Not News!

In The Politics of Truth, Joseph Wilson's new book concerning the outing of his wife Valerie Plame, Wilson writes:

"I am told ... that the Office of the Vice-President - either the Vice-President himself or more likely his chief of staff, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby - chaired a meeting at which a decision was made to do a work-up on me. As I understand it, this meant they were going to take a close look at who I was and what my agenda might be."

The FBI is still investigating the leak, and has met with senior White House officials.

So, this is not typical pure bs stuff. Until there are charges pressed and indictments served, this is all just kinda fun.

Oddly, the usually very factual Independent is really playing this up. The usually very good Andrew Buncombe has written an atypically sensational article about the affair. It's mostly just stuff from Wilson's book.

Since Wilson has reportedly spoken to The independent about the outing of his wife, perhaps they feel it is their story. I'm a little disappointed. This should be in the entertainment section at this juncture. No, I do not think that this is at all entertaining. It is deeply disturbing to suspect that your governance would jeopardize national security and people's lives in order to retaliate for someone that spoke the truth. That's frightening.

I've dedicated way to much drive space to this. :)

Soldier for the Truth

"Our troops are still waiting for more body armor. They are still waiting for better equipment. They are still waiting for a policy that brings in the rest of the world and relieves their burden. Our troops are still waiting for help."

"I don't expect our leaders to be free of mistakes, I expect our leaders to own up to them."

In a refreshing break with tradition, the Weekly Democratic Radio Address was given by a veteran of The Iraq war redux. I guess that makes two breaks with tradition. It's the first time I've linked to Fox News *shiver*

Paul Rieckhoff, who gave the address, tells a different story from that of the president. Rieckhoff lays it out in easy to follow terms. That's what I like about veterans. Unless they're way up in the food chain, they aren't likely to bs you. Bs gets them killed.

A worthy read. I know it's Faux News, but it's an important message.

It's Worse Than We Know

Seymour Hersh, Richard Perle's favorite journalist, has obtained a fifty-three-page report written by Major General Antonio M. Taguba and not meant for public release.

In the report, a much more comprehensive picture of the extent and nature of prisoner's vile treatment in the now even more infamous Abu Ghraib prison is revealed.

One paragraph details some of the atrocities:

Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees; pouring cold water on naked detainees; beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair; threatening male detainees with rape; allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick, and using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.

Pretty sick stuff. But it's rather tame compared to what Hersh writes in the linked to article.

If you read but one article today, this should be it. It's verbally very graphic.

Planet Bush

The first paragraph of Bush's weekly radio address is illuminating.

Without further ado:

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. A year ago, I declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq, after coalition forces conducted one of the swiftest, most successful and humane campaigns in military history. I thanked our troops for their courage and for their professionalism. They had confronted a gathering danger to our nation and the world. They had vanquished a brutal dictator who had twice invaded neighboring countries, who had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people, and who had supported and financed terrorism. On that day, I also cautioned Americans that, while a tyrant had fallen, the war against terror would go on.

Miltary campaigns are now "humane?" You gotta be kidding me.

Saddam was "a gathering danger to our nation and the world." No. He was not. Bush, and anyone with adequate knowledge of the pertinient sets of data knows this. Sheesh.

"They had vanquished a brutal dictator" O - M - G Saddam is at large. Odd use of tense there.

Just what type of terrorism did Hussein 'support?' What did this 'support' consist of? Financial support? Pure bs.

Iraq was and is not only a major diversion on the "WoT," it has been a real gift to anti-U.S. groups - whatever their background.

Let's drop any pretense that Saddam was anything but 'our guy' in the region until he invaded Kuwait. He was a CIA asset from 1958-1990.

He waged war against the Iranians with chemical weapons with our covert blessing. During Reagan's terms while Saddam was gassing Iranians, an anonymous inside source told the New York Times that the Pentagon "wasn't so horrified by Iraq's use of gas. It was just another way of killing people — whether with a bullet or phosgene, it didn't make any difference."

What Bush is selling, I'm not buying. I already picked some up to fertilze my lawn - I'm set for a year.

Just when will the lies and distortions stop?

Terrorism: Bah!

It's time to change the dialogue into the something constructive.

Terrorism, Iraq and the like aren't the menace that unchecked global pollution is. Not by any stretch.

Here's a bit of the George Monbiot interview on Democracy Now! from Friday, 30 April 2004.

AMY GOODMAN: I'm Amy Goodman here with Juan Gonzalez in our New York studio. We're used to speaking to him on the phone. It's great to have him in the studio. He traveled across the Atlantic, bringing us this book, Manifesto for a New World Order. Extreme global climate change and how does it fit into the global political picture, George?

GEORGE MONBIOT: This is the big, big problem that we're up against. Even the Pentagon now is listing it as possibly the foremost threat facing humankind, even the Pentagon. And we're looking at the possibility of making the living conditions, which permit human life to take place on earth, making those conditions impossible. It's a very interesting little snapshot of what could potentially happen. 250 million years ago, the Permian Period came to an end in a catastrophic way. About 90, 95% of all life forms were wiped out, including anything bigger than a small pig, i.e., anything bigger than ourselves or indeed, smaller than ourselves. The reason for this, huge emissions of carbon dioxide produced by volcanoes raise the world's temperature by six degrees. The current projections by the intergovernmental panel on climate change are talking about anything up to six degrees within this century. We could make the conditions which make human life possible -- we could destroy those conditions within this century, if we don't move very, very fast. What we have got to see is part of any just world order, and part of any world order which is actually going to permit people a decent standard of life, any people a decent standard of life, we have got to see a huge cutback in the consumption of fossil fuel.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Yet when it comes to change in this area, the Bush administration here in the United States is perhaps doing everything it can to set back all of the environmental efforts and reform that this country has been involved in now for the past 30 years.

GEORGE MONBIOT: That's right. It's a measure of effectiveness of the corporate propaganda relayed through the corporate media that people aren’t taking to the streets about this right now. I mean, this guy, George Bush, is endangering the conditions which make human life on earth possible. What could be worse than that? What could be a more appalling disastrous project than the one that he is following? If people are going to rebel about anything, that's the thing to rebel about.

Rebel. I'm ready for a real revolution.

See link above for full transcript of interview. AND, if you can, toss a few coppers their way.

UPDATE:The Independent is reporting that Antarctica will be the only habitable continent in 100 years unless our use of fossil fuels starts abating NOW! Much more at link. Get active. Cool off!

Souter Attacked

I saw on CNN this morning(no, I wasn't home - I was eating breakfast - my no-TV pledge is till on) that Supreme Court Justice, New Hampshire resident and genuine nice guy, David Souter was assaulted while jogging last evening. CNN reports that Souter 'was assaulted by two men.'

Two men, eh? Where were Toni Scalia and Clarence Thomas last night? I'm not implying anything here, but I do have my suspicions. :)

All kidding aside, I am glad that Justice Souter is reportedly doing just fine and has only 'minor injuries.'

How can I say that Souter is a nice guy? I used to volunteer at a local agricultural co-op where Justice Souter often shops when not in Washington. He's very reserved, and extremely polite.

Update: Concerning my interview of a U.S. psych. nurse just back from Kuwait, she's still talking about things. I'll post the whole story on another site I work on(work? Heh).

Photo-Op Executions?

Just when I thought it was safe to go out for the evening..criminy.

The Independent is reporting that the alleged killing of seven Pakistani 'terrorists' in Macedonia in March of 2004 was staged to win U.S. support. Macedonia has been a staunch U.S. ally in the global war on terrorism. At least that's the image that has been portrayed.

The seven Pakistani men are now reported to have been illegal immigrants lured into Macedonia by promises that they would be transferred to Western Europe.

There are many facets to the global war on terror.

One facet that we rarely hear about is that the "WoT" has been rightfully seen as a green light for governments to commit state terrorism against groups within, and outside their borders with whom they have a grievance.

There is a lot more color at the link.

The Bulletin

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has another fascinating, albeit frightening look at the state of nuclear clean-up.

These "tank-farm workers" aren't employed at your local agricultural cooperative. These people are working at a site that produced 54.5 metric tons of plutonium for use in nuclear weapons.

I'm not going to expound futher on the potential, and realized hazards these workers face. It's up to you to click on the link and go get a crash course in the state of nuclear site clean-up - the article focuses on the Hanford, WA site, but it apllies elsewhere.

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Before I get mail about the treatment of Iraqi POWs at Abu Ghraib prison, I am aware of the atrocities, and I can't add anything substantive to the conversation. I'm too angry to be anything remotely approaching ration.

Here's a link to the British response to the tortures.

One last thing, I am also aware and appalled that the Sinclair Broadcast Group has Nixed the airing of tonight's Nightline. Without a free and unencumbered press, we cease to be a democracy. That transformation began a long time ago. The corporatists are winning. But I still have faith in our ability to effect change.

A link detailing the Sinclair/Nightline flap.

Peace!

Great Iraq News!

Iraq is being stabilized!

I don't have the direct quote, but AP reporter and ofttimes unofficial transmitter of the Bush Administration's talking points, Ms. Nedra Pickler wrote in this piece that President Bush said today that, 'progress has been made in stabilizing Iraq in the year since he declared an end to major combat.'

Most excellent!

Meanwhile, actually in Iraq, April is officially the deadliest month for coalition forces, and the other arm of the AP is reporting that at least 1,361 Iraqis were killed in the same time period.

Call me a skeptic, but the math doesn't equal 'progress being made in stabilizing Iraq.'

If the MBA President can't fathom the simple metrics of the situation, the average citizen(that would be me) must be utterly baffled. :)

Deferment Dick!

A bs reader, Larry H, is apparently as fed-up with Bush and Cheney's hypocritical critiquing of Kerry's military service as I am.

This is most likely not news to the keen readership of pure bs, but it was news to your humble author.

We've looked at the Gop's dissembling as found on Annenberg's Fact Check, and FAIR, where it is noted that: "Cheney [is] now criticizing Kerry for having essentially the same position Cheney advocated back in 1991."

Additionally, the flap over whether Kerry's injuries were serious enough to warrant the issuance of three purple hearts is campaign mud-slinging at its worst. Here are Kerry's military records posted online.

Since Dick "I had other priorities" Cheney lead much of the charge, let's look at just what Dick was doing while he could have been serving his country.

Tim Noah at Slate does the heavy lifting. Cheney's various student and familial deferments haven't received much press. Not nearly enough as he is Bush's point man on Kerry's record.

Hat tip to reader Larry H for the Slate piece.

For a more comprehensive look at the 5 deferments Cheney received, we hand off to America Coming Together, who in addition to adding color to Cheney's non-service record, asks the obvious: "Who is Dick Cheney to question John Kerry's fitness to serve as Commander in Chief?"

Who indeed?

"5 Deferments Dick" is out stumping - Kerry bashing - for George "Still A Missing Year" Bush. The irony is most likely lost on these people.

I wonder why Cheney loathes military service so much? Does he hate everyone that served in the military, or just Kerry?

I need to know.

Neither 'The Shirker' nor 'The Smirker' have any place in calling anyone's service record into question.

Wolfie's Math Problem

U.S Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz was asked yesterday during testimony by a congressional subcommittee how many American soldiers had been killed in hostilities in Iraq.

His answer:

"It's approximately 500, of which — I can get the exact numbers — approximately 350 are combat deaths."

Sorry, Paul.

According to the DoD's official numbers, 726 U.S. troops had died in Iraq as of Thursday morning. Of those, 524 were combat deaths.

As of right now, the total number of military personnel killed is 736. Another day, another ten Americans dead.

And for what?

For the 'exemplary action' of the Bush Doctrine. That's what. It's an utter failure.

Ba'athist's Back?

The Washington Post is reporting..and so is everyone else :) that U.S. marines have pulled out of parts of Fallujah. This is certainly welcome news for all parties.

One of the odder parts of a truly odd situation is the likely deal to be a deal struck between the U.S. - and, well the U.S.

I think we can drop all pretense of any effective Iraqi role in this 'negotiation process.'

According to the WaPo article:

"Fallujah residents have chosen Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohammed Saleh to form and lead a unit that will be in charge of protecting the city," said Iraqi Brig. Gen. Shakir al-Janabi, who expects to be part of the new force. "Our force will handle the security issue today in cooperation with Iraqi police."

So, we find ourselves in the unenviable position of likely ceding Fallujah to an indigenous force comprised of former - and remember, terribly feared - members of The Republican Guard, as well as former Iraqi police and soldiers including gunmen who fought against the us(the U.S.).

Meanwhile, a U.S. marine officer - speaking on condition of anonymity - reportedly told the AP that the new force would not contain any "hardcore" 'insurgents' or militant Islamists currently within Fallujah. Just how we are going to determine this is a mystery to this casual observer.

Essentially, the talks(?) are ongoing, and success or failure of the proposed shift in military forces could still hinge on whether or not the 'insugents' guilty of the March 31 execution style murder and subsequent gruesome display of the four American contract workers are handed over to the U.S.

Do we know that the Iraqis know just who these thugs are? I have nary a clue.

It would have been a lot simpler if our government had told us the real story about Iraq's weapons capabilities, lack of ties with al-Qaeda, and lack of support for international terrorism. Then we wouldn't be in this mess.

Who thought that a year after Bush proclaimed "Mission Accomplished" that we would be ceding authority in a major Iraqi city to the dreaded Republican Guard and various other once despised 'opponents?'

Certainly not me.

At least 736 U.S service personnel killed, perhaps 15,000 Iraqis and at least a half-trillion dollar financial commitment to reinstall some of the very people we once feared. It is a crazy world.

I think that anyone with a working knowledge of the publicly available facts, and sans any galloping insanity, would agree that Iraq was, and is, a blunder of the most epic of proportions.

There is much more at WaPo.

Castro: The Greater Threat

You really have to wonder just how obtuse the Bush Administration thinks the 'American people' are?

Exhibit #34679

Washington-AP -- It has Democrats and Republicans in Congress wondering if the administration's priorities are in the right place.

A Treasury Department agency that blocks the financial resources of terrorists has four full-time workers tracking down the wealth of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

The same agency has five times as many agents investigating Cuban embargo violations.

Those figures -- as of the end of last year -- were provided to Max Baucus, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.

Documents show that the Office of Foreign Assets Control opened just 93 enforcement investigations related to terrorism between 1990 and 2003. During that same time, it opened more than ten-thousand investigations of possible Cuba embargo violations.

The Treasury Department responds that it fully uses its resources against anyone who might harm the U-S -- "be they terrorist thugs or fascist dictators."

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: AP Wire.

Hard to know what to say. People never find out about these important but underreported stories.

Everyone's a Critic

Add Bremer to the list of U.S. traitors. ;)

Bremer adds to Clarke's pile

The US administrator in Iraq accused the Bush administration of "paying no attention" to terrorism in a speech given six months before the September 11 attacks.

"What they will do is stagger along until there's a major incident and then suddenly say, 'Oh my God, shouldn't we be organised to deal with this?' " said administrator Paul Bremer.

The speech was given at a McCormick Tribune Foundation conference on terrorism on February 26, 2001.

Bremer spoke at the conference shortly after he chaired the National Commission on Terrorism, a bipartisan body formed by the Clinton administration to examine US counterterrorism policies.

bit more, and a very muted response by McClellan at link

Who do you believe? Rice? Or Bremer, O'neill and Clarke? Tough
choice ;)

"Your Mission, Should..."

..You know the rest. :)

It's an easy one.

1) Go Listen to Democracy Now!

2) (this may sting some of you) Make a Donation While you're there

At Least do No. 1 - It won't hurt a bit. I promise.

Highlights:

• Sibel Edmonds gets re-gagged..she can no longer say what already in the public record. Criminy!



• Former CIA and State Department analyst Mel Goodman lays the case against the neocons out. Goodman is also the co-author of: Bush League Diplomacy: How the Neoconservatives Are Putting the World at Risk



• An Interview with Daniel Ellsberg

Good stuff all. Edmonds is the new Ellsberg. She's a gem!

Rock on, Sibel!

Additional: If you want to get a nice round-up of pregressive issues, also check out Free Speech Radio News

Both Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News are made available by THE PACIFICA RADIO FOUNDATION (Yes, all caps!)

More Polls

As support for the Iraq war wanes, Bush's poll numbers do likewise. In another poll Arab-Americans would pick Kerry over Bush in large numbers. Now there's a surprise.

Iraq Poll Shocker!

Iraqis are pissed off at occupation.

I know, it's baffling.

USA Today, CNN and Gallup conducted the poll which involves the opinions and feelings of 3,444 Iraqis, the largest and most detailed poll to date since the invasion of least year.

In contrast to the picture that the Bushies paint, the Iraqis are largely accepting of the 'insugents,' if not outright supportive. It should be noted that the poll was conducted BEFORE the current wave of U.S. - Iraqi violence. You needn't be a sociologist to tell which way the wind is blowing in Iraq at present. It is almost a certainty that Iraqi opinion has shifted further away from the the U.S and toward the 'insurgents.'

As Dylan remarked: "You don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."

Here's a snip(okay it's more of a big chunk) of the USA Poll article:

"I'm not ungrateful that they took away Saddam Hussein," says Salam Ahmed, 30, a Shiite businessman. "But the job is done. Thank you very much. See you later. Bye-bye."

'I would shoot ... right now'

Bearing the brunt of Iraqis' ill feeling: U.S. troops. The most visible symbol of the occupation, they are viewed by many Iraqis as uncaring, dangerous and lacking in respect for the country's people, religion and traditions.

The insurgents, by contrast, seem to be gaining broad acceptance, if not outright support. If the Kurds, who make up about 13% of the poll, are taken out of the equation, more than half of Iraqis say killing U.S. troops can be justified in at least some cases. But attacks against Iraqi police officers, who are U.S.-trained, are strongly condemned by the Iraqi people.

The Bush administration has contended that the growing resistance, which has killed at least 115 Americans this month, is the work of isolated cells of former regime members or religious fanatics, often from outside Iraq.

Iraqis interviewed in Baghdad say ordinary people have lost patience with the U.S. effort to crush the insurgency and rebuild Iraq.

"I would shoot at the Americans right now if I had the chance," says Abbas Kadhum Muia, 24, who owns a bicycle shop in Sadr City, a Shiite slum of 2 million people in Baghdad that was strongly anti-Saddam and once friendly to the Americans. "At the beginning ... there were no problems, but gradually they started to show disrespect (and) encroach on our rights, arresting people."

Sabah Yeldo, a Christian who owns a liquor store across town, says American failures have left the capital with higher crime and less-reliable services, including electricity. That is "making everybody look back and seriously consider having Saddam back again instead of the Americans."

"Seriously consider having Saddam back?" Boy, that has to hurt.

I've more to say about the poll, but I wanted to get it out right now. I'll append this blog entry later.

What hath Bush wrought?

Collective Punishment

The U.S. military is in a generous mood. Islamic militants have been given an enormous gift. By collectively punishing Fallujah's residents and 'insurgents' alike, the U.S. military is most likely going to al-Qaeda's greatest recruiting tool.

Way to go!

Targetings insurgents sounds really terrific, but the reality is that for the gruesome execution style deaths of four westerners - and I am still apalled by that - the U.S. is going to punish an entire city of roughly half a million people. Do you think that 500 thousand people were involved in the deaths of four people? Hardly likely.

This is just the sort of thing that pisses the rest of the world off at the U.S. After the killing is over, we'll see if the U.S. got the guilty parties..it is unclear that we even know who these people are.

This action is atrocious. This should be a criminal issue. Find the perps and bring them in.

Democracy? Who the fu&k does Bush think he's talking to? A 7 year old could tell you that you can't bomb a population into democracy.

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pure bs exclusive:

I have a report from a psychiatric nurse just back from Kuwait. It's a lot more grim than most people have been lead to believe. She's a friend. I'll post it once I've done a proper job of telling her story.

Bush Ad Distorts

Fact Check Retorts

Bush is trying to paint Kerry as weak on defense.

Well, we know who prior to September 11, 2001 said to Bob Woodward: "I was not on point" [in fighting terrorism before 9/11] and "I didn't feel the sense of urgency"[conerning terrorism]. - GW Bush

The greatest security lapse in American history occurred under Bush's watch. That fact is not in dispute.

The warnings were there. And post-9-11, instead of finishing off OBL, Bush moves vital resources to the Iraq war of wishful thinking. No terrorists there....at least none at the time. No WMD. None of Hussein's neighbors feared him. The Iraqis certainly did, but it was widely known in the region that Saddam's military capacity was decimated by a decade of UN(primarliy U.S.) sanctions. Yet Americans not only feared Saddam because they were told to by their governmet, and complicit media - astoundingly they still harbor long discredited beliefs about Hussein.

Sad. Damned sad.

Go to Fact Check to get the truth about Kerry's defense spending record..I'm entierly convinced that the Bush Doctrine is the greatest threat to our peace.

As far as terrorism is concerned, it's almost a non-issue in the grand scheme of things.

Americans have irrational fears. Do you drive a car? Do you know that you have a 66,500 percent greater chance of being killed in an auto accident than by terrorism? People drive cars with abandon.

Terrorism should play a tiny role in people's decision making processes. But people are, for the most part irrational.

Blogging report

Over the next few days, say until Thursday, I'm going to be making but one or two entries per day. I am on work overload. I'll be posting around 7:00PM Eastern U.S. time. I do have one odd item for now. Without further ado:

Reuters is reporting, or not reporting, on the possible existence of Iraqi aircraft specifically fitted to deliver chemical payloads to Israel.

Of course there have been no modified aircraft found, nor any plans for aircraft that I'm aware of. Hence, this 'report' from a single Israeli military source can only be added to the mountains of mythology surrounding the Iraqi illicit weapons programs.

The usual line that the illicit weapons were transferred to Syria, and or buried, is revisited.

At some point the media has to start treating these spurious, single-source allegations with proper skepticism. After all, it is largely media complicity that garnered wide U.S. public support for the Iraq war. The media's hands are not without blood.

Christian Science?

The name Christian Science Monitor evokes in me the long shadows that Christianity has cast over the pursuit of science since Galileo's time.

That was just a personal anecdote. Sorry.

It's the fine paper with the odd name.

There are three very worthy pieces that the CS Monitor just published on their website.

The illusions of equality that the military draft connotes

A possible re-think of the resumption of the seige of Fallujah

Reality trumping ideology in remaking the Middle-East into a bastion of representative democracy

All of these are really good.

The last one illustrates what is very wrong with the thinking process of a person like Bush. Condi Rice claims that Mid-East reform is the golden ring in Bush's mind's eye. But the reality on the ground is that this image is rapidly escaping. Can Bush adjust to the new reality? Maybe. But his 'stay the course at all costs' rigidity of thinking is not what is required. This is, in my opinion, a huge liability.

No articles about a flat-Earth here :) All good stuff. I promise.

Postscript: Bush can change his 'mind.' He has done so over the Israeli/Palestinian issue. Am I the only person that thinks it more than a little odd that the most vexing issue in the Mid-East is the one that Bush has devoted the least amount of time to? Now that's a real liability that the most casual observer should note. Heck, I did.

A "Three-fer"

Congrats to San Diego! You have the highest unleaded regular gasoline prices in the country! Records - not adjusted for inflation - are being set across the country.

Where is Bandar? Why hasn't the Saudi government opened the spigot?

Dammit!

Cheap petroleum products are an entitlement!

**************************************

Forget the "NASCAR dads," it's placenta packin' women that may decide things in November! I especially like the quaint and subtle, "U.S. Out Of My Uterus."

Rock on, sisters!!

**************************************

The Times of India is reporting that Pakistan has released 50 al-Qaeda 'supporters.'

It's a crazy world I tell you. If you read the article, it appears to be an "arms for hostages" kinda deal.

Now where have I heard that before?

But the Pakistani military averred that this does not represent a shift in terrorism policy. It's a one-time deal.

With friends like this....Oy.

More GreenBush

GW Bush: EnronVironmental Hero!

Taken from W's weekly radio address.

Does anybody listen to these things?

blah, blah, blah....Another critical environmental priority is the health of our nation's forests. In recent years, millions of acres of forests, rangeland, and communities have been destroyed by wildfires. So last December, I signed the Healthy Forest Restoration Act to reduce the risk of fire, save lives and property, and improve the health of our forests. The law opens millions of acres of forest land to vital thinning projects. And by expediting the environmental review process, and directing courts to consider long-term threats to forest health, the law allows us to protect more of our nation's precious forests...[snip]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting a strange feeling of deja vu.

This reminds me of possibly the most famous Vietnam war quotes: "We had to destroy the village to save it."

I know that there are ongoing studies in various forest habitats to determine what the critical sizes are to allow the various flora and fauna contained therein to continue to thrive.

With the recent spike in lumber prices, it'll no doubt be argued that the small short term positive economic effect - a slight easing in lumber prices, resulting from the harvesting of timber - outweighs the long term, and likely permanent damage resulting from local extinctions(extirpations), to complete extinction of species.

It's a win-win situation for all.

Or is that none?

Onward, to Najaf

The AP is reporting that the U.S. is preparing to enter Najaf.

The reporter is stating that the invasion of Najaf will be done 'sensitively' to avoid causing religious outrage.

Invasion = Sensitivity?

I agree that avoiding holy sites is a good plan, but plans in times of war are notoriously and consistently betrayed by facts on the ground as fighting ensues.

I'll believe it when it's over and I have confirmation from the foreign press. The article, on balance, isn't a bad read. Go ahead. It won't hurt. Yet.

The last 10%

My uninformed opinion.

It has been widely reported that Arab opinion of the U.S. has never been lower than it is now. Some 90% of Arabs view the U.S. in an unfavorable light.

So, how do we lose the remaining 10%? I would say that we should just stay the course. With Bush endorsing Sharon's latest attempt at disrupting any hope of peace and dignity for Palestinians, and the likely resumption of the siege of Fallujah and a new assault on Najaf, most of the 'errant' should fall into line.

Saudi Prince Bandar's appearance on Meet The Press will only serve to acknowledge the Arab street's view that the corrupt, repressive Saudi government is dealing with "The Great Satan" (the transcript should be out shortly)

So, what does this mean? I'll speculate a bit. Let's say that 1% of the Arab population of 200 million or so becomes radicalized due to current events. That gives us 2 million radicalized Arabs.

That is a huge problem.

It seems likely that the 1.1 billion members of Islam could - and most likely will - see current events as a war against their way of life. I don't see anything positive occurring here.

This could magnify the issue roughly five-fold. Not good.

"Why do they hate us?" yup. It's because of our freedoms. Sure it is. I like it when my leadership attempts to take a complex issue with myriad and changing elements and distill it to a phrase a 7-year old wouldn't buy.

Bush's problem is that he believes that his view is the correct one. He may be a person of convictions(drunk driving aside), but when your held beliefs are demonstrably wrong - see casus belli for the Iraq war - that makes you a huge liability. Far from keeping America safe from the widely exaggerated threat of international terrorism, Bush's error ridden thinking process is likely to spawn a new, much more dangerous style of threats.

These new threats may approach the level of those that are now considered implausible - or at least highly unlikely - by the intelligence community.

The Iraq war, our inability to liquidate bin Laden, and our inability to make any progress in the Israeli/Palestinian peace process will likely breed more of what we claim to be for extinguishing - international terrorism.

Anything for four more years in the White House. Et tu, George?

UPDATE: MTP Transcript

The EnronVironment

Hey. I just coined that. Bush spent a day touting his environmental record last week. On the only issue that is transcendent over real spans of time, he gets an "MF." No. Not that. "Miserable Failure."

MSNBC has a little interactive environmental "Fact File" about three-quarters of the way down the page.

Bush referred to himself as a "committed conservationist." I can only parse that to mean that he is committed to conserving financial wealth and power for the few that already have it. He cannot be speaking with any degree of seriousness about the physical environment. But then, the truth has never seemed an obstacle for him in the past.

The Real Truth

These are terms that Americans might understand.

The Bush approach to security.