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SATURDAY
04.10.04 / 6:27
PM / LINK
Who, in their left mind....
?
Go here
for a report from Iraq from one of Josh Marshall's private contractor
friends. Sounds not as good as George Bush's radio address today
made it sound. But who in their right ...no, make that who in
their left mind, would believe him?
TOP
04.10.04
/ 11:33 AM / LINK
The man's a walking Chernobyl
"' Murderers,' the
crowd shouts at the embassy. 'Murderers!
Murderers!' That kind of anti-Americanism is now widespread
around the globe, and it will be one of President Bush's most
important legacies."
But who called us murderers, Muslim religious leaders, members
of al Qaeda? The French? No, it was a crowd of Spaniards in Madrid.
With friends like that, who needs enemies? But that's probably
what they were thinking: with friends like us, who needs enemies?
As Nicholas Kristoff says
in todays NY Times, "It's not just that the Bush administration's
arrogance and unilateralism have led Pakistanis to give Osama
bin Laden a 65 percent favorable rating, compared with 7 percent
for President Bush (the latest international polls from the Pew
Research Center make you want to cry). Even in traditional allies
like Spain, which we now need to fix the mess in Iraq, the good
will after 9/11 has dissolved into suspicion and hostility."
And that's the awful truth of
George Bush's war. This arrogant little man took the tremendous
opportunity that issued from the tragedy of 9/11 and pissed it
away. Just as he took the huge budget surplus the Clinton administration
left him with and transformed it into a spectacular debt, he's
taken the good will of the world --it's sympathy for our loss--
and transformed it into a global anti-American spitfest.
The man's a walking Chernobyl. The dead-zone around his person
expands by the minute.
TOP
04.10.04
/ 8:12 AM / LINK
Who woulda thunk a terrorist might fly
a jet into a building?
Jeez,
the thought crossed my mind a couple of times and I'm
not even National Security Advisor.
Let's see, suicidal fanatics drive explosive cars and trucks
into buildings (marine barracks in Lebanon, the WTC!)
...they sail explosive boats into U.S. destroyers (the Cole)
...hmm, what other potentially explosive vehicle aimed
at what might be employed to terrorist advantage ...?
But according to today's
NY
Times, Condi and George didn't even have to come up with
the idea all by themselves. President
Bush was told on Aug. 6, 2001, that supporters of Osama bin Laden
planned an attack within the U.S. and wanted to hijack airplanes.
A mind is a terrible thing to get stuck in a rut.
TOP
04.10.04
/ 8:12 AM / LINK
A Real Mess (but one that was anticipated
by many)
Blogger Juan Cole gives a good
run down on the latest in Bush's war.
And In The
Daily Kos we're reminded of those moments of hubris of Cheney
(Meet
the Press), Adelman (WaPo),
Rumsfeld, Perle (Knight
Ridder), David Frum (National
Review) --that gaggle of miscreants-- about how easy this
was gonna be. A "cakewalk" one of them called it.
A real mess, but we don't want it to disturb the president's
vacation. The president's
mind works best when it's on vacation, but that's not saying
too much.
Speaking of the president's vacation Josh Marshall put's together
an enlighten string of news clips here.
TOP
FRIDAY
04.09.04 / 6:23
AM / LINK
If only he'd used his head instead of
his testes...
"A year after Saddam’s
regime ended, ordinary Iraqis will not accept the same number
of collateral casualties of that original conflict. George W.
Bush promised them peace and security, power, water, hospitals,
education. Most of those promises have not been kept and suddenly
the country is being plunged again into widespread violence."
-Editorial,
Arab News
This could have been forseen, and it was by many. George
Bush was not one however.
TOP
04.09.04
/ 5:17 AM / LINK
The Hessians are not coming, the Hessians
are here
As a
boy I remember learning of
the Hessians (the German auxilaries
of the British in the revolutionary war). They were mercenaries
sent to the colonies to fight American patriots. They were on
the King's payroll.
The Hessians were introduced to us in a history lesson in a very
pejorative light. Old Miss Sweeny did not dig Hessians. They
were anathema to her. She hated those who would take money to
attack an ideal. She loathed the idea of a generic army that
would fight for any cause if the price was right.
Laying your life on the bottom line is the essence of a free-market-oriented
military, and Miss Sweeny didn't go for it. By the grace of whomever,
she never lived to see a truly capitalist force. But we have.
They're here.
Say: Blackwater. 
Now you're talking about the
modern Hessian army.
They're called "contractors" in the news. We call
them contractors because it sounds so neutral; so ideologically
correct; so ...capitalistic. But they're really just Hessians.
These modern
mercenaries
are making headlines lately because the bodies of four of them
were mutilated by an Iraqi mob. They're getting a lot of covereage.
On NPR today I heard it said that they and their affiliates comprise
the, "The largest
private army in the world."
Think of it: an extra-state army with no national affiliation and
the potential to co-opt the armies of states, including The
United States.
And we are attending it's birth. If ever there was an argument
for abortion...
You wanna take the free market to it's logical end? Consider
global private armies! And add into the mix a U.S. government that defers
to private interests ....what do we expect? Were we born yesterday
or something?
Middleclass Democratic Utopia the jig is up. The world has intervened.
Along with an administration that would love to privatize government
we now have private armies to contend with. And they're as real
as the nose on your face (unless you're Michael Jackson). So,
if you have ears to hear and eyes to see, and a functioning
imagination, you might want to be aware of this. Put 2 and 2
together. Connect the dots.
And our kids can play
at being mercenaries too.
TOP
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From Blackwater Website:
"Blackwater USA is comprised of five
companies; Blackwater Training Center, Blackwater Target Systems,
Blackwater Security Consulting, Blackwater Canine, and Blackwater
Air (AWS). We have established a global presence and provide
training and tactical solutions for the 21st century." |
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