First are all those who fight global warming.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6575717.stm

Last Updated: Friday, 20 April 2007, 12:51 GMT 13:51 UK Despair Despair stalks Baghdad as plan falters

By Andrew North
BBC News, Baghdad

So far, their surge seems to be having more effect than the American one.

Last month alone there were more than 100 car bombings, and the number of attacks has continued at a similar rate so far this month. This indicates a high level of organisation.

This despite the fact that there are many extra US and Iraqi troops in the city now. There are more raids and patrols.

On our drive into the city, we encountered several Iraqi army checkpoints. But almost every vehicle - including ours - was being waved through.

Many new checkpoints have been set up across Baghdad.

But what is their purpose, many Iraqis ask, when they seem to stop so few people?

It is not always encouraging when they do - a couple of times we have been pulled over by Iraqi soldiers who ask us if we have any bullets to give them.

Optimism fading

Just a month ago there was a cautious - very cautious, but still real - sense of optimism among many Baghdadis that the plan was starting to work.

...

But there is a deadly and familiar equation here.

With official security forces apparently unable to protect Shia communities, pressure is growing on the militias to do so again.

And there are signs their death squads have returned to work. The body count is creeping up again. Twenty were found yesterday.

Dealing with the car bomb is "our top priority", says US military spokesman Lt Col Chris Garver.

But as ever it is a game of cat and mouse, played with insurgents who are "very adaptive", and very well-funded.

A man arrested by US soldiers after placing a truck bomb which failed to go off told interrogators he had been paid $30,000 (£15,000) for the task.

Lt Col Garver says the US believes it is up against several "car bombing networks".

"If there was just one, we might be able to pull the string and unravel it," he says.

People still have to be patient, he warns, adding a note of optimism.

"We are still not fully staffed," he says - there are another two months to go until all the extra US troops are in Baghdad.

Exhaustion

But there is frustration too among the Americans at the Iraqi government's lack of progress on reconciliation - ultimately the only solution to the conflict, most believe.

Key issues include the need to implement a new law on sharing oil revenues, an amnesty programme and limiting the scope of the de-Baathification process. All of these are crucial to winning over Sunnis.

The idea was that the security drive in Baghdad would create "space" for such efforts to get going. But although new laws have been drafted they are a long way from being approved.

...

Exhaustion and despair hang over the country.

And there are no signs of change.

well, folks, today I took the plunge: i donated to John Edwards' campaign, and it brought a smile to my face!

...

+++

Jean -

I'm glad you found someone to support amongst the declared candidates.

John Edwards is an excellent democrat whose "Two Americas" is so right on the mark (ie. Wall Street is zoom, zooming whilst Main Street is sputtering).

I'm glad he's back in this presidential cycle again.  

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070424/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

BAGHDAD - In one of the deadliest attacks on American ground forces since the Iraq war started more than four years ago, a suicide car bomber struck a patrol base northeast of Baghdad and killed nine U.S. soldiers and wounded 20, officials said.

LETTER TO TODAY'S NYT

I could not agree more with Frank Rich (“Iraq Is the Ultimate Aphrodisiac,” column, April 22) about the president’s rushing to Blacksburg, Va., to be the nation’s mourner in chief.

The president said “our nation is shocked and saddened” by the violence at Virginia Tech and that he and Laura Bush had come to Blacksburg “with hearts full of sorrow.” Yet what happened at Blacksburg is a daily occurrence in Iraq precipitated by an ill-considered invasion and a bungled occupation.

Where is the president’s sense of shock and sadness when it comes to Iraq? Where is his sense of grief and sorrow for the Iraqis who die every day?

We have yet to see President Bush rush to Baghdad to be with family members who mourn the deaths of loved ones — not to mention the scores of individuals who died just this last week alone.

The juxtaposition of Blacksburg and Baghdad is heartbreaking, to say the least.

laurie and cheryl "wrap it up"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laurie-david-and-sheryl-crow/lets-wrap-it-up_b_46620.html

Everywhere we went today, we were asked by everyone from Congresspeople to Capitol Hill police about the "Rove incident." To set the record straight, the other night, we approached Mr. Rove at a dinner designed specifically to encourage conversations between people from different worlds. We were riding a wave of excitement having just come from talking to college students across the country about global warming. Obviously, we were very surprised that Mr. Rove found discussing such an important issue to be insulting. However, rather than continuing to focus on the encounter itself, can we now focus on the urgent need to act on global warming? We would welcome the opportunity to engage directly with the Bush administration in a constructive conversation about solutions to the global warming crisis

21. * rdorgan (from previous thread)

I didn't even see Howard on the Time 100 list, so it's obviously pretty flimsy! (Brad Pitt? LOL) Here are my top 5 - the all-American politics team:

1. Howard Dean - he inspired and engineered the Democratic takeover of Congress.

2. Al Gore - he awakened America and the world to the global warming crisis.

3-4. Jon Stewart-Stephen Colbert - jointly are remaking awareness of what it means to be politically astute (and oh so wittily) in a world where the mainstream media have gone stark raving mad.

5. Keith Olbermann - he stood up when it mattered and set the standard for calling the Bush administration on its bullying lies.

2. * rdorgan

...

Exhaustion and despair hang over the country.

And there are no signs of change.

==========

if only more people had considered pre-war the predicament of Israel, still, 40 years after its occupation began, and the incredible drain on Israel's population, resources and reputation through the long years in between -- not to mention the sorrow of Israel's moral center being shredded amid the terrible on-going crimes against Palestinians' dignity and basic human rights.

and US forces in Iraq don't have anything like the advantages the Israelis do in their occupation: superiority of numbers, intimate knowledge of the terrain, climate and culture, a large number of native Arabic-speakers among Israelis, nearly universal military/national service and sizeable reserve forces, and the fact that a large percentage of Israeli soldiers at least can convince themselves that what they are doing is necessary for their nation's survival.

the Iraqis will never give up. what fools to ever think they would.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6586401.stm

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Printable version

How serious was this attack?

It was serious, inasmuch as it constituted the worst attack of its kind against a heavily armoured Challenger 2 tank operating in Iraq.

It is the first time that a crew member has been seriously wounded inside the tank and will, inevitably, cause the military to look again at how best to protect the crews of armoured vehicles from relatively sophisticated explosive devices.

But it would be wrong to conclude that this comes out of the blue.

The British, like the Americans, have grown all too familiar with "explosively formed projectiles" (EFPs, also known as "shaped charges") over the past two years.

Snatch Land Rovers, Warrior and Scimitar armoured vehicles have been hit and disabled in the past, but there has never been any doubt that, despite the highly sophisticated ceramic and steel Chobham armour, a tank crew can be vulnerable to a large enough EFP, striking with the right amount of force at the Challenger's weakest points.

What does it tell us about insurgent tactics and weaponry?

They are constantly evolving. What appears to have been different about this bomb was not so much the sophistication, but the size. To inflict serious damage on a Challenger is no mean feat.

While EFPs have been used in Iraq for a couple of years, the way they are used - left by the side of a road or buried in the ground - and the methods employed to detonate them - by radio waves, infrared, or wire - have varied.

Each time a new method is used, the British military has to come up with new, more effective counter-measures. It is a race in which you are frequently in danger of being one step behind the insurgents.

...

Others say that the technology is now fairly familiar and could be manufactured inside Iraq without much difficulty, and the longer the insurgency goes on, the more credible such claims may become.

Jean,
The Iraqis have the greatest ally on their side: time.
They will be there forever and they know we will eventually leave.

Jean Wyant
Tue, 04/24/07
9:30 am
__________________________________________________________________________

When a people and land are confiscated and/or occupied for whatever reason................the rightful owners usually never give.............this is what we have seen and are seeing played out today............there are countles examples throughout history.................

It wont happen here probably, but if it did..............most of us would react the same way.

cheers

7. Jean - Quite a list. Couldn't have listed them better myself!

Don't know if it was already mentioned but Darth Cheney is back in the hospital.

Later!

Don't know if it was already mentioned but Darth Cheney is back in the hospital.

+++

mary vb -

I hope he has a full recovery.

* rdorgan
It was true in VN and is true in Iraq. In combat, the survivers get smarter. It is an evolution thing. We have all the muscle in the world but it is esentially useless because we don't know how to use it and we are morally bankrupt concerning Iraq.
We have never gotten past the destroy part and refuse to use our minds to get the locals together and us out.
The longer we stay, the worse it gets.
They get smarter and devise better weapons. We stay dumb and die in greater numbers. But of course, we continue to kill the locals and go to great lengths to anger the rest of the world.
We need to plan and execute the end game now which is us leaving.

a $400 haircut is symptomatic of poor staff work as much as anything, but how the story comes out is of interest to me how competing Democratic attack teams pick up right wing radio talking points

it does get to a much more serious issue of how the leading Democrats are ceding the populist ground which because of the disconnect with his personal reality Edwards will never quite tap even if intellectually he understands that point of view

the Montana boys Tester and Schweitzer get it, so Schweitzer as a running mate could be a very strong ticket

it is not unlike Obama calling for "turning the page to a new chapter" as a blatant generational appeal while cosying (sp?)up to globalization and the corporate power structure that has given us the world as it is (war and all)

I'm back to leaning Edwards way because of his message, but Gore/Obama would be potentially our very strongest ticket.

Good list Jean.

I'm staying with Obama (but Edwards has always been my second choice). If someone other than those two gets the dem nomination, I will vote for that person but it will be like how I voted for Kerry in the general election in '04 (with not much enthusiasm).

Rachel Dawn Scharf is todays HOWARDLY winner

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/23/politics/animal/main2719722.shtml

Obama's Speech

By Kevin Drum

Apr 23, 2007

1. Get out of Iraq (but responsibly!)
   
   
2. Increase the size of the Army and Marines by 92,000 soldiers and teach 'em some Arabic. Get support from other countries when we fight wars of choice.
   
   
3. Get serious about stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.
   
   
4. Rebuild our traditional alliances. Understand that things that affect other countries also affect us.
   
   
5. Double the foreign aid budget.
   

...

I  don't expect to make up my mind on this score anytime soon. Most of the time I come down in favor of expanding the military, on the basis that (a) if you're going to do something, you should do it right, and (b) we're not likely to continue to be ruled by petulant children forever into the future. Needless to say, (b) is a gamble.

On the whole, I thought it was a pretty good speech, one that set out a much-needed vision not 100% obsessed with terrorism and nothing else — though I'd add the caveat that it's actually easier to make a good foreign policy speech than a good domestic policy speech. Why? Because people expect policy details when you talk about domestic stuff, but not so much when you talk about national security. Soaring rhetoric ("pay any price, bear any burden....") goes over a lot better in the overseas sphere.

But even with that caveat, it was pretty good. Obama hit a lot of the right notes, offered more policy specifics than he had to, and set a good tone. Not bad for a guy who supposedly has no foreign policy experience.

and Harry Reid too gets a HOWARDLY and in fact fits the definition of standing up and speaking truth and taking action perfectly

I bet he has been spending time with the real deal.

Obaama's speech in Chicago is what has me leaning Edwards again rdorgan

Phil -

To each his own. I thought it was a good speech (but then I served in the U.S. military and believe we need a strong military and one that is used more wisely than it has in the last 6 years; retreating from global responses is not something I advocate). 

I especially like the aspect of more foreign aid.

typo - retreating from global responses is not something I advocate

s/b - retreating from global responsibilities is not something I advocate

7.

Jean Wyant
Tue, 04/24/07
9:16 am

Your list looks a lot like mine - Howard first, KOS (I know sometimes it's all about HIM, but I feel comfy with the info I glean from there), then a certain opera singer, then Olberman and Cafferty, then Pelosi & Reid

Listener and I will be in town today, stopping in at HQ with yummy brownies her hubby made last night :-) We'll report back after the blogger bash this evening.

7. great list

Have a wonderful day.

Oh, I left off Al Gore -- I think he has revived the conversation about global warming.

Phil Specht
Tue, 04/24/07
10:04 am
__________________________________________________________________________

Stevenson/Specht.................looks, brains and size.

especially size Mike

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We must maintain the strongest, best-equipped military in the world in order to defeat and deter conventional threats. But while sustaining our technological edge will always be central to our national security, the ability to put boots on the ground will be critical in eliminating the shadowy terrorist networks we now face".

"A 21st century military to stay on the offense" Barack Obama

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

rdorgan to each his own, but that is tired old discreditied thinking in my mind

20.

I'm stunned. Those were really his five points?

"A 21st century military to stay on the offense" Barack Obama

rdorgan to each his own, but that is tired old discreditied thinking in my mind

Yes. It's sickening to have Democratic candidates out there pushing the failed and disasterous NeoCon dogma. The US military needs to be downsized enough that it can't be used for ill purposes again.

The Military

It's not about the size (within reason), it's about how it's trained and equipped.  Rummy was actually right before we got caught up in Iraq, the military needs to be transformed to meet the needs of the future, not the needs of the past.  That means different kinds of weapons, information warfare, flexible cross/trained forces, dealing with urban and other fighting environments against small, mobile, indiginous forces.  It also means choosing our battles wisely, whch is the role of civil government, not the military.

Bush went into battle in Iraq (and Afghanistan) with Clinton's Army, and Clinton's Army worked just fine so long as the mission was purely military.  When it became occupation, civil government and counterinsurgency, we were the wrong force in the wrong place.  Meanwhile, keeping boots on the ground in Iraq has killed military transformation, and will continue to do so so long as it sucks up every military dollar the Congress allocates.

So talking about a bugger military assumes we're going to keep using it the way we have in the past.  That's the wrong presumption.  What any candidate for the Presidency should be telling me is what purpose our military will be used for in the future, and how we will train and equip it to meet that purpose.

I haven't seen that yet from anyone.  

bugger should be bigger

Oops 

Howdy everyone! Hope you're all doing well.


Excellent work Rachel!!! Way to go. What effort you all made, thank you.

Sitka
Tue, 04/24/07
10:54 am
__________________________________________________________________________

Its almost lunch...........have to go out for a $200 haircut (Ok, Im poor)

The US military needs to be rebuilt and resized to defend this country rather than invade others. Because another Ayatolla Cheney and Bushbeast will come along again in time.

I am definitely waiting for my candidate to declare his seeking for the Presidency!!!

I'm looking for great, not just hopefully bettter than what we have. You cannot accomplish much without bold ideas. If you are always looking at how to compromise on compromised compromises, with alterior motives for your donors, you will not end up accomplishing much. (and in cases as we have now, can do much more damage)

Al Gore shows excellent leadership, ideas, vision and is Progressive on his policies and has been correct on all the issues.

I hope he will see he has the overwhelming support and decide to move our country forward.

isolationist ?:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh

...

At the urging of U.S. Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, Lindbergh wrote a secret memo for the British arguing that if England and France attempted to stop Hitler's aggression, it would be military suicide.

...

say that his actions were beneficial to the Third Reich's war effort. In fact, it is said that Goering intentionally used Lindbergh to keep the French and British at bay while maneuvering in Eastern Europe[citation needed]. There is a case for both of these arguments, as Lindbergh favored a war between Germany and Russia, but deplored the war between Germany and Britain. In Charles A. Lindbergh and the Battle against American Intervention in World War II, Cole explains how Lindbergh was dismayed that pacifism in France had already left that country without a sufficient military and possibly already doomed by 1938, and that Britain had an outdated military still focused on naval power instead of an updated air arsenal to deter the Luftwaffe and force Hitler to turn his ambitions eastward toward a war against "Asiatic Communism".

...

However, his Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, A. Scott Berg, contends that Lindbergh was not so much a supporter of the Nazi regime as someone so stubborn in his convictions and relatively inexperienced in political maneuvering that he easily allowed rivals to portray him as one, and that in his support for the America First Committee he was merely giving voice to the sentiments of some American people.

...

And of course, Howard Dean as always is first and foremost here.

I also favor taking a look at Gary Hart's idea of retargeting the National Guard as a local "home Guard" solely for dealing with local issues - from floods and hurricanes to terrorist attack response, rather than as an arm of the regular military.  This was the original purpose of the militia (you know, the "well regulated" one).  It has instead become just another branch of the Reserves, suitable for overseas deployment.  If we want more reserves, budget for more reserves, but save the Guard for use at home.

I also favor taking a look at Gary Hart's idea of retargeting the National Guard as a local "home Guard" solely for dealing with local issues - from floods and hurricanes to terrorist attack response, rather than as an arm of the regular military.  This was the original purpose of the militia (you know, the "well regulated" one).  It has instead become just another branch of the Reserves, suitable for overseas deployment.  If we want more reserves, budget for more reserves, but save the Guard for use at home.

Former Vice President Al Gore made a double stop visit in Canada before opening up Tribeca Film Festival in New York. His first presentation was impressive and embraced by all.

Monday, April 23rd, 2007
Gore's speech in Regina mirrors documentary; students impressed
Canadian Press

REGINA (CP) - Flooding in the east and drought in the southwest of Saskatchewan are the results of climate change, says former U.S. vice-president Al Gore.

Gore brought his show on climate change to Regina's Brandt Centre on Monday afternoon. His presentation to the nearly 5,000 people in the audience mirrored his Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconenient Truth."

More than 600 people have been displaced due to flooding in the east-central part of the Saskatchewan and more homes are threatened.

Gore told the crowd that making changes to our lifestyles are necessary, or more severe weather will affect us.

"It's not a political issue, it's a moral issue and and an ethical issue. It's the difference between right and wrong."

He also praised Saskatchewan's NDP government for its green initiatives, such as promoting wind power.

"Saskatchewan is a symbol of what we have to do. You have a lot of jobs in the energy industry and a lot of leadership moving in the right direction."

Gore's show was closed to the media, but those who emerged were impressed.

Duncan Hickey-Cameron, a University of Regina anthropology student, said he's heard the message before, but this time it was different.

"This same message coming from my mom, or an 80-year-old mom, gets little respect; that message coming from a baby boomer, a former vice-president, evokes a lot of respect on the political scale."

More than 400 students from elementary to post-secondary levels received free tickets to Gore's presentation.

"It definitely had an impact on me," said Jenny Faulner, a Grade 8 student from Milestone, Sask.

Meghan Trenholm, an education student at the University of Regina, said Gore's speech at least brought people's focus to the issue.

Gore was slated to give his presentation in Calgary later Monday.

http://www.brandonsun.com/story.php?stor...

Gary Hart would have made a good President (of France where they tolerate picadillos) lol

I hope he has a role in the next Administration, Chertoff's job comes to mind.

bbl

I agree with you on the Guard,  rich.

Muscling Blanco was the most reprehensible part of Bush's Katrina response.

Much too early in the day for me to decide who I'm going to support next January. I support all of the Dem candidates at the moment, even Hill because she's smart and from Chicago:))

Unless, of course, AG should step up to the plate as he should. All the others will fall by the wayside and could only hope to be chosen for the VP slot. I would hope Al would do better in that category than he did in 2000.

40. and 41.

Rich -

Are you chewing Double Mint gum ?

Thanks for the suggestions -- most valid, especially in regards to the National Guard serving overseas now, when they shoould really be devoted to staying at home here  (ie. however they did serve overseas in past wars, in fact the Yankee Division of the MA Army National Guard [of which I was a member from 1983 to 1986] was the first fighting unit of any U.S. unit to be deployed in WWI's and WWII's European theatre).

The only response to Blanco should have been "What do you want, where do you want it?"

Never forget.

Thanks for the shoutout Sheri!  It's true, emcee Rove is truly nothing compared to me, his young uber liberal counterpart.  I also submitted the film "Kilowatt Ours" for national screenings with DFA and there will be more good news on that and this emcee to come......

29.

Phil Specht
Tue, 04/24/07
10:32 am


rdorgan to each his own, but that is tired old discreditied thinking in my mind
--------------
31.

Sitka
Tue, 04/24/07
10:54 am


Yes. It's sickening to have Democratic candidates out there pushing the failed and disasterous...dogma. The US military needs to be downsized enough that it can't be used for ill purposes again.
***************

!!!

World confusions on real Bush&Co's motives and goals, to dominate and control the World, are disappearing fast.

Therefore not only it is the "discreditied thinking", TODAY it became more and more DANGEROUSE each next day to continue that way of thinking.

family ties:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070424/ap_on_go_co/tillman_friendly_fire

Tillman brother blasts military

By SCOTT LINDLAW and ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writers 4 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Pat Tillman's brother accused the military Tuesday of "intentional falsehoods" and "deliberate and careful misrepresentations" in portraying the football star's death in Afghanistan as the result of heroic engagement with the enemy instead of friendly fire.

We believe this narrative was intended to deceive the family but more importantly the American public," Kevin Tillman told a hearing of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. "Pat's death was clearly the result of fratricide," he said.

"Revealing that Pat's death was a fratricide would have been yet another political disaster in a month of political disasters ... so the truth needed to be suppressed," said Tillman, who was in a convoy behind his brother when the incident happened three years ago but didn't see it.

...

I favor the Montana boys as well. I bet Tester does his own hair too. LOL!

I tend to disagree with the military slant...
The trouble with Afgan and Iraq - besides mismanagement, wrong mission planning...etc. is the reliance on high-tech weapons against foes that are ultra-low tech.
For instance, in the Afgan mountains, troops were hung out to dry because the military did not want to risk their high-end aircraft flying into snow-covered mountain peeks.
Since the military doctrine calls for close air support, none was given. Too few troops were allocated resulting on needless deaths and bin Laden escaping.
We relied on high-tech information gathering instead of human intelligence. Part of this is the fault of Clinton and part of this is the arrogance of Rummy.
We certainly do not need F22 and F35 fighters in any great numbers. However, from Lockheed Martins' point of view...they developed the planes for a total price that covers engineering and profit. Cutting the numbers means they will be more expensive to buy. We will save on maintenance costs if we buy less.
The Navy is developing the X craft fleet of shallow water ships and adding to the big-ship Navy. However, why do we need more nuclear submarines?
It is not necessary smarter weapons we need but smarter political and military leaders.
We use our strength to defeat all but lose the mental and moral parts of conflict.
We need to develop on-the-ground military officers who are knowledgeable in the language and customs of the folks they may have to fight. They need better training in tactics of low-level urban warfare.
In VN, as soon as we walked on the dykes of farmers fields, we crushed them and made enemies for life. In Iraq, as soon as we mistreat the locals we make enemies for life. As soon as we torture people we make enemies for life. We need a military and political leadership that stops making enemies for life.
We need a foreign policy that does not overthrow governments because they do not do our bidding. We are responsible for Sadaam, bin Laden, Shah of Iran because we do not value the human rights of others. Our public position is Democracy and Freedom for all. However, in reality they are only for us. Our next President must change that.
So far, I am looking hard at Edwards and Obama and have donated to both. Hillary is an empty, clueless suit.

..

So far, I am looking hard at Edwards and Obama and have donated to both.

...

+++

dog soldier -

Thanks for the open-mindedness.

World Environment Day: June 5, 2007
http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/20601...

Frankly I don't care how much Edwards's haircuts cost him. It's his hair and his pocket change.

Edwards is being rolled by the media. I forgot where I read it but the sylist who came to the hotel room costs $175 per haircut.
The $400 bill is due to the time he lost where he could have cut other customers hair.
It sounds bad, is politcally stupid but as usual, is much ado about nothing.

55.

dog soldier

It is stupid who ever put out the story. They love sensaitonalism and are muddying the real issues with this nonsense.

My goodness, he spent half of what the other two top tier candidates spent in the first quarter.

A hair cut? That's what they want to change the conversation to. It's not like it was a thousand dollars. We're talking about how much I pay, or someone else? They're not running for President and surely didn't ask the stylist to drop evertying and come to their hotel.

Move on. Don't give the story any more legs.

Edwards has been working very hard to show he's working for the people's issues these past several years. They should try covering that.

I admit to a bias for Edwards as I met him years ago at an ACORN fund raiser. He is as nice in person as he portrays in public and is tuned into the needs of the needy. He is smooth and you can see why he is so good in front of a jury. I think it is genuine and not an act. I gave him my ideas on loan guarantees for low income businesses and he was really interested.

8.
Jean Wyant
Tue, 04/24/07
9:30 am
.......
the Iraqis will never give up. what fools to ever think they would.
-----------

Well, there were/IS (still) intellectuals, scientists, “professional politicians”...., lol, who did actually think that way (see PNAC’s authors). The idea behind was that Iraqis supposed to meet us with flowers because we’ll bring them “new quality of life”, “advanced civilization and culture”, etc., e.g. historically usual motives for any barbarian invasions.

Well, all very same things Bush&Co. were intending to bring to Iraqis as an “advanced” will now get re-learned and re-studied again by American people.

Iraq was doomed before we ever fired a shot because we had no moral legitamacy for invading them.
The trouble with saying that is there are always points of conflict where we say...if we had only done that...things would be different.

We invaded and defeated the Iraq military in what..three weeks?
Then, instead of immediately putting locals in charge, we stood eveyone down and let chaos take over.

Everytime there has been a critical point, BushInc did the wrong thing. Even now, with the surge going on...if we could talk to the conflicting partners and the neighbors, there is an outside chance conflict could be reduced. But noooo...BushInc can't do that. Instead, they decide to build a wall which pushes folks further apart.

This war was and ever will be "unwinnable" under any definition of win you can dream up.
The best we can hope for is leaving and hoping the locals don't kill each other off. But the longer we stay and fan the flames of hatred, the more likely that is to happen.

http://www.justiceforbush.com/new/index....

fyi - new thread

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/15/...

I also favor taking a look at Gary Hart's idea of retargeting the National Guard as a local "home Guard" solely for dealing with local issues - from floods and hurricanes to terrorist attack response, rather than as an arm of the regular military.  This was the original purpose of the militia (you know, the "well regulated" one).  It has instead become just another branch of the Reserves, suitable for overseas deployment.  If we want more reserves, budget for more reserves, but save the Guard for use at home.

Sorry about the duplicate posts.  Won't happen again.  My machine burped...twice.

Frankly I don't care how much Edwards's haircuts cost him. It's his hair and his pocket change. 

Actually, Edwards' campaign paid for the haircuts. He belatedly said he would pay it back after being caught. But the bottom line is that it was very stupid of him to reinforce the most visceral negative stereotype about himself......