Building For Permanent War

As mentioned earlier this week, it now looks very likely that the Unites states is going to increase troop levels in Iraq. But, expect the expansion of our presents in Iraq to go well beyond what is being sold to us by the spin doctors by both political parties.  Some Democrats are arguing that they will support the increase of troop levels if it means a complete withdraw in 2008. George W. Bush, however, has far more lofty goals with such an increase as reported by the Metro news.

While the exact numbers of new solider to be sent has yet to be released to the American public, you can bet that it will be far larger than the 29,000 that the Democrats are purposing. According to the AP, Bush is looking to send more troops to Iraq, so the military, “can fight along-term war on terrorism” on Iraq’s borders. In a moment of honesty he said that the US army levels are being stretched far to thin. But he then went onto state that he sees that “ideological war we’re in is going to last for a while and that we’re going to need a military thats capable of being able to sustain our efforts…” If this sounds like the language of permanent war, it certainly is no accident. Let us not forget this is the same dialogue written in the 2000 document, “Rebuilding America’s Defense,” which is the manifesto of the the neo-cons. Since the fall of the Soviet Union this same group, which is now known as the project for the New American Century has argued that the United States has the inherent right to remodel the globe to suit U.S. interests and that is corporate interests which has no benefit for you or I. And just today, the White house has asked for a 100 billion dollar increase in the Iraq war budget which will undoubtedly be used for military bases, by most accounts permanent bases.

While the rank and file Democrats have gone on record as not excepting a cut in the Iraq war budget, others are speaking out against the increase as being ,”counter productive.” The problem is that, the more respected members of the party have come out in favor of an increase of troop levels as long as it is short term. But one must question the logic of the increase of troops to fight in a war that has by all accounts has a become a civil war that has spun completely out of control. Then there is the Karl Rove Factor that continues to reverberate throughout the fear of the party but, it is far past the point that if they are to be seen as an oppositional party, they must get beyond the “soft of terrorism,” image stigmatism and move back to their more liberal base. But, this is not likely to happen any time soon.

Until next time.   

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Gates To Be Sworn In

More On Washington

Robert Gates has been sworn in today as the next secretary, of defense in a move that is being portrayed by both political parties as the best way to move the country beyond Donald Rumsfeld’s bumbling of the war in Iraq. For those who are paying attention, however, it is obviously a parallel move to depoliticize the war in Iraq. And true to form, the mainstream media is towing the line as are the Democrats who are one of the few parties throughout history who can win major a victory and still come across as a defeated party. The irony all of this is that  long time Pentagon sweet heart Colin Powell is speaking out not only against the idea that the war can be won but, also against the reemergence of talk of increasing troops in Iraq.

It was almost four years ago that Colin Powel went on national television stating that the CIA and foreign intelligence departments discovered without a doubt, certain trucks placed around Iraq were in fact mobile WMDs centers. Of coarse they never mentioned or showed us any proof to back up their claim, but, he made the claim on behalf of the neo-cons nonetheless. Later after he stepped down, he would retract his entire claim as bogus and stated that, that conference was the low point of his career. Since then, he has been doing whatever he can to make up for allowing himself to be used as a mouth piece for an agenda that amounted to no more than an attempt to gain an upper hand in the Middle East. And as is their nature, the Democrats have a champion on their hands and they refuse to take the leap of faith and start touting Powells message as their own. Well half the Democratic party anyway. The Ted Kennedys have been keeping their word of trying to get our troops out if Iraq, now the Harry Reids of the party must get over their Karl Rove trauma and rediscover what the hell it mens to be a Democrat, and that is not to bow down to the war mongering that is spit all over the the floors of the White House and Wall Street.

Oh how easy it has been for Robert Gates so far. No one seriously questioned him about his past which included more than a little gun and drug trafficking but, some how he has become the morning after pill to Rumsfeld. And it should come as no surprise when he suggests to increase US forces in Iraq as a way to create an exit plan in 2008. Such a plan is ridicules of coarse since most experts are now saying the situation in Iraq is out of control and unwinnable. Even Henry Kissenger has come to this conclusion which speaks volumes about how off the beaten path the Bush White House has strayed.

For more on this story you can checkout the link below. Until next time.

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The Meaning In The Balance Of Power

Yesterday during a radio interview, South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson had what it appeared at the time as a stroke. In mid sentence he suddenly had difficult speaking, often stumbling over his words and seemed to forget what he was trying to say. Later in the interview, he seemed to improve as he finished up. But, even after the interview, he had been said not to be feeling well. Johnson was taken to the hospital where it was determined that he needed surgery. As we now know, he had suffered not a stroke, as originally feared but, bleeding on the brain. Both doctors and fellow Democrats are both saying that it is far too early to predict the long term condition of M.R. Johnson and the future of his political career.  His condition is going to be closely watched since it suddenly puts the Democrats control over the Senate in a precarious position.  But, the question the American people should be asking themselves is, how much of a difference are we really to expect from Democrats both nationally and internationally from of what have seen from the GOP over the last six years.

Internationally, concerning the war in Iraq, the Democrats have backed away from their election message of bringing troops home immediately and forcing the Iraqi Government to take over that responsibility. In fact some in the party have even suggested increasing troop levels by 20,000. And like the Republicans, the party has shied away from the Iraq study group’s suggestion of changing the U.S.’s role from that of combat to a more advisory role. This suggestion would have been the perfect plan to embrace since they would appear to be fulfilling their promise of changing course and at the same time the Democrats would avoid looking soft on the terror issue. But, they seem to have dropped the ball on what could have been a clear example of what separates Republicans and Democrats. By the way, there is talk among the Democratic party to actually increase the defense spending  in next years bill. 

For other international issues, the rank and file of the Dems also support NAFTA and CAFTA along with the other sectors of globalization. Despite popular belief among those in the mainstream press, the everyday citizen of third world nations are not benefitting from these policies. According to several sources including the Global Watch Group, http://www.globalwatchgroup.org/news/index.html, the globalized market reduces the living standards of the vast majority of citizens in third world nations. Remember, many were farmers before companies like Monsanto forced numerous family farms world wide to fold. These policies also reduce access to natural resources, increase potential warring situations and so on. So it is odd that the Democrats who like to betray themselves as being on the left of the Republicans would support policies that would make a habit of allowing western companies to pollute or cause a major disaster in one these countries, think Union carbine here, which causes the deaths of thousands of people, then at the same same time claim that they are helping to improve living standards.

Then there are the are domestic issues.  It wasn’t so many months ago that the Democrats voted with the Republican party to cut habeas corpus from the U.S. court system. As of now the FBI or the Bush administration can label anyone an enemy combatant and their families and friends would never hear from them again. Such changes in the law should send a chill up our collective spines since the foundation of what made our judical system a true Democracy has been seriously compromised to the point that it now appears to be something far less appealing. In fact this new draconian law which now  sits one the books looks more like what you would see in Turkey or Iran. So how could the Democrats vote for such a bill? The prevailing answer is that they knew it was going to pass any why so there was no need to go against the grain. But, there is the moral vote to not vote for such a bill that just seems far more important.  

In the interest of time, I’m going to end this piece here but, for more on the Johnson story, you can check the link bellow. Until next time.           

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How The Media Attacks Young Girls

In 1969 a model named Twiggy had invaded the American conscienceness and the careers of many classic models came to screeching halt. For America, the message was clear, the fame of this new style model meant extremely thin women were in while the healthier models were now considered outdated or, over weight. So, many of them would adopt a junk habit just to work again or to regain some notoriety among the vanguard. But, their careers were shortened considerably. Some would wind up and Warhol’s factory and star in third rate films while others bought tickets to an early grave. For the L.A. crowd, the Sun Set Strip was littered with these has been starlets.

Since then, the impossible goal of becoming one these models is now a target of teenage girls who have decided to adopt the habit of, self-weighing. To the dismay of many of these children, remember that’s what we are talking about here, most gain weight at a higher rate than those girls who never weigh themselves at all. But thats the least of their troubles. The rate of eating disorders is almost double of those who pay less attention to their weight while others take up smoking in the faint attempt to get rid of the urge to eat. And this attack of images doesn’t target one group of people or any particular neighborhood. Fashion is a meat market and the cattle are lead to believe the illusion of their own self importance.

For more on this story check out the link below. Until next time

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Bush And The War

George W. Bush is set to meet with Pentagon insiders this week to discuss the latest faze of the plan concerning the war in Iraq. Unfortunately for Bush, he will undoubtedly find that most of those in the defense department are now backing the outline presented by the Iraq study group last week. As Bob Dylan once sang, “The times, they are a changin.” As the curtains close on the year 2006, Bush finds himself more isolated than ever. While he still speaks of some fantastical victory, others around him have long since realized that the best that can be hoped for at this point is finding  a way out of Iraq and at the same time allwoing the U.S. to keep face.

The plan the Iraq study group has laid out involves the lessening of the U.S’s role from that of combat and focus on more of a training faze. Also in the recommendation is a time line for all American troops to leave Iraq. But, Bush has already declared that American troops will stay in Iraq until the Iraqi government sees some sort of victory. What exactly would constitute a success in the country is still unclear. Many law makers in Washington have conceded that Iraq has slipped into a civil war and most active generals have long since given up on the idea of any clear cut victory that their able to point to.

So now the question must be asked, why is Bush so hell bent on staying Iraq? The answer is simple, oil. One must look no further than today’s news release that states that the U.S. trade deficit is lower than it as been in 14 months and the reason is due to falling gas prices. On the surface, it would make Bush seem like a hero but, when one takes a closer look, this practice of manipulated price fixing can only last so long before the violence of the country spills over to the oil fields and US contractors decide to leave. Also, time is running out on Haliburton to answer for their waste full spending and over charging our government for services that were never provided for, not the least of which is the rebuilding of Iraq as a whole. Once the American troops leave, the price of oil will undoubtedly go through the roof which the Asian market is currently going through.

For more on this story you can check out the links below. Until next time

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In Bush’s World There Is Always A Loophole

” The war in Iraq is not going well.” These are the words of the Baker /Hamilton group two days ago when they released their findings and recommendations  concerning Iraq. Well, at least we know this group has the ability to state the obvious. We have children across America playing with their legos as we speak who could have told us as much. But what’s so disconcerting about the message of this groups report is that it gives the Bush White house an out to conduct his policies as if nothing was wrong. The man George Bush has to thank the most for this latest gift is James Baker, the fixer, has he is known is many circles.

James Baker had been one if the strongest supporters of the war long before the first bomb was dropped. So it was little wonder that Bush/Cheney chose him to head the group. This gave the administration an inherent loophole regardless of what was found in the investigation of war. From the beginning it was apparent that Baker was going to come out against troop withdraw. Jim Baker had worked under the first Bush administration and played much more than a minor role in the first invasion of Iraq on January 17th 1991. He would later criticize George H.W.Bush for what he considered premature withdraw from Operation Desert Storm. In fact, he was certainly one of the biggest supporters of those argues that the U.S. should have over thrown Saddam before U.S. forces had left Iraq. Bush responded with a letter predicting that the toppling of Saddam could mean the mass destabilization of the country and would force the U.S. to play the role of occupiers.  In the end, the two never saw to eye to eye on the subject and the cease fire that was worked out between Baghdad and Washington left a bad taste in Baker’s mouth.

so with their man on the panel, Washington now has the freedom to further argue that the U.S. needs to stay in Iraq for the foreseeable future. In fact, the report stated that any immediate departure of American troops would prove to be worse than if we stay. This is despite the fact that Iraq is in a civil war and that more than 90% of the country want to see the U.S leave Iraq right away. Further more, most earlier studies surrounding the violence suggested that it was the presence of American troops in Iraq that is fueling the fighting and, when left to their own devises, the citizen’s who are the most affected by the conflict can work something out to bring peace back to their country. It’s highly doubtful that any of these studies were mentioned anywhere in this report. And with the country already in a civil war,  it is unclear how things  could get much worse than it is now. It also didn’t hurt that Baker was teamed up with a highly mailable Democrat in Hamilton.

For more on this story you can checkout the link below. Until next time.  

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Robert Gates In Focus

While the roars cheers coming from the Democratic caucus are still reverberating around the nation, there is little attention being made towards the fact that the Democrats have just dropped the ball and their not even in office yet. Yesterday, George Bush’s choice to replace Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates was confirmed as the next secretary of defense by a 95-2 vote. Like the Republican’s, the Democrats had nothing but praise for Gates despite his past which shows a very different picture than the, “pragmatist” we are being sold. Mr. Gates, while not coming from the school of the neo-cons, is no less a stranger to human rights violations or other criminal behavior.

For younger people today, the Contra scandal is considered old news and no longer relevant. This perception has been perpetuation by an A historic media that does no real analysis of any given situation. If they had, than we would hear considerably more about Robert Gate’s role in the scandal and thus, there might be much more scrutiny regarding this recent confirmation. 

For those recent victims of the American education system, The Contra scandal involved the  financing, arming and other direct dealings with the right wing narc group, the contras. They mostly worked out of  Nicaragua where they would transport cocaine into the United States. Several Reagan insiders either helped or worked directly with the drug smuggling operations, not the least of which was Oliver North, in return for the money which went towards the purchasing of the weapons that were sent to Iran. Much of the arms sales went through Con Air, the CIA’s personal airline. one of the over seers was Robert Gates who escaped jail time even though other Reaganites weren’t so lucky. As a result of the Central Intelligence Agencies dealings with the contras, the same group that were among the sworn enemies of the Sandinistas who had taken power by the late 1980s, the American embassy was attacked in Nicaragua by leftist troops. What is not reported in mainstream news is that, it was Gates who pushed for a retaliation. The backlash for the attack on the American base was an absolute bloodbath that spared few and included even the elderly, women and young children.

So this is the Robert Gates that we are now being sold, hardly a breath of fresh air and not exactly a huge difference from what one might expect from Rumsfeld.

What is being overshadowed in all this the Iraq study group report which lambasts Bush for his administrations shabby planning concerning the War in iraq.

For more on this story, you can checkout the link below. until next time.   

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Issues Surrounding Iraq

Issues Surrounding Iraq

As the year nears the end, the issues surrounding Iraq continue to heat up. On top of the list is what advice, if any, will George Bush accept from the Iraq study group? Right now most of those on the panel agree that U.S. forces should start to pull back and hand over control to the Iraqi government. As late as last week Bush has continued to state that he would not change policy in Iraq. This predetermined decision already gives us at least some insight into how seriously Bush will take any recommendations given by the panel. Let us not forget how Bush had ignored the majority of the recommendations by the 9/11 commission. In fact, the outcome of those hearings on 9/11 were laughable at best shameful and criminal at worst.  Then there is the issue concerning the Robert Gates hearings which begin today. Gates is Bush’s replacement for Donald Rumsfield as secretary of defense. Gates is no light weight when it comes to war crimes of human rights violations.

As mentioned above, George W. Bush has a history of ignoring recommendations made by panels. Again, no suggestions made by the 9/11 commission were accepted by the Bush administration outside of those that were clearly the most hawkish. However there are a few differences concerning the Iraq Study Group. First, unlike 2004, George Bush doesn’t have an approval rating 50% or better. Second, the backlash over the Iraq war has already left the Republican party scrabbling to pick up the pieces of their once great machine. And many of George W Bush’s comrades have been thrown overboard to the sharks, not the least of which is Tom Delay who was once referred to as the hammer but who is now getting nailed. So now George has far less room or “political capital” to cast aside any advise that could help save his political party or put him back in the good graces of those who still maintain their seats in Congress until January. There is allot of bad blood between the Congressional GOP members and those in the executive branch according to various sources. Much of this stems from the late exit of Donald Rumsfeld. But, with all this said, Bush still speaks as if we are still in December 2004 after the elections of that were finalized. This is worth keeping an eye on in the coming months. 

The great political mystery of this new century is, why in the hell are so many people open to Robert Gates? This is what some call national amnesia. In the 1980s he was linked to the Contra dealings that brought in enough cocaine into every US city to get every man woman and child high for weeks. He was also an overseer of the sales of the arms to Iran. Also, Mr. Gates advocated for the invasion of Nicaragua  in June 1987 which lead to the death of thousands in what turned out to be an absolute bloodbath. So if there is any chance that he gets accepted to his position look for a de-politicazion campaign to take attention off Iraq and at the same time increase the US violence in Iraq.

For more on this story checkout the link below. Until next time.

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While Bush Speaks Iraq slips Deeper Into Civil War

Despite the leaking of a Washington memo that stated that the Bush administration had lost faith in Nouri Al Maliki’s ability to stabilize Iraq, George W. gave  strong support to the to prime minister. The press conference comes one day after the two war beaten leaders met in Jordan to discuss the best way to bring peace in Iraq.  Whatever was discussed in that meeting, apparently Maliki is now once again, “The right man for the job.”  One must question the timing of these meetings however.   As mentioned earlier this week, Iraq has already fallen into a civil war and outside Baghdad, Nouri Maliki is completely irrelevant.

So, why the meeting? For George W. Bush, he saw his party collapse both in the house and in the Senate right before his eyes. He knows is last year has a squatter in the White house will a turbulent one. The Democrats will push for the creation of a time table and a quick withdraw of U.S. troops and, any new defense spending that resembles a bloated tick will be struck down before it even has a chance to make it to the floor. For Maliki, this is obviously is a move of desperation. He has no where else to turn at this point. While Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has promised to help anyway he can, it is questionable how much good they can do at this point. While Iran has much to lose as anyone else since they can’t afford to have a destabilized neighborhood on it’s border, their military would wind up being just another militia in the country and could only add to the problem. Don’t forget Maliki delayed the meeting but, found few other avenues to go down. And, the likely-hood of his of government  surviving is limited at best.

What about the leaked memo? The Washington memo that was leaked highly questioned Maliki’s ability to bring peace to Iraq and that Bush might consider negotiations with the Sunni militias. But, for such talks to begin, Al-Maliki must be removed, possible by a coup. While Bush and the other hawks in the White house continue to down play the memo, the thinking of the Bush administration has already been revealed.  It goes on to purpose the establishing of another Saddam style, “strong man.” Such plans at this late stage in the game is as hair brain as going to war in the first place.

For more on this story checkout the links below. Until next time.

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