My laughter still hasn't subsided from the last post. I told my research assistant, who happens to be an atheist, that many of his fellow non-believers were too dumb to recognize even the most blatant irony and satire. He refused to believe it, until he saw it with his own eyes. He's a believer now, at least in the fact that there are plenty of atheists who are as clueless as the most ignorant fundamentalist.

Now that I've established that beyond a reasonable doubt, it's time to move on to the latest political news. In his latest speech, Obama confidently declared that America's war in Iraq is a "distraction" from our involvement in Afghanistan.

Leave aside the problem that Obama's Iraq views and policy all seem formulated prior to actually finding out what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama is scheduled to go to Iraq later this month on a "fact finding mission." He will also visit Afghanistan for the first time. Couldn't Obama's wisdom on Iraq and Afghanistan have waited for what he might find when he's over there?

Liberal Democrats like Obama keep saying Iraq is the "distraction" when, from the point of view of the Islamic radicals, Iraq is absolutely crucial. Al Qaeda has publicly stressed that Iraq is the global center of the war on terror, the staging ground for the beginning of World War III.

Why is Iraq so important to Bin Laden? Because since 1979 the radical Muslims have controlled only one major Muslim country, and that is Iran. They are desperate to get their hands on a second one. They have already said that if they get Iraq, they will focus next on Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

For America, Iraq is crucial for a reason regularly stressed by real estate agents: Location, location, location. Here are the names of Iraq's neighbors: Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia. Is there any doubt how important it is to have a pro-American Muslim government (or even better, a pro-American Muslim democracy) in that neighborhood?

By contrast, it is Afghanistan that is quite frankly a "distraction." Afghanistan was chosen as the launching pad for the 9/11 attacks because the Taliban government provided rent-free accommodations there for the Al Qaeda training camps. It was essential for the U.S. to get rid of the Taliban, and I'm glad the international community is keeping an eye on the place to prevent a return of those fanatics. Even so, anyone who thinks Afghanistan is strategically more important than Iraq needs his head examined.

If Obama's dismissal of Iraq seems like the unserious speculation of a novice, McCain has shown the prudent judgment of a real statesman. When almost everyone was against the surge, McCain pushed it. It wasn't that Bush talked McCain into supporting the surge. The truth is actually the opposite: McCain sold it to Bush.

It is the surge that seems to have changed the facts on the ground, and that is a testament to McCain's political bravery and strategic far-sightedness. Let's hope Obama finds out what is really going on before he issues more pearls of unwisdom.

The sad man that is Mitt Romney, just got sadder by saying a vote for a democrat would be surrendering to terrorists. Alternet has video Mitt saying so.

I have a feeling fear will play a big role in the upcoming American election.

Thanks to Democratic Senator Russ Feingold - For a more lengthy explanation, Olberamann offered a special comment about FISA Thursday night.

via videosift.com

I thought this was a pretty good speech from Tim Ryan, problem is if you look at the first second of the clip...He's speaking to an empty room. Where is everybody?

- I love this guy, I watched this clip years ago and waited for something to happen, nothing did.

Bush is tearing through the Middle East and has finally stumbled upon the magical kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While Bush has been angering most of the western world the past seven years, it's countries like Saudi Arabia that have been kept happy.

Remember how happy Israel was when Bush delivered the $30 Billion worth in weapons, well Saudi Arabia is just as happy with the $20 Billion worth in weapons Bush is going to give them. Seriously, who the fuck gives George W Bush a medal?

The war drum is obviously beating. Bush is touring his Middle Eastern allies with gifts of weapons worth Billions and asking them to mobilize for war, during the same tour has been giving speeches about how evil and dangerous Iran is to the rest of the world. He wants another war, I am curious, are Americans going to support a third Bush war in the middle east? Or will you be cheering for Wexler tonight?

Another statistic to consider is a study West Point conducted recently, the results indicated that 41% of foreign fighters (terrorists, suicide bombers whatever you want to call em, those guys who attack Americans) in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia. There are actually more Moroccans fighting Americans in Iraq than Iranians! Sorry, this is all very insane to watch develop, so don't listen to me, here are some links, form an opinion.

Wapo: US Plans New Arms Sales to Gulf Allies - July 28th 07.
NYT: U.S. Plans Sale of 900 Missiles to Saudi Arabia -Jan 15th.
AP: Congress likely to OK Saudi arms deal - Jan 14th.
CNN - Impact of Saudi Arms deal - Jan 14th.
TDS - History of Arms sales - Jul 26th 07.

Below is a recent segment of PBS Newshour discussing the Bush Visit to Saudi Arabia.

In honour of Guantanamo Bay's sixth birthday (Happy Birthday GB!!) I've found a documentary that I am sure will serve as educational and interesting. Also this post comes day a few ex-detainees failed to sue Rumsfeld.

Guantanamo Bay is an interesting place, it's been under control by the USA thanks to a old treaties dating back to the Spanish/American war, The USA pays Castro roughly $4,000 a year to lease Guantanamo bay. Castro however has never cashed a single check because America has broken the treaty in so many ways Cuba now calls America's use of Guantanamo Bay an "Occupation."

Below is the Trailer, to watch the full length Docudrama click here and for synopsis and links visit this Wikipedia page.

/More January Docs

Blackwater security forces in Iraq, already in trouble for a September shooting incident that left 17 dead, is in the news again, this time for killing the New York Times's dog. Yes, that's right. The newspaper's dog. Blackwater doesn't deny the shooting, but says that the paper's dog attacked one of the company's bomb-sniffing dogs and that the handler was "forced to use a pistol."

Correspondent Alissa Rubin commented on the dog's life and death, as well as the State Department's decision to visit the compound twice to investigate the incident: "They were very solicitous and I thought took the incident very seriously. It's not a dog that everyone's close to in the compound. But it's a dog that's been around a long time. It lived its whole life there."

Dog stories tend to tug on heartstrings, and there's nothing fun about a story that ends with a dog being shot by a security guard. On the other hand, didn't Blackwater have an obligation to protect its bomb-sniffing canine employees?

Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich was one of just six representatives to vote against H.R.1955, which carries the heavy title "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007."

Dennis recently answered questions regarding his vote, and you can read all about it on indypendent.org.

"If you understand what his bill does, it really sets the stage for further criminalization of protest," Kucinich said. "This is the way our democracy little, by little, by little, is being stripped away from us. This bill, I believe, is a clear violation of the first amendment."

Kucinich referred to the bill as the "thought crime bill," when he explained in a joking fashion that, "We have freedom of speech. Thoughts, sometimes, proceed speech. There is usually a unity in thought, word and deed."

The bill would create a National Commission, who would be charged with the task making legislative recommendations on how to prevent, disrupt and mitigate violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism. Many activists, scholars and civil liberties experts are worried that in order to prevent an act of "homegrown terrorism," people who have radical or "extreme belief systems" would have to be monitored before a criminal act might occur. This, they surmise, would amount to unlawful surveillance of individuals who are critical to the Bush administration and those who hold power in the current economic and political system...Read More...

Amy Goodman spoke about this Bill on DemocracyNow.org, Part one is below, part two is here on youtube. Amy interviews Jessica Lee who wrote this column about the Bill for indypendent.org.

Here are some sad statistics to fathom, many young servicemen between the age of 20-24 are killing themselves at a rate much higher then the regular population. Smirkingchimp.com presents the data in this blunt fashion.

If we add the 6,256 suicide victims from 2005 to the "official" 3,865 reported combat casualties; we get a sum of 10,121. Even a low-ball estimate of similar 2004 and 2006 suicide figures, would mean that the total number of US casualties from the Iraq war now exceed 15,000...Read More on Smirkingchimp.com...

Here is the CBS report on this sad story.

I don't normally do this, but you have to read this article. It's the story of two people who worked high up in the Bush administration who witnessed the effort to start the Iraq War -- and then saw it again when it came to Iran. It's an amazing article with complete insight into how this Bush administration works.

Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld have done untold damage to our country. Iran had basically surrendered in 2003 and we refused to accept their surrender. Because we weren't interested in fighting terrorism or stopping their nuclear program. We were interested in their oil.

One last interesting thing you'll find in the article is that if they had done things right immediately following the Iraq invasion, interestingly, it could have had some positive results. Yes, the different ethnicities inside Iraq were always going to fight and we would have had this awful civil war and guerrilla warfare in the cities no matter what. And yes, it was a war of aggression, so it can never be justified. But if the administration had just played it a tiny bit right, we could have at least had complete capitulation by the Iranians. I would not have expected that and that could have at least been one very good benefit of the war. As it stands, we blew that, too.

The Young Turks

Talkingpointsmemo.org

I get more than enough emails informing me that because of my liberal views we will all be speaking Farsi soon and now I know where this fear might be coming from. We all have lived through the last six years and it's not hard to understand why people like Horowitz are scared. At the end of the day he just wants to get rid of terrorists, which is something I think we all can agree is a good idea, but I don't think blaming liberals is the best way to tackle this issue. To each their own, I guess, It just appears to me as a very odd way of dealing with this problem.

Well to mark the occasion I found some interesting links:
First...Horowitz' awareness website.
Thinkprogress has a CSPAN video.
Christopher Hitchens response article. - Defending the term Islamo-Fascism
The Nation - Forget Halloween it's Islamo-Fascism awareness week.
Alternet provides some awareness.
Ann Coulter will earn $25,000 for speaking this week.


Most importantly I want to share, once again, the Adam Curtis documentary "Power of Nightmares."

The films compare the rise of the American Neo-Conservative movement and the radical Islamist movement, making comparisons on their origins and noting strong similarities between the two. More controversially, it argues that the threat of radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organised force of destruction, specifically in the form of al-Qaeda, is in fact a myth perpetrated by politicians in many countries-and particularly American Neo-Conservatives-in an attempt to unite and inspire their people following the failure of earlier, more utopian ideologies...Read More Wikipedia...

...It's also Breast Cancer awareness month...save the boobies.

Sometimes my favourite TDS clips are those that mock the way the news is presented. Stewart presents a few "showdown Iraq" news intros from earlier in the decade, then puts them up against a mock "showdown Finland" graphic just to show that you can introduce terror to any country.

The point, I think, is when they show the "showdown Iran" graphic as evidence that the media is up to their old tricks again.

I am always interested in the latest news about torture and the New York Times recently published an interesting column on the subject. Jon Stewart read it and offers this analysis:

Here is Bush's statement from Oct 5th.
Here is Blitzer interviewing Homeland Security adviser Fran Townsend.
Here is Press Secretary Dana Perino answering questions about Torture.
All slapped together into this nifty videoroll.

For another interesting video about torture, here is the Frontline Documentary The Torture Question:

Cameramen Rick Rowley goes into sections of Anbar where no cameraman has gone before.

Big Noise Films

The US military's progress report on Iraq is in and it's mostly bad news. But there is one unexpected success story: in the heartland of the Sunni Insurgency, a group of tribes has joined with the Americans to fight Al Qaeda. The Americans report that attacks on US forces have dropped dramatically and claim that life is beginning to return to normal. The leader and symbol of this movement that the Americans claim is rapidly securing Anbar province is a sheik named Sattar Abu Risha.

But is Abu Risha all he claims to be?

Additional literature to supplement the video:
CTV.ca, Sept. 13th 07:Roadside bomb kills key Sunni leader (Abu Risha) in Iraq
Alternet.org:The insurgents who were shooting at U.S. troops six months ago are now on the payroll.
Greg Palast: Bush's Fake Sheik Whacked: The Surge and the Al Qaeda Bunny

A large anti-war rally was held in Washington over the weekend. Organizers estimate around 10,000 people showed up, but interestingly authorities do not count crowds anymore so there is no official number.

CSPAN fed most of the rally, including speeches by Cindy Sheehan, Ramsey Clark and even a pro iraq war guy who jumped the ropes to reach the mic.

But without further adieu, here is Ralph Nader, former Presidential candidate from the Green Party, who calls the democrats spineless for not impeaching. He also noted that America is one of the few developed countries not to sign the Anti-Cluster bomb treaty (China, Russia and Israel are the others) - a strong message to the world that the USA means business in the war department. I guess this would be a relevant time to mention that the USA also didn't sign the anti-landmine treaty 10 years ago.