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Saturday, August 30, 2003
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Who's Losing Iraq?
Maureen Dowd goes after Super Villain Dick Cheney:
"It has also now become radiantly clear that we have to drag Dick Cheney out of the dark and smog. Less Hobbes, more Locke.
So far, American foreign policy has been guided by the vice president's gloomy theories that fear and force are the best motivators in the world, that war is man's natural state and that the last great superpower has sovereign authority to do as it pleases without much consultation with subjects or other nations.
We can now see the disturbing results of all the decisions Mr. Cheney made in secret meetings.
The General Accounting Office issued a report last week noting that the vice president shaped our energy policy with clandestine advice from "petroleum, coal, nuclear, natural gas, electricity industry representatives and lobbyists."
Favoritism to energy pals led to last week's insane decision to gut part of the Clean Air Act and allow power plants, refineries and other industrial sites to belch pollutants.
Another Bush-Cheney energy crony is Anthony Alexander of Ohio's FirstEnergy Corporation, which helped trigger the blackout after failing to upgrade its transmission system properly since deregulation. He was a Bush Pioneer, having raised at least $100,000 for the campaign.
This logrolling attitude has led to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers allowing Halliburton — which made Mr. Cheney a rich man with $20 million worth of cashed-in stock — to get no-bid contracts in Iraq totaling $1.7 billion, and that's just a start.
All this, and high gas prices, too?
When he wasn't meeting secretly with energy lobbyists, Mr. Cheney was meeting secretly with Iraqi exiles. The Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmad Chalabi and other defectors conned Mr. Cheney, Rummy and the naïve Wolfowitz of Arabia by playing up the danger of Saddam's W.M.D.'s and playing down the prospect of Iraqi resistance to a U.S. invasion."
Who's Losing Iraq?
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Policy Lobotomy Needed
Tom Friedman, who still cannot acknowledge that he has blood on his hands for support of the war against Iraq, does recognize the utter incompetency of Bush policy: "I don't know what Mr. Bush has been doing on his vacation, but I know what the country has been doing: starting to worry. People are connecting the dots — the exploding deficit, the absence of allies in Iraq, the soaring costs of the war and the mounting casualties. People want to stop hearing about why winning in Iraq is so important and start seeing a strategy for making it happen at a cost the country can sustain." Sorry Tom, its Mission Impossible
Policy Lobotomy Needed
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Death and Hesitation in Iraq
Death and Hesitation in Iraq
The latest atrocity in Iraq has literarily left the US speechless: "The car bomb that killed one of Iraq's most important spiritual leaders today was apparently met by a political vacuum in the nation's capital, where the Iraqi and American officials charting the country's future seemed unsure who should respond and how.
Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Hakim, a symbol of moderation in this restive land, was dead. Religious leaders called for blood and vengeance, and in some places the ayatollah's mourners took to the streets. Yet here in Baghdad, the Iraqi and American officials charged with shepherding this country toward democratic rule went about their business as if little had changed.
There were no speeches calling for calm and few public appearances by anyone in charge. L. Paul Bremer III, the chief American administrator, was on vacation. Nobody seemed to know when exactly he would return. The American military command here said nothing."
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Friday, August 29, 2003
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The Smoking Gun: Archive
Farcial Arnie in the raw, the raunchy interview that is flying through California political circles
The Smoking Gun: Archive
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Thursday, August 28, 2003
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U.S. Suspects It Received False Iraq Arms Tips/Neocons admit they were wrong
US intelligence is admitting that it received and conveyed false intelligence reports concerning Iraqi weapons; this, of course, helps take some of the pressure off the Bush administration, blaming flawed intelligence for a flawed political agenda
U.S. Suspects It Received False Iraq Arms Tips
In another striking report, neocons admit that they were wrong on appraising the Iraq situation and underestimating Iraqi resistence, these concessions too take the heat off of Bush, making it appear that he was just getting bad advice all around; in fact, Bush was the major enabler of the Iraq policy and believed everything he was told, showing the dangers of having an incompetent and inexperienced president; still, its good to watch neocons eat crow;
U.S. miscalculated security for Iraq
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Blair Says He Would Have Quit if BBC Report Was True
Blair on the Hot Seat
Blair Says He Would Have Quit if BBC Report Was True
Here's a more detailed report:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/kelly/story/0,13747,1031152,00.htmlExcerpt: "He declared he was aware of Mr Campbell's ongoing war of correspondence with the BBC to get an apology, although not the "specific points" of his letters.
The prime minister also revealed for the first time that he had an "entirely private" conversation with the BBC chair of governors, Gavyn Davies, but the two men could not come to an agreement over any apology.
On the day of Gilligan's broadcast, May 29, Mr Blair said he had been in Basra but revealed he "may have" got a transcript of the story.
Intriguingly, Mr Blair twice incorrectly claimed that Gilligan's story said his source was "in charge of drawing up the document", an exaggeration of the original claim that he was "one of the senior officials in charge of drawing up the dossier".
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Wednesday, August 27, 2003
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washingtonpost.com: Halliburton's Deals Greater Than Thought
Cheney's Halliburton makes billions, much more than previously announced, the Iraq fiasco is a big-time corporate scam. Obviously, much of the raison d'etre for the lunatic Iraq policy was to get contracts for Halliburton and other Bush clique supporters; to increase military spending and to increase profit of military investment groups like Bush Daddy and James Baker's Carlyle Fund; and to, presumably, increase the power and profits of oil and energy companies by giving them at least partial control of Iraqi oil; the latter agenda seems to be blocked by Iraqi sabotage but note that gas prices are at an all-time high...
washingtonpost.com: Halliburton's Deals Greater Than Thought
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Prime Minister's question time
Blair's going on the hot-seat....
News
Headline= "Today, Tony Blair gives evidence to the Hutton inquiry. Witness after witness has pointed to Number 10's role in events leading to David Kelly's death. Time, then, for answers."
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U.S. Weighs U.N. Command in Iraq, but With a Condition
The Bushites are beginning to capitulate to reality, only a major UN force can begin to prevent total disaster in Iraq and even with a substantial UN presence it might be ungovernable
U.S. Weighs U.N. Command in Iraq, but With a Condition
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Tuesday, August 26, 2003
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Guardian Unlimited | World dispatch | Get real
Neo-cons cannot admit that they blew it in Iraq and are viciously blocking the reasonable solution that the UN come in to administer Iraq
Guardian Unlimited | World dispatch | Get real
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Dust and Deception
Paul Krugman goes after Bush/EPA NY 9/11 coverup of continuing dangers from dust and debris
Dust and Deception
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Monday, August 25, 2003
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Claims about WMD 'may have been excuse rather than reason for war'
Here's a British intelligence chief scathingly attacking Blair misuse of intelligence and correctly stating that Bush and Blair were looking for excuses for a war they'd already chosen to carry out, rather than offering reasons for war. He also notes that the war itself in effect began in Fall 2002:
"In his note to the committee, written on 2 July, Sir John suggests that the change in the no-fly zone operations from defensive to offensive tactics last autumn was because the US and UK had already decided to "prepare the battlefield" by removing threats such as Iraq's Silkworm missiles. "It points to a question that needs to be posed," he wrote. "When was the decision taken to go to war? If this thesis bears examination, then the nation was committed to war in the late summer, early autumn of 2002."
News
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Sunday, August 24, 2003
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An Unpatriotic Act
The NYT goes after Ashcroft and his "Patriot" act "charm offensive" {I have some news for the Bush spinners: Ashcroft is totally devoid of charm and is in fact frightening and off-putting}
An Unpatriotic Act
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Yahoo! News - Experts Doubt U.S. Claim on Iraqi Drones
Another Bush lie on Iraq unmasked [again: when Bush liars first claimed Iraqi "drones" were designed to deliver weapons and a dangerous threat, most arms experts were skeptical]
Yahoo! News - Experts Doubt U.S. Claim on Iraqi Drones
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BBC launches public attack on Murdoch 'imperialism'
The BBC goes after Murdoch's media empire
News
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Saturday, August 23, 2003
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When is Enough Enough?
We've been posting stories the last couple of weeks on blogleft that show many local papers publishing sharp critiques of Bush Iraq policy, a Newsweek poll shows that public opinion is starting to seriously question Bush on Iraq, its about time
When is Enough Enough?
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Revealed: how ministers tried to gag David Kelly
The London Independent today has about ten articles on the David Kelly saga; it is amazing how British journalism pursues a story with such depth and intensity, hopefully there will someday be a similar US media exploration of all the obscenities and crimes of the Bush administration [or global media investigations, until that day we have, of course, Internet sources life blogleft....]
News
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Friday, August 22, 2003
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France demands international force for Iraq
France, once again, is right: "France dismissed an effort by the US to get more countries to provide troops for Iraq yesterday, saying an international force should be dispatched only if it had a UN mandate."
News
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Bush folly in Iraq aids terrorists
Folks in Arizona see the folly of Bush's "war on terror," failing to finish the job in Afghanistan and with al Qaeda and then deflecting to Iraq that made a bigger mess and has created more terrorists and more deadly threats; Bush is a national security and foreign policy disaster and the sooner people wake up to this the better; good that the Arizona Republic is speaking out....
Bush folly in Iraq aids terrorists
More voices of reason from the heartlands
War foes were right
"The French were right.
The liberals were right.
The peaceniks were right.
True conservatives were right.
Veterans opposed to the war - I hear from more of them than you might imagine - were also right. They said this war was based on lies, and it was. They said this war, like most wars, would lead to more chaos and killing, and it has.
Now some in the Bush administration are telling the world that the car bombing of United Nations headquarters in Iraq is evidence that our policy is right.
How illogical can you be? Insurgents blow up oil pipelines and water mains; American soldiers get killed or maimed almost daily. Demonstrations are ongoing. And the biggest blow from the Iraqi resistance so far - destruction of U.N. headquarters in Iraq - is presented by the Bush team as evidence that our policy is correct because - because - because this proves terrorists are really, really bad."
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Conan the Deceiver
Arnie the Barbarian follows Bush, Paul Krugman notes, in pushing "fuzzy math." Arnie whines about taxes, taxes, taxes, but who and how is the $38 billion deficit going to be dealt with?
Conan the Deceiver
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Thursday, August 21, 2003
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Powell Says U.S. Will Ask Other Nations to 'Do More' in Iraq
The US wants other nations to "do more" in Iraq but will not concede power to the UN, this is typical Bush arrogance and a recipe for another piece of failed Bush diplomacy; how can Powell stand pushing the indefensible for Bush in the UN? isn't he getting tired of this role?
Powell Says U.S. Will Ask Other Nations to 'Do More' in Iraq
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Wednesday, August 20, 2003
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9 Afghan Police Officers Are Killed in Attack by Insurgents
Afghanistan is also a mess with several recent attacks not only at Americans but Afghans working with US forces; Bush unilateralism is 0 for 2, it is clear that the US cannot administer or create democratic regimes, there is just too much hostility toward the Bush administration and Pentagon; clearly, the UN and multilateral forces need to come in and the US forces come out [and Halliburton and other sweetheart contracts for Bush allies will have to be cancelled, they are part of the problem...]
9 Afghan Police Officers Are Killed in Attack by Insurgents
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Magnet for Evil
The Bush administration's wish/fantasy is coming true; before the invasion, there was a separation between saddam regime and islamic terrorism; Bush's madness has brought them together and they are wreaking havoc; Bush's policies endanger americans and now all westerners; in the Terror War, Bush is a world-historical disaster
Magnet for Evil
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Tuesday, August 19, 2003
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Salon.com | Big lies--Introduction to new Joe Conason book
In the introduction to his new book, Joe Conason explains how the right-wing propaganda machine demonizes liberals and distorts the common-sense politics of America.
Salon.com | Big lies
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washingtonpost.com: Truck Bomb Explodes at UN Complex in Iraq, Kills 15
Another major terrorist assault in Iraq, this time, ironically, on the UN who the Bush administration have refused to share power with, although they obviously need help. Excerpt: "After splits with heavyweight nations such as France, Russia and Germany over the war, Washington has shown little haste in seeking a bigger role for the U.N. in Iraq. But it would like more countries to share the burden of running Iraq."
washingtonpost.com: Truck Bomb Explodes at UN Complex in Iraq, Kills 15
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FT.com:Saudis in Iraq 'preparing for a holy war'
Now there are Saudis in Iraq carrying out Jihad, the Bush occupation has proven a magnet for terrorism with increasingly fatal results; time to bring in the UN, pull out the US
FT.com Home US
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The Road to Ruin
Paul Krugman sees Bush "faith-based deregulation" taking us down the road to energy disaster; Bush has wrecked the economy, energy system, environment, foreign policy, he is truly Bush the Barbarian, taking the US and much of the world down the Road to Ruin
The Road to Ruin Excerpt: "Whatever the initial cause, however, the current guess is that a local event turned into an epic blackout because the transmission network has been neglected. That is, the power industry hasn't spent enough on the control systems and safeguards that are supposed to prevent such things.
And the cause of that neglect is faith-based deregulation."
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Monday, August 18, 2003
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The e-mails, the rewritten dossier and how No 10 made its case for wa
a tremendous amount of information concerning details of Blair gang's deception of the public and false info on Iraq is coming out in email, testimony, and media leaks; would it be so that similar revelations would emerge concerning far greater amount of Bush lies and deception on Iraq
News
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Bush blamed for chaos which led to blackouts
Bush policies blamed for energy blackout, deregulation obviously doesn't work, more and better regulation needed as well as a new high-tech and new energy source infrastructure
News "
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Sunday, August 17, 2003
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Attacks in Iraq May Be Signals of New Tactics
The situation continues to deteriorate in Iraq, Mission Impossible; recall that last week the Bush Administration refused to let UN in to help administer Iraq, an obviously foolish decision; the Bush neocons are the Stupidest and the Worst....
Attacks in Iraq May Be Signals of New Tactics
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