Clipmarks | AtlLiberal's 'iraq' clips

A Way Out?

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:05:01 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: If it wasn't for the thousands of US servicemen's lives lost and the hundreds of thousands Iraqi lives lost this entire escapade would be humorous. The Stooges in the White House still might find a way to blow this. Come on 2009!

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Sadr to disarm if U.S. withdraws on timetable

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Influential Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr would dissolve his Mehdi Army militia if the United States started withdrawing troops according to a set timetable, a spokesman said.

U.S. President George W. Bush has refused to set a firm timetable for withdrawing 144,000 American troops from Iraq, but spoke last month of a general "time horizon" for a pullout.

Iraqi negotiators have proposed that U.S. combat troops leave the country by October 2010, although Washington has not yet agreed to it, a senior Iraqi official said on Friday.

If agreed, the timetable would mean the Bush administration effectively adopting a schedule very close to that proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who opposed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Tags: politics, bush, iraq, withdrawl

McCain Dusts Off Mushroom Cloud

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:13:34 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Since the republican obviously aren't going to score any points on economic issues or health care, they've decided to trot out the the straw man of the Democratic president waving the white flag of surrender. I guess it's the best they can do. Pretty pathetic...

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

McCain challenges Democratic rivals on Iraq war

NORFOLK, Va., Feb 8 (Reuters) - Sen. John McCain, his victory as Republican nominee for the U.S. presidency virtually assured, turned his sights on his Democratic challengers on Friday, saying they were weak on national security and their Iraq stance would hand al Qaeda a victory.

McCain's remarks, and the response from Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, pushed Iraq war policy back to center stage in the presidential race after weeks of focus on the faltering U.S. economy.

Speaking to reporters after a security round-table meeting in Norfolk, Virginia, the home of a major U.S. naval base, McCain accused Obama and Clinton of wanting to set a date for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

"I believe that would have catastrophic consequences," said the Arizona senator, a former Navy pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Tags: politics, gop, mccain, iraq, terror

There are no gays in Iraq!!!

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:20:06 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: This one's easy. Just have the Iraqi government declare that homosexuality does not exist in Iraq. It worked in Iran, didn't it?

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Gays Living in Shadows of New Iraq

Gay men and a woman in a Baghdad park. In a city where sexual freedom once flourished, gay men and lesbians face persecution.

BAGHDAD — In a city and country where outsiders are viewed with deep suspicion and attracting attention can imperil one’s life, Mohammed could never blend in, even if he wanted to.

Mohammed, 37, has been openly gay for much of his adult life. For him, this has meant growing his hair long and taking estrogen. In the past, he said, that held little danger. As is true throughout the Middle East, men have always been publicly affectionate here.

But, at least until recently, Mohammed and many of his gay friends went one step further, slipping into lovers’ houses late at night. And, until the American invasion, they said, Iraqi society had quietly accepted them.

But being openly gay is not an option in the new Iraq, where the rise of religious extremism has left Mohammed and his gay friends feeling especially vilified.

Tags: religion, politics, news, iraq

Perino's Bubble

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:22:49 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I guess it doesn't really matter. She's required to mouth the talking points; not to think for herself. Heck of a job, Perino!

Clip Source: www.opednews.com

WONDER WHAT SHE STUDIED IN HIGH SCHOOL!

the president’s press secretary never heard of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

But the Perino deficit strikes me as emblematic of much that’s wrong in the Bush Administration:

A secretary of defense who knows nothing about military history, military strategy, or how the military works. An assistant secretary of state who is a defeated candidate for a governorship with no refugee experience put in charge of dealing with the millions fleeing from Iraq. An undersecretary of state charged with resurrecting America’s “image” abroad whose preparation for the job was as a Texas TV reporter. Another put in charge of immigration and border security with no relevant experience whatever. A pro-consul in Iraq with no Middle East experience, much less languages, filling Green Zone jobs so long as the applicants vow to repeal Roe v. Wade. And, of course, that heck-of-a-job guy who ran FEMA. The list goes on and on.

Tags: politics, bush, cronyism

Romney's Hornets Nest

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:23:31 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Another commentator speaks up about the disastrous attempt by Romney to make dogma the National mantra.

Is there a journalistic shift taking place? Are people waking from their 6 year slumber aboard Bush's Ark? Are they finally seeing the actual harm that this quasi-theocratic administration has wrought?

Is there hope?

Clip Source: news.cincypost.com

Mixing religion, politics

WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney's "I'm with Jesus" speech Thursday may help him politically, but it won't help America's world-leadership role if he becomes president.

We're involved in a religious civil war in Iraq that is costing us billions of dollars. We have jailed Muslims without due process basically because of their religion. We have a president who openly bases foreign policy on his evangelicalism. Two leading Republican presidential candidates, Mike Huckabee and Romney, are feuding over who is more Christian.

It should not matter what the religion is of any candidate for public office. It matters when a candidate vows that in serving the common good, his religious principles will be his guide.

The next election will help determine what happens in Iraq, to our economy, to those without health insurance. Romney and Huckabee have all but ensured that it may also determine if as a nation we wear religion on our sleeve.

Tags: religion, politics, separation, mormon, atheist

Down the Rovian Rabbit Hole

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:46:23 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I wonder if Rove, having lied for most of his life, has bought into his own mythology? Someone should introduce him to the concept of Google.

I'm going to go quietly now and pull all my hair out!!!

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Rove: "Congress Pushed Bush to War in Iraq Prematurely"

You are not going to believe this, well, actually you will... According to Karl Rove (on Charlie Rose), the Bush Administration did not want Congress to vote on the Iraq War resolution in the fall of 2002, because they thought it should not be done within the context of an election. Rove, you see, did not think the war vote should be "political".

Moreover, according to Rove, that "premature vote" led to many of the problems that cropped up in the Iraq War. Had Congress not pushed, he says, Bush could have spent more time assembling a coalition, and provided more time to the inspectors.

It is worth remembering that the Senate in the fall of 2002 was controlled, barely, by Democrats. Get it? George Bush, we are being told, wanted to delay, wanted to hold back, wanted to take the time to build a coalition and let the inspectors finish their job, but that damn Congress just pushed him into it.

Tags: politics, rove, lying, history, iraq

Giuliani Off His Meds?

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:46:21 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Wow! And he expects to get elected spouting this sort of nonsense? The more I hear from this man the more I suspect he is insane.

Clip Source: www.unionleader.com

Invading Iraq gets a nod, but illegal aliens are out

Manchester – Rudy Giuliani said yesterday he "never had any doubt" that if he were President four years ago, he would have invaded Iraq. He said he is now "even more certain" that it was the correct national security move.

"I actually believe that Democrats are going to agree with me on that by the time we get to the general election," the Republican former New York City mayor said. Giuliani addressed a wide range of issues in an hour-long meeting with editors of the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Giuliani said that if Saddam Hussein were alive and in power, he would be trying to build a nuclear arsenal to meet a growing nuclear threat from Iran.

"We'd have two -- instead of one -- irresponsible, terrorist-supporting regimes that have enormous amounts of wealth available to them wanting to become nuclear powers in Middle East," he said. Libya would also be "a terrorist-supporting state with nuclear ambitions," he said.

Tags: politics, iraq, election

Crony Capitalism - Alive and Well

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:53:51 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I predict that by next month Krongard will be in line to receive a Medal of Freedom award and a hardy "heck of a job, Howey" back slap from the pres.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

State Dept. inspector-general bows out of Blackwater probe

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department's inspector-general announced Wednesday he would recuse himself from decisions involving security contractor Blackwater, after admitting his brother serves as an adviser to the company.

Howard Krongard already was under scrutiny by the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee, led by California Democrat Henry Waxman.

Waxman said Krongard's oversight of construction of the nearly $600 million U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, was conducted with "reckless incompetence," and that he refused to pursue allegations of fraud and labor trafficking by contractor First Kuwaiti.

During a hearing Wednesday morning, Krongard first denied that his brother had any role with Blackwater -- but reversed himself after being confronted with evidence that his brother had attended a Blackwater advisory board meeting this week.

Tags: politics, iraq, blackwater

Deaf/Dumb/Blind President

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:48:14 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Perino needs to retake a basic math class. She refers to appeasement of radical groups; yeah, like 66% of the country has turned radical. And mouth-breathers still buy this crap.

Clip Source: voanews.com

Iraq-Afghanistan War Measure Faces Bush Veto

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has approved a measure to provide $50 billion in short-term funding for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. VOA's Dan Robinson reports the legislation, which passed the House by a vote of218 to 203, now awaits a vote in the Senate where Republicans have predicted it will not pass, and also faces a veto threat from President Bush.

But this brought a renewed veto threat from the White House, where press secretary Dana Perino briefed reporters. "Once again they plan to send the president a bill that they know he will veto. This is for political posturing and to appease radical groups," she said.

Tags: politics, iraq, war, bush, law

Rumsfeld on the Lam

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:01:07 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal

Clip Source: wor.ldne.ws

Rumsfeld flees France fearing arrest

Former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld fled France today fearing arrest over charges of "ordering and authorizing" torture of detainees at both the American-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the US military's detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, unconfirmed reports coming from Paris suggest.

US embassy officials whisked Rumsfeld away yesterday from a breakfast meeting in Paris organized by the Foreign Policy magazine after human rights groups filed a criminal complaint against the man who spearheaded President George W. Bush's "war on terror" for six years.

Under international law, authorities in France are obliged to open an investigation when a complaint is made while the alleged torturer is on French soil.

"Rumsfeld must be feeling how Saddam Hussein felt when US forces were hunting him down," activist Tanguy Richard said.

Tags: rumsfled, war crime, torture, iraq

Church of Hate Being Sued

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:07:43 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I can only hope that they're successful in their suit against this church of intolerance.

Clip Source: www.splcenter.org

Family of Fallen Marine Sues Anti-Gay Church

The family of a Marine killed in Iraq has sued a Baptist church for picketing their son's funeral and is turning to the Internet to drum up support.

Albert Snyder, the father of fallen Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, took the stand this week in the Baltimore trial against the Westboro Baptist Church and testified that protesters waving signs at Matthew's burial made him nauseous.

He'd wanted a private service for his son.

"They turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my family," Snyder said on the stand Wednesday. "They wanted their message heard and they didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside." […]

[Westboro Baptist Church] members have picketed the funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming the deaths are punishment for the country's tolerance of homosexuality…

Tags: hate, prejudice, racism, religion

Hitch and the War

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 18:28:17 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I've never agreed with Hitchens concerning his stand on Iraq. As the author claims, is this a turning point for Hitch? I think that we'll have to wait and see.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Hitchens Weeps

As many of you know, since the piece has been floating around online for days, Hitchens celebrates the brief but heroic legacy of Lieutenant Mark Daily, who was killed last January in Iraq. Now, normally for Hitchens, this would be no big deal. After all, the imperial meatgrinder that he has helped oil and keep humming is a proper place for the likes of the late Lt. Daily. How else are they going to get the brutal training necessary to fight the many wars that Hitchens foresees past the present phase, wars that Hitchens will doubtless cheerlead with the same blustering, bumbling gusto? All part of the deal, so keep your tears to yourself and keep firing at anything that moves. But in Lt. Daily's case, there was a personal connection. Seems that the young Army officer was swayed to enlist in part by the pro-war screeds of Sir Christopher Hitchens himself.

Tags: hitchens, war, iraq

Mercenaries and Accountability

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:27:06 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Evidently money trumps oversight and accountability.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Blackwater contractor wrote government report on incident

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The State Department's initial report of last month's incident in which Blackwater guards were accused of killing Iraqi civilians was written by a Blackwater contractor working in the embassy security detail, according to government and industry sources.

A source involved in diplomatic security at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said a Blackwater contractor, Darren Hanner, drafted the two-page "spot report" on the letterhead of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security for the embassy's Tactical Operations Center.

That office -- which tracks and monitors all incidents and movements involving diplomatic security missions -- has outsourced positions to Blackwater and another private firm, the embassy source said.

The deadly incident produced an outcry in Iraq and raised questions about the accountability of foreign security contractors in Iraq

Tags: mercenaries, iraq, war

Accountability

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:56:34 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Why reporters refuse to call a pig a pig is unconscionable. By referring to firms like Blackwater as contractors is specious. More to the point would be to call them what they are: mercenaries, guns for hire, armed thugs. And what is never addressed is the total lack of accountability. Oh, and there's always the cronyism leading directly back to the Bush administration and the ties to Halliburton. Why we've allowed this pile of dung to remain in place is a prime example of the fraud, corruption and greed that are earmarks for this immoral disaster.

Clip Source: ap.google.com

Who Watches US Security Firms in Iraq?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fog of war keeps getting thicker. The Iraqi government's decision to temporarily ban the security company Blackwater USA after a fatal shooting of civilians in Baghdad reveals a growing web of rules governing weapons-bearing private contractors but few signs U.S. agencies are aggressively enforcing them.

Nearly a year after a law was passed holding contracted employees to the same code of justice as military personnel, the Bush administration has not published guidance on how military lawyers should do that, according to Peter Singer, a security industry expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

A Congressional Research Service report published in July said security contractors in Iraq operate under rules issued by the United States, Iraq and international entities such as the United Nations.

Tags: mercenary, guns for hire, thugs, crime

Lies, Lies, and More Lies

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:33:42 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Dems need to get it together and de-fund this fiasco. They have the votes needed to block funding legislation but not the balls to actually do it. Politics wins over reason. Same crap over and over. We're truly stuck in a Groundhog Day nightmare.

Clip Source: www.editorandpublisher.com

Yes, Surge, That's My Baby: Press Responds to Bush Speech

President Bush

Thursday night, Bush declared success and painted a rosy picture.

There was no mention of a range of government reports, from a National Security Estimate to a Government Accountability Office report and even the testimony this week of U.S. Iraq commander Army Gen. David Petraeus, that has said Iraqi civilian casualties remain high and that it will be years before Iraqi security forces can take control.

Other reports have stressed that Iraqis continue to flee their homes looking for safety at unprecedented rates and that Shiite militias continue to force Sunni Muslims from their homes. Baghdad residents complain that their city has become even more segregated than before the surge, divided now by hastily erected concrete walls to keep rival sects separate.

Tags: bush, surge, iraq, lies