Posted by James O'Rourke on March 30, 2008
The Smart Way Out of a Foolish War
By Zbigniew Brzezinski
Sunday, March 30, 2008; Page B03
Both Democratic presidential candidates agree that the United States should end its combat mission in Iraq within 12 to 16 months of their possible inauguration. The Republican candidate has spoken of continuing the war, even for a hundred years, until “victory.” The core issue of this campaign is thus a basic disagreement over the merits of the war and the benefits and costs of continuing it.
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Posted by James O'Rourke on March 29, 2008
Published on AfterDowningStreet.org (http://www.afterdowningstreet.org)
Time Is Not On Our Side
By davidswanson
Created 2008-03-29 03:50
By John Bruhns, Huffington Post [1]
It doesn’t take the world’s greatest prognosticator to predict that Iraq’s future is indeed ominous. Most people with half a brain or a shred of common sense can view the current situation in Iraq and conclude that George W. Bush’s dream for Iraq/transforming the Middle East will never be a reality.
Even before the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the arrogance and incompetence of the Bush administration put us and the Iraqi people on a path to failure.
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Posted by James O'Rourke on March 29, 2008
IRAQ CRISIS THREATENS BUSH-PETRAEUS ‘SURGE’ STRATEGY AS BANKRUPT
• Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2008-03-29 16:49. Petraeus
By Tom HaydenCentral to the Bush-Petraeus Iraq strategy is to pacify and confuse American public opinion during the 2008 elections, an approach Gen. Petraeus calls “slowing down the American clock” to gain time for the counterinsurgency to continue. This week’s events in Basra suggest that US strategy is collapsing amidst its own contradictions.This is the most important opportunity for critics to question the “surge” since it began last year.Here is what is happening. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by James O'Rourke on March 29, 2008
Published on AfterDowningStreet.org (http://www.afterdowningstreet.org)
CONSERVATIVE MAGAZINE BLASTS BUSH OIL POLICY IN IRAQ WAR
By davidswanson
Created 2008-03-29 17:05
By Sherwood Ross
Just in case you think all conservatives are cheering on President Bush for persisting in his war against Iraq, I call to your attention the March 10th cover story of “The American Conservative” magazine, titled, “Oil For War.” Accompanying the drawing of a fuel hose pumping gasoline into the desert sands, which is what the Pentagon is doing at a fabulous clip, there are two telling subheads: “Fuel Imported Into Iraq—3 million gallons/day” and “Cost to the U.S.–$929 million/week.”
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Posted by James O'Rourke on March 29, 2008
Published on AfterDowningStreet.org (http://www.afterdowningstreet.org)
Hillary Clinton’s Iraq Speech at GWU: An Annotated Critique
By davidswanson
Created 2008-03-29 17:06
By Stephen Zunes
On March 17, New York Senator and Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton gave a s peech at George Washington University outlining her plans to de-escalate U.S. military involvement in Iraq. Though she called for the gradual withdrawal of U.S. combat brigades over the next several years, she continued to refuse to apologize for her 2002 vote authorizing the invasion, to acknowledge the illegality of the war, or to fully explain her false claims made at that time regarding Iraq’s military capabilities and alleged ties to al-Qaeda. She also appears to still accept many of the Bush administration’s rationales and misinterpretations of the U.S. occupation and its consequences and continues nor has she been able to offer an explanation as to what led to her dramatic shift from a supporter of the ongoing war and occupation as recently as a year and a half ago to her current more critical perspective.
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Posted by James O'Rourke on March 28, 2008
Published on AfterDowningStreet.org (http://www.afterdowningstreet.org)
The Check Is In the Mail (Or Not)
By davidswansonCreated 2008-03-28 20:44
On this page you will find 99 candidates (incumbent and challengers) for the House, Senate, and White House who support impeaching Cheney and (in most cases) Bush: http://afterdowningstreet.org/2008candidates [1]Please send one or more of them a campaign check, with the words “Impeach Bush and Cheney” in the memo line. But before you mail it, photocopy it and send a copy to 1) Nancy Pelosi, 2) John Conyers, and 3) Your congress member if he or she is not on board. Give small amounts, but give often and spread the message around.
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Posted by James O'Rourke on March 28, 2008
Seattle PI – Burner Announces Iraq Plan
“Ending the war in Iraq calls for diplomatic and economic approaches instead of a military solution, Eastsider Darcy Burner said Monday in leading a group of fellow Democratic congressional challengers announcing a peace plan.”
The plan was developed by Darcy Burner and retired Army Major General Paul Eaton, with input from others, and was released at the Take Back America conference in Washington D.C. on Monday, March 17th.
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Posted by James O'Rourke on March 27, 2008
Justanothercoverup.com
Think “The Surge is Working? Think Again!
March 18th, 2008 ·
Baghdad: City of WallsTimothy V. Gatto
I watched “Baghdad, City of Walls” on the Real News Network today. I was impressed by the journalist that made the documentary and I wished that the MSM would carry the video. No sooner had I sat down and watched CNN for Barak Obama’s speech, than they broadcast what I had so recently seen on The Real News. http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1171&thisview=item
And http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1170&thisview=item
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Posted by James O'Rourke on March 27, 2008
Bush Says War’s Outcome ‘Will Merit the Sacrifice’
President and Petraeus Discuss Strategy as the U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Rises to 4,000
By Karen DeYoung and Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, March 25, 2008; Page A01
As the American military death toll in Iraq reached 4,000, President Bush conferred yesterday with top U.S. officials in Washington and in Baghdad and vowed in a public statement that the outcome of the war “will merit the sacrifice.”
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Posted by James O'Rourke on March 27, 2008
INTELLIGENCE
Estimates to Undergo More Scrutiny
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 26, 2008; Page A17
After attracting repeated controversy, a premier product of the nation’s intelligence community — the National Intelligence Estimate — is getting a makeover by senior intelligence officials to improve its credibility.
The estimates, produced periodically on hot-button issues such as Iraqi or Iranian weapons of mass destruction programs, are to be subjected to special internal reviews before they are finished, during which the reliability of each source of information will be examined anew, according to Thomas Fingar, deputy director of national intelligence for analysis.
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Posted by James O'Rourke on March 27, 2008
Posted in *Economy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by James O'Rourke on March 27, 2008
Bill Clinton said Wednesday his family doesn’t like to quit. (AP Photo) (CNN) — Bill Clinton took aim at critics of his wife Hillary Clinton Wednesday, adding that “if a politician doesn’t wanna get beat up, he shouldn’t run for office.” “If a politician doesn’t wanna get beat up, he shouldn’t run for office,” the former president said in Parkersburg, West Virginia. “If a football player doesn’t want to get tackled or want the risk of an occasional clip he shouldn’t put the pads on.” “Clipping” is an illegal football maneuver where an offensive player blocks a defensive player from behind, or below the waist.March 27, 2008
Posted: 09:00 AM ET
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