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POPSAn Israeli Rabbi Thanks Bush for Invading Iraq.
I become very angry when I hear Orthodox rabbis thanking President Bush for attacking Iraq and thus supporting Israel. I have no problem whatsoever with America's support of Israel, which is an ally of ours. But I become very annoyed when we are expected to go to war with a country that did not attack us, simply because an ally finds it advantageous for us to do so. I find it very interesting that the vast majority of American Jews (70%) are against the Iraq war, while we are told that the majority of Israeli Jews are happy for it. I understand differences in opinions and perceptions, but to have someone thank a leader for going to war with a country that did not pose a direct threat to that leader's country, and had not attacked the ally either, just seems particularly cold blooded. I wonder how the families of our dead and wounded soldiers feel, as well as the families of the tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians who were killed and maimed. For what are we being thanked?
4
POPSBlackwater Doesn't Give A Damn About Rules It seems as if Blackwater is out of control. The answer to no laws in either the U.S. or Iraq. Paul Bremer made certain of that when he was Viceroy. He left Blackwater and other military contractors immune to Iraqi law, and also released them from any requirement to follow the military rules of engagement. Our soldiers who are paid a small fraction of what these professional killers are paid, and yet must follow all law to the letter or face court martial. These contractors are paid thousands of dollars a week and are given essentially a free hand. I know Republicans like to privatize as much as possible, but this is just ridiculous.
8
POPSThe U.S. Applies Pressure on Iraq for its oil...or else! This excellent article from Walrus Magazine of Canada, makes very important reading for anyone truly interested in the U.S. arm twisting and manipulations of the Iraqi government to convince them to give up their sovereignty of its own natural resource so the U.S. interests can control it. This is really a MUST READ.
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POPSAre These Neocons crazy or what? This story removes all doubt It is absolutely amazing how myopic these neocons actually are. I sat at my TV watching as Bolton, the president, Dana Perrino, etc, etc, etc, kept spinning the meaning of the NIE with all kinds of reasons as to why it is wrong. Some of them have the temerity to declare that the Intelligence agencies are twisting their findings in order to make Bush look bad. I have come to the conclusion that the neocons and far right Republicans have finally lost it completely. I sincerely believe that the public is fed up with the lies, and manipulations as well as the overt fear-mongering. Bush and his henchmen are bald face liars, and they should be thrown out of office and tried as the war criminals they are.
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POPSOur Brave Democrats Are As Fearful As Ever Once again, the Democrats, who so many of us put into power in order to change the direction of the Iraq policy and to bring our troops out of the hell hole, are going to give Bush his blank cheque to continue his war. Even though better than 72% of the country want this war to end, the Dems continue to be chicken to do anything tangible about it for fear the nasty Republicans, whom the U.S. electorate have all but totally abandoned, might call them soft of terror. Oh come on! This is getting to be not only ridiculous, but criminal. We the people have had our say, and our representatives are ignoring us for their own cowardly political reasons.
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POPSAnother Insightful Perspective By Bill Maher Bill Maher creates an interesting analogy between Bush's manipulation of the Iraq war and Ken Lay's similar tactics at Enron. My clips do not do the piece justice, and I urge all of you to read the entire commentary.
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POPSU.S. Ignored Iraq's Complaints About Blackwater Although the U.S. government says it respects Iraq's sovereignty, they still insist on maintaining their original decision to protect American contractors from being held responsible for obeying Iraqi law. The Iraqi government has been complaining to the U.S. about Blackwater's dangerous and reckless behaviour but their concerns have fallen on totally deaf ears. Meanwhile, Iraqi citizens are allegedly being mowed down in Baghdad and Iraq can do nothing about it. They cannot bring charges against the company or individuals because of the exclusionary status of American contractors. They cannot even legally tell them to leave the country because the U.S. is responsible for hiring them, and Iraq gets no response or cooperation from the people in charge. Just another way the U.S. is projecting its arrogance and lack of concern for the Iraqi civilians who are getting killed in the crossfire. Hell, we don't even keep track of the number of people who die in our military attacks.
0
POPSIraqi Gays Receive Asylum in Britain With all the problems and mayhem in Iraq, what a shame that innocent gay people, who have caused no one any problems, have to seek asylum in a foreign country in order to escape persecution and death. Thank you Great Britain for keeping your perspectives clear, and your hearts open.
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POPSMore Evidence That Bush Lied About WMD This new revelation adds more evidence to the belief that Bush and his cohorts lied to congress and the American people about the need to go to war in Iraq. This is a must-read article from Salon, and I urge you all to take the time to consider its contents. By the way, does anyone know what has happened to the so-called part 2 of the intelligence report that deals with how the White House used the intelligence leading up to the Iraq invasion? I know the Republicans under the leadership of Pat Roberts put it on the back burner and then turned off the pilot light. But the Dems promised that this report was A #1 on their list of things to complete and release, and since then, not a word has been said. Or, am I missing something?
2
POPSOlbermann, Once Again Hits The Nail on the Head It amazes me that Keith Olbermann is the only cable news journalist to have made a serious issue over Bush's comments concerning how he is playing the Iraq war for political purposes. I hope you will either watch or read Keith's entire comment as it makes plain just how crass and soulless Bush actually is. Once again, his words reinforces my belief that Bush is a sociopath. What bothers me tremendously is that no other news person dealt with Bush's comments. Chris Matthews, on his Hardball program went on endlessly about Bush's comments as it concerns his plans for making a lot of money on speaking engagements after leaving the white house. Chris felt it was a very inappropriate subject to be discussing (money) while still commander in chief of our soldiers who are being killed and wounded in battle. As inappropriate as those remarks very well may be, they don't come close to the crassness if Bush's admission to playing politics with the Iraq war.
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POPSGuard Troops in Puerto Rico Wants the War to End The Governor of Puerto Rico gets a standing O from military service people at the mention of ending the Iraq war. 7 soldiers publish an OPED in the New York Times last week explaining why staying in Iraq is a mistake. Petitions are signed by soldiers serving in Iraq asking for troop withdrawals etc etc etc. And yet, when you listen to the Republicans they tell you that ALL the troops wanna stay in Iraq until their job is done and they have procured victory. I have no doubt whatsoever that there are many troops in Iraq that do feel that way, but from all the polls being taken, the majority of them wanna come home.......yesterday. I am sick to my stomach over the way this administration continually uses our brave soldiers as propaganda tools. Just like Ari Fleischer is doing when he didn't even bother learning the name of the soldier who lost both his legs in Iraq, who is appearing in one of their pro-war commercials. They are all shameful to the core.
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POPSAri Fleischer and his crew are dripping with panic Fleischer and his group Freedom's Watch are not only using the overworked and phony connection between the Iraq war and the 9/11 attacks, but they are aiming at their own Republicans who are fleeing the president's Iraq strategy. They are so panicked that Bush is going to be forced into a corner in September, that they are actually trying to intimidate members of their own party with the same bullshit rhetoric and advertising they used to manipulate and scare voters in the past two elections. Ari and his group should be totally ashamed to exploit our wounded and killed vets in such a crass political game.
2
POPS500+Innocent Iraqi Civilians Die...We Are Told The Surge is Working We are being told over and over again in the msm, that the surge is working. Military progress is being made and several areas of Iraq, even in Baghdad are becoming very safe. This is fascinating to hear along with the sounds and reports of continued suicide bombings such as the one that killed over 500 innocent civilians in an area that was never bothered by the insurgents previously. Sure, we might very well be making some progress in some areas. But, the insurgents just take their deadly efforts to other areas which we cannot cover. We move in, they move elsewhere. We follow them elsewhere, they come back to where they were before. These insurgent groups are smart, and innovative. This surge is just an excuse to keep the war going for as long as the murderer Bush remains in office. It will be interesting to hear the Patreous report...er... I mean the White House report on Sept 11th, so we can learn about our progress as the bodies are scraped off the streets in Iraq.
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POPSMilitary Suicides I wish I could have clipped the article in a more comprehensive fashion. Some pieces just cannot be done justice within the 1000 limit. However, I have tried to give a taste of what the article conveys, and I urge readers to check out the entire piece. The suicide rate is deplorable, and most of it is due to the extra stress of these overly long and repeatable deployments. Our soldiers are not machines, and even if they were, machines do wear out in time. We are draining our fighting men and women of their own internal resources and exhausting their means to cope. This is a horrible situation for which there is only one answer, in my opinion. Bring these troops home from Iraq. Fight the war on terror where and how it should be fought. But asking our brave men and women to referee a religious and ethnic civil war, where the people you are training turn around and become your enemy is too much for anyone's nervous system to tolerate.
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POPSScores More Dead, Yet We Are Told The Surge is Working Whack a Mole! That is the game that the so-called surge is playing. We are constantly being set-up with a bunch of administration ass kissers who are trying to convince us that this "surge" is working. In September, it is almost certain that General Patreus will give his report and ask for another 6 months to continue the surge. How many more 6 month periods are we supposed to permit? They asked for an additional 6 months for the past 4 1/2 years. In the beginning Rumsfeld said the entire war AND occupation wouldn't last as long as 6 months in total. Now that the surge is on, the violence is just as bad only in different places. Areas which we never heard of before as being problems are suddenly being stricken with sectarian violence and bombings on a massive scale. And yet, we are told "things are getting better." "We are making progress." Chances are congress will give them another 6 months during which many more of our soldiers and hundreds or thousands of Iraqis will die
1
POPSMitt Tries to Glad Hand Iraq Vet Mitt Romney was approached by an Iraq vet who proceeded to respectfully ask the presidential candidate some questions about the Iraq war. Romney offered him some stock talking points, but when asked a specific questions, turned his back and walked away. The vet felt highly insulted. Once again, Mitt is showing himself to be the rich boy, out to buy the presidency of the United States with his money, and to fuck with the people including the vets fighting the war he supports.
4
POPSAre The People of Connecticut Happy With Their Decision? I hope the people of Connecticut are satisfied with their undying support for Joe Lieberman in the last election. The Dems voted against him in the primary, so instead of accepting his party's decision, he decided to run as an independent. No matter how much the people were warned that this guy was no longer a democrat at heart, they fell for his loyalty bullshit and re-elected him. Now he says he caucuses with democrats but holds meeting with the top republican leadership to come up with ways stymie the democrats efforts. He is entitled, of course, to his own beliefs about the war in Iraq, but to claim that he is an independent democrat and then to caucus secretly with the republicans against them is just too much.
4
POPSMeet A New Crop of Hypocrites A group of college Republicans who held a convention in a Moonie owned and operated hotel near Arlington National Cemetery, professes undying support for Bush and his war in Iraq. However, when asked why the are not serving over there so we don't have to fight them over here, they had all kinds of reasons for not going. from health to "it's not for me." Meet this new group of phonies in this video, which I could not clip.
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POPSIraq Gets New Hospitals While New Orleans Hospitals Rot & Die New Orleans hospitals are dying slow deaths, and the levees have been declared insufficient for a severe storm. However, the Louisiana National Guard is doing a great job building new hospitals and health centres in Dyala under intense fire. Over 170 projects of this nature are underway in that area, while nothing is being done to rebuild the medical clinics and hospitals in New Orleans. What kind of sense does this make? Bush says he keeps our country safe. How safe would anyone feel living in a city whose hospitals are falling apart from the neglect of the government who promised to help them?
2
POPSHas This Government Lost Its Heart Completely? We constantly hear from this administration that we support our troops. As a matter of fact they claim that any criticism against the war or the president's handling of it, is tantamount to not supporting our troops and unpatriotic. But now we hear that the immigrant wife of one of the soldiers missing and feared dead in Iraq is being threatened with deportation even though her husband has applied for a green card for her. Wouldn't showing some compassion and making an exception to the strict rules in this woman's case be in a very real sense, supporting our troops with action and not just empty words?
3
POPSLieberman Feels the Joe-mentum Towards War With Iran Senator Lieberman said he support military action against Iran because of their involvement in terrorism in Iraq, Palestine etc. Once again, Holy Joe goes against his constituency and the vast majority of the American people by urging the president to invade a sovereign nation, even though our troops are tied up in Iraq, where they are bleeding and dying in an illegal war. I wonder how many of his supporters who put him over the top in the last election still believes they did the right thing.
6
POPSShades of Nixon's "I Am The President!" Back in the good ol' days of the 70s, comedian/impressionist David Frye released an album based on Richard Nixon entitled "I Am The President." I wonder if Georgie boy has ever heard of it. If so, perhaps Frye can sue him for plagiarism or something like that due to his latest outbursts.
3
POPSTroops Want Out But Are Scared To Speak Up Lieberman made a surprise visit to Iraq, and met with troops. Questions were collected by various troop leaders to be presented to the Senator, yet no one is sure how many, if any, were actually asked. The root of the problem however is that even though most of the troops in the units he visited do not agree with our staying in Iraq, and do not feel we are making any progress, and feel like targets, they admit that they are afraid to actually speak out to politicians or authorities about their true feelings because of possible personal reprisals.
4
POPSForever In Iraq Well, at least the administration is finally being honest. Tony Snow admitted today that Bush would like to see American troops remain in Iraq indefinitely. Perhaps longer than 50 years. I can't wait to hear what the Dems have to say about this.
10
POPSThe Military is sending some amputees back into combat I do not doubt the courage of these heroic soldiers who are asking to be sent back into active duty, and sometimes combat after losing a limb(s) in the Iraq war. But isn't it kinda interesting how the military says ALL of our soldiers have talents and abilities that are needed and if an amputee wants to remain on active duty, or combat, and they are able to do so, they will be sent back, and yet at the same time, they see fit to discharge interpreters, translators, combat personnel etc, simply for being gay?
6
POPSCindy Speaks Out and Leaves the Dems Cindy Sheehan makes some excellent points in this open letter to Congress. The Democrats were put into power after 6 years of total Republican control of the House and Senate primarily because the voters wanted them to end this war honourably. They have the vast majority of the country on the side of ending the war and cutting off Bush's blank check. Now that they had the chance to do it, they flubbed it and gave Bush what he wanted with the suggestion of "wait 'til next time." The public, I sense, is tired of waiting, and they do not see why the Democrats folded like a house of cards when they finally have the power to do something towards bringing this war to a close.
0
POPSCould Bush Be Going Full CIrcle on Ira? This report from the Guardian appears to suggest that Mr. Bush is coming full circle on Iraq. He began with a sham attempt to get U.N. cooperation for his illegal war. He stymied the successful efforts of the U.N. arms inspectors and ordered them out because he was not happy that they were reporting that Saddam had been cooperating with them, and that there, thus far, was no indication there were the stores of weapons the U.S. was insisting were there. Now that Bush has been proven entirely wrong, and his lies have come back to haunt him as well as be responsible for the deaths of almost 3,500 of our youngest and finest young people, and the maiming of many thousands more, he is planning to go back to the U.N. to finagle a way to get them to take over his horrible and tragic mess. Oh how I long to see this man and his pals Cheney and Rumsfeld et al dragged in front of the Hague and tried for being the war criminals they are.
4
POPSSo Much Promose Went Down the Iraq Drain Tony Blair began his career with tremendous promise, and for the most part, lived up to the hype and hope. But then came George Bush and his Iraq mis-adventure, which for some reason, he was able to convince the prime minister to support. Most of his country turned against Blair over Iraq and he has never been able to recover. Although his party won the last election, Mr. Blair's personal popularity sunk, and the public became obsessed with his need to go. Amazing how one's political fortunes can turn on one issue after so many years. I am sure he will thank Mr. Bush for the rest of his life, as he kicks his own ass for ever going along with his invasion of Iraq.
8
POPSThe LA Times says the time has come for the U.S. to leave Iraq The Lost Angeles Times, which backed the surge originally, has come to the conclusion, as have most Americans, that it is not working, and we cannot expect or brave soldiers to monitor Iraq's civil war. But Bush remains stubborn, even in light of his 28% approval rating and flaunts the will of the people who pay his salary. I wonder how the 08 Republican presidential candidates enjoy sinking into the mud because of their war mad leader.
2
POPSTenet Contiues to Profit From His Failures in Iraq. George Tenet is making a fortune off of this war in Iraq that he helped initiate with his intelligence failures and his willingness to help the Bush administration create the "Slam Dunk" marketing plan to sell this illegal war to the American people. He should return his Medal of Freedom and donate a large portion of his profits from this war to the families of those service members maimed or killed in action.
5
POPSMore and More Americans Want A Timetable for Withdrawal. The numbers of American citizens who want Bush to set a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq is increasingly constantly. And yet, the president insists that it is Congress who is holding up the funding for the troops by demanding the president pay attention to the will of the people. At this point, I believe Americans are going to squarely place the delay in funding our troops exactly where it belongs; on Bush. He wants to continue to avoid accountability as he has all through the Republican hold on Congress. The people spoke in November when they put the Dems in charge, and they are continuing to speak. But, true to form, our spoiled brat, break whatever he touches and then leave it to someone else to clean up, president refuses to acknowledge the people's wishes.
3
POPSTenet is Making Us Pay for the Truth What chutzpah. George Tenet, the man who signed-on with the Bush administration to assist them big time with their lying us into war, now, after three years of total silence, has decided the public has the right to know the truth. The right that is if they pay for it. He wants us to dish out 20+ dollars to read his whining about how Cheney and others have turned poor little George CIA Tenet into a victim of their mishandling, manipulation and downright lying. For three years since he left office he said nothing. All the time while he was in the administration, he remained silent about what Bush and company, especially Cheney, were doing behind the scenes. But now that his ego has been hurt, after accepting his medal of freedom of course, he feels the need to come clean and show how poorly he was and is being treated. And yes, you heard right, he insists we pay him to learn what he should have told all of us years ago before all the many lives have been lost and injured. Shame on him
0
POPSMaliki Wants Us To Butt Out, As Long As We Are Willing to Bleed. I understand Prime Minister Malaki's desire to have his government make their own political decisions and take their own actions without outside interference. But, up 'til now his government has done precious little in moving forward with what they need to do politically. To say he will not tolerate U.S. influence is a bit rich, considering that he is perfectly willing to have our soldiers monitor HIS civil war, and to have them bleed, and die to assist his government in achieving their goals. He has to remember that as long as our men and women are being gravely injured and dying for his country, we do have the right to interfere to a certain point, if in fact, he is unable to bring his government to agreement.
5
POPSAre We Really Running A Terrific Training Camp for Al Qaeda? This little blurb makes sense to me. The experience the terrorists are getting fighting our incredibly strong military machine can't be bought with all the money in the world. It seems to be we cannot actually win this war in Iraq. Even the majority of our political leaders believe that much. But just think about all the training and experience we are affording our enemies so they can face it even more effectively elsewhere, such as Afghanistan, where we should have stayed to begin with. At least there we could possibly have done them real damage to their numbers and determination.
1
POPSW.House slams planned Syria trip by House speaker Ms. Pelosi is going to Syria with a message from Israel's prime minister as well with the intention of "breaking the ice" with President Assad. The Iraq Study Group strongly recommended such outreach to Iraq's neighbours as a way of including them in the development of ideas and strategies to bring a permanent end to the civil war raging in Iraq since our invasion. There is no reason NOT to meet with Syria other than total stubbornness, which of course the Bush administration is noted for. No one expects Speaker Pelosi to broker deals or make promises to President Assad. This is simply a fact finding and outreach activity, which should be applauded. It takes no particular talent to talk with our friends, but it takes leadership to talk with those who disagree with us.
5
POPSSome Troops Just Wanna Go Home Although we are told by some politicians that protesting the Iraq war harms our troops, it appears there are many troops actually fighting in theatre that want to get the hell out of there....the sooner, the better. I wonder if Bush would dare call them cowards for feeling this way or live up to his own pledge to support the needs of the troops and listen to what they have to say with an open mind. Who am I kidding. The guy only listens to people who agree with him.
0
POPSSafer At Home? Not Really President Bush continues to brag about how he has made Americans safer at home. But governors and state senators and citizens are complaining about a lack of protection and safety in their own communities because their military guard and the equipment is now in Iraq, rather than in the communities they were meant to serve and protect.
2
POPSAIPAC Continues to Beat the Drums of War AIPAC is lobbying, nay, pressuring congressional representatives and senators to push Bush into bombing Iran's nuclear facilities. Their tactics are identical to those used when instigating war with Iraq. Thankfully, the vast majority of Jews living in America are vehemently against such an action and will not easily fall under AIPAC's sway as they did leading up to the Iraq war. They have learned their lesson, which hopefully will encourage congress to stand-up to AIPAC and tell them know. Their constituents are against attacking Iran, and they will no longer fall for your standard line that not supporting what Israel wants is equivalent to anti-Semitism. It is my sincere hope that congress will have the courage to do this, and to stop permitting AIPAC from essentially blackmailing them with the Jewish vote. Jewish voters will NOT support any member of congress who presses for war with Iran.
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