grisly pictures sent all over.)
~ Wednesday, May 02, 2007
 
HOW ENFORCE OIL LAW?
A law granting ‘fair-share’ of oil $ to Sunni/Arabs is coming up before Parliament.
ABCNEWS

It may pass—but how will impotent central govt. ENFORCE sharing on Shia/Kurds who a) hate Sunni/arabs and (b) have ‘first-grabs’ at oil ?

Knowing this, Sunni insurgents are NOT about to make peace !
 
US SUPPORTS TURKISH ISLAMISTS !
US warned (secular) military not to interfere in rivalry between minority of Turk seculars and majority of (often rabid) Islamists. (Islamists stopped Turkey from helping in Iraq invasion, after we bribed seculars to help.)
SeattlePI

We can only hope that US is secretly backing the seculars & military!But perhaps that’s too much to hope from dumb Bushies.
 
HIGHER RISK FOR GIs:

Some GIs are now being stationed at SMALL bases which are harder to defend against suicide bombers (9 GIs killed in one attack.) The Plus: GIs have closer contact with (Sunni) inhabitants, who trust them more to protect against (RETAIL) Shia attacks.
SanJoseMercuryNews
http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_5798494

When Shia murder a few Sunnis, this is called a ‘sectarian’ attack…but not when Sunni insurgents murder hundreds of Shia in one WHOLESALE attack.

‘The question is how much EXTRA RISK for GIs to trade for more friendly contact with inhabitants.’

Americans really care only about GI casualties, not Iraq casualties.
As GI casualties rise, we get nearer to ’08 election.
This strange move must seem important to Bushies.
-------------------------
Such tactics can’t really cut OVERALL Iraqi casualties.

ONE HYPOTHESIS: That’s not the point. Petraeus is experimenting with tactics for when we INVADE VENEZUELA (whose land somehow ended up on top of our oil.)
One advantage there: lots of GIs will speak Spanish (vs. Arabic in Iraq).

More GI casualties now are a small price to pay for this experiment…?
~ Tuesday, May 01, 2007
 
KURDS OPPOSE OIL-SHARING LAW:
Before, they supported it; but the devil is in the details.
They opposed the final, detailed version, saying it gives too much say the central govt.
SEATTLEPI


This bill is one pro-Sunni measure the Bushies are demanding from Parliament, threatening implicitly a bugout (or at least a cut in $) if these measures aren’t passed.

But even if such a law sharing oil-money with Sunnis is passed, impotent central govt. can’t enforce it vs. Shia & Kurds, on whose land most of the present oilfields are located.

If Bushes accepted partition, new exploration might find more oil under Sunni/Arab region…that might pacify some of the insurgents (the secular Saddamites,not the fanatic alQuaeda).
 
BRIDGE BLOW-UP: SKILLED:
The collapsing of a main bridge in Baghdad showed a high degree of insurgents’ technical skill. Bridges are hard to destroy !
UnitedPress

It also showed the ineptness of our SURGE in protecting Baghdad.
 
“FIGHT ‘EM THERE, NOT HERE’ is a common slogan of hawks. They think optimistically that there are a limited number of potential terrorists—so the more are attracted to Iraq (killing our GIs!) the safer will be the rest of the world.

In fact, terrorist attacks around the world are up 25% this year, with only 45% of them in Iraq. There are plenty of terrorists to go round.
PlainDealer

The real mystery is why there have been no more attacks YET on US since 9/11, since the Bushies have left us vulnerable in so many ways.

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