Clipmarks | ratilfar's 'neocons' clips

Bush listens to the Generals...Yeah Right!

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:03:27 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: And in other fairy tales, Red Riding Hood wonders if Grandma should go to the orthodontist.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

During a JCS meeting with the colonels Nov. 20, Chairman Pace dropped a bomb: The White House was considering a "surge" of additional troops to quell the violence in Iraq. "Would it be a good idea?" Pace asked the group. "If so, what would you do with five more brigades?" That amounted to 20,000 to 30,000 more troops, depending on the number of support personnel.

Pace's question caught the chiefs and colonels off guard. The JCS hadn't recommended a surge, and Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Iraq commander, was opposed to one of that magnitude. Where had this come from? Was it a serious option? Was it already a done deal?

"I can only get part of it before him," Pace said, "and I'm not getting any feedback."

"When does AEI start trumping the Joint Chiefs of Staff on this stuff?" Schoomaker asked at the next chiefs' meeting.

Schoomaker was dismayed. Suppose the surge didn't work? "What is our fallback plan?" he asked.

There was no fallback, Pace replied.

Tags: bush, war, surge, lies, military, aei, neocons, leadership, wtf

Georgia is the graveyard of America's unipolar world

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:57:19 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Cont...

There has been much talk among western politicians in recent days about Russia isolating itself from the international community. But unless that simply means North America and Europe, nothing could be further from the truth. While the US and British media have swung into full cold-war mode over the Georgia crisis, the rest of the world has seen it in a very different light. As Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore's former UN ambassador, observed in the Financial Times a few days ago, "most of the world is bemused by western moralising on Georgia". While the western view is that the world "should support the underdog, Georgia, against Russia ... most support Russia against the bullying west. The gap between the western narrative and the rest of the world could not be clearer."

And that has the neocons scare witless!

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Russia's defiance in the Caucasus has brought down the curtain on Bush senior's new world order - not before time

If there were any doubt that the rules of the international game have changed for good, the events of the past few days should have dispelled it. On Monday, President Bush demanded that Russia's leaders reject their parliament's appeal to recognise the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Within 24 hours, Bush had his response: President Medvedev announced Russia's recognition of the two contested Georgian enclaves.

The Russian message was unmistakable: the outcome of the war triggered by Georgia's attack on South Ossetia on August 7 is non-negotiable - and nothing the titans of the US empire do or say is going to reverse it. After that, the British foreign secretary David Miliband's posturing yesterday in Kiev about building a "coalition against Russian aggression" merely looked foolish.

Tags: russia, us, empire, georgia, history, hegemony

Israelis trying to use U.S. as attack surrogate against Iran

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:05:18 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Let them do it themselves and reap the consequences. Oh wait, never mind, it is not like the Likud really care either way.

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

(CBS) Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen leaves Tuesday night on an overseas trip that will take him to Israel, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. The trip has been scheduled for some time but U.S. officials say it comes just as the Israelis are mounting a full court press to get the Bush administration to strike Iran's nuclear complex.

CBS consultant Michael Oren says Israel doesn't want to wait for a new administration.

"The Israelis have been assured by the Bush administration that the Bush administration will not allow Iran to nuclearize," Oren said. "Israelis are uncertain about what would be the policies of the next administration vis-à-vis Iran."

Israel's message is simple: If you don't, we will. Israel held a dress rehearsal for a strike earlier this month, but military analysts say Israel can not do it alone.

Tags: iran, israel, idf, war, airstrikes, attack, stupidity, neocons, nukes, gulf

The Power of Nightmares-Part1

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:07:06 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Part 1 of a very good series from the BBC

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: bbc, neocons, films, power, fear, nightmares, war on terror

Lieberman Says Bombing Iran ‘Has An Appeal To It’

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:33:32 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Probably the same appeal that blood has to vampires.

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

On right-winger Bill Bennett’s radio show this morning, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) expressed his openess to bombing Iran, saying that there is “an appeal to it.” Discussing the West Virginia primary results, Bennett praised what he claimed was Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) transformation into his “style” of politician, which he said is someone who “throws down a shot of liquor and bombs Iran.”

BENNETT: Listen, I give her credit. She has found her…three things. She’s found her voice. He is very much in the background now, it’s not this, you know, ventriloquial thing, it’s definitely her voice.

LIEBERMAN: That’s true.

BENNETT: And Joe, you know, this is my style. This is a girl who puts on her pearls, goes down, throws down a shot of liquor and bombs Iran, you know. This is…lookout Mrs. Bennett, this is my kind of girl.

LIEBERMAN: Hehehe, it does have an appeal to it.

Tags: looserman, billary, neocons, warmongers, empire, death

Nate the Neocon!

Sun, 11 May 2008 02:07:32 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: images.ucomics.com

Tags: neocons, humor, funny, fun, comic

Neocons and the truth: Bitter enemies to the end

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:44:49 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: From the article:

In late 2006, I wrote about virtually identical deceit from this same group, that time with regard to Iraq. On National Review in December of 2006, Ledeen -- just as the Beltway establishment was finally turning against the war in Iraq and in the wake of a lengthy Vanity Fair article identifying the neocons who were to blame -- claimed: "I opposed the military invasion of Iraq before it took place."

Clip Source: www.salon.com

In a July, 2006 article in Rolling Stone -- entitled "Iran: The Next War" -- the superb journalist James Bamford detailed the shady activities of numerous neoconservatives inside and out of the U.S. Government to plan an attack on Iran. Bamford focused on the role played by Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute and National Review, who created and began implementing an attack scheme in coordination with the Pentagon's then number-three official, Doug Feith, and Feith's deputy, Larry Franklin (subsequently convicted of felonies for passing classified information to AIPAC).

So Bamford's claim was "embarrassing" because "anyone even vaguely familiar with Michael's work knows that he has opposed military action against Iran." Got that?

Ledeen himself wrote at The Corner that "I would insist that my soldiers have the right of 'hot pursuit' into Iran and Syria, and I would order my armed forces to attack the terrorist training camps in those countries."

Tags: iraq, war, neocons, truth, lies, liars, iran, disaster, warmongering

The Noxious Fruits of Hate Speech laws

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:24:28 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Not to be confused with hate crime legislation.

Clip Source: www.salon.com

I've written several times before about the oppressive, dangerous hate speech laws which are common -- increasingly so -- in both Canada and Europe, whereby the Government is empowered to punish as criminals citizens who express offensive or otherwise prohibited political views. But here is a visceral illustration of what these sorts of laws engender that ought to give great pause even to proponents of such laws.

Ezra Levant is a right-wing Canadian neoconservative who publishes Western Standard, a typical warmongering, pro-Likud journal -- a poor man's Weekly Standard for Canadian neocons. In February, 2006, he published the Danish Mohammed cartoons, which prompted an Islamic group's imam to file a complaint (.pdf) against Levant with the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission, charging Levant with "advocating hatemongering cartoons in the media," and the imam specifically accused Levant of "defaming me and my family because we follow and are related to Prophet Mohammed."

[Video]

Tags: speech, freedom, liberty, canada, u.s. goverment, hate

Theocracy Now! At the Value Voters Summit 2007

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 05:21:00 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Wait until Frank Gafney opens his mouth. Revealing to say the least.

Clip Source: clipmarks.com

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: neocons, theocracy, far-right wing, electrions morality

A Guide for the Perplexed: The Wages of Empire

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 05:00:37 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Excellent coverage of the books out there tackling this thorny subject. The best comes from in the last paragraph:

"There is, I believe, only one solution to the crisis we face. The American people must make the decision to dismantle both the empire that has been created in their name and the huge, still growing military establishment that undergirds it. It is a task at least comparable to that undertaken by the British government when, after World War II, it liquidated the British Empire. By doing so, Britain avoided the fate of the Roman Republic -- becoming a domestic tyranny and losing its democracy, as would have been required if it had continued to try to dominate much of the world by force. To take up these subjects, however, moves the discussion into largely unexplored territory. For now, Holmes has done a wonderful job of clearing the underbrush and preparing the way for the public to address this more or less taboo subject."

Clip Source: tomdispatch.com

It looked like it would be a coming-out party for one -- the debutante ball of the season. It would be, in fact, like the Cold War without the Soviet Union. What a blast! And they could still put their energies into their fabulously expensive, ever-misfiring anti-missile system, a subject they regularly focused on from January 2000 until September 10, 2001.

A Guide for the Perplexed

Intellectual Fallacies of the War on Terror

* How did democratization at the point of an assault rifle become America's mission in the world, as seen by the apostate neoconservative Francis Fukuyama in America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy (Yale University Press, 2006)? Holmes is interested in Fukuyama, the neoconservatives' perennial sophomore, because he offers an insider's insights into the chimerical neocon "democratization" project for the Middle East.

Tags: war, empire, iraq, neocons

Lieberman Shrugs Off Failed Iraq Predictions, Now Claims ‘Road To Victory’ Goes Through Syria

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 18:53:20 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: First Iraq, then Iran and now Syria....

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) writes today in the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. “road to victory” in Iraq goes through Damascus, and urges Congress to “send a clear and unambiguous message to the Syrian regime“:

The United States is at last making significant progress against al Qaeda in Iraq–but the road to victory now requires cutting off al Qaeda’s road to Iraq through Damascus. […]

“I certainly hope military action won’t be necessary against Syria,” Lieberman said. “I would guess that it will not be, and part of the reason it will not be is because we were willing to use our power in Iraq and made a very strong point there.”

UPDATE: A McClatchy analysis demonstrates that Syria is not a major exporter of violence to Iraq. Looking at the origins of the suicide bombers in Iraq since 2003, only 8 came from Syria, compared to 53 from Saudi Arabia.

Tags: holy joe, holy s#!&!, looserman, warmongering, syria, iran, iraq, neocons, stupidty

Hijacking Catastrophe: Sorrows of Empire pt. 1 (6 of 10)

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:47:59 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Part 6

Clip Source: youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: empire, imperialism, war, conquest, iraq, neocons

Neocons on a Cruise: What Conservatives Say When They Think We Aren't Listening

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:32:53 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: The Iraq war has been an amazing success, global warming is just a myth and Guantanamo Bay is practically a holiday camp. The annual cruise organized by the 'National Review,' mouthpiece of right-wing America, is a parallel universe populated by straight-talking, gun-toting, God-fearing Republicans.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Neocons on a Cruise: What Conservatives Say When They Think We Aren't Listening

I am getting used to these moments - when gentle holiday geniality bleeds into… what? I lie on the beach with Hillary-Ann, a chatty, scatty 35-year-old Californian designer. As she explains the perils of Republican dating, my mind drifts, watching the gentle tide. When I hear her say, " Of course, we need to execute some of these people," I wake up. Who do we need to execute? She runs her fingers through the sand lazily. "A few of these prominent liberals who are trying to demoralise the country," she says. "Just take a couple of these anti-war people off to the gas chamber for treason to show, if you try to bring down America at a time of war, that's what you'll get." She squints at the sun and smiles. " Then things'll change."

Tags: neocons, the mentaly ill, pax americana, empire

An Imperial Frame of Mind

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 19:34:28 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: www.tomdispatch.com

Outsourcing Action in an Imperial World

An Imperial Frame of Mind

The same people who once thought Bush's war was a great idea, or a good idea, or at least an okay idea, or something we should all support no matter what, are still at it. Now, some of them claim the war was a lousy idea but, following Colin Powell's Pottery Barn rule, are convinced that, since we "broke" Iraq, it's "ours" anyway. Some, like the Washington Post editorial page's editors, still think the invasion was a good idea, just somehow poorly -- the word you always see is "incompetently" -- carried out, making the mess the Iraqis are in still ours.

Tags: empire, america, war, neocons, media

Jewish Bloggers Stand up to Right Wing Jewish Lobby

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 19:35:09 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Not everyone is of one mind.

Clip Source: amconmag.com

Israel’s propaganda fortress faces a surprising new challenge.

This hawkishness is actually an outlier sentiment, popular only among those running for office. In Washington, it’s difficult to find a foreign-policy expert who thinks that any good would come of a strike on Iran. Even the neocons have their doubts. The Iraq War, miserable concept that it was, had far more respected backers.

At this point the story could have taken the same path it has virtually every time something similar has happened since 1970—the originator of the “anti-Semitic” gaffe apologizes, some taint remains attached to his name, and everyone is reminded once again of the perils of crossing swords with “the lobby.”

Tags: blogs, israel, middle east, war, iran, terrorism