When the democrats proposed about $100 billion for our troops in Iraq in a bill, the president said it was undermining the troops because it was on the condition that those same troops would have to be back home with their friends and families by Christmas of next year. Also, the president said in a speech recently that "we need to put partisan politics aside to come together to enact important legislation for the American people." And also he said, "Members of Congress now face a choice: whether they will waste time and provoke an unnecessary confrontation, or whether they will join us in working to do the people's business."
These accusations of partisanship are complete bullshit. It seems like the president doesn't enjoy the American democratic political system when his party isn't controlling the entire country. God forbid there be checks and balances within our government where the people checking on the other branches aren't party loyal. Why should the democrats "join" the cause for war? What makes this political system great is that there are differences of opinion and no one party controls everything. It looks like George doesn't like his first taste of democracy when it isn't spoon-fed to him by the Republican Dynasty. But then again, it is good that he has become well-acquainted with democracy seeing as that is what we are fighting for in Iraq isn't it? Or was it oil? Oh well, I can't remember. And as for that last part of his quote; since when was the Bush Administration concerned with "the people's business"? Enough said about that.
Now I feel that it is important to note the capture of 15 Britons from the HMS Cornwall in disputed Iranian waters. Because the waters these members of the British Royal Navy were captured in by Iranian boarder patrols is still disputed as to whether it is Iraqi territory or Iranian, I can't say that their capture was justified or not. Though, even an Iraqi military commander has said that the location of the 15 Britons was in Iranian waters when taken prisoner. Since then, Iran has made their usual threats against all those who would threaten them. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that if the U.S. and/or our allies "treat us with threats and enforcement of coercion and violence, undoubtedly they must know that the Iranian nation and authorities will use all their capacities to strike enemies that attack."
Okay, okay...enough of the big bad tough guy crap. I can only hope that the leaders of Iran and Western nations will not act too rash and keep the safety of those 15 Britons in mind at all times. Conflict is something that can easily be avoided if both parties behave to the standards expected of those elected to positions of their political stature. In closing, conflict is something that has plagued that region of the world for far too long and if peace is ever going to take root in the sands of the middle east, it must begin now.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
That's Not Toilet Paper, George!
Today, the House passed a bill forcing the president to bring troops home by 2008. Of course, our president has vowed to veto that bill. And in a shameless act of "theater"(which he claimed the democrats had been conducting in the passing of this bill), the president made his speech flanked by war veterans and their families. He continued to use the term "war on terror" when in fact this is a war in Iraq that has become over the months a civil war. The real war on terror is being waged by this administration against its own people to frighten us into supporting its radical ideals. And again, he claimed throughout the speech that this bill bringing troops home is undermining them and not supporting their cause. We do support the troops and that is why we don't want to waste their valor and lives in a war that is strictly for profit and was mismanaged by this administration. The undermining of our troops is when our president sends them to fight simply to try to save face in a war that was based on lies and deceit to the American people.
I will say that the show the president put on today was very entertaining. He himself was guilty of putting on a spectacle for the people with his veteran guests and his twists of words to make it seem like he is trying to supply our troops with vital resources and the democrats are slowly suffocating them. These resources are in the form of soldiers--not weapons, food, equipment all up to the standards they should be. I hope people do not believe the bullshit that spews out of his mouth and actually research what this bill is and what it is the president is doing. This whole, "If you're not with me then you're not a patriot" crap is getting old and people are starting to open their eyes to what is really happening in Iraq and what this administration has done to corrupt American politics.
Bush even said that, "if congress does not approve the emergency funding for our troops by April 15, our men and women in uniform will face significant disruptions and so will their families." Now if this isn't seen as an indirect threat on our troops then you aren't opening your eyes. These disruptions they will face are the fault of this administration in their lack of care toward our troops in the early phases of the war including the very basis for going to war that was a deceit to the people from the very beginning. He is placing the blame of this war on the democrats and that is plane bullshit. I do, however, wish the democrats would grow a pair of balls and fight back these accusations and slanderous remarks that undermine their just cause. Stop playing dead when the Bush Administration is constantly bashing you!
I suspect that Bush will wipe his ass with this bill just as he has done with our Bill of Rights. Our politicians need to cut their party alliances and look out for the interests of the American people and not their own. This war needs diplomacy, not a military. Guns don't solve problems, people solve problems!
I will say that the show the president put on today was very entertaining. He himself was guilty of putting on a spectacle for the people with his veteran guests and his twists of words to make it seem like he is trying to supply our troops with vital resources and the democrats are slowly suffocating them. These resources are in the form of soldiers--not weapons, food, equipment all up to the standards they should be. I hope people do not believe the bullshit that spews out of his mouth and actually research what this bill is and what it is the president is doing. This whole, "If you're not with me then you're not a patriot" crap is getting old and people are starting to open their eyes to what is really happening in Iraq and what this administration has done to corrupt American politics.
Bush even said that, "if congress does not approve the emergency funding for our troops by April 15, our men and women in uniform will face significant disruptions and so will their families." Now if this isn't seen as an indirect threat on our troops then you aren't opening your eyes. These disruptions they will face are the fault of this administration in their lack of care toward our troops in the early phases of the war including the very basis for going to war that was a deceit to the people from the very beginning. He is placing the blame of this war on the democrats and that is plane bullshit. I do, however, wish the democrats would grow a pair of balls and fight back these accusations and slanderous remarks that undermine their just cause. Stop playing dead when the Bush Administration is constantly bashing you!
I suspect that Bush will wipe his ass with this bill just as he has done with our Bill of Rights. Our politicians need to cut their party alliances and look out for the interests of the American people and not their own. This war needs diplomacy, not a military. Guns don't solve problems, people solve problems!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Thinking Outside The Traditional Democratic Model
Iraq is facing an interesting problem that the world has never come across: a need for a new breed of democracy. Now this is just my opinion but hear me out (after all, this whole blog is my opinion). The Kurds in the northern region of Iraq make up about 20% of the total population. The Sunnis make up another 20% in the west. And the Shiites make up about 60% of the population toward the southeast. With oil only in the Kurdish region and the Shiite region, if the country were to break up into their religious factions, the Sunnis would have no access to waterways nor oil--only sand. And with the Sunni countries bordering on the west and the Shiite nation of Iran bordering on the east, no one religious group will be allowed total domination of the government. So this is not simply religion but geography playing a role in Iraq. And here we are stuck in the middle of this mess with our finger in the dike so to speak.
What might need to happen is that a new form of democracy emerges from the ashes of this highly theocratic civil war. This new form of democracy must take into account the importance of faith intertwined with power; something we did not have a problem with when this country was founded. The Iraqis don't even see political parties; they see religious sects and differences of faith. If any one faith dominated the political power scene in Iraq, the other group would use their violent tactics they are displaying now to win back that power. I believe that what needs to happen in the democratic government of Iraq is that each group of people--the Kurds, the Sunnis and the Shiites--have an equal number of seats within their government. The people can vote on which representatives they wish to have a seat but no one group will outnumber the other. With this system, or one similar, no group can dominate over another, all voices will be weighed the same and decisions will have to be made for the better of Iraq and not any one group.
A government like this one would ensure a checks-and-balances system stays intact. We have seen to our dismay what can happen when one group controls all branches of government and polarizes politics to where party loyalty is valued over the interests of the majority. A democratic system along these principles is what is needed in Iraq if Iraq is ever going to leave this civil war behind and progress. This war was not conventional and neither will be the rebuilding of it. Precedents have been made thus far and will continue to be made in Iraq's future. And only when taking into account the uniquely different situation Iraq poses to the democratic process will a democracy flourish in that country. The military has served its purpose, for better or worse, and now diplomacy must be given a chance. It is time to end the war and begin the rebuilding.
What might need to happen is that a new form of democracy emerges from the ashes of this highly theocratic civil war. This new form of democracy must take into account the importance of faith intertwined with power; something we did not have a problem with when this country was founded. The Iraqis don't even see political parties; they see religious sects and differences of faith. If any one faith dominated the political power scene in Iraq, the other group would use their violent tactics they are displaying now to win back that power. I believe that what needs to happen in the democratic government of Iraq is that each group of people--the Kurds, the Sunnis and the Shiites--have an equal number of seats within their government. The people can vote on which representatives they wish to have a seat but no one group will outnumber the other. With this system, or one similar, no group can dominate over another, all voices will be weighed the same and decisions will have to be made for the better of Iraq and not any one group.
A government like this one would ensure a checks-and-balances system stays intact. We have seen to our dismay what can happen when one group controls all branches of government and polarizes politics to where party loyalty is valued over the interests of the majority. A democratic system along these principles is what is needed in Iraq if Iraq is ever going to leave this civil war behind and progress. This war was not conventional and neither will be the rebuilding of it. Precedents have been made thus far and will continue to be made in Iraq's future. And only when taking into account the uniquely different situation Iraq poses to the democratic process will a democracy flourish in that country. The military has served its purpose, for better or worse, and now diplomacy must be given a chance. It is time to end the war and begin the rebuilding.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
You Can't Spell Toil Without Oil
With absolute corruption plaguing the Bush Administration, new tactics are being used by the Democrats to battle the White House. Many Democrats are calling for more prosecutions in the cases of Iraq contractors misusing government funds. Contractors have taken around $10 billion in suspect charges and some contractors are being found to have been given contracts in exchange for either cash or luxury items from corrupt U.S. officials. Dick Cheney's Halliburton comes to mind when I think of corrupt contractors and alternative motives within politics for personal profit. This entire war has been mismanaged to a point where war profiteering has seeped into the cracks that this administration has left wide open.
As if more corruption within the Bush Administration was unfathomable, the latest subpoenas planned on being issued to key White House officials for their testimony under oath have been threatened by the president as a "partisan fishing expedition". Bush said that allowing this testimony "would harm the presidency as an institution." Sorry, George, you took care of that long ago. The presidency now is nothing more than the CEO position of the world's most powerful corporation filled with corruption and shame. It will take a lot to get the American people to place their trust in the government again thanks to this presidency which has led this country down the same hole Bush led all of his pre-political endeavors.
Bush was also very regrettable against the decision of Democrats to issue subpoenas even though he had allowed for key officials to speak off the record. Let's face it...nearly everyone in the Bush Administration has been found to have lied at one point or another. If there is really nothing to hide, then why fight putting it on the record under oath? Or are they afraid of another obstruction of justice trial in the wake of the Scooter Libby case?
Meanwhile, back in that little corner of the world we call Iraq, it is being reported that children are being used as a means of getting suicide bombers through checkpoints and then killed. If this is true and not just pro-war propaganda, then these atrocities show plainly how desperately and to what ends these people want us out of their country. If we really wish to end these horrific crimes, perhaps we should listen to their pleas for independence and leave. I am not condoning using children in these attacks at all. I am simply saying, what would drive people to do such things? We don't belong in this civil war and our presence is only giving the Iraqis a common enemy to fight and that is us.
End the corruption and we can end this war. The real war on terrorism in Afghanistan has been forged, fought and forgotten while we fight for profit in Iraq under the false pretenses that the terrorists were there first. We are the terrorists in Iraq when you consider how we invaded and attempted to reform their country in our image for no other reason in the end than to be an economic ally for oil consumption. I for one have trouble filling up my gas tank with the blood of our soldiers. We pay at the pump with our patriotism. Please insert card, swipe and remove.
As if more corruption within the Bush Administration was unfathomable, the latest subpoenas planned on being issued to key White House officials for their testimony under oath have been threatened by the president as a "partisan fishing expedition". Bush said that allowing this testimony "would harm the presidency as an institution." Sorry, George, you took care of that long ago. The presidency now is nothing more than the CEO position of the world's most powerful corporation filled with corruption and shame. It will take a lot to get the American people to place their trust in the government again thanks to this presidency which has led this country down the same hole Bush led all of his pre-political endeavors.
Bush was also very regrettable against the decision of Democrats to issue subpoenas even though he had allowed for key officials to speak off the record. Let's face it...nearly everyone in the Bush Administration has been found to have lied at one point or another. If there is really nothing to hide, then why fight putting it on the record under oath? Or are they afraid of another obstruction of justice trial in the wake of the Scooter Libby case?
Meanwhile, back in that little corner of the world we call Iraq, it is being reported that children are being used as a means of getting suicide bombers through checkpoints and then killed. If this is true and not just pro-war propaganda, then these atrocities show plainly how desperately and to what ends these people want us out of their country. If we really wish to end these horrific crimes, perhaps we should listen to their pleas for independence and leave. I am not condoning using children in these attacks at all. I am simply saying, what would drive people to do such things? We don't belong in this civil war and our presence is only giving the Iraqis a common enemy to fight and that is us.
End the corruption and we can end this war. The real war on terrorism in Afghanistan has been forged, fought and forgotten while we fight for profit in Iraq under the false pretenses that the terrorists were there first. We are the terrorists in Iraq when you consider how we invaded and attempted to reform their country in our image for no other reason in the end than to be an economic ally for oil consumption. I for one have trouble filling up my gas tank with the blood of our soldiers. We pay at the pump with our patriotism. Please insert card, swipe and remove.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
The Cliff Is Nearing
In the latest poll taken in Iraq, the number of people who say that their lives are going well are 39%, 18% feel no confidence in U.S. and coalition troops and 51% (a majority) feel that the violence against U.S. troops is acceptable. Does this sound like a country that wants our military presence within its boarders? There is little I can say about this poll because it pretty much speaks for itself. And anyone who looks at these statistics and can twist them into a rally for more troops is insane and probably somewhere in the White House right now.
In a recent quote from George W. Bush, he addressed the growing concern about Iraq and our presence there, "The terrorists could emerge from the chaos with a safe haven in Iraq to replace the one they had in Afghanistan which they used to plan the attacks of September 11, 2001."
The terrorists wouldn't be emerging from the chaos in Iraq, George, if we had stayed in Afghanistan! Even now, the president cannot see the disastrous error he made in taking this country to war with Iraq. He lead the terrorists to a new stronghold with new recruits and new reasons to hate America. This country is not a safer place now. In fact, we are more at risk of an attack because of this war. If we spent half of the money going into the war in Iraq on security at home, then we would be safer.
Even when asked if "Mr. Bush was still 'optimistic'," reported NBC's David Gregory. "he suggested that 'determined' might be a better term to use." Is this the man who this country should be following? Someone who isn't even optimistic about the war in Iraq but admitting to being rather determined? Are we to be lemmings over a fucking cliff? This is ridiculous! How can people confidently stand behind the president when he has finally even admitted to the fact that this war is being run into the ground through sheer determination. I could push on a brick wall for the rest of my life through sheer determination and that doesn't make it any more noble nor any more possible that the outcome will be anything other than going nowhere!
The time has long since passed when we must break off from the course before it leads us into an even harder hole to climb out of. If you are still in support of the president and the war in Iraq at this point, just jump off the cliff on your own and leave America out of your suicidal agenda.
In a recent quote from George W. Bush, he addressed the growing concern about Iraq and our presence there, "The terrorists could emerge from the chaos with a safe haven in Iraq to replace the one they had in Afghanistan which they used to plan the attacks of September 11, 2001."
The terrorists wouldn't be emerging from the chaos in Iraq, George, if we had stayed in Afghanistan! Even now, the president cannot see the disastrous error he made in taking this country to war with Iraq. He lead the terrorists to a new stronghold with new recruits and new reasons to hate America. This country is not a safer place now. In fact, we are more at risk of an attack because of this war. If we spent half of the money going into the war in Iraq on security at home, then we would be safer.
Even when asked if "Mr. Bush was still 'optimistic'," reported NBC's David Gregory. "he suggested that 'determined' might be a better term to use." Is this the man who this country should be following? Someone who isn't even optimistic about the war in Iraq but admitting to being rather determined? Are we to be lemmings over a fucking cliff? This is ridiculous! How can people confidently stand behind the president when he has finally even admitted to the fact that this war is being run into the ground through sheer determination. I could push on a brick wall for the rest of my life through sheer determination and that doesn't make it any more noble nor any more possible that the outcome will be anything other than going nowhere!
The time has long since passed when we must break off from the course before it leads us into an even harder hole to climb out of. If you are still in support of the president and the war in Iraq at this point, just jump off the cliff on your own and leave America out of your suicidal agenda.
Monday, March 19, 2007
The Bush Administration Has Gone Green!
Benjamin Franklin may be the only person on the face of our U.S. currency who has never been a U.S. president, but he is more powerful in his wallet-sized form than any of our presidents were in the flesh.
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