Clipmarks | debbyski's 'iraq' clips

Wrong Woman; Wrong Message

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:46:12 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience. When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq."

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote.

But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.

To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."

Running Against Themselves

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:37:39 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "Mr. McCain says he is the candidate who will better protect the country from terrorism. But about all he has to offer is his pledge to continue the war in Iraq. We have yet to hear an explanation for how he plans to do that while also salvaging the war in Afghanistan — the real front line in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban."

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Three days into the Republican National Convention, it is clear that the G.O.P. has settled on a message: “Washington is not working.” The phrase is included in virtually every speech and every statement in St Paul.

We agree completely that Washington is in desperate need of renewal and reform. We’re not even going to quibble about the fact that Barack Obama said it first. The problem is that American voters have yet to hear — from John McCain or his warm-up acts — any serious ideas on what, exactly, is wrong with Washington, apart from the fact that a Democrat might win the White House, never mind how to truly fix it.

As hard as he tries, Mr. McCain cannot escape the burdensome shadow of President Bush because his policies offer no real change

Mr. McCain also has yet to explain to voters how he intends to go on paying for the war in Iraq — and also fix a dangerously stretched and overburdened military.

NZ students offer reward for Rice's arrest

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:11:21 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Nothing will happen, but the reward has drawn attention to the war and the attitude of Kiwis to the invasion.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

After her brief visit to Perth, the United States Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, will fly to New Zealand tonight.

Dr Rice will fly into Auckland tonight and her minders will need to be on alert after a student group announced a reward for anyone who could arrest her.

Auckland University's Student Association is offering $5,000 to anyone who can make a citizen's arrest.

Association president David Do says Dr Rice should be ashamed of her role in the Iraq war.

"I think New Zealanders have an inherent sense of fairness and justice and they understand why we are doing it," he said.

"They see the link between what the US has done to the people of Iraq."

He says while the New Zealand Government opposed the war in Iraq, he doubts he would have Prime Minister Helen Clark's support if a citizen's arrest actually happens.

Tags: kiwis, are, great

Losing Private Dwyer

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:53:50 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "Private Dwyer, who survived rocket-propelled grenades and shocking violence, made his way back to his family and friends. But part of him was also stuck forever on a road in Iraq, helpless and terrified, with nobody to carry him to safety."

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The photo to the right captures everything that Americans wanted to believe about the Iraq war in the earliest days of the invasion in 2003. Pfc. Joseph Dwyer, an Army medic whose unit was fighting its way up the Euphrates to Baghdad, cradles a wounded boy. The child is half-naked and helpless, but trusting. Private Dwyer’s face is strained but calm.

If there are better images of the strength and selflessness of the American soldier, I can’t think of any. It is easy to understand why newspapers and magazines around the country ran the photo big, making Private Dwyer an instant hero, back when the war was a triumphal tale of Iraqi liberation.

That story turned bitter years ago, of course. And the mountain of sorrows keeps growing: Mr. Dwyer died last month in North Carolina. He was 31 and very sick. For years he had been in and out of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction.

He had been heading for a disastrous end ever since he came home.

The Imprecise Meaning Of War

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:45:18 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Unless Congress closes a gaping hole in the law against war profiteering, companies ripping off taxpayers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars may never be fully prosecuted. This is because the latest conflicts are not declared wars.

The anti-fraud law dating to World War II allows prosecution of contractors up to three years after a war ends. But this statute of limitations was omitted from the resolutions authorizing military force in Iraq and Afghanistan, which carried no formal war declaration.

Investigators say that current war fraud runs into untold billions, including faulty ammunition and vehicles and not-so-bullet-proof vests. Investigative officials and the inspector general for Iraq reconstruction have testified that they’re hampered by the ongoing conflicts and need more time to catch contract thieves after they end.

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder

Wed, 28 May 2008 04:10:24 GMT

clipped by: blueridge
clipper's remarks: by Charles Manson prosecutor and Helter Skelter author Vincent Bugliosi. Click on the video and see how serious he is about a legal case against Bush. His prosecution record is almost flawless too.

Clip Source: www.prosecutionofbush.com

A SEARING INDICTMENT
Famed prosecutor and #1 New York Times bestselling author Vincent Bugliosi has written the most powerful, explosive, and thought-provoking book of his storied career. As a prosecutor dedicated to seeking justice, he delivers a non-partisan argument, free from party lines, based upon hard facts and pure objectivity. More

“SOMEONE HAS TO PAY”
In The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, Bugliosi presents a tight, meticulously researched legal case that puts George W. Bush on trial in an American courtroom for the murder of nearly 4,000 American soldiers fighting in Iraq. Watch this video interview to learn why he believes we must bring those responsible for the war in Iraq to justice. More

Tags: bush, iraq war, conspiracy, fraud, crime, bugliosi

Coming Late To The Table

Sat, 31 May 2008 13:25:44 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "The war in Iraq, which has taken 100,000 or more Iraqi lives, and which will cost the U.S. upwards of $3 trillion, and which continues indefinitely, is a scandal and a crime. Scott McClellan is a little late to be blowing the whistle on this outrage.
More important than his belated musings on the war, and his aggrieved take on the leaking of a C.I.A. operative’s identity, is Mr. McClellan’s warning about the “culture of deception” that has poisoned the very atmosphere of national politics and government.
Forget that this is supposed to be a government of, by and for the people, and that the truth is supposed to matter. Mr. McClellan is being denounced as a traitor by those who readily accept the culture of deception, and who believe that a government official’s primary loyalty is not to the people, but to power itself — in this case, to the president."

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

I guess it’s official now since we have a Bush administration insider, Scott McClellan, telling us that the war in Iraq was a monumental strategic blunder, and that it was sold cynically and deceitfully to a craven Congress and to a public still traumatized by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Some of us already knew that, Scott. Some of us knew it at the time.

In his new book, “What Happened,” Mr. McClellan even tells us that wars “should only be waged when necessary.”

Gee, Scott, some of us have known that deep in our hearts all of our lives.

Reading Mr. McClellan’s book, I kept thinking of the many ordinary people — the service members, their relatives, and so many others — who have suffered so grievously from this misbegotten and thoroughly unnecessary war.

That is just the tiniest glimpse of the sort of thing that happens when a president refuses to heed the call of reason and instead, immaturely and unforgivably, sends his country’s brave young volunteers into a pointless conflagration.

Mr. Bush And The GI Bill

Mon, 26 May 2008 12:01:07 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "Thankfully, the new G.I. Bill has strong bipartisan support in Congress. The House passed it by a veto-proof margin this month, and last week the Senate followed suit, approving it as part of a military financing bill for Iraq and Afghanistan."

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

President Bush opposes a new G.I. Bill of Rights. He worries that if the traditional path to college for service members since World War II is improved and expanded for the post-9/11 generation, too many people will take it.

He is wrong, but at least he is consistent. Having saddled the military with a botched, unwinnable war, having squandered soldiers’ lives and failed them in so many ways, the commander in chief now resists giving the troops a chance at better futures out of uniform. He does this on the ground that the bill is too generous and may discourage re-enlistment, further weakening the military he has done so much to break.

So lavish with other people’s sacrifices, so reckless in pouring the national treasure into the sandy pit of Iraq, Mr. Bush remains as cheap as ever when it comes to helping people at home.

The Iraq Billions Easter Egg Hunt

Sat, 24 May 2008 02:53:28 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.motherjones.com

Want to see a signature worth $320 million? Click here. It belongs to Jack Gardner, an official with the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority, who in July 2003 authorized that amount to be transferred to the Iraqi Ministry of Finance for the payment of Iraqi salaries. There are no other records of the transfer, just Mr. Gardner's John Hancock. Now that's power.

The payment is but one example of the process by which U.S. dollars have disappeared without a trace into the confusion (and, yes, corruption) of Iraq reconstruction, confounding Pentagon auditors who are now trying to find out where all that money went... and what exactly, if anything, the U.S. got in return.

The IG report details how $135 million was paid to the governments of the United Kingdom, South Korea, Poland, and others contributing troops to Iraq without any mechanism for determining how it was used.

To date, Pentagon auditors have referred 28 cases to criminal investigators.

REALITY CHECK!

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:03:39 GMT

clipped by: ouyangwulong
clipper's remarks: There is a frightening new global trend of denial...

Europeans think that they don't need to limit fishing...

Car companies don't think they need to improve fuel economy standards...

Bush thinks he can increase spending and cut taxes at the same time...

Jingoists think we are winning the war in Iraq...

Democrats think Hillary Clinton has enough experience to win an election...

Polluters think that Global Warming won't really happen...

Evangelicals think Jesus is coming back soon...

Fundamentalists think they can win the war against modernity...

The truth is: we're stuck with this world. The rules DO apply. No free passes. You have to face the music sometime.

We must choose realism over comfortable delusion. Unfortunately, for now, wistful thinking will rule the day until we let it all collapse around us.

Then we'll stand there scratching our heads saying: How could this happen?

Clip Source: www.iht.com

Fishing until all the fish are gone

Sharon LaFraniere showed how mechanized fishing fleets from the European Union and nations like China and Russia - usually with the complicity of local governments - have nearly picked clean the oceans off Senegal and other northwest African countries.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

U.S. agency says 17 states can't set car emission rules

WASHINGTON: The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday denied California and 16 other states the right to set their own standards for carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

US deficit expected to grow even before economic stimulus package is unwrapped

The latest deficit projections from the Congressional Budget Office forecast a sea of red ink that will only deepen under plans to jump-start the economy with tax cuts and government spending.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

Published: January 21, 2008

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a funeral tent Monday in a predominantly Sunni village, killing at least 14 people and wounding 17.

Tags: reality check, bush, democrats, big buisness, oil, iraq, environment, global warming, tax cuts

Is GW FUCKING Crazy Or Just Finally Telling The Truth?

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:31:55 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

"War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq, so now they argue the war costs too much."

Read that again. He's saying it today, the fifth anniversary of a war that in his own words means we were losing four out of those five years.

"War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq..."

WE WERE LOSING.

The President says so...now

For those who, like Bill O'Reilly, who ask for proof that the President had lied, now have it. From his own mouth.

For the first four years, he was LYING.

If the President is not lying now and my math is right, that means he lied for 80% of the war.

But even if he is telling the truth now, it's a truth that is nauseatingly offensive.

Mr. President...Are you saying your wholesale mismanagement of this war makes all the lives and treasures lost still "necessary"?

Tags: you, offensive, son, of, a, bitch

18 Media Flaws & Lies: Do You Remember?

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:20:34 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: Could you ever forget?

Clip Source: www.motherjones.com

The Iraq Follies

Commentary: Eighteen things you've already forgotten about the media's flawed coverage of Iraq

Table of Contents

O'Reilly said, "If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation; I will not trust the Bush administration again, all right?"

Phil Donahue

"presents a difficult public face for NBC in a time of war.... At the same time our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity."

MSNBC's

"We're all neocons now."

"I'm waiting to hear the words 'I was wrong' from some of the world's most elite journalists, politicians, and Hollywood types."

New York Times

"As far as I am concerned, we do not need to find any weapons of mass destruction to justify this war.... Mr. Bush doesn't owe the world any explanation for missing chemical weapons."

Bush's comedy routine

joked, "Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere...Nope, no weapons over there...Maybe under here?"

Petraeus goes out

in an unarmed Humvee

Tags: iraq, invasion, media, lies

Public Largely UnAware

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:14:18 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

A new poll from the Pew Research Center finds a staggering drop in the public awareness about fatalities in Iraq:

Public awareness of the number of American military fatalities in Iraq has declined sharply since last August. Today, just 28% of adults are able to say that approximately 4,000 Americans have died in the Iraq war. As of March 10, the Department of Defense had confirmed the deaths of 3,974 U.S. military personnel in Iraq.

In August 2007, 54% correctly identified the fatality level at that time (about 3,500 deaths). In previous polls going back to the spring of 2004, about half of respondents could correctly estimate the number of U.S. fatalities around the time of the survey.

By contrast, 84% of Americans knew that Oprah Winfrey was supporting Sen. Barack Obama for President.

The study also finds that over the same period of time, the media coverage dropped to only 3% of news:

Tags: i've, noticed, this

March 19 blogswarm against the war

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:44:09 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: 5th anniversary of the debacle's beginning

Clip Source: march19-blogswarm.blogspot.com

This blogswarm will promote blog postings opposing the war in Iraq and calling for a full withdrawal of foreign occupying forces in Iraq.

if you are having difficulty making up your mind:

Attend an anti-war event and report on it.

Interview military families and veterans.

NEW IDEA: Blog reactions to Pacifica's Live Radio Coverage of the Winter Soldier testimony by Iraq Vets would be of great interest. Coverage from the event in Washington, DC would be great too. This event deserves all the coverage it can possibly get.

Examine current plans and the rather shadowy oil laws as well as long term military bases.

Compare and contrast candidates stated intentions on what they claim they will do with their records.

Publicize online action alerts by pro-peace organizations.

Discuss the economic impacts of the war on people in Iraq and/or western countries.

Discuss the casualties on both sides.

Explore issues and impacts often ignored by most media outlets.

Analyze war propaganda.

Tags: iraq, war on terror, politics

World Bank VP: Iraq war cause of sub-prime loan crisis

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:58:27 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Has cost 50-60 times more than Bush predicted; banks responded to cash drain with cheap credit; A week's war bill could end worldwide illiteracy

Clip Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au

THE Iraq war has cost the US 50-60 times more than the Bush administration predicted and was a central cause of the sub-prime banking crisis threatening the world economy, according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.

The war was now the second-most expensive in US history after World War II and the second-longest after Vietnam, he said.

The spending on Iraq was a hidden cause of the current credit crunch because the US central bank responded to the massive financial drain of the war by flooding the American economy with cheap credit.

"The regulators were looking the other way and money was being lent to anybody this side of a life-support system," he said.

That led to a housing bubble and a consumption boom, and the fallout was plunging the US economy into recession and saddling the next US president with the biggest budget deficit in history, he said.

The money being spent on the war each week would be enough to wipe out illiteracy around the world, he said.

Tags: iraq