PNAC - The Most Dangerous Men Alive Today - Know Thine Enemy (Within)

Present Dangers: Crisis and Opportunity in American Foreign and Defense Policy

Below is a well-written review by an anonymous reader on Amazon of the book that serves as the bible for PNAC (The Project for the New American Century) prior to the 9/11 Crisis:

This is undoubtedly one of the most important books on US foreign policy published in recent years and should be read by anyone who cares about the future of the United States and the rest of the world. This is the manifesto of "conservative internationalism" whose proponents, including many of the books authors, now infest the Bush administration and are his loudest ventriloquists. Here, then, is the current administration's strategic vision.

The basic argument is that the US needs to exercise world domination, here spun as "benevolent global hegemony" and that there are a number of external obstacles which stand in the way and must be dealt with. These are Iraq, Iran, North Korea, China, the Middle East peace process and an independent Europe. In its clear and reasoned enunciation of strategy and future plans, it both rivals and surpasses the later chapters of Mein Kampf. Here is the game plan which must be read to understand where these people intend to take the world next.

If we ignore the desirability of this mission, its feasibility (the cost in money, lives and freedom) certainly merits discussion, but here the book is thin, relying on fairy story assumptions (budget surpluses!!!) and wishful thinking.

The one distasteful aspect of the book is the attempt to wrap the entire endeavor in the cloak of "American morality", understood as protecting citizen's liberties. This is breathtaking stuff from accomplices in the most extensive attempt to incinerate the Constitution in recent history.

Stripped of its ideological air cover and romantic fantasies, this is still an important, timely and lively document since this is the future course of foreign policy which the Bush administration plans to pursue.

I begin this piece with a warning to anyone that wants to remain in ignorant bliss. The "Neo-conmen" who serve on this committee truly believe that America is chosen by God to dominate the world by any means. This is NOT a conspiracy theory as the book above states very clearly this is their intention and, as any self-proclaimed, God-endorsed dictators would, they move forward with no shame and no mercy on those who stand in their way.

This is NOT the Illuminati or Trilateral Commission where their existence and membership remain secret. The main committee is as follows according to their website and publications:

Elliott Abrams Gary Bauer

William J. Bennett Jeb Bush

Dick Cheney Eliot A. Cohen

Midge Decter Paula Dobriansky

Steve Forbes Aaron Friedberg

Francis Fukuyama Frank Gaffney

Fred C. Ikle Donald Kagan

Zalmay Khalilzad I. Lewis Libby

Norman Podhoretz Dan Quayle

Peter W. Rodman Stephen P. Rosen

Henry S. Rowen Donald Rumsfeld

Vin Weber George Weigel

Paul Wolfowitz Richard Armitage

The following graphic is a result of a huge database compiled over 20 years recording known social associations as verified by public record and reputable journalistic sources. Click to enlarge. It reads as a who's who of the Fascist NeoCon movement.

(click to enlarge) Source-namebase.org

If these names look familiar, they should. They are the very people who have put America and the world into it's potentially perilous positions. They planned their work and they worked their plan, again, without shame. Research any of them and you will see a blatant pattern and history of belief in Fascism (everything in service to the state).

This list is by no means complete as to the men and women who follow their commands, but it is a good beginning and the list certainly does not suggest that all members are knowledgeable of or participating in any efforts of treachery.

Before 9/11 even began, these men realized, according to their own writings, that it would take "another Pearl Harbor" to scare American citizens enough to be willing to support massive exercise of military power and the destruction of constitutional rights that would ensue. Their report went so far as to suggest in great detail the very things that did happen in NYC on the most infamous date in history.

They have made such things happen to advance their goals of global power since the writing of this document. They have done what is necessary to destroy and suppress evidence of their illegal actions. Without getting too specific, we can all see one thing after another that couldn't have been more perfectly scripted for the advancement of the wealth of those who control the military industrial complex.

My suggestion, as always is to Duly Consider all the facts; not just the ones presented by the establishment but, before they shut them down, the alternate news sources, mostly on the web.

This site has an extensive collection of articles and documentaries on this subject and others. You may want to begin here 9/11 or 911. Other books by and endorsed by PNAC include:

The War Over Iraq: Saddam's Tyranny and America's Mission
Lawrence F. Kaplan and William Kristol, Encounter Books, 2003

Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order
Robert Kagan, Knopf, 2003

If you are easily seduced by emotional persuasion, you are in danger of becoming a fascist by reading these. If you go into it with the quest of "knowing thine enemy" you will drop your jaw and come out with armor on your mind.

Betty Bowers Reports: Reich or Wrong?

A N S W E R S
1
We were convinced that the people need and require this faith. We have therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it out.
-- Adolf Hitler, in a speech in Berlin on October 24, 1933

2
First, to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians, and do not condone or knowingly tolerate such public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of his Son and of his Christians.
-- Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies (1543)
3
I think 'one man, one vote,' just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise. There needs to be some kind of protection for the minority which the white people represent now, a minority, and they need and have a right to demand a protection of their rights.
-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, March 18, 1992
4
What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews? Since they live among us, we dare not tolerate their conduct, now that we are aware of their lying and reviling and blaspheming. If we do, we become sharers in their lies, cursing and blasphemy. Thus we cannot extinguish the unquenchable fire of divine wrath, of which the prophets speak, nor can we convert the Jews. With prayer and the fear of God we must practice a sharp mercy to see whether we might save at least a few from the glowing flames.
-- Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies (1543)
5
It is interesting, that termites don't build things, and the great builders of our nation almost to a man have been Christians, because Christians have the desire to build something. He is motivated by love of man and God, so he builds. The people who have come into [our] institutions [today] are primarily termites. They are into destroying institutions that have been built by Christians, whether it is universities, governments, our own traditions, that we have.... The termites are in charge now, and that is not the way it ought to be, and the time has arrived for a godly fumigation.
-- Pat Robertson, New York Magazine, August 18, 1986
6
It would have been more to the point, more honest and more Christian, in past decades not to support those who intentionally destroyed healthy life than to rebel against those who have no other wish than to avoid disease. Moreover, a policy of laissez faire in this sphere is not only cruelty to the individual guiltless victims but also to the nation as a whole....
If the Churches were to declare themselves ready to take over the treatment and care of those suffering from hereditary diseases, we should be quite ready to refrain from sterilizing them.
-- Adolf Hitler, in his speech on January 30, 1934
7
Communism was the brainchild of German-Jewish intellectuals.
-- Pat Robertson, The New World Order, (1991), p.17
8
I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. For they have no business in the countryside.
-- Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies (1543)
9
The courts are merely a ruse, if you will, for humanist, atheistic educators to beat up on Christians.
-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, October 2, 1990
10
In this hour I would ask of the Lord God only this: that, as in the past, so in the years to come He would give His blessing to our work and our action, to our judgment and our resolution, that He will safeguard us from all false pride and from all cowardly servility, that He may grant us to find the straight path which His Providence has ordained for the German people, and that He may ever give us the courage to do the right, never to falter, never to yield before any violence, before any danger.... I am convinced that men who are created by God should live in accordance with the will of the Almighty.... If Providence had not guided us I could often never have found these dizzy paths.... Thus it is that we National Socialists, too, have in the depths of our hearts our faith. We cannot do otherwise: no man can fashion world-history or the history of peoples unless upon his purpose and his powers there rests the blessings of this Providence.
-- Adolf Hitler, in a speech at Wurzburg on June 27, 1937

All of this is true but for some great parody and insight
on the Christian Right, visit America's Best Christian,

Chinese 3-yr Old - Rubik's Cube - 114 Secs vs American Teen - Condom Through the Nose - Now That's Achievement!

This is how Chinese parents encourage their children to use their minds.


Her record is 114 secs. She does better in front of a crowd.


Here is how American parents fail to encourage theirs. (And you think global warming is a problem)

Congratulations to Al Gore for "Inconvenient Truth" Oscar

Al Gore is becoming a beloved figure very quickly. His movie, "Inconvenient Truth" has been a documentary blockbuster (trailer on this site). The Spike Jonze documentary-2000(Complete on this site) portrays him as very smooth and likable. If you still think he's plastic after this, you must have been a busted rubber!

Here's his animated version of the movie from Futurama--Very Funny! "A Terrifying Truth" 1min23sec



Al Gore Sings Grease Summer Nights about Global Warming
2min



Congratulations, Al! You're the best! Prez? Hand me the envelope please?

Ron Paul Testifies to Congress - Federal Reserve System Actually Causing Economic Disparity

Here is the direct testimony of Congressman Ron Paul (R), previously Libertarian Party honcho. He tells it the way it is about how the Federal Reserve System (a private corporation - in case you didn't know) and the World Bank have created an ever increasing disparity between the rich and poor as corporations and wealthy people insist on protection from inflation and they get raises whether or not they do a good job.

After hearing what Paul says to congress this week, if you haven't already seen America: Freedom to Fascism (Complete online) then do it in order to truly cringe.


5min9sec

Most Recent Poll - 50% Giuliani On Top vs. 21% McCain, Analysis

DIGG THIS


Washington Post

PREFERENCE IF GOP NOMINATION WERE JUST MCCAIN V. GIULIANI (Among Republican Primary Voters)

Giuliani
50%
McCain
21%
Neither
13%

CBS Polls what would have been unexpected just six months ago as it once appeared that McCain was the likely Republican nominee.

What explains this? Many feel that the idea that Giuliani looks more like a Democrat than McCain and he's the next best thing in the GOP. He's from NYC and he still maintains the positive emotions associated with leadership during 9/11 according to words used to describe him by those polled at Pew. He is open to current standards regarding abortion but says he opposes abortion which is the same thing Bill Clinton said in order to straddle the issue Also, keep in mind this poll is among the general population, not exclusive Republicans.

Pew Research released words most commonly used to describe current candidates from both parties from leaners of their respective parties which would also help us understand what is on America's mind.
Click Graphs to Enlarge

Senate in the next election which could be the tail that wags the dog if they face the same thing they did in the lastThe big question in the election will be whether or not the most recent Democratic advantage overall holds its position or improves. It should be noted there are a huge number of Republicans up for re-election in the.

Big Brother Bush is Watching EVERYONE (Who, Me?)

According to CNet and Emigrantas, "some disturbing information about the NSA’s data collection techniques was revealed at last Friday’s

“Search & Seizure in the Digital Age”

symposium at Stanford. Paul Ohm, a former employee of the Justice Department who worked in their Computer Crime and Intellectual Property division, explained how data-gathering has changed since the federal government abandoned it’s Carnivore program a few years ago."

In addition to phone taps of anyone who is suspected of opposing the war (70% of the country), is apparently fair prey, once they have been listening for a while, if their voice recognition devices hear key terms like, 'bomb' or 'revolution' or even 'I oppose the war in Iraq', they kick in this Carnivore program.

"While Carnivore was set up to only collect data which matched certain filters, the full pipe technique (aka “the vacuum cleaner method”) is highly invasive and puts our privacy rights at risk," Emigrantas continues.

“What they’re doing is even worse than Carnivore,” said Kevin Bankston, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who attended the Stanford event. “What they’re doing is intercepting everyone and then choosing their targets.”

They claim to be using this for our protection but once information is collected, who is to say it can't be used for other purposes? They use it to protect their political power, not our way of life. They are raping us and we say it's okay long as the reason is to protect us from rape.

Of course, they are and have been. The most disturbing part is that a large part of it is without proper and legal authorization from either the judicial or legislative branches. In fact, they still claim, via President Bush, that their work does not break the law. But has anyone actually read FISA? By now, this should be common knowledge, but I can't find one person in conversation who is aware of the simple details and clear stated consequences of breaking this "well-known law" Here, I will save you the trouble of looking for it.

According to Wikipedia:

Scope and limits

For most purposes, including electronic surveillance and physical searches, "foreign powers" means a foreign government, any faction(s) or foreign governments not substantially composed of US persons, and any entity directed or controlled by a foreign government. §§1801(a)(1)-(3) The definition also includes groups engaged in international terrorism and foreign political organizations. §§1801(a)(4) and (5). The sections of FISA authorizing electronic surveillance and physical searches without a court order specifically exclude their application to groups engaged in international terrorism. See §1802(a)(1) (referring specifically to §1801(a)(1), (2) and (3)).

The statute limits its application to US persons. A US person includes citizens, lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens, and corporations incorporated in the US.

The code defines "foreign intelligence information" to mean information necessary to protect the United States against actual or potential grave attack, sabotage or international terrorism.^[5]

Provisions

Electronic surveillance

Generally, the statute permits electronic surveillance in two scenarios.

Without a court order

The President may authorize, through the Attorney General, electronic surveillance without a court order for the period of one year provided it is only for foreign intelligence information ^[5]; targeting foreign powers as defined by 50 U.S.C. §1801(a)(1),(2),(3) ^[6] or their agents; and there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party.^[7]

The Attorney General is required to make a certification of these conditions under seal to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court^[8], and report on their compliance to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. ^[9]

Since 50 U.S.C § 1802 (a)(1)(A) of this act specifically limits warrantless surveillance to foreign powers as defined by 50 U.S.C. §1801(a) (1),(2), (3) and omits the definitions contained in 50 U.S.C. §1801(a) (4),(5),(6) the act does not authorize the use of warrantless surveillance on: groups engaged in international terrorism or activities in preparation therefore; foreign-based political organizations, not substantially composed of United States persons; or entities that are directed and controlled by a foreign government or governments. ^[10] Under the FISA act, anyone who engages in electronic surveillance except as authorized by statute is subject to both criminal penalties ^[11] and civil liabilities. ^[12]

With a court order

Alternatively, the government may seek a court order permitting the surveillance using the FISA court.^[13] Approval of a FISA application requires the court find probable cause that the target of the surveillance be a "foreign power" or an "agent of a foreign power", and that the places at which surveillance is requested is used or will be used by that foreign power or its agent. In addition, the court must find that the proposed surveillance meet certain "minimization requirements" for information pertaining to US persons^[14].

Physical Searches

In addition to electronic surveillance, FISA permits the "physical search" of the "premises, information, material, or property used exclusively by" a foreign power.

The requirements and procedures are nearly identical to those for electronic surveillance.

FISA court

Main article: United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court

The Act created the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and enabled it to oversee requests for surveillance warrants by federal police agencies (primarily the F.B.I.) against suspected foreign intelligence agents inside the U.S. The court is located within the Department of Justice headquarters building. The court is staffed by eleven judges appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States to serve seven year terms.

Proceedings before the FISA court are ex parte and non-adversarial. The court hears evidence presented solely by the Department of Justice. There is no provision for a release of information regarding such hearings, or for the record of information actually collected.

Main article: United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review

Denials of FISA applications by the FISC may be appealed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review. The Court of Review is a three judge panel. Since its creation, the court has only come into session once in 2002.

Remedies for violations

Both the subchapters covering physical searches and electronic surveillance provide for criminal and civil liability for violations of FISA.

Criminal sanctions follows violations of electronic surveillance by intentionally engaging in electronic surveillance under the color of law or through disclosing information known to have been obtained through unauthorized surveillance. The penalties for either act are fines up to $10,000, up to five years in jail, or both.^[11]

In addition, the statute creates a cause of action for private individuals whose communications were unlawfully monitored. The statute permits actual damages of not less than $1,000 or $100 per day. In addition, that statute authorizes punitive damages and an award of attorney's fees.^[12]

Similar liability is found under the subchapter pertaining to physical searches.

In both cases, the statute creates an affirmative defense for a law enforcement agent acting within their official duties and pursuant to a valid court order. Presumably, such a defense is not available to those operating exclusively under presidential authorization.

Lone wolf amendment

In 2004, FISA was amended to include a "lone wolf" provision. 50 U.S.C. §1801(b)(1)(C). A "lone wolf" is a non-US person who engages in or prepares for international terrorism. The provision amended the definition of "foreign power" to permit the FISA courts to issue surveillance and physical search orders without having to find a connection between the "lone wolf" and a foreign government or terrorist group.^[15]

Now that we see this clear and short law:

What part of this is difficult to understand? And why would anyone find it acceptable to give up the very things we are fighting for, in order to more successful oppose those who want to destroy our freedoms?

The big question is, who is worse for our "American" way of life the people that are already here and doing everything they can to destroy our freedoms from within, or those who just want us to get the hell out?

They say if you put a frog into a pot of water and slowly brink it to a boil, the frog will not jump out. Have we become the frogs?

I earlier reported on NSA and Co. hanging out on the web providing disinformation to shout down people on places where they find political dissent including Kos and Huffpo and every forum that you assume a sanctuary of free speech. At some point, your opposition will either cause you to go to jail for breaking unfair laws or your lack of opposition will cause you to turn America into one big jail!

Fox and Many Blacks Attack Obama--FOX-Objective, Fair News?

Several interviews on all media suggest an outright opposition to Barack Obama strictly on the basis that "he is not black enough" or that he does not come from slave descendants. In recent polls (especially Fox) Obama does better among whites than blacks, and Hillary Clinton does better than he among blacks. This is a surprise.

What is not surprising is Fox News, the admittedly conservative alternative "Fair and Balanced" news source. Fox continues to tout itself as "America's most trusted source", yet consistently professional journalists who have exited the organization have horror stories about their intentional political agenda while pretending to be a balanced source. Recently outed as a "neocon" organization by the documentary film Outfoxed, Fox has no shame in unfairly bashing Obama as he seems to threaten Republican chances.

In this video, we see a juxtaposition of several sources and their vilification and negative connotations, as well as parody from, of course the Daily Show.
3min.

The Anna Nicole/Idiocracy Effect

Anyone who hasn't seen Anna Nicole in the news, stop reading now and get your eyes and ears replaced. Those who haven't seen Idiocracy, it's on DVD now and you must see it to experience the discomfort of identification with present day society.

The popularity of Anna Nicole news over Iraq on any day including the day of her death can only be explained by the ever-increasing dumbing down of America. Sadly enough, even Anna Nicole knew this about America as she acted dumber than she was, in order to attract Jerry Springer viewers and Enquirer readers to her entourage. She was using a very successful model of the kind of PR, Marilyn Monroe, who actual had a brain too.

The movie, Idiocracy, is idiotic and ingenious at the same time to the same extent that Stephen Colbert is. It's a parody intended to force ignorant, shallow people to identify first with the idiots in the film, then to feel like idiots so they may seek help and change. "Get an education if you are stupid" is the message. No matter how bad things get, you can choose to improve yourself.

The film takes place 500 years in the future, when, as a result of stupid people breeding more than the smart, and corporate America encouraging stupidity, the world has become a cesspool of idiots. One example of this is that the future humans have now started watering their crops with soda pop because the soda pop company has "bought" the FDA; brilliant! Everyone in the film is like the guy that used to pick on you in school for being too smart. Intelligent language is universally referred to as "faggy". How real this is now, not 500 years in the future.

But there is hope; take the warning and change the world. Prevent this from becoming our future. Instead of giving the news organizations a legitimate, business reason to "give you what you want", reward them for giving you what you need. Maybe our cultural icons will become Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates instead of Anna Nicole Smith and pimps singing Hip Hop, because, let's face it; Hip Hop wouldn't know hip if it was connected to their ass!

"Apologeia Mea Culpa" as Successful Argument

Mea culpa to Bush on Presidents Day
Plain Talk by Al Neuharth, USA TODAY founder (2-16-07)

Our great country has had 43 presidents. Many very good. A few pretty bad. On Presidents Day next Monday, it's appropriate to commemorate them all.

I remember every president since Herbert Hoover, when I was a grade school kid. He was one of the worst. I've personally met every president since Dwight Eisenhower. He was one of the best.

A year ago I criticized Hillary Clinton for saying "this (Bush) administration will go down in history as one of the worst."

"She's wrong," I wrote. Then I rated these five presidents, in this order, as the worst: Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan, Ulysses Grant, Hoover and Richard Nixon. "It's very unlikely Bush can crack that list," I added.

I was wrong. This is my mea culpa. Not only has Bush cracked that list, but he is planted firmly at the top.

The Iraq war, of course, has become Bush's albatross. He and his buddies are great at coining words or slogans. "Bushisms" that will haunt him historically:

• "Shock and Awe," early 2003.

• "Mission Accomplished," May 1, 2003.

• "Stay the Course," June 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006.

• "New Strategy," 2007.

Another term historians may weigh critically is "Decider."

Is he just a self-touted decider doing what he thinks right? Or is he an arrogant ruler who doesn't care or consider what the public or Congress believes best for the country?

Despite his play on words and slogans, Bush didn't learn the value or meaning of mea culpa (acknowledgement of an error) during his years at Yale.

Bush admitting his many mistakes on Iraq and ending that fiasco might make many of us forgive, even though we can never forget the terrible toll in lives and dollars.

Feedback: Other views on Bush presidency

"Just as we don't stop football games after three quarters, we shouldn't judge the historical place of presidents when they've still got nearly two years in office."

— John J. Miller, political reporter, National Review

"Unless there is some great reversal, Bush will be seen as one of the country's poorest presidents. Iraq will stand at the top of the list, but the administration's failed responses to Katrina and global warming will stand with its abuse of civil liberties to mark Bush out as a man with poor judgment and a failed leader."

— Robert Dallek, historian; his new book, Nixon and Kissinger: Powers in Power, will be published in April.

---------------------------------------------------

Response by Duly Consider Editor Bryan E. Hall

It is unusual to see someone treat an apology via mea culpa as an "argument", but it does have a logical cause and effect characteristic. You should note "wrong" is a moral term most often but in this case he meant "incorrect" in retrospect.

The fallacy with Neuharth's reasoning was that he assumed there was an objective way to measure how "bad" Bush really is. Bush is clearly bad for those who died or lost money and suffered pain and worry; but Bush has been the best President in history for raising the income of the upper 10% of Americans and for advancing the cause of Nazi/Fascism.

He has been successful at doing what he intended to do, which was to turn back the clock on civil rights and the US position of "a brother among nations". He may be even more successful if allowed to go unchecked and get us into another war that we can't get out of, in Iran. He has been more successful than his brother Neil was when he intentionally made bad loans knowing the Feds would bail him out and allow him to keep his profits.

Young Bush has been more successful than his father, which takes a lot considering the first Bush started a war with Nicaragua and simply got out of it by saying, "No I didn't," and by leading the assassination of JFK and claiming he wasn't even in the CIA at the time, which was a lie and by selling the weapons that Iran is giving insurgents in Iraq to kill US soldiers today.

As a President "W" has realized the incredible power of the Presidency in foreign affairs and his ability to act from the "bully pulpit" with impunity and to claim executive privilege until congress has the balls to stop him. As a helper of the US people he has utterly failed, but that's assuming it was his goal to help the masses that didn't even elect him. He has succeeded at not only giving hundreds of billions of government money to his friends and building a debt so that his buddies will continue to benefit long after he is gone.

I guess it depends on who you ask. His friends would say he will go down as their best President. And isn't that what it's all about?

US Troop Surge Clearly Intended for Show of Force to Iran

In a shocking preview of the Newsweek article that will appear in Newsweek on February 19th it is foretold how likely a confrontation with Iran is.

Ex-Senator Max Cleland appears on CNN warns us that we are leading to a dangerous position with "no mission and no purpose" and that the best way to "support our soldiers is to bring them home" from a war that has no chance of benefiting American interests other than those of the military industrial complex. Impassioned, he warns that the congress must "put up or shut up" in reference to their responsibility to clearly exercise their constitutional duty to declare war and to un-declare it. Cleland, in his righteous passion as one who has lost many limbs, suggests he finds no difficulty in getting emotional about this when he sees soldiers like himself in VA hospitals, permanently handicapped physically and mentally.

Bush speaks as if there is a clear necessity and that he plans to do whatever he believes is right assuming the congress doesn't stop him saying, "I'm gonna do something about it."

Hillary Clinton supports a clear statement of prevention of attack on Iran without Congressional approval.

The fact is, short of such clear legal limitations, Bush is quite capable of writing a check that we can't pay as if he hasn't already broke the bank. As US President, he is in a position of placing us in a position that creates irrevocable damage to relations and American lives and limbs, not to mention further massacre and maiming of Mid-easterners.

The Navy is steaming ahead. President Bush's proposed “surge” of 21,500 more troops in Iraq will mean extended deployments for thousands of Southern California sailors (one of which is my Navy officer nephew, and all are someone's loved ones) and Marines, military officials said Thursday.

The Camp Pendleton-based 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit – a 2,200-member special-operations contingent that includes a helicopter squadron from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station – will stay an extra 45 days in Iraq, said Lt. Ted Vickers, a Marine Corps spokesman.

It appears that Bush may not even consider the Navy deployment to be part of his announced 21,500. But ask any of the wives if there is a difference between their husbands staying in San Diego and living on a ship off the Iranian coast and you will hear the emotional truth. Financially, it certainly cost the US more to station ships there as opposed to home. Clearly, a Naval presence has no purpose in supporting the efforts in Iraq, so this adds to the legitimate paranoia of Iran.

Bush likes to think of himself as a "man of action" but the actions are always of others. His family will not suffer, nor will his friends. In fact, he and VP Cheney have made their social circles of almost exclusively those who benefit from maintaining war instead of seeking peace. As it stands, those that suffer disproportionately are the poor and middle class.

If Congress does not act now, preemptively, we may soon see an Armageddon never fully envisioned by biblical prophets. Whatever bible one reads, we can all agree that this war is not consistent with the standards stated in any major religion; Yet, here we are being led by the squeaky wheels purporting themselves to be moral.

Unqualified US Kings Placed in Baghdad Palaces-- Sucking Down US Taxpayer Dollars --Avoiding Solutions

Imperial Life in the Emerald City:
Inside Iraq's Green Zone
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
(excerpt from Amazon)

An unprecedented account of life in Baghdad’s Green Zone, a walled-off enclave of towering plants, posh villas, and sparkling swimming pools that was the headquarters for the American occupation of Iraq.

The Washington Post’s former Baghdad bureau chief Rajiv Chandrasekaran takes us with him into the Zone: into a bubble, cut off from wartime realities, where the task of reconstructing a devastated nation competed with the distractions of a Little America—a half-dozen bars stocked with cold beer, a disco where women showed up in hot pants, a movie theater that screened shoot-’em-up films, an all-you-could-eat buffet piled high with pork, a shopping mall that sold pornographic movies, a parking lot filled with shiny new SUVs, and a snappy dry-cleaning service—much of it run by Halliburton. Most Iraqis were barred from entering the Emerald City for fear they would blow it up.

Drawing on hundreds of interviews and internal documents, Chandrasekaran tells the story of the people and ideas that inhabited the Green Zone during the occupation, from the imperial viceroy L. Paul Bremer III to the fleet of twentysomethings hired to implement the idea that Americans could build a Jeffersonian democracy in an embattled Middle Eastern country.

In the vacuum of postwar planning, Bremer ignores what Iraqis tell him they want or need and instead pursues irrelevant neoconservative solutions—a flat tax, a sell-off of Iraqi government assets, and an end to food rationing. His underlings spend their days drawing up pie-in-the-sky policies, among them a new traffic code and a law protecting microchip designs, instead of rebuilding looted buildings and restoring electricity production. His almost comic initiatives anger the locals and help fuel the insurgency.

Chandrasekaran details Bernard Kerik’s ludicrous attempt to train the Iraqi police and brings to light lesser known but typical travesties: the case of the twenty-four-year-old who had never worked in finance put in charge of reestablishing Baghdad’s stock exchange; a contractor with no previous experience paid millions to guard a closed airport; a State Department employee forced to bribe Americans to enlist their help in preventing Iraqi weapons scientists from defecting to Iran; Americans willing to serve in Iraq screened by White House officials for their views on Roe v. Wade; people with prior expertise in the Middle East excluded in favor of lesser-qualified Republican Party loyalists. Finally, he describes Bremer’s ignominious departure in 2004, fleeing secretly in a helicopter two days ahead of schedule.

This is a startling portrait of an Oz-like place where a vital aspect of our government’s folly in Iraq played out. It is a book certain to be talked about for years to come.

Who Is Really Arming Iraqi Insurgents?

The most recent surge in finger-pointing at Iran reminds us of the four fingers pointing back at the US and Great Britain according to every source especially the bestselling book, Arming Iraq. Of all the weapons being used in Iraq by people on all sides it is fair to say a huge majority were made in America and provided en masse over many years.

Bush is yet again, a hypocrite as his dad armed and trained rebels in Nicaragua in the war that "didn't happen". Reagan and Bush exchanged weapons for hostages with Iran and now both directly and indirectly have done it again, Bush is crying that Iran is helping the people about whom they care; but worse, we are the ones that put the most weapons in their hands to kill American soldiers. But, hey, war makes money for gun makers.

We can also be sure much of the single $12-Billion stack of cash which is still unaccounted for, was inevitably used to pay for weapons that are being used against US soldiers. One of many smokescreens, this current propaganda campaign regarding Iran's arming insurgents, is just another distraction from looming questions about financial corruption and irreversible failed policy. I would like to say "Good money after bad" but it's all bad and an extraordinary waste of US taxpayer dollars, but worse the things that are sorely needed in the US: Education, health care and peace missions that re-establish the US as an exemplary, peaceful nation.

When America gets over its denial it will not only seek to end the war but will face its role in intentionally undermining itself in order to create a cycle of war profits for companies like Halliburton. So far, most agree the war before, during and after will go down in history as a Fiasco.

Eventually, we will have to stop blaming "them" and take the blame ourselves as voters and those responsible for failing speak out; for failing to demand accountability and for allowing the robber barons to steal us blind while killing people of all nationalities including ours. Of course, as history repeats itself, the US selling arms to its enemies was ignored before; it will be ignored again. If the war doesn't end and weapons we make and sell continue to kill us, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.