Against Housefires and For the Firemen

Saying that you're for the troops and against Bush's war is like saying you're for the firemen and against housefires; for doctors and against disease; for cops and against crime.

It's just common sense.

Keith Olberman Special Comment: Bush and Golf

"Do you think these families, Mr. Bush - their lives blighted forever -- care about you playing golf? Do you think, Sir, they care about you? You, Mr. Bush, let their sons and daughters be killed. Sir, to show your solidarity with them - you gave up golf?"

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How Many Flag Pins Could You Buy For The Cost of Iraq?


It's a fact: With $3 trillion, you could buy 226 Flag Pins at $1.99 each for every person on earth!

This lovely emblem of patriotism is a "Must-Wear!" for every American, especially when running for public office. Buy one for each lapel, ball cap and pajama top so that you're never without proof of your presidentiality. Made in China of finest scrap metal imported from USA!

Or you could spend the money occupying Iraq and killing over a million people. Make your choice: http://3trillion.org/products/175594-flag-pin

Body of War


This a documentary (2007) follows Iraq War veteran Tomas Young as he adapts to his body being paralyzed from a bullet to the spine: http://www.bodyofwar.com/

The film takes an unflinching view of the physical and emotional aftermath of war through the eyes of an American soldier.

Pentagon Iraqi Perspectives Project Hidden from Public Due to Inconvenient Truths

Who says there was no direct connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda? Our own military.

Where on the internet can you read the detailed report behind that claim? You can't.

The report, called the Saddam and Terrorism, was created by our own Armed Force's Joint Forces Command, in its Iraqi Perspectives Project. They studied all available documents, including a huge treasure trove of paperwork from the Saddam regime (...in cruel dictatorships, underlings tend to CYA.) And they found: no connection.

Normally, such JFC reports are proudly posted on the internet as PDFs so We The People can understand what's really going on (and how our tax dollars and blood are being spent.)

(For example, a study of military operations in Iraq is available here.)

But the inconvenient truths in the Iraqi Perspectives Project: Saddam and Terrorism will not get the usual press release, will not be posted online and will not be distributed by email.

Asked why, the spokesman for Joint Forces Command said: “We’re making the report available to anyone who wishes to have it, and we’ll send it out via CD in the mail.” That's right! In the internet era, posting and emailing PDFs are the standard, the Pentagon has chosen effectively to hide the information by making it available only by mail --- and by not telling anyone how to order a copy.

A Pentagon official is reported to say the study was “too politically sensitive.” Apparently, the officer's oath to protect the Constitution has been replaced by an oath to protect current political leaders.

WHAT TO DO: Order the CD, d'uh!

It's not clear how to order such a CD. What may work is to ask the United States Joint Forces Command at their official contact page:
http://www.jwfc.jfcom.mil/webapps/forms/USJFCOM/feedback.jsp

I did that today, and within the hour had the email response "Thank you for your email. Your copy will be sent today." So I suggest you give it a try too. Be polite! remember, the soldier who gets your request is not the one who is keeping the report off the internet.

Once you get the report, READ it and pass it around.

KUDOS to ABC News for reporting on this: http://blogs.abcnews.com/rapidreport/2008/03/pentagon-report.html


You can learn more about the reason for the report (but not for its censorship) here:
http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2006/sp032406.htm

Update: Here's the Files!

Big News! The CD arrived in my mailbox Monday, March 17 (St. Patrick's Day). That's pretty good, really. Kudos to the Pentagon for efficient delivery (too bad it wasn't on the web but, give credit where credit is due.)

Now, IMO you should still order the CD so you can have your own copy. But if you're as lazy as I am, you may wish to get them here. The CD contained 5 large PDFs

Iraqi Perspectives Project
Saddam and Terrorism: Emerging Insights from Captured Iraqi Documents

* Volume 1: http://rewinn.com/P-4287Vol1.pdf - Volume 1 (Redacted) (Note: this is the report itself)
* Volume 2: http://rewinn.com/P-4287Vol1.pdf - Primary Source Materials Volume 2 (Redacted)
* Volume 3: http://rewinn.com/P-4287Vol1.pdf - Primary Source Materials Volume 3 (Redacted)
* Volume 4: http://rewinn.com/P-4287Vol1.pdf - Primary Source Materials Volume 4 (Redacted)
* Volume 5: http://rewinn.com/P-4287Vol1.pdf - Primary Source Materials Volume 5 (Redacted)

Executive Order Changes Integer Sequence

Dude Ranch, TX - George W Bush issued an executive order today reducing the number of Americans under fire in Iraq to a low of 150,000, down from the 2006 high of 130,000.

"To achieve this reduction," said the order, "The generals on the ground have determined that we must define 150,000 to be less than 130,000. The American people do not want the traditional sequence of integers to interfere with the judgment of the generals whose paychecks depend on pleasing Me. I therefore order that 150,000 be less than 130,000."

"Nothing in the Constitution keeps the President from reordering the integers," said White House spokesdroid Dana Perino. "Congress has never prohibited the Federal Government from doing this, and there are no court cases to the contrary."

Reaction was swift and approving. "We have long applied similar logic to reducing the deficit," said Republican lead Mitch McConnell, "We reduced the high deficit of a surplus during the Clinton years to an all-time low of a $400 billion deficit under Bush."

Democrats in Congress issued their traditional ritual denunciation. "By golly, he's got us on that one," said Majority Placeholder Harry Reid. "But what can we do? Even if the House impeached him, an executive order can define 23 Republican diehards as a majority in the Senate."

"We plan similar reforms in the electoral process," smiled White House puppeteer Karl Rove. "Once you realize that 100 million votes for a Democratic Party candidate can by executive order be made than 55 million Republican votes, the whole process is simplified. Give up!"

Support the Troops Legislative Priorities

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America has come up with a few legislative priorities. It's time to decide whether "Support the Troops" is talk, or for real:

* A New GI Bill.
A modernized WWII-style GI bill that fully covers the cost of an education at any public school or equivalently-priced private school.

Benefits for Reserve/National Guard servicemembers should be based on the cumulative length of their deployments and not on their single longest deployment.
Tuition costs should be paid up front and directly to the college, allowing veterans access to education without forcing them to rely on loans.

* Ensure Thorough, Professional, and Confidential Mental Health Screening.
IAVA supports mandatory and confidential mental health and TBI screening by a mental health professional for all troops before and after a combat tour.


* Overhaul Military and Veterans’ Disability System.
DOD and VA disability systems must be streamlined to provide adequate compensation for the injuries suffered by today’s military personnel.

* Make VA Health Care Funding Sufficient and Mandatory.
Every year, veterans are forced to fight for funding for veterans’ health care, and the VA budget is regularly late. This irregular funding system means that it is difficult for veterans’ hospitals to plan ahead for hiring or hospital repairs. The only way to ensure timely funding of the VA is to make VA health care funding mandatory.

* Combat Shortage of Mental Health Professionals.

According to the Pentagon’s Task Force on Mental Health, the military’s “current complement of mental health professionals is woefully inadequate.” Immediate and innovative steps must be taken to recruit and retain military mental health professionals.

* Protect Servicemembers from Unfair Contracts.
Students who are deployed overseas should be reimbursed for tuition paid towards interrupted coursework. Returning students must be reinstated with the same academic status they earned before they were deployed. 6% interest cap in the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act (SCRA) should apply to student loans.

MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.iava.org/legislativeagenda

To these I add: stop Bush's crazy occupation of Iraq. Our troops have done all that can be done. Let the Iraqis solve their own problems.

Bush Sends Ailing Troops to War

Just how SICK a "commander-in-chief" do you have to BE to send a guy on crutches into a war zone?

"... Master Sgt. Denny Nelson, a 19-year Army veteran, was sent overseas last month despite doctors' orders that he not run, jump or carry more than 20 pounds for three months because of a severe foot injury.

The soldier, who has a Bronze Star and is a member of the Mountain Post's Audie Murphy Chapter, was sent to Kuwait on Dec. 29.
Nelson says he was one of at least 52 soldiers deployed who should not have been, and a veterans group says the military is endangering soldiers to meet its goals..."

MORE INFORMATION from the great VA WATCHDOG:
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfJAN08/nf011808-8.htm

McCain proclaims 100 Year Crusade

John McCain told a cheering crowd of his faithful that the Middle East is ripe for liberation from terrorists who would deprive America of our God-given oil.

"Oil Wills It!" he muttered over an open microphone.

"A hundred years in the Middle East would be fine," he explained. "They have been fighting among themselves for over a thousand years. So 100 year, 20,000 American lives and $120 Trillion dollars is not that much more.

"Deluded Iraqis may think we are there for their oil, but what could be farther from the truth? Some day, they will thank us for making them pass an Oil Law opening their fields to multinational corporations."

"Meanwhile," McCain proclaimed to the cheering crowd of arms makers, "The war lets us funnel American taxpayer dollars to you patriotic Americans who gave money to politicians."

Due to FCC restriction on profanity, no veteran of the Iraq occupation was able to offer comment.

Lies

9/11.

Yellow cake from Niger

Reconstituted nuclear weapons program.

Chemical weapons.

Mobil biological weapons labs.

We will be greeted with kisses/flowers.

The war will pay for itself.

Mission accomplished.

$25 billion, tops.

The insurgents are in their last throes.

Iran is supplying the sunni insurgents with IEDs.

The 2024 Standardized History Examination


1. When George W Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, he knew
a) Saddam had no significant quantities of WMDs threatening America
b) The weapons inspectors followed every lead America gave them and found nothing
c) The Italian letter concerning uranium had been forged
d) All of the above.

2. Global Warming is a short phrase denoting the Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Climate Change that has seriously damaged
a) America's shorelines and ports, due to rising oceans
b) America's farmlands, due to changing rain patterns
c) America's security, due to instability in third world nations hit hard by rising oceans and changing rain patterns
d) All of the above.

3. The decline of American global power was due to:
a) Excessive debt owed to global competitors
b) Excessive export of jobs
c) Squandering of American military power in Iraq
d) All of the above.

4. The Republican Party started in the 1850s as a liberal political organization, and between 1990 and 2010 became
a) A criminal enterprise
b) A sex club
c) Extinct
d) All of the above

ANSWER KEY:

1-d
2-d
3-d
4-d

Gondor to withdraw troops from Iraq!

Minas Tirith - One of the remaining nations with troops on the ground in Iraq announced today the withdrawal of its forces there.

"Our corp of elite guards have done all that Men can do", said King Aragorn, son of Arathorn. "We also have concluded that Iraq never had The One Ring of Sauron, and the information provided to us by Gollum was falsified."

A White House spokesman reacted calmly. "Our coalition remains strong. Narnia has promised to keep its centaur staffing the Green Zone visiting center, and we're continuing to receive assistance from Saruman's elite corps of crows."

(more of my spoofs here)

Iraq deaths DOWN to 1809 from 1760!

Washington - The White House announced today that Iraqi civilian deaths decreased in August to 1806, from 1760 in July.

A reporter who asked how an increase of over 40 represented a decrease was escorted to the door and beaten. The rest of the media asked about Barney and the upcoming wedding of Bush's daughter.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_09/011979.php

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070902/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

What if Superman wakes up one day, and decides he's gonna Destroy All Evil?

Why not? He's the Sole Remaining Superpower and the Champion of Truth, Justice & The American Way.

So he goes and smashes a dictatorship. BAM! Nobody does it like The Superman does it!

The people are grateful.

But Supes --- he won't go home.

He figures, the people he liberated aren't ready to take care of their stuff. So he's gonna do it.

And he's standing there, thinking, and this car comes toward him. He shouts "STOP!" in his super-voice but they don't stop, so he zaps it with his heat vision, in self defense. It's not HIS fault if they don't speak English!!!

Some old guy starts complaining about the dead people in the car. Superman knows people understand that he means well and mistakes just happen.

Since Superman smashed the dictator's electricity plants, it gets all dark and stuff but that's o.k. Anyone out after dark is probably a lawbreaker and he hits them hard. SPLAT! The people should feel safer now.

The place starts to smell bad. Superman remembers that he broke the water system while he was fighting the dictator. There's Shit All Over - what is wrong with these people ????!!!!

The people over here are hard to tell apart. They've got mustaches and don't wear super suits with their hero ID on the chest, so sometimes Superman's not sure who's with him and who's against him.

Then someone told Superman that the guy on the next street had kryptonite, so Superman blew up the whole block in self-defense. Boy were the neighbors mad at Superman! They told Superman the informant was helping the evil General Zod. Now Superman is confused, but he sure can't leave while people are all mad at him.

After a while, the people decide they need help.

Who else can they turn to but Lex Luthor? Lex is a very bad man but what else can they do?

Superman keeps trying to "help". He won't leave so long as there's a single liberated person seeking help from the evil Lex Luthor.

Now what is Superman gonna do?

GOP Outlines Plan To Use Iraq Debate for Partisanship

A memo from House leader Boehner shows how the Republicans plan to use the Iraq debate, not to actually think about what's the best thing to do next, but to score partisan points against the Democrats. You can read it here yourself : http://images1.americanprogress.org/il80web20037/ThinkProgress/2006/boehnermemo.pdf

I quote:

"As a result of our efforts during this debate, Americans will recognize that on the issue of national security, they have a clear choice between a Republican Party aware of the stakes and dedicaetd to victory, versus Democrat Party without a coherent national security policy that sheepishly dismisses the challenges America faces in a post-9/11 world."

Let us ignore for a moment Boehner's problem with spelling (it's "Democratic" Party, not "Democrat" party.) And let us ignore his lying about the difference between the two parties. Those are normal sliming we've come to expect from him, personally, and his political party, lately.

The key point is there: a debate about Iraq should be about Iraq. What to do. When to do it. Ways and Means.

Not scoring points against domestic political opponents.