I watched a little of the Republican Convention last night. It didn't take long for me for me to get tired of them all singing the 911 song. It goes something like this, "Ooooooh, 911, 911, 911, 911, 911, 911..." It's not hard to learn and from what I saw McCain and Guliani had it down pretty good last night.

They are also taking great pains to make sure that if any undecided voters are watching that they will not see what the true face of the rulers of the Republican Party is. No you will not see DeLay, Santorum, Frist, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Perle, Wolofowitz nor will you see the religious zealots like Bill Bennett, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell or Ralph Reed. The mean/divisive face of the Republican Party will be hidden all week. Instead what you will see is the Pro-choice, indifferent on gay marriage, love minorities and women, nice/inclusive Republicans like McCain, the Governator, Guliani, Pataki and Laura Bush. Except for Wednesday and Thursday when "Unka" and the President come out to rub the "wing nuts" tummies. Make no mistake about it, even worse than this term, if reelected the compassion and the conservatism will be gone. If given another term all the crazies that are hidden this week will be back, remember none of them have been relieved of their duties. Without having to worry about reelection everything is fair game.

So when your President is caught saying "sensitive" things like this:

When asked whether we can "win" the "war on terror" Senator Kerry said: "Can we win? I don’t think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool are — less acceptable in parts of the world.”

He is only doing it to make him look like he has a brain. And when he says this:

Mr. Sanger: So this— the mistake is specifically what?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, it's a — it's a miscalculation of the — what the conditions would be like after a swift victory, because we never dreamt it would be that swift.

And so the fundamental question is, what are you doing about it? And what we're doing about it is dealing with it. We've got a flexible plan. In other words, a plan —

Q Was it flexible fast enough? I mean ...

THE PRESIDENT: Well, David, that's what historians and that's what people like yourself could judge. The point is, it was flexible. And we're now dealing with it, and Iraq is headed toward elections.

And when Cheney says this:

...he believed that decisions about same-sex marriages should be left to the states, contending that "freedom means freedom for everyone."

It is nothing but them running to the middle and trying to look compassionate again. They will say that good people can disagree on the issues but once they are reelected they will never say that again.

This article goes through a few things. The fake face being put on by the Republican Party this week and also brings up the point that the truce in Najaf was done to get it off the front pages this week.
In God, and terror, we trust
The war in Iraq is part of the "war on terra". You're either with us, Republicans, or with the terrorists. Be afraid. Be very afraid. And count on us to deliver you from fear - somewhat. Fear not what you can do to support us, fear for the world if you don't.

SBLfB and the SCLM
Press Corps Keeps Anti-Kerry Distortions Alive
A group of Vietnam veterans called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have managed to dominate campaign coverage recently with a series of inaccurate and unfounded allegations about John Kerry's Vietnam War service. But instead of debunking the group's TV ads and numerous media appearances, the press corps has devoted hours of broadcast time and considerable print attention to the group's message.

Perle on the problems at the Pentagon
2d probe at the Pentagon examines actions on Iraq
Richard Perle, a former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration and current adviser to the Pentagon, said the investigations are baseless and politically motivated.

"It's pretty nasty, and unfortunately the administration doesn't seem to have it under control," said Perle, calling on the administration to defend Feith more vigorously.

More on the Republicans in the closet
"The Deafening Silence of the Religious Right"
Since GeeDubya is running on a platform that he says God told him to do what he has done with our country, one would think that those who are "blessed" to have God's ear, would be front and center stage, shouting at the top of their lungs about the "goodness of Jesus" and so on. Yet, there is silence coming from these individuals, and they won't be in attendance at the party for God's Own (so they think). Why is that?

Have you seen this?
Republican Rep. Ed Schrock of Virginia announces retirement following claims he is gay
Schrock, 63, cited unspecified allegations in a statement he released Monday as the reason he decided not to seek a third term for Congress. He said the claims "have called into question my ability to represent the citizens of Virginia's Second Congressional District."
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 9:31 AM

 
Your President's brain is mush
Bush Hands Kerry the Keys on WoT
When asked "Can we win?" the war on terror, Bush said, "I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the -- those who use terror as a tool are -- less acceptable in parts of the world."

Kwiatkowski on...
Spies in the Pentagon?
The story of spies in the Pentagon will percolate, no doubt. I have no answers, but perhaps the questions themselves will help explain what is going on in the current administration, and the administration that is sure to come.

Remember Afghanistan? This was an attack on mercinaries, those that are bodygurads for Karzi, Dyncorp to be specific
U.S. Warns Citizens in Afghanistan
American investigators combed the rubble of the Reston-based DynCorp office in a fashionable Kabul district, while police blocked off the surrounding street to all traffic. In other parts of the city, concrete barricades were erected across streets where other U.S. security and contract employees live or work.

More Abu Ghraib analysis
Abu Ghraib and the Pentagon
The two reports issued this week on the Abu Ghraib prison are an indictment of the way the Bush administration set the stage for Iraqi prisoners to be brutalized by American prison guards, military intelligence officers and private contractors.

Ever heard of Team B?
It's Time to Bench 'Team B'
The reports of the 9/11 Commission and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence miss the real problem facing the intelligence community. The real problem is not organization or culture, but the Team B concept which began in 1976, and the real villains are those hardliners who refuse to accept the unbiased and balanced judgments of intelligence professionals about the threats facing the country.

- posted by Mom/Dad @ 2:49 PM

 
Sorry about last week. I was taken down by a sinus infection. Quite a bit happened last week though.

Juan Cole wraps up the truce (for now) in Najaf.

The Census Bureau reported last week that more people slipped into poverty last year and more people were without health care also.

More explaining/graying of what happened at Abu Ghraib.

Late Friday we found out about this, Iran-Contra II.

Not to mention more from the So Called LIberal Media (SCLM) dealings with the Swift Boat Liars for Bush (SBLFB). Be sure and look at the archive too.

Last but in now way least, Bev Harris has a new four part series on how the election will be rigged.

Those are the highlghts so far.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 9:02 AM

 
A Chill in Florida

'Staggering Amount' of Cash Missing In Iraq

How Do They Get Away With It?
If you favor the return of the draft and war without end, vote Republican.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 1:10 PM

 
The article below does a very good job of laying out what the SBLFB campaign is all about. It is about muddying the waters and dragging the debate down to a lower, shall we say base, level. Like a childish fight; did not, did to. This type of fight turns off voters and makes everyone think that both candidates are alike and will use anything for their own gain. This type of campaigning has traditionally driven turn out down and we all know which party wants lower turn out. That is what the highlighted sentence below makes clear. It's amazing that the American people are going to gall for Bush-Style Politics, Again.

BusinessWeek on the Swift Boat Liars for Bush
Flinging the Foul Mud of Vietnam
The purpose of the attacks against Kerry, however, isn't to get at the truth. It's a media campaign, with TV ads intended to create a vague, negative impression where none existed. The people behind the ads know that by any realistic assessment of the facts, Kerry has a major advantage over Bush when it comes to their respective military records. They want to muddy the waters to reduce Kerry's advantage. It's amazing that such bald-faced tactics can gain any traction with voters.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 8:34 AM

 
The total collapse of the swift boat liars for bush (SBLFB)
Swift Boat Liars exposed
Among other things, the long piece includes the outing of Jerome Corsi (courtest of Atrios) as a wingnut Freeper (who then cowardly backstabs his Freeper bretheren by apologizing and distancing himself from the site); the claims by Dr. Letson that he treated one of Kerry's wounds, when in fact, his name appears nowhere in any records; how Larry Thurlow claims Kerry's Bronze Star is fraudulent because Kerry encountered no enemy fire the night of his heroics, and so on...
Here is the connection graphic.

It's Friday, Chris Floyd, Krugman is on vacation
Prophet Margin
And if I can't get us there, if I fall along the way, then maybe my son or my grandson will pick up the banner and lead us to that promised land. But I believe we'll make it there somehow, Rush. We'll leave this rickety old constitutional republic behind and see our great country submit at last to the natural order, ordained by God and confirmed by history: the rule of elites, backed by brute power, gorging on the toil and blood of others.

What does the Iraqi soccer team think of Bush using them in his campaign you ask?
Gooooooooooal
"Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign. He can find another way to advertise himself."

-- Midfielder Salih Sadir

- posted by Mom/Dad @ 9:06 AM

 
I wrote some on the Neocons earlier this week. I was basically saying that they are hiding and none of them have been fired or given less credibility. In other words they are all still in the background scheming. It is always good to see someone agree with you. In this article, After The Election, the author is saying that they are hiding until after the election and then they will be unleashed again for the invasions, more than likely with Israel's help, of Iran and Syria.

But I have no doubt, from Bush’s statements, that he is still a man on a mission. He is committed to the basic tenets that Perle and others outlined many years before. And there is no reason to believe that this mission will become less important to a second term President who no longer has to face the question of reelection.

- posted by Mom/Dad @ 6:45 AM

 
Kay slams Condi
Former Iraq Arms Inspector Faults Prewar Intelligence
"I think this is particularly crucial and difficult to do in the intelligence area,'' he continued. "The recent history has been a reliance on the N.S.C. system to do it. I quite frankly think that has not served this president very well." Ooh, he called her a dog.

These guys deserve a big hand; Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay
Going It Alone
The contrast in coverage was stark at times. On September 8, 2002, the Times proclaimed in a front-page headline, "U.S. Says Hussein Intensified Quest for A-Bomb Parts." Knight Ridder had two days earlier proclaimed, "Lack of hard evidence of Iraqi weapons worries top U.S. officials." Knight Ridder continued with headlines like "Troubling questions over justification for war in Iraq" and "Failure to find weapons in Iraq leads to intelligence scrutiny," even as most other major media outlets sang a tune more in line with the Bush administration.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 3:05 PM

 
Another Republican that hates the President and America
President ignores core GOP values(Subscriptioin: use lhosek for username and passowrd)
Consider the three old-line bedrock Republican values: fiscal discipline, limited government and individual accountability. GOP old-timers can remember the days when Republicans stood for and worked for spending restraint and balanced budgets. Ironically, the only balanced federal budgets in the past 30 years were produced under a Democratic president.

Kerry finally strikes back
Kerry Speech to IAFF. Thanks to Atrios
Thirty years ago, official Navy reports documented my service in Vietnam and awarded me the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. Thirty years ago, this was the plain truth. It still is. And I still carry the shrapnel in my leg from a wound in Vietnam.

As firefighters you risk your lives everyday. You know what it’s like to see the truth in the moment. You’re proud of what you’ve done—and so am I.

Of course, the President keeps telling people he would never question my service to our country. Instead, he watches as a Republican-funded attack group does just that. Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: “Bring it on.”

- posted by Mom/Dad @ 8:15 AM

 
The lack of leadership really shows here. The Marines just decided to start a battle, without the higher-ups approving this?
Marines picked Najaf fight without Pentagon's OK
Just five days after they arrived here to take over from U.S. Army units that had encircled Najaf since an earlier confrontation in the spring, new Marine commanders decided to smash guerrillas loyal to the rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

This is cool
The Coincidence Theorist's Guide to 9/11
I posted an earlier version of this last week at Democratic Underground. I've added a number of more entries, and links for all.

Happy coincidenting!

Republicans say the darndest things when they no longer have to run for reelection
Bereuter: War in Iraq not justified
"I've reached the conclusion, retrospectively, now that the inadequate intelligence and faulty conclusions are being revealed, that all things being considered, it was a mistake to launch that military action," Bereuter wrote in a letter to constituents in the final days of his congressional career.

That's especially true in view of the fact that the attack was initiated "without a broad and engaged international coalition," the 1st District congressman said.

"Knowing now what I know about the reliance on the tenuous or insufficiently corroborated intelligence used to conclude that Saddam maintained a substantial WMD (weapons of mass destruction) arsenal, I believe that launching the pre-emptive military action was not justified."
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 11:14 AM

 
Krugman, good as usual
Saving the Vote
It's horrifying to think that the credibility of our democracy - a democracy bought through the courage and sacrifice of many brave men and women - is now in danger. It's so horrifying that many prefer not to think about it. But closing our eyes won't make the threat go away. On the contrary, denial will only increase the chances of a disastrously suspect election.
Here is the article referenced in Krugman's article today, Suppress the Vote? The Bush crime family is at it again.

I steal the term Bush crime family from Mike Malloy who has returned to the radio on Air America. Tonight he is going to have on the subject of this article, C.I.A. Officer Denounces Agency and Sept. 11 Report. If your used to wingnut radio he will freak you out. He's on from 8 - 11 pm.

Analysis of the troop redeployment
Misconceived Military Shuffle
Despite the Pentagon's denials, it seems deliberate that the two largest withdrawals have been proposed for countries that the Bush administration has had serious differences with in recent years, over Iraq in the German case, and over negotiating strategy with North Korea in the case of Seoul. Both countries have been working hard to patch up relations - South Korea is one of the few American allies with troops in Iraq - but the Pentagon does not seem interested in reciprocating.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 2:21 PM

 
Neoconservative Update

Over the course of the last year the Neoconservatives have been not as visible as they once were. Mainly the times during the build up to war and the "Glory Days" that occurred after the fall of Saddam's statue. We still see "Unka" Dick, Rummy and Wolfie but most of those not in high administration posts are no longer on with the talking heads. It's an election year and right now they are a political liability. But what about their agenda? Well here are their Four Core Missions:

* Defend the American homeland
* Fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theatre wars
* Perform the "constabulary" duties associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions
* Transform U.S. forces to exploit the "revolution in military affairs"

All missions are in motion. Other than 9/11 they've done a good job defending the homeland, even though their own document predicted it may take a new Pearl Harbor to set all this in motion. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, although they haven't been won decisively. I think the words constabulary and occupation are interchangeable, don't you? And last but no least yesterday's announcement of a major troop redeployment takes care of the last one. So the way it looks from here, even though this bunch of loonies are no longer visible there agenda is well on its way. Anyone who checks in here knows that one of my main tenets of the Bush administration is that just like Hitler with Mein Kempf these people have foretold their plan in Rebuilding America's Defenses (linked on the right). They are not hiding what they intend to do they are just not letting the spokespersons out of their coffins as much as they did when times were good.

More on the Neocons
The Writing on the Latrine Walls
The Reuters photographer I spoke to couldn't get any soldiers to talk about how they felt when surrounded by their fellow soldiers. "They don't talk in the ranks, or just about anywhere on base," he said. "You have to go out to the latrine area, to the Port-O-Potties. For some reason, they talk there. You can read how they really feel - all the anti-Bush stuff, all the wanting to go home - in the writing on the shithouse walls."

A split/evolution of neoconservatism?
NEOCON CIVIL WAR? DEBATING "THE NATIONAL INTEREST"
This battle matters as the neocons populate many important positions throughout the Bush administration -- and knowing that they may be divided, or even that they could be divided, may present significant opportunities for advancing U.S. foreign policy thinking towards a more enlightened direction than now is the case. This is particularly true if the Bush team loses to Kerry -- but even if we have a new President next year -- these battles over American grand strategy and the debate between neoconservatism, realism, and liberal internationalism are still going to rage.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 9:43 AM

 
Lately I have not really been able to get my thoughts together. I guess since I went on vacation and so much happened while I was not paying attention that I have been trying to find a starting point again. Here are a few recent events to ponder and I will be back to normal soon, I promise.

Greg Palast explains what just happened in Venezuela
Dick Cheney, Hugo Chavez and Bill Clinton's Band
Why Venezuela has Voted Again for Their 'Negro e Indio' President
But Chavez won't forget, because the mirror reminds him. What the affable president sees in his reflection, beyond the ribbons of office, is a "negro e indio" -- a "Black and Indian" man, dark as a cola nut, same as the landless and, until now, the hopeless. For the first time in Venezuela's history, the 80% Black-Indian population elected a man with skin darker than the man in the Jaguar.

Knock, knock....Who's there
FBI Tracks Potential GOP Protesters
With the Republican National Convention less than two weeks away, federal agents and city police are keeping tabs on activists and others they believe might try to cause trouble. They are making unannounced visits to people's homes, conducting interviews and monitoring Web sites and meetings

[and]

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, raised an alarm, arguing that few people know they have a right to turn away the FBI.

"Political interrogation without suspicion of criminal activity harkens back to the bad old days of the McCarthy era," she said. "The FBI does not have a right to intimidate people for criticizing the government."

The Bush Agenda
Conventional Facades: Why the Republicans Have to Hide their Agenda
And, though various news sources have reported on ways Biblical prophecy is influencing political reality, the Guardian has highlighted George Bush?s and Tom DeLay?s involvement in it all. Describing how "dispensationalism," a doctrine which involves ousting the Palestinians in order to make way for the Second Coming of Christ, isn?t merely found in the pages of Tim LaHaye?s Left Behind series, but in American politics, Matthew Engel spelled out what few ever mention -- how, after the Rapture, the Antichrist will destroy most of the Jews. "In other words, these Christians are supporting the Jews in order to abolish them," Engle explained.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 7:49 AM

 
The 800 pound gorilla
Rumsfeld and Bush Failed Us on Sept. 11
The inaction of both the president and the Defense chief under the ultimate test offer little reassurance to a nervous nation under the shadow of new terror warnings. Before we attempt to revamp the entire security system, shouldn't our government look first at why the people in charge failed to communicate or coordinate a response to the catastrophe?

The truth hurts
Bush Tax Cuts Heavily Favor Rich, CBO Says -Reports
President Bush's tax cuts have transferred the federal tax burden from the richest Americans to middle-class families, with one-third of them benefiting people with the top 1 percent of income, according to a government report cited in newspapers on Friday.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 11:39 AM

 
Its Friday:

Paul Krugman
Bush's Own Goal
A new Bush campaign ad pushes the theme of an "ownership society," and concludes with President Bush declaring, "I understand if you own something, you have a vital stake in the future of America."

Call me naïve, but I thought all Americans have a vital stake in the nation's future, regardless of how much property they own. (Should we go back to the days when states, arguing that only men of sufficient substance could be trusted, imposed property qualifications for voting?) Even if Mr. Bush is talking only about the economic future, don't workers have as much stake as property owners in the economy's success?

Chris Floyd
Go away
And that's what it's all about: loot. Bush's own auditors confessed last month that at least $8.8 billion in Iraqi oil money controlled by the Americans is now unaccounted for, Colonel David Hackworth reports in DefenseWatch. This secret siphon -- doubtless sloshing into offshore accounts around the world, as Hackworth notes -- is on top of the tens of billions in tax dollars openly pumped to Bush's corporate cronies and campaign donors.

But that's just the short-end money. Getting a stranglehold on world oil supplies through the strategic Iraqi bottleneck -- the ultimate object of the whole blood-soaked exercise -- will be worth trillions as reserves begin running out in the coming decades. For Bush is not just thinking of himself, you see; no, he's fighting to secure the future for generations of corrupt elitists yet unborn.

And for that, he needs terrorists, torturers, ruthless goons -- not a bunch of Oregon boy scouts gumming up the works with acts of mercy.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 7:31 AM

 
It appears that quite a few people are calling for an investigation into the torture memos, Twelve former judges, seven past presidents of the American Bar Association, a former FBI director and more than 100 other legal experts... That's quite a list. Why would they care? Maybe this is the reason [link]:

"The use of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by U.S. personnel in the interrogation of prisoners captured in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts has brought shame on the nation and undermined our standing in the world,"

Wasn't Bush supposed to bring honor back to the White House? Also with each new revelation the "few bad apples" defense gets harder and harder to believe, Ordered to just walk away.


We also find out this information today, Iraq 'ended nuclear aims in 1991'. This really does not come as a surprise. We knew after all before the war that there was a very good chance the WMD were pretty much gone. That is unless you were listening to the President or anyone in his administration or the intelligence community or the media. Of course this man told us but not many listened, Bomb Saddam, Save the G.O.P.

Today the Washington Post says it's sorry for not doing its job. Sorry it has cost tens of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars, The Post on WMDs: An Inside Story.

Did you forget there was a war going on? US Media Won't Cover What's Happening In Iraq and Media Fatigue Sets In For Iraq: Carnage Up, Reportage Down.

There is only one way to end the horror, The withdrawal of foreign troops is the only solution.


- posted by Mom/Dad @ 9:45 AM

 
In the campaign for President this year I do not see there to be much of a choice. My polite answer -- I have many more colorful answers -- when asked who I am voting for is this, "I've never voted for a Bush and I see no reason to start now". Believe me I've had ample opportunity, I live in Texas. Some people don't think Kerry is much different or better than our current President and to some extent I agree. The could take a better stance against the Iraq War than he has, for example. This argument was made in 2000 about Gore. But just stop and think for a minute what would be different if Kerry is President in January. Not only is Bush gone but so is Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith, Cambone, Libby, Rove, Karen Hughes, Scottie McClellan and all the other freaks in this show. None of these people would have been in charge of anything had Gore been elected, so I don't want to hear that they were too much alike.

So what is the current status of the race? It appears that Bush is lagging at this point, The "experts" ready to call it for Kerry. As stated in linked article in that post, there is still 84 days left and the Republicans have not even danced on the graves of the 9/11 victims yet, I mean had their convention. There is evidence though that the Bush/Cheney campaign knows they are in trouble. They have begun smearing Kerry endlessly. The swift boat liars and these new ads, Group Runs Anti-Kerry Ads on Black Radio Stations, are evidence of that. Remember Willie Horton? When a Bush gets behind a Bush gets dirty and not just a little but in up to the neck. Things look good for Kerry now but if we want Bush out of office we need to stay on top of things. Keep talking to friends and relatives, send money if you can, register people to vote, get involved. There is quite a bit of time left before the election and things will change the only question is how.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 8:29 AM

 
Meet Porter Goss:

Porter Goss as CIA Director?

Porter Goss? NO WAY!

How Partisan Is Porter Goss?

Halliburton, again
Report: Audit Looks at Halliburton Billing
Halliburton Co. did not adequately account for more than $1.8 billion it billed the government for work in Iraq and Kuwait, a published report on the findings of Pentagon auditors said Wednesday.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 1:58 PM

 
White House Has Some Terror Experts Worried
British security officials are angry over recent U.S. revelations of terrorist threats and arrests, said Paul Beaver, an international defense analyst based in London. He said the attitude among some British intelligence officials was that the "Americans have a very strange way of thanking their friends, by revealing names of agents, details of plots and operations."
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 12:10 PM

 
Now that the war in Iraq is over it's on to the next quaq... I mean the next target on the "axis of evil"
Diplomacy sidelined as US targets Iran
The US charge sheet against Iran is lengthening almost by the day, presaging destabilising confrontations this autumn and maybe a pre-election October surprise.
Findings Back Tehran's Denials on Uranium
New findings by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency appear to strengthen Iran's claim that it has not enriched uranium domestically, diplomats said.

Somewhere old Ike lies a-moldering in his grave
MY VIEW: WHERE'S MORALITY IN GOP ECONOMICS?
It is Enron economics, borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, where the privileged are always Paul and the rest of the nation always Peter.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 8:20 AM

 
A few before I go:

Surprise!

Are Blue States Smarter than Red States?

Not Scared Yet? Try Connecting These Dots


- posted by Mom/Dad @ 3:24 PM

 
What a week to be gone. I purposefully stayed away from the computer last week so I could enjoy my vacation. When I get on the computer I tend to stay for a while. I caught PBS one night and also jumped on a PC one time to check email and glanced at Dailykos for a few minutes to see what was happening. But it appears that I missed quite a bit:

Iraq blew up
On Monday morning guerrillas detonated a car bomb outside the house of Diyala provincial deputy Governor Aqil Hamid al-Adili. He escaped with light wounds, but several policemen guarding him were killed and 16 persons, some passers-by, were wounded. The capital of Diyala is the troubled city of Baquba.

A Fake Terror Alert
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Tuesday defended the decision to tighten security in New York and Washington even though the intelligence behind the latest terror warnings was as much as four years old.

Terror Alert 101. If you are accused of trumping up a terror alert what do you do? Why out your secret agent, of course.
"U.S. officials providing justification for anti-terrorism alerts revealed details about a Pakistani secret agent, and confirmed his name while he was working under cover in a sting operation, Pakistani sources said on Friday. A Pakistani intelligence source told Reuters Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, who was arrested in Lahore secretly last month, had been actively cooperating with intelligence agents to help catch al Qaeda operatives when his name appeared in U.S. newspapers."
Juan Cole has more on that as well.

More bad job numbers
There is no sugarcoating the report released Friday by the Labor Department. The consensus forecast was for the American economy to add more than 200,000 new jobs in July. The actual number was 32,000. June's already weak report was revised downward, to 78,000 jobs from 112,000. Even May's hopeful numbers turned out to be less so, with 27,000 fewer jobs created than originally reported. The report's immediate impact will be to neutralize, if not undercut, President George W. Bush's campaign boasts of a strong economic recovery.

Chalabi has really outstayed his welcome
How ironic that a close alliance between Iraq and the fanatical ayatollahs of Iran is the most likely accomplishment of the U.S. invasion. That would lend credence to the claim in a revealing Newsweek cover story on Ahmad Chalabi's checkered past that "the Bushies were bamboozled by a Machiavellian con man for the ages."
Of course, if we reelect this president, then we'll be the dumbest marks of all.

The Bush campaign released its new campaign slogan:
high taxes on the rich are a failed strategy because "the really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway."
Listen to your President discuss sovereignty.
And a Freudian slip, "They (our enemies) never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

An editorial comdemning the swift boat liars and the truth on the subject.

I went to look at the casualty count today and noticed that we were up to 20 for the month so far. I checked to see who was added and when clicking on the name Andrew R. Houghton this page came up. It chronicles his and his family's struggle from the time he was injured (July 10, 2004) to when he passed away (August 9, 2004). It was a very nice way to do it, I think. He seemed like a very special person. Another huge loss for our country in this war.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 8:27 AM

 
A few things I noticed when I got back to town

9/11 Commission Chimera
During my 27-years at the Central Intelligence Agency I served under nine directors and worked closely with four of them. They were in charge.

They Knew...
Despite the Whitewash, We Now Know that the Bush Administration was Warned Before the War That Its Iraq Claims were Weak


- posted by Mom/Dad @ 9:29 PM