Wednesday, March 07, 2007

9/11, two+ wars, and 2008

We all remember the cheerleader-in-chief on a pile of rumble with the first mega phone on 9/11. We all remember the "Mayor of 9/11". He's the one surging (pun intended) into the lead of red candidates for President. But do you remember the man who "masterminded 9/11"? Well, over the past week, we've learned that "bin Laden is in Pakistan", which by the way has a nuCLEar weapon (a fact that may not to be so true of North Korea or Iran). We didn't send a "surge" in to find him. Pakistan is our "ally" after all. Speaking of allies, Afghanistan's president Karzai has condemned US troops for a recent raid, killing 10 civilians. He didn't get a chance to voice his displeasure directly to dick, who left Afghanistan fairly quickly after, the taliban, whom We were told We defeated, came closer than ever before to killing Our Vice President in a recent bombing that killed 23 people at an American base he was visiting.

Let's not lose focus, the War in Afghanistan (though not finished) has been declared a victory (insert "Mission Accomplished comment here). The War in Iraq is the one we're fighting now. For those who feel the need a refresher or just want to know more about what's going on in Iraq Mother Jones has Iraq 101. With the president of Iraq suffering a stroke and the Iraqi vice president narrowly escaping an assassination (as Our's did in Afghanistan), the bombs continue to explode in Iraq. The bush administration has revealed that there is no "plan B" if the surge, which has already increased from 21,500 additional troops to 28,000, doesn't work. At least, We finally sat at a table to discuss Iraq with it's neighbors Iran and Syria. Even though the talks don't seemed to have worked, it is a good start. Iran (predominately Shiite) has even taken up talks with the Saudi government (predominately Sunni) to try and figure a way to put out the fire that we have further fueled and fanned in the region.The Sunni/Shiite divide is the main cause of the "sectarian violence"/civil war going on in Iraq, and it's a divide that, according to Seymour Hersch we're having trouble picking sides for.

Speaking of good starts, the plan being slowly leaked out from Rep. John Murtha sounds like a good start. Having soldiers rested, trained, and equipped as they should be doesn't sound unacceptable. What sounds unacceptable is 500 to 1,000 veterans, who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, joining the 200,000 homeless vets of America. What is unacceptable is the deplorable condition of certain buildings at Walter Reed hospital. To be fair, the Secretary of the Army has resigned because of the conditions he allowed there. I guess, no one seemed to foresee how many more severely injured We would have as a result of better medical practices. But now with the haliburton connection, there is no excuse. It is no wonder that we are hearing more "dissent ion in the ranks".

With these two+ wars going on, it's hard for candidates in the far to early 2008 campaign for President to talk about the 26% increase in the United States of America's severely poor over the past five years or how the "Ownership" society had quite a scare at the Stock Exchange last week. Something I do find interesting about the republican side of the "campaign" so far is the fact that all the candidates claim to be "reagan republicans". Not a one says the word bush. Some legacy you got there, Mr. bush, and that means you too H.W.

I leave you with this link to what Senator Barak Obama had to say about Iraq in 2002. Remember what lil' bush sounded like when it came to foreign policy in 2000? Obama is no light weight. Do not let them tell you differently.

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