Invading Iraq and
misleading the American people, Bush has launched the most foolish war
in over 2000 years since Emperor Augustus in 9 B.C sent his legions into Germany and lost
them.
The number of American casualties in Iraq is now well more than 2,000,
and there is no end in sight. Some two-thirds of Americans, according
to the polls, believe the war to have been a mistake. And congressional
elections are just around the corner.
What had to come, has come. The question is no longer if American
forces will be withdrawn, but how soon — and at what cost. In this
respect, as in so many others, the obvious parallel to Iraq is Vietnam.
For
misleading the American people, and launching the most foolish war
since Emperor Augustus in 9 B.C sent his legions into Germany and lost
them, Bush deserves to be impeached and, once he has been removed from
office, put on trial along with the rest of the president's men. If
convicted, they'll have plenty of time to mull over their sins.
First and foremost, such a presence will be needed to counter Iran,
which for two decades now has seen the United States as "the Great
Satan." Tehran is certain to emerge as the biggest winner from the war
— a winner that in the not too distant future is likely to add nuclear
warheads to the missiles it already has. In the past, Tehran has often
threatened the Gulf States. Now that Iraq is gone, it is hard to see
how anybody except the United States can keep the Gulf States, and
their oil, out of the mullahs' clutches.
A continued American military presence will be needed also, because a
divided, chaotic, government-less Iraq is very likely to become a
hornets' nest. From it, a hundred mini-Zarqawis will spread all over
the Middle East, conducting acts of sabotage and seeking to overthrow
governments in Allah's name.
No,
that isn't a quote from some wild-eyed lefty, that was a quote from an
article by "Martin van Creveld, a professor of military history at the
Hebrew University, [who] is author of Transformation of War (Free Press, 1991). He is the only non-American author on the U.S. Army's required reading list for officers."
Read
the whole article. It is cogent and educated and smart and credible. I
expect numerous personal attacks on Professor van Creveld to be
launched by the neo-con chickenhawks shortly.
Maintaining an American security presence in the region, not to mention
withdrawing forces from Iraq, will involve many complicated problems,
military as well as political. Such an endeavor, one would hope, will
be handled by a team different from — and more competent than — the one
presently in charge of the White House and Pentagon.
Al Jazeera is a hell of a lot more professional news organization than
Fox News, and it knows a hell of a lot more about the value of freedom
of speech. It's only the parochial idiots that populate parts of
America that think they know more than everyone else in the world.
DON'T BOMB US....In the ever expanding blogosphere, the latest entry is a blog from several Al Jazeera staffers titled, appropriately, "Don't Bomb Us." Here are five things they would like you to know:
1. Al Jazeera was the first Arab station to ever broadcast interviews with Israeli officials.
2. Al Jazeera has never broadcast a beheading.
3. George W. Bush has recieved approximately 500 hours of airtime, while Bin Laden has received about 5 hours of airtime.
4. Over 50 million people across the world watch Al Jazeera.
For what it's worth, item #4 is really the only one
that matters. After all, whatever war it is that we're fighting, it's
obvious that it's primarily a war of ideas — and the only way to win that
war is via persuasion. Al Jazeera's 50 million viewers are our core
audience for our ideas, and bombing their headquarters sure isn't going
to do anything to get those viewers on our side.
In any case, "Don't Bomb Us" is your one stop shop for all news
about George Bush's alleged desire to reduce Al Jazeera's headquarters
to rubble. Check it out.
Is Al Jazeera is the main propaganda outlet for the other side in this war?
Actually, the main propaganda outlet for the Islamist radicals and
Iraqi rebels is the Bush regime. From the talk of "crusades" to the
invasion of Iraq to Guantanamo Bay to the Abu Ghraib videos Bush and
his henchmen are busy working day and night to incite even more Muslims
to take up al Qaeda's cause.
As I've explained before, this was all a terrible misunderstanding:Bush never said he wanted to bomb Al-Jazeera, he may have just wanted to get
bombed on alcohol.
Votes are valuable, and each voter should have the knowledge-and the
confidence-that his or her vote was recorded and counted as intended.
Electronic voting has returned us to the bad old days of ballot-box stuffing and vote-rigging, when it didn't
matter who voted as long as the right-- i.e., connected -- people did the counting. Even if you don't think there
was monkey business with the votes in Ohio last year (and the number of people who still believe those votes were
counted fair and square is steadily diminishing), you have to acknowledge that electronic balloting without a
verifiable paper trail creates a wide-open door for all kinds of election fraud.
That's why everybody -- Democrat, Republican, Green, Socialist or whatever -- should stand with New Jersey's own
Rep. Rush Holt, one of the smartest guys in Congress, and sign the "Voter Confidence Petition" in support of the
Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, or H.R. 550.
This link will give you your info, but here's what the
bill (which is stalled in committee) would do in a nutshell:
* Mandate a voter-verified paper ballot for every vote cast in every federal election,
nationwide (because the voter verified paper record is the only one verified by the voters themselves, rather than by
the machines, it will serve as the vote of record in any case of inconsistency with electronic records);
* Protect the accessibility requirements of the Help America Vote Act for voters with disabilities;
* Require random, unannounced, hand-count audits of actual election results in every state, and in each county,
for every Federal election;
* Prohibit the use of undisclosed software and wireless and concealed communications devices and Internet connections in voting
machines;
* Provide Federal funding to pay for implementation of voter verified paper balloting;
And most importantly . . .
* Require full implementation by 2006
-- the election the Republicans are most worried about. Not that I'm
implying the GOP would be tempted even the slightest bit to put its
trunk
on the scale. Heavens to Betsy, I wouldn't dream of even suggesting such a thing. That's why I'm confident we'll
see support for this bill extending well beyond the Democratic side of the room. Otherwise I might have to think
uncharitable thoughts about Republicans! Goodness gracious, we don't want that to happen, so by all means
click here and do your bit for democracy.
It's sad that we even have to talk about why it's important to have an auditable voting system in this country.
It's even worse that there's a need for legislation to mandate a paper trail.
It's practically criminal that any member of Congress should oppose
such basic, fundamental principles about election integrity and the
people's right for a vote to count. The lack of Republican support for
HR 550 says it all.
Mr. Six, that freakishly festive old bald guy (actually, probably not old) with the oversized glasses and bad makeup is won't be invading our televisions again with his manic dancing and annoying "We Like to Party" song.
Now new owners will have finally put him to rest. He's
not an appealing character, and he would seem to frighten some
children. (He frightens some adults.)
Mr. Six memorabilia flies off the shelves. The look-alike contests draw
hundreds. He has his own roller coaster, Mr. Six's Pandemonium. All in
all, Mr. Six has been a huge, if annoying, success. Despite this, Dan Snyder, who took control of Six Flags amusement parks along with two partners yesterday, plans to force the old spokesgeezer into retirement, the New York Post
reports. Apparently, Snyder and his team want to shift the primary
marketing focus from thrill-seeking teenagers to mothers with young
children.
Electronic voting has returned us to the bad old days of ballot-box stuffing and vote-rigging, when it didn't
matter who voted as long as the right-- i.e., connected -- people did the counting. Even if you don't think there
was monkey business with the votes in Ohio last year (and the number of people who still believe those votes were
counted fair and square is steadily diminishing), you have to acknowledge that electronic balloting without a
verifiable paper trail creates a wide-open door for all kinds of election fraud.
