August 9, 2004, Ah, thank God its Monday...
We can ignore "news" being made on Sunday morning talking heads show, and go right for the action.
In the "somebody needs a hug" department, Muqtada al "Baby" Sadr has vowed to fight to the death in the ongoing battle between his militias and American forces at Najaf ("the Shiite Vatican").
After giving up on trying to arrest Sadr, and leaving the radical cleric, just about the most popular figure in all of Iraq these days, "to the Iraqis", the numerous cease fire agreements reached have all broken down, and its the bloody business as usual, as we continue to win friends and influence people by killing hundreds and destroying most of downtown Najaf. Oops... the governor of Najaf has okayed U.S. forces to go after Sadr's militias right at the sights of some of the holiest mosques in all of Islam. (Just because we CAN do it doeesn't mean we SHOULD do it...)
Notwithstanding its seeming powerlessness on a bigger scale to control the insurgency, P.M. Allawi's Iraqi interim puppet government decided to show us why its morally superior to Saddam's government in every way (the way we showed 'em at Abu Ghraib-- AMERICA ROCKS, MAN!) by reinstating the death penalty for certain enumerated offenses (including rape). Death penalty. That's gotta make our President happy. He loves the death penalty almost as much as he loves clearing brush.
Apparently delighted with the state of the world (i.e. Middle East instability, coupled with the usual supply and demand issues, coupled with concern over Russian oil giant Yukos), traders pushed the price of oil back over $44/bbl. very close to the previous record. Prince Bandar... you promised...
Fortunately, notwithstanding the President's recent spate of candor (such as telling workers in Ohio he is aware of their nervousness-- i.e., the company they work for laid off 1,200 employees this year!), he is primed to stay "on message" and keep selected blue states at orange alert. Swing States will be exempt from politically motivated terror scares. At least New York will be used to the total lockdown coming in just three weeks when the Republican National Circus displaces Ringling's at the Garden.
Anyway-- just ignore the man cowering behind the curtain. Look out there! It's just the strangest twists and turns out there: to appeal to a really stupid electorate (there's no other way to say it) uber-liberal Kerry brings out his tough guy credentials via McHale's (though not McCain's) Navy, while Bush has started touting himself as "the peace president".
You just gotta love Mondays.
Comments
Wrong slant this time, Talking Dog. This is the problem that happens with a male dog, when it pees on something, it looks in the wrong direction. If these lowlifes cared about their shrines, they wouldn't have dug in their attacks around them. Very cowardly, and as we know from elsewhere in Iraq, they have no respect for others' places of worship. So, let the shrine crumble. Also, before this Iraqi invasion, never heard of Najaf (To quote those N'Sync guys: "Bye Bye Bye.")
Posted by Barry Blumpkin at August 9, 2004 11:59 AM
Hassan--
Is that you? Of course, if it IS you, hassan, as a Sunni, you WOULD think the big shrines are back in Saudi-- and like your Taliban buddies, you just love seeing others' religious shrines and relics reduced to rubble (think of the giant Buddhas blown up in (IIRC) Bamayin, Afghanistan).
I beg to differ with your assessment: Sadr's militias are backed up against THEIR OWN shrines-- like a retreating Catholic army holed up in the Sistine Chapel. Say what you will-- they think they are defending their faith against a hated foreign interloping occupation.
They may be crazy, but they are not cowards.
This Najaf destruction is simply not going to win us any hearts and minds. The harder Iraq is to manage, the longer American troops will have to be there to prop up the puppet government.
Look: Kerry can't say it, but he's going to cut and run. I KNOW he will. And you know what? ITS A GOOD THING (Martha can sue me from jail.) We got Saddam. We should have declared victory and left nearly a year ago at that moment. But we just have so many crazy, conflicting goals-- we cannot "win" against a VERY popular guerrilla insurgency-- at least not militarily. And watching our tanks and mortars take out the holiest shrines in Shia Islam (and I don't CARE if it REALLY IS Sadr's fault-- we'll be blamed) will not win us the p.r. campaign.
Smartest thing we can do AT THIS POINT is called "acknowledge reality": bring Sadr into the interim government, with his militia forming the nucleus of a new Iraqi military. All the neighbors (except Saudi-- they've done enough) can participate in the "management" of the future Iraq (that includes our sworn enemies Iran and Syria-- best get them in the tent pissing out).
Won't happen of course. So the line of dead soldiers and marines will just keep getting longer. AMERICA ROCKS, DUDE!
Posted by the talking dog at August 9, 2004 12:35 PM
Hey-- I forgot to mention that Iraqi officials have issued arrest warrants for old Ahmed Chalabi (he on vacation in Iran and young Salem (in London), the latter personally responsible for trying old Saddam.
If only Allawi ran his show as smoothly as the Bush Administration; doesn't Allawi bother circulating the "do not indict" list?
Posted by the talking dog at August 9, 2004 02:41 PM
Um, Blumpkin? You are, of course, familiar with most of the holy shrines in Islam, right? That's why whether or not you've heard of Najaf is important, right? And you of course believe fervently that the best way to win the peace is to ignore the culture of the country you've occupied and bomb where you please. The people in that part of the world tend to be much more fanatical than most folks int he US when it comes to religion, so bombing their shrines may ultimately put our troops in greater danger by making even more people join the insurgency, or at the very leats by making the locals more supportive of the uprising and more willing to help the guys actually fighting in it.
I tend to look at things from the practical point of view. It isn't practical to bomb mosques in iraq and expect to be successful at winning the peace.
And while you are enumerating failures, TD, note that the Brits and the Pakistanis are angry at the administration because announcing Khan's name has allowed 5 suspected Al Qaeda cell members to escape and may have ruined the prosecution of the other ones that the Brits arrested.
Mission accomplished.
Now watch this drive.
Posted by WallyCoxLives at August 9, 2004 03:14 PM
Well, as the President himself said: "Al Qaeda is working long and hard to figure out ways to harm the American people. And so are we."
Posted by the talking dog at August 9, 2004 03:22 PM
As well as"sovereignty is well ... sovereignty, and if you have sovereignty you are sovereign..." and "You can't read a newspaper if you can't read." Ah, the zen mystery....
Posted by Mr. Bill at August 9, 2004 04:50 PM
Next week, the president intends to provide is with more such insightful observations, such as, "You can't walk to the corner store if you can't walk. You can't eat a pretzel if you don't have a mouth." These fit in well with his brilliant aphorism, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool...fool...you won't fool me again."
Posted by WallyCoxLives at August 10, 2004 09:14 AM
And, for his second-term budget cutting proposals:
Social Security and Medicare--"If you've got your health, you've got your health."
No Child Left Behind--"You can't pay for college if you can't pay."
Iraq--"You can't have security if you're not secure. And message to terrorists: we are working long and hard; and our great country loves freedom; and those who do not love freedom do not love freedom."
Environment--"There is no greater priority than energy, and that's why I'm in favor of drilling in Alaska. You can't have your cake and caribou."
First responders--"No one loves our firefighters more than I do. I mean, no one appreciates what they do more than I do. Uh . . . uh, there's, uh . . . no one more than I who knows how HARD our firefighters are in the face of the danger to our country."
Posted by mamayo at August 10, 2004 10:24 AM
And this just in, at a campaign rally in Virginia yesterday (yes, Virginia, he is having to shore things up in that erstwhile "red" state), Bush said that higher taxes on the rich is a "failed strategy" because "really rich people figure out how not to pay any taxes, anyway." Guess he'd know.
Posted by mamayo at August 10, 2004 10:52 AM
MAM--
I heard Kerry and Edwards make that horrible we'll only reverse tax cuts for the "top 2%" again. NoNONOOOONOOOOO!!!!!!
20=25% of this country (remember, most Americans are... stupid, yes that was the word I'm looking for) have NO IDEA that to get in the top 2% of income, you have to be earning somewhere between 2 and 3 HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS per year.
Yes, its probably around 2 million people who earn that-- but 20-25 million people THINK that because they are the richest guy in East ButtF***, Pennsylvania or Ohio or West Virginia,
maybe earning $90,000 from their managerial job, drive an Oldsmobile, live in a nice house and play golf every weekend that they are rich, and that somehow, Kerry and Edwards mean to raise their taxes.
NOOOO!!! Just say: if you earn more than $250,000 a year, I'm sorry-- you're taxes will probably have a modest increase. If you oppose this and feel it is more important than any other issue, you'll probably want to vote for Bush and Cheney.
KEEP IT SIMPLE-- not 2%-- just the $2,184,317 people earning more than $250,001-- THEIR taxes will go up (slightly)-- NO ONE ELSE'S WILL!!!!
Is it class warfare? You bet. And who better than Kerry and Edwards-- multi-millionaires both-- to point out that reality dictates that WE ALL DO OUR SHARE.
Posted by the talking dog at August 10, 2004 11:32 AM
I'm sick of you knee-jerk liberals and your crying all the time for some bastard and his bastard family who hate our guts and wish us dead.
You all conveniently ignore that these scum blow up churches. You want respect, you give respect.
Also, you all conveniently assume that I want our troops there. I do not. I just don't cry for the Iraqi people.
Posted by Barry Blumpkin at August 10, 2004 01:03 PM
I don't know, Barry. Seems to me that Baby Sadr isn't the only one who looks like he needs a hug.
Posted by the talking dog at August 10, 2004 01:48 PM
210 check out the hot blackjack at http://www.blackjack-p.com here you can play blackjack online all you want! So everyone ~SMURKLE~
Posted by play blackjack at August 23, 2004 09:42 PM
7277 Herie http://blaja.web-cialis.com is online for all your black jack needs. We also have your blackjack needs met as well ;-)
Posted by blackjack at August 25, 2004 02:14 AM
2090 check out http://texhold.levitra-i.com for texas hold em online action boodrow
Posted by texas hold em at August 25, 2004 07:36 PM
credit cards are cool http://credit-cards.order.gb.com 26.08. 2004 12:41:04 and I also like Car hire at http://car-hire.order.gb.com and Diecast http://diecast.order.gb.com and 26.08. 2004 12:41:04 Dating http://dating.order.gb.com and Car Insurance http://car-insurance.order.gb.com 26.08. 2004 12:41:04
Eine private Krankenversicherung ist im Krankheitsfall immer hilfreich.
Posted by credit cards at August 26, 2004 06:41 AM
Best cialis and enjoy your life! buy cialis
Posted by cialis at August 26, 2004 04:58 PM
We provide levitra a comprehensive list of e-pharmacies to help you get the best that is true! buy levitra
Posted by levitra at August 26, 2004 04:58 PM
Whether you have a rigid online poker strategy in mind before you hit the table or whether you play it.
Posted by online poker at August 26, 2004 04:59 PM
Best regards from the casino played
texas holdem be all the way near online texas holdem to poli!
Posted by texas holdem at August 26, 2004 04:59 PM
Drugs are wrong opportunity, be aware of that
texas hold em play the casino here online texas hold em !
Posted by texas hold em at August 26, 2004 04:59 PM
Tramadol is one of the most prescribed treatments for pain in the world.
Posted by tramadol at August 26, 2004 04:59 PM
335 Look at http://oncas.tramadol-web.com/
its the hizzy for online casino action any where!
Posted by online casino at August 28, 2004 07:27 AM