Filed under: 2-party system, 2008 Election, Baghdad, Barack Obama, biden, Congress, David Petraeus, Draft, flip flop, flip flopping, George Bush, House, Iraq, joe biden, left right paradigm, Military, nation building, neocons, Neolibs, obama, occupation, Pullout, Senate, tax, Troops, UN, War On Terror | Tags: Hoshyar Zebari, soldiers, u.s. soldiers
Obama Tried To Stall Iraq Withdrawal
NY Post
September 15, 2008
WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.
According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.
“He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington,” Zebari said in an interview.
Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops – and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its “state of weakness and political confusion.”
“However, as an Iraqi, I prefer to have a security agreement that regulates the activities of foreign troops, rather than keeping the matter open.” Zebari says.
Though Obama claims the US presence is “illegal,” he suddenly remembered that Americans troops were in Iraq within the legal framework of a UN mandate. His advice was that, rather than reach an accord with the “weakened Bush administration,” Iraq should seek an extension of the UN mandate.
While in Iraq, Obama also tried to persuade the US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to suggest a “realistic withdrawal date.” They declined.
Obama has made many contradictory statements with regard to Iraq. His latest position is that US combat troops should be out by 2010. Yet his effort to delay an agreement would make that withdrawal deadline impossible to meet.
Supposing he wins, Obama’s administration wouldn’t be fully operational before February – and naming a new ambassador to Baghdad and forming a new negotiation team might take longer still.
By then, Iraq will be in the throes of its own campaign season. Judging by the past two elections, forming a new coalition government may then take three months. So the Iraqi negotiating team might not be in place until next June.
Then, judging by how long the current talks have taken, restarting the process from scratch would leave the two sides needing at least six months to come up with a draft accord. That puts us at May 2010 for when the draft might be submitted to the Iraqi parliament – which might well need another six months to pass it into law
http://mparent7777-1.livejournal.com/1726422.html
Biden: Paying higher taxes patriotic for wealthy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_el_pr/biden_taxes
Filed under: Afghanistan, afghanistan deaths, airstrikes, Centcom, Coup, David Petraeus, Dictatorship, Empire, Genocide, George Bush, Hamid Karzai', Iraq, Keith Olbermann, Media, Military, Military Industrial Complex, military strike, MSNBC, nation building, neocons, occupation, Pullout, Spy, surge, Troops, War On Terror | Tags: soldiers, u.s. soldiers
Bush to Shift Troops From Iraq Into Afghanistan
Jon Swaine
London Telegraph
September 9, 2008
President George W Bush is preparing to bolster US troop numbers in Afghanistan using forces freed up from Iraq.
The US will withdraw about 8,000 of its 146,000 soldiers in Iraq by February – and send 4,500 more to join the 33,000 in Afghanistan.
Mr Bush is expected to say in a speech to the US National Defence University that the improved security situation in Iraq will permit a “quiet surge” of troops in Afghanistan in the coming months.
“While the progress in Iraq is still fragile and reversible … there now appears to be a ‘degree of durability’ to the gains we have made,” Mr Bush will say.
However he will state that efforts in Afghanistan must now be ramped up.
“For all the good work we have done in that country, it is clear we must do even more. Unlike Iraq, it has few natural resources and has an underdeveloped infrastructure. Its democratic institutions are fragile,” Mr Bush will explain.
He will make clear that longer-term decisions about the deployments will be left to General David Petraeus, soon to become the Commander of US Central Command, and Mr Bush’s successor as president, who will take office in January.
Afghanistan: The Good War?
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=68816§ionid=351020201
Millions of Iraqis Uprooted—Media Give Little Coverage of Major Crisis
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/world/iraq-refugees-displaced-3934.html
16 US troops commit suicide in Iraq
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=68821§ionid=351020201
US air power triples deaths of Afghan civilians, says report
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/08/afghanistan.usa
New book says U.S. spied on Iraqi leaders
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080905/tpl-uk-bush-iraq-book-4b8df73.html
Filed under: 2-party system, 2008 Election, Afghanistan, airstrikes, Barack Obama, barry goldwater, C-Span, CNN, DNC, federal crime, Federal Reserve, Fox News, Genocide, George Bush, georgia, GOP, Iran, jesse ventura, John McCain, left right paradigm, Media, Military, military base, military strike, moscow, MSNBC, nation building, neocons, nevada, obama, occupation, Pat Buchanan, Preemptive Strike, preemptive war, Pullout, rally, RNC, Ron Paul, Russia, Shock and Awe, South Ossetia, staged provocation, surge, Tehran, Troops, tucker carlson, War Crimes, WW3, ww4 | Tags: Grover Norquist, Marc Scibilia, rally for the republic, rockie lynne, Sara Evans, soldiers, u.s. soldiers
Ron Paul: There’s no difference between McCain and Obama
Raw Story
August 29, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqMhBEYGrXU
Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has declined to endorse either John McCain or Barack Obama, and he told CNN’s Kiran Chetry on Thursday that he sees “no difference” between them because both espouse foreign policies that only create more threats to our national interests.
Chetry asked Paul, “Do you think it’s a valid argument … that a John McCain administration would be a four-year extension of the Bush administration?”
“Sure, but I think that’s what’s going to happen with Obama, too,” Paul replied. “There’s no difference.”
“Their foreign policies are identical,” Paul explained. “They want more troops in Afghanistan. They want to send more support to Georgia to protect the oil line there. Neither one says bring home the troops from Iraq from the bases — you know the bases are going to stay there, the embassy as big as the Vatican, that’s going to remain. So their foreign policies are exactly the same. They’re both very, very aggressive with Iran. So I would say there’s no difference.”
“How would you handle these global threats, then, if it’s not to send our troops there and make sure that we’re protected?” Chetry asked.
“We create the threats!” Paul replied emphatically. “Why are we on the borders of Russia provoking the Russians? I mean, the Georgians initiated the military attack against these enclaves where there were mostly Russians. … It’s the fact that we’re over there that we create these crises.”
“Isn’t it part of our duty, though, to support these fledgling democracies that ask for our help?” asked Chetry.
“No, it’s not our responsibility to do that,” Paul said firmly. “We should endorse the principle but not send troops and money. … Once we get over there, we just aggravate the situation.”
“We bombed Serbia in order for Kosovo to become independent,” Paul concluded. “Now the Russians are doing the same thing. … It’s this total inconsistency.”
Ron Paul’s rally: The other political convention in town
Beth Hawkins
Minnesota Post
September 1, 2008
When followers of erstwhile presidential candidate Ron Paul said they were going to stage an alternate convention, they meant it. Pretty much everything about Paul’s grassroots Rally for the Republic stands in stark contrast to the Republican national convention getting underway in St. Paul.
Its delegates are on their way via “Ronvoy,” a caravan of minivans and charter buses organized on the Internet. Many are eschewing hotels in favor of campgrounds and RV parks in Twin Cities exurbs, according to organizers. Still others will arrive just in time for the rally, a 12-hour marathon of speakers and entertainers taking place Tuesday at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
“Most of our people are not wealthy,” said Drew Ivers, a longtime GOP activist who is Paul’s delegate coordinator. “They’re working people feeling the pinch. They’re not country-club elitists. With the price of gas, they’re caravanning in in minivans and the like.
“These people are sacrificing to make this happen,” Ivers added. “I think it’s commendable.”
Speakers expected at the rally include former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, MSNBC correspondent Tucker Carlson, anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist, Barry Goldwater Jr., son of the late presidential candidate, and Barb White, a candidate in Minnesota’s fifth congressional district.
On hand to entertain the 10,000 supporters organizers say they expect will be musicians Marc Scibilia, Rockie Lynne, Sara Evans and Aimee Allen, the voice behind “The Ron Paul Revolution Theme Song.” Tickets, still available at Ticketmaster at press time, are priced at a cheeky $17.76.
$4.7 million in campaign coffers
A physician and 10-term congressman from the greater Houston area, Paul officially suspended his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination in June. Instead, he announced, he would use the $4.7 million remaining in his campaign coffers to underwrite the Campaign for Liberty, a grassroots effort to push libertarian-minded candidates for local offices across the country.
http://www.marketwatch.com/n…-49FAF8D09D25%7D&dist=hppr
C-SPAN 2 to cover the entire Rally for the Republic
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog/?p=428
Ron Paul’s Supporters in Nevada Could Cause McCain Trouble
http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB121944799376665201.html
Ron Paul on FOX News 8/31/08
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c2_tp1RR7c
Ron Paul’s welcome to Minneapolis RNC
http://mparent7777-1.livejournal.com/1472546.html
Pat Buchanan at DNC: ’Come to Ron Paul’s Convention!’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bld1tgarMAs
Filed under: 2008 Election, Baghdad, car bomb, David Petraeus, fallen soldiers, Iraq, iraq deaths, John McCain, Military, nation building, neocons, occupation, Pat Buchanan, Propaganda, Pullout, suicide bombing, Troops, War On Terror | Tags: Diyala province
McCain: Iraq Is ‘A Peaceful And Stable Country Now’
Think Progresss
August 28, 2008
Today, Time Magazine published an interview with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) that it conducted aboard McCain’s campaign airplane. Reporters James Carney and Michael Scherer described McCain as “prickly” and “at times, abrasive” during the course of the interview.
Carney and Scherer noted to McCain that the Iraqi government is calling for a deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq even though McCain’s previously stated definition of “victory” — “a peaceful, stable, prosperous democratic state” — has not been achieved. The Arizona senator dismissed their characterization of the situation, saying that Iraq is “a peaceful and stable country now”:
Q: Some members of the [Iraqi] government have made it clear in the last month or two that they might want to withdraw before complete stability, before totally secure borders, before some of the completeness of victory as you described. Is there any change, do you think there is some wiggle room there because what you described with Petraeus was an end point that was rather complete — a peaceful, stable country.
MCCAIN: Its a peaceful and stable country now.
Listen here:
Here are some examples (from just this month) of McCain’s so-called “peaceful and stable” Iraq:
– August 9: A suicide car bomb in Tal Afar killed at least 25 people.
– August 24: A suicide bomber killed 25 people, including women and children, in Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib district.
– August 27: A suicide bomber killed 28 and wounded 45 in Iraq’s Diyala province.
Moreover, while U.S. troop deaths in Iraq reached their lowest point since the beginning of the war last month, they are on the rise again. According to icasulaties.org, 20 U.S. military personnel have been killed so far this month in Iraq — up from 13 in July.
But this isn’t the first time McCain’s assessment of the security situation in Iraq has been off. Last May he said the northern city of Mosul was “quiet” despite the fact that a car bomb had killed three and wounded nine there the very same day.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Buchanan..of_0822.html
Filed under: army, DEBT, federal crime, human rights, IED, Iraq, Military, nation building, occupation, Pullout, Troops, War Crimes, War On Terror, war spending | Tags: soldiers, u.s. soldiers
U.S. soldiers laugh hysterically as they blow up bomb right next to an innocent woman
http://mparent7777-1.livejournal.com/1245836.html
U.S. Spent $85 Billion In Contractors In Iraq
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200..cJ7emFVH.8AopofqZ2wPIE
Iraq demands “very clear” U.S. troop timeline
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080810/ts_nm/iraq_dc
Filed under: federal crime, georgia, Military, moscow, nation building, occupation, Pullout, Russia, South Ossetia, Soviet Union, Troops, War Crimes, War On Terror, WW3, ww4 | Tags: ethnic cleansing, kodori gorge, russian peacekeepers, Sergei Bagapsh, soldiers, tbilisi, Tskhinvali
Abkhazia issues ultimatum to Georgian troops in strategic gorge
Novosti
August 11, 2008
Georgia’s breakaway republic of Abkhazia told Georgia on Monday that if its troops fail to leave the strategic Kodori Gorge, separatist forces will begin a full-scale onslaught to force them out.
Abkhazia’s pro-Russian leadership pledged on Sunday to oust Georgian forces from the northern part of the gorge, the only part of the province still controlled by Georgia, two days after Georgia began a ground and air offensive in its other separatist republic, South Ossetia.
“We will begin an operation to force out all Georgia’s security forces located there. This will be a combat operation with the employment of all our military’s armaments,” Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh said in an interview with the Russian TV channel Vesti.
Filed under: Air Force, airstrikes, blockade, BP, Britain, ceasefire, corporations, Dick Cheney, Dictatorship, Dmitri Medvedev, Empire, Europe, european union, federal crime, gas prices, George Bush, georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, Military, military base, military strike, moscow, nation building, navy, neocons, occupation, Oil, Petrol, Preemptive Strike, preemptive war, Pullout, putin, Russia, Shock and Awe, Soviet Union, Troops, Turkey, ukraine, United Kingdom, War Crimes, War On Terror, Washington D.C., White House, WW3, ww4 | Tags: gori, pipeline, poti, russian peacekeepers, soldiers, South Ossetia, tbilisi, Tskhinvali, warships
both sides ignore peacetalks… this is going to be a long week…
Russia Announces War Halt; Fighting Continues
Wired
August 12, 2008
Russian President Medvedev announced a halt to his country’s military operation in Georgia. But there are reports of continued bombings. And he said that Russian troops are still cleared to “eliminate” any enemy remaining in the contested region of South Ossetia.
The AP reports that “hours before the Russian announcement, Russian forces bombed the crossroads city of Gori and launched an offensive in the part of separatist Abkhazia still under Georgian control, sending in 135 military vehicles – including tanks – and tightening the assault on the beleaguered nation.” In Poti, a port city in western Georgia, a New York Times correspondent heard bombs falling around an hour after Mr. Medvedev’s statement.
Russian defense official Anatoly Nogovitsyn tells the Times that Russian military actions could continue. “If you receive the order to cease fire, this would not mean that we would stop all operations, including reconnaissance operations,” he said.
August 12, 2008
Ships are grouping in the Black Sea near the Georgian aquatic border. A unnamed naval source has said that the move is necessary to prevent arms deliveries to Georgia by sea. He added that the naval blockade of Georgia will help avoid escalation of military actions in Abkhazia. Radio station Echo of Moscow reports that several Georgian Internet publications have confirmed that the Russian Black Sea fleet is regrouping.
Witnesses say that several Georgian military vessels attempted to approach the coast of Abkhazia. The Interfax correspondent in Sukhumi reports that the Georgian attempt was countered by the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which opened preventative fire. The Interfax information was confirmed by enforcement bodies in Abkhazia.
Apparently, after Georgian forces were repulsed from Tskhinvali, air connections with Georgian were broken and Georgian military activity was suppressed and Russia began economic suppression.
Georgia in the meantime is accusing Russia of attempting to blow up the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Georgian Minister of Economic Development Ekaterina Sharashidze stated that Russian Air Force planes attacked the pipeline, but missed their target. “That makes it clear that the targets of the Russian military were not only Georgian economic objects, but international objects on Georgian territory,” she said. Reports were received throughout the day that Russian military planes struck targets in Georgia, however, they were military, not economic.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline runs a total of 1768 km., of which 443 km. stretches through Azerbaijan, 249 km. through Georgia and 1076 km. through Turkey. Construction of the pipeline began in 2003 and it began to pump oil on May 18, 2005. About 1 million barrels of oil per year are pumped through the pipeline. Construction of the pipeline cost $4 billion, not counting the filling of the pipeline, financial servicing or interest costs. The shareholders in the pipeline are BP (30,1%), AzBTC (25%), Chevron (8,9%), StatoilHydro (8,71%), ТРАО (6,53%), ENI (5%), Total (5%), Itochu (3,4%), Inpex (2,5%), ConocoPhillips (2,5%) and Hess (2,36%).
Georgia resumes shelling of S. Ossetia, troops shooting refugees after call for peacetalks
Russia Today
August 11, 2008
Authorities in South Ossetia say Georgian troops have shelled the road being used for evacuating people from the conflict zone, according to Russian Interfax news agency. Attacks are continuing in the South Ossetian region, despite claims from Georgia that it was imposing a ceasefire.
There have been several explosions in the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, after it came under a renewed shelling attack. Several Russian troops have been wounded.
It said that Russian forces have shot down a Georgian military plane in South Ossetia in the area around Eredvi.
Russian humanitarian aid has begun to arrive in the breakaway region’s capital.
Tskhinvali is back under peacekeepers’ control, as Russian troops disarm Georgians, who still remain in the city.
Moscow is sending more troops to South Ossetia. And military investigators have already started working in Tskhinvali to collect evidence of war crimes.
1600 civilians are thought to have died in South Ossetia. 15 Russian peacekeepers were killed with 70 others were wounded. Georgia claims 50 of its troops have been killed, and around 300 wounded.
Russian news agencies report sunken Georgian ship
August 10, 2008
Russia’s Defense Ministry refused to comment on the Sunday reports to The Associated Press and Georgian officials could not immediately be reached.
If confirmed, the incident could mark a serious escalation of the fighting between Russia and Georgia over the separatist Georgian province of South Ossetia.
“Georgian missile patrol boats today made two attempts to attack Russian military ships. The Russian ships opened fire in response and as a result, one of the Georgian ships carrying out the attack was sunk,” the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted a ministry spokesman as saying.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/w..=world&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Live webcam from Tbilisi
http://tvali.ge/index.php?action=cameras
Neocons Call For U.S. To Launch War Against Russia
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/11/neocon-russia-war/
Georgia: America admits it has few options for dealing with Russia-Georgia war
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new..ns-for-dealing-with-Russia-Georgia-war.html
Georgian minister: We won’t cede to Russians
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/C..tPreview/1,2506,L-3580432,00.html
Swarms of Russian jets bomb Georgian targets
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D92G35OO0&show_article=1
Bush Warns Russia To Pull Back
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D92GC5G80&show_article=1
Cheney: Russian Offensive Will Not Go Unanswered
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D92GC5G80&show_article=1
Ukraine threatens to bar Russian warships
http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSLA480092
Georgia Overrun By Russian Troops
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news..ssian-troops-scale-ground-invasion-begins.html
Tbilisi civilian airport hit in Russian air strike
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/2008081..etia-runway-bd5ae06.html
McCain warns Russians of “severe, long-term negative consequences”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080811/pl_politico/19061_1
US military surprised by speed, timing of Russia military action
Israelis in Georgia warn of impending disaster
Operation Dagestan
Zbig: Russian Invasion Like Stalin’s Invasion Of Finland
Filed under: 2008 olympics, Afghanistan, Air Force, airstrikes, beijing, Britain, Censorship, China, Dictatorship, Disinformation, Dmitri Medvedev, Empire, Europe, european union, facism, false information, federal crime, Fox News, Genocide, George Bush, georgia, Iran, Iraq, Media, media blackout, Mikheil Saakashvili, Military, military base, military strike, moscow, nation building, NATO, Nazi, occupation, Oil, olympics, Pentagon, Preemptive Strike, preemptive war, Propaganda, Pullout, putin, Russia, Sergei Lavrov, Shock and Awe, Soviet Union, Troops, Turkey, UN, United Kingdom, War Crimes, War On Terror, Washington D.C., White House, WW2, WW3, ww4 | Tags: ethnic cleansing, gori, grigory karasin, java, Kirghizstan, Marat Kulakhmetov, Marneuli, north ossetia, poti, Richard C. Holbrooke, russian peacekeepers, Shota Utiashvili, soldiers, South Ossetia, tbilisi, Temur Yakobashvili, Tskhinvali, u.s. soldiers, Vaziany, Vladikavkaz
Georgia Started War by Shelling South Ossetian Capital
August 10, 2008
Tensions between the former Soviet republic of Georgia and Russia erupted into full-scale war on 7 August, leaving thousands of civilians dead and turning dozens of thousands more into refugees.
The conflict in South Ossetia has great strategic importance because it involves one of the United States’ staunch allies and Russia, a re-emerging superpower with vast energy reserves that is showing growing eagerness to defend its interests on the international stage.
President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia said that his country was acting to restore peace in the Caucasus and protect its citizens and peacekeepers who had come under Georgian attack in South Ossetia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Georgia of utilizing massive violence with the aim of making the Ossetian population flee.
“We are receiving reports that a policy of ethnic cleansing was being conducted in villages in South Ossetia, the number of refugees is climbing, the panic is growing, people are trying to save their lives,” said Lavrov.
Russian counteroffensive expelled Georgian forces from the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, after four days of heavy fighting. Georgia’s military defeat was already clear and sure at that time.
American in Java, South Ossetia confirms first-strike was from Georgia
Putin accuses Georgia of genocide
Press TV
August 10, 2008
Russian Premier Vladimir Putin arrived in the capital of North Ossetia, and called Georgia’s acts in South Ossetia a species of “genocide”.
While in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, Putin said, “The actions of the Georgian leadership in South Ossetia are a crime and foremost they are a crime against their own people because a deadly blow has been delivered to the territorial integrity of Georgia, which brings massive damage to its national identity.”
Putin continued, “It’s hard to imagine after all that had happened and after all that is still happening they’ll be able to convince South Ossetia to be part of Georgia.”
The impact of what he saw led him to call for an investigation into alleged acts of genocide by Georgian forces during their offensive against South Ossetia, AFP reported.
Putin told President Dmitry Medvedev in comments that were broadcast on Sunday on Russian television that the incidents that were described by the refugees, “lie beyond the framework of understanding of military actions.”
He continued by saying, “In my opinion they are already elements of some kind of genocide of the Ossetian people. I think it would be correct if you instruct the military prosecutor to document all such incidents.”
In response to Putin’s statement, Medvedev said that he would issue the order and vowed to bring criminal charges against those who were responsible.
He had originally arrived in Vladikavkaz to hold talks with evacuees and officials and had changed his travel plans in order to see at first hand what was being done to assist the war refugees from South Ossetia, Russia Today reported.
Putin also discussed an aid package to help North Ossetia cope with the influx of refugees by announcing that the Russian government was planning to assign about USD 400m for the reconstruction of South Ossetia.
Georgia’s Betrayal and Censorship of it’s Citizens
After Georgia pulled-out of South Ossetia, Russian planes continued bombing raids
Strategic Culture Foundation
August 10, 2008
Upon his arrival to Vladikavkaz from Beijing on August 9, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that Georgia had committed a crime against its own people, dealt a blow to its own territorial integrity, and caused a tremendous damage to its statehood. He also said that under the circumstances it was hard to imagine how South Ossetia would now be convinced to become a part of Georgia as the Georgian aggression, which was a crime against the Ossetian people, had led to numerous fatalities among the civilian population and to a humanitarian catastrophe. Subsequently V. Putin described the drama in South Ossetia as genocide while visiting a refugee camp in the Alagir district.
Thus, V. Putin has thoroughly assessed the recent developments from the political and legal standpoints. Russia will provide the entire necessary assistance to South Ossetia at the initial phase of the crisis relief. V. Putin pledged that the refugees would be able to return to their homeland and declared that Russia would contribute 10 bn rubles to rebuild Tskhinvali as the first step.
Russian President D. Medvedev said he would instruct the military prosecutor to document the crimes against civilians in South Ossetia.
The clear and definite statements made by the two Russian leaders contrast sharply with those of the Georgian leader who obviously expected the situation to evolve not the way it actually did. Overwhelmed by fury, he keeps ordering new devastating attacks on Tskhinvali and South Ossetia’s villages and begs his Western patrons for help. Georgian Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili indicated that the West would surely exert pressure on Moscow and then Georgia would emerge from the conflict as the winner. For some unknown reason, Mr. Saakashvili and his team concluded that the aggression and genocide for which they are responsible would remain unpunished.
Russia’s reaction to the tragedy in South Ossetia has shown that the Medvedev-Putin tandem functions with high efficiency and synchronism. Clearly, the attempts of external forces to destabilize the domestic political situation in Russia by instilling divisions in its leadership have failed.
Western media said that the Georgian President (already called a war criminal by a number of politicians) had offered a ceasefire directly to Russian President D. Medvedev. The reports were refuted and branded disinformation by the Kremlin. No doubt, there can be no truce with Mr. Saakashvili until all the Georgian guerillas are expelled from South Ossetia and the infrastructure of the Georgian state terrorism including army bases, military installations, air force bases, and the networks of their economic support are maximally destroyed.
It transpired that the news about the withdrawal of the Georgian army from South Ossetia had been another lie. In all likelihood, the disinformation is spread by the representatives of Georgia in order to win time to regroup its forces. They must be routed completely in order to ensure peace and stability for the Caucasus. Russian Prime Minister V. Putin said: “For centuries Russia has played a highly positive stabilizing role in the region, being a guarantor of cooperation and progress. Things have always been and are going to remain that way – nobody should have any doubts about this.”
V. Putin was absolutely right when he said that Russians will continue to regard the Georgian people as friends. The severity of the fighting in which the Russian army, peacekeepers, and the Ossetian self-defense forces are currently engaged shows that Russia is facing a serious and ferocious enemy who recognizes no moral limitations on the way to its criminal objectives. Certainly, this does not apply to the Georgian nation – dragged into bloody adventures for which it will certainly have to pay, it is yet to draw conclusions from the experience. One item from the timeline preceding the aggression deserves particular attention – the Georgian-US Immediate Response 2008 military exercise, during which the US instructors trained the Georgian forces to carry out “anti-terrorist cleansings” in residential areas was completed on July 31. The exercise included such activities as cleansing terrorists from villages (allegedly in the framework of the preparation of the Georgian military for the operations in Iraq) and ensuring the security of the civilian population. The atrocities perpetrated by the Georgian guerillas in Tskhinvali had been taught by the Western instructors under the cynical disguise of “the struggle against terrorism”. The actual objectives are of course completely different. Former Georgian Foreign Minister Salomé Zourabichvili, who is certainly a very well-informed person, said the US presence in Georgia comprises a broad range of activities including the training of the Georgian armed forces and the monitoring of the strategically important corridor passing across the Caucasus. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is a part of the latter. Zourabichvili opineds that the main purpose of the current conflict with Russia is to strengthen the loyalty of Georgia to the US and Great Britain and to guarantee that they will have control over the country and, consequently, over the South Caucasus.
It should be noted that the escalation at Russia’s border coincided in time with tensions in China’s Xinjiang autonomous region, where a terrorist act has taken place during the Olympics. A few days earlier, an arms depot was found in Bishkek, the capital of Kirghizstan, attended by 10 US military servicemen and several diplomats from the US Ambassy in the country. Georgia’s aggression against South Ossetia is a war in the interests of other players, a war in which Georgians are to play the role of cannon fodder. Unless the aggression is suppressed immediately in the tiny region of the Caucasus, new and much more extensive regional conflicts will be imminent.
Now, as during WWII, the Russian army is fighting heroically to protect not only the Caucasus but the entire post-Soviet space from the fascist plague.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/south-ossetia.htm
US condemns ’dangerous’ Russian response in South Ossetia
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/10/georgia.russia2
Fox News Host Refuses To Talk About Russia-Georgia War, Insists On Covering Edwards’
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/09/fox-news-edwards/
Two Journalists Killed in S.Ossetia
http://67.222.4.42/eng/article.php?id=19035
U.S. Begins Flying Georgian Troops Home
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/2008081..AlHwLtln5qYxKIwhC9qxilwUewgF
NATO envoy: Russia is not at war, rejects cease-fire
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellit..48355&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
Iran Calls For Ceasefire In Georgia
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/10/content_9112445.htm
Russian Troops Control South Ossetian Capital
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/10/content_9112445.htm
Russia Disputes Claim Of Georgian Pullout
http://news.yahoo.com/s/a..lt=AlHwLtln5qYxKIwhC9qxilwUewgF
Russian media, “Turkey supports Georgia”
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/home/9626649.asp?gid=244&sz=3441
Georgia’s Parliament Approves State Of War
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/09/georgia.ossetia/index.html
Russia strikes a blow at its fears of Nato encirclement
Russia Expands Bombing Blitz Against Georgia
NATO encouraged Georgia – Russian envoy
Filed under: Afghanistan, afghanistan deaths, Baghdad, Canada, Child Abuse, federal crime, Henry Kissinger, human rights, Iraq, iraq deaths, Military, nation building, occupation, Pullout, sexual abuse, Troops, UN, War Crimes, War On Terror | Tags: civilian deaths
U.S. Military Says Soldiers Fired on Civilians
NY Times
July 28, 2008
BAGHDAD — The American military admitted Sunday night that a platoon of soldiers raked a car of innocent Iraqi civilians with hundreds of rounds of gunfire and that the military then issued a news release larded with misstatements, asserting that the victims were criminals who had fired on the troops.
The attack on June 25 killed three people, a man and two women, as they drove to work at a bank at Baghdad’s airport. The attack infuriated Iraqi officials and even prompted the Iraqi armed forces general command to call the shooting cold-blooded murder.
It also bolstered calls from Iraqi politicians to pressure the American military to leave Iraq after this year, when a United Nations mandate expires, unless the United States agrees to permit its soldiers to be subject to criminal prosecution under Iraqi law for attacks on civilians.
In a statement issued late Sunday, the American military said that “a thorough investigation determined that the driver and passengers were law-abiding citizens of Iraq.” It added that the soldiers were not at fault for the killings because they had fired warning shots and exercised proper “escalation of force” measures before they opened fire on the people in the car.
But the findings called into question the way the military handled the aftermath of the shootings.
For example, a key assertion of the news release issued by the military on the day of the killings was that “a weapon was recovered from the wreckage.” But the military said Sunday that no one claimed to have found a weapon in the car or had seen a weapon taken from it.
Instead, one of the soldiers at the scene reported seeing an Iraqi police officer pull something from the burned car and then place it in the front seat of an ambulance, according to Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a spokesman for the Fourth Infantry Division, which patrols Baghdad.
Canadians Kill Two Children At Afghan Checkpoint
Canada.com
July 29, 2008
Canadian soldiers opened fire on a speeding vehicle after its driver ignored repeated warnings not to approach a military convoy Sunday, killing two young children.
The soldiers used hand signals, flashing lights and sirens in a futile attempt to warn the car away.
Fearing they were under attack by a suicide bomber, soldiers fired a single round when the car was just 10 metres from their vehicle, killing a two-year-old and a four-year-old who were passengers in the car.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/..08073002947.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
Top Advisor to U.S. Military: “There is No Battlefield Solution to Terrorism”
http://georgewashington2.blogsp..-us-military-confirms-war.html
Death toll climbs in Iraq bombings
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/28/iraq.terrorism
Saturday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13206
15 % of women in the military test positive for sexual trauma
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25784465/
US Has Killed 78 Afghan Civilians This Month
http://www.washingtonpost.com..2403465.html?hpid=topnews
The pictures you won’t ever see from Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/..5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Filed under: 2-party system, 2008 Election, Ahmadinejad, airstrikes, Barack Obama, Britain, China, Coup, Dictatorship, diplomacy, Empire, Europe, european union, False Flag, flip flip, flip flopping, Fox News, France, gas prices, gaza, George Bush, Globalism, hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Israel, John McCain, Lebanon, left right paradigm, Media, middle east, Military, Military Industrial Complex, military strike, nation building, neocons, Neolibs, Nuke, obama, occupation, Oil, palestine, Petrol, Preemptive Strike, preemptive war, Propaganda, Pullout, Russia, Saber Rattling, Saddam Hussein, Sanctions, Shock and Awe, sudan, Syria, Tehran, UN, United Kingdom, War On Terror, White House, WW3, ww4
Obama: No Option Off The Table On Iran
Reuters
July 23, 2008
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Wednesday a nuclear Iran would pose a “grave threat” and that the world must stop Tehran from obtaining an atomic weapon.
Obama told reporters during a visit to Israel that if elected, he would take “no options off the table” in dealing with the Iran issue and said tougher sanctions could be imposed.
“A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Obama told reporters after visiting the Israeli town of Sderot, which lies close to the border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
He said the international community should immediately offer “big sticks and big carrots” to persuade Iran to halt its nuclear program. The West suspects Iran wants to build atom bombs but the Islamic Republic says its aims are peaceful.
“Iranians need to understand that whether it’s the Bush administration or the Obama administration, this is a paramount concern to the United States,” he said in Sderot, which has been hit by cross-border rockets fired by Gaza-based militants.
McCain, Obama agree: U.S. must dominate Middle East
PSL Web
July 26, 2008
Senators John McCain and Barack Obama differ in their proposals for when and how the United States should begin a major troop withdrawal from Iraq, and under what conditions they would enter into negotiations with the government of Iran.
On just about every other issue related to U.S policy in the Middle East, the presumptive presidential candidates of the Republican and Democratic parties are in near total agreement. And when it comes to the goal, the word “near” can be deleted. Both share—as must all ruling class-approved candidates for the position of CEO of the empire—an unquestioning dedication to U.S. domination of that key strategic region. Seventy percent of known global oil reserves are located in the Middle East.
Both Obama and McCain have expressed a limitless devotion to the state of Israel. Both have emerged as leading voices in the chorus of demonization against the governments of Iran, Syria and Sudan, and popular movements such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas and other Palestinian resistance organizations.
Obama: air strike on Iran useless
Press TV
July 24, 2008
The White House hopeful Barack Obama says an air strike on Iran will not halt its nuclear program, calling for tougher Iran sanctions.
“Iran is a big country. They have dispersed their nuclear capabilities in a way that you are not going to see smooth, surgical strikes solving the problem entirely the way that Israel was able to deal with Iraq’s nuclear threat,” he told ABC News.
The Illinois senator called for “tough sanctions” coupled with “tough diplomacy that makes the calculus for the Iranians different.”
While insisting that “war is not a good option,” Obama maintained that he “would not take military options off the table when it comes to Iran and dealing with their nuclear capacity.”
The US has set a two-week deadline for Tehran to halt its nuclear program, after their talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
Envoys from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council–China, Russia, the US, Britain and France–plus Germany held a meeting in Geneva on Saturday to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.
In Israel—Obama Flip-Flops on Iran (…Again)
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jul2008/obam-j23.shtml
Obama ’virtually indistinguishable from any U.S. politician’
http://www.bloomberg.co..d=amiQZ8aYhNMM&refer=us
Filed under: 2-party system, 2008 Election, Bohemian Grove, Bush Sr., Colin Powell, flip flop, flip flopping, George Bush, george h. w. bush, Hillary Clinton, Impeach, Iraq, Iraqnam, John McCain, left right paradigm, Military, nation building, neocons, Neolibs, occupation, Pullout, War Crimes, War On Terror, WMD
It should be noted that Colin Powell is attending Bohemian Grove with George H. W. Bush and many others…
Colin Powell Advising Obama
TPM
July 21, 2008
This was reported a few days ago, but it got surprisingly little attention, and it seems worth flagging in light of Obama’s trip abroad. Check out this little nugget buried in that New York Times piece on Barack Obama’s cast of 300 or so foreign policy advisers:
Another person who has contributed outside advice is former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, whom Mr. Obama has been wooing. Mr. Powell, a Republican, has a friendship of decades with Mr. McCain, but friends say he has felt excluded from Mr. McCain’s foreign policy operation and was impressed when Mr. Obama called on him in June. Mr. Powell also met around the same time with Mr. McCain.
Powell recently met with Obama and has made it clear that he won’t let any endorsement be dictated by party allegiance, so neglecting him seems like a pretty big oversight on the McCain camp’s part. Could Obama’s wooing of him eventually pay off?
Obama was never for full withdrawal from Iraq
Guardian
July 22, 2008
As November’s American presidential elections approach, Barack Obama’s message on Iraq is being widely interpreted as “flip-flopping” and a “retreat” from a previously unequivocal stance of fully withdrawing the US occupation forces. This is to misunderstand Obama, who is not someone who shoots from the hip. There is much more to his words than cursory reading could unravel.
His remarks before the 2003 invasion resonated well within the American antiwar movement. His scathing references to the Bush administration’s folly and his demands for “ending the war” were probably decisive in winning him the Democratic party nomination against Hillary Clinton, whose vote for war in 2003 ultimately crippled her credibility as the commander-in-chief who would bring it to an end.
Obama himself has reacted angrily to claims of a policy U-turn: “For me to say I’m going to refine my policies is I don’t think in any way inconsistent with prior statements and doesn’t change my strategic view that this war has to end and that I’m going to end it as president.” Earlier this month he resorted to an op-ed article in the New York Times to emphatically state: “On my first day in office, I would give the military a new mission: ending this war.”
Filed under: Afghanistan, afghanistan deaths, airstrikes, Barack Obama, Blackwater, fallen soldiers, friendly fire, Hamid Karzai', Iraq, Maliki, military strike, nation building, NATO, obama, occupation, Pullout, Troops, War On Terror
International Coalition Forces “bomb Afghan police”
BBC
July 20, 2008
At least 13 Afghan police and civilians have died in two incidents involving international forces, officials say.
Four Afghan police and five civilians died in an apparently mistaken air strike by international coalition forces in Farah province.
Separately, the Nato-led Isaf said it had “accidentally” killed at least four civilians in Paktika province.
The incidents are the latest in a series of controversial clashes involving foreign troops.
They come as US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is in Afghanistan as part of an overseas tour.
Mr Obama, who wants to increase US troop levels in Afghanistan, was due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday.
Mr Karzai has said no civilian casualty is acceptable.
Iraq PM did not back Obama troop exit plan: government
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1932883920080720
Blackwater expands its fleet of airships
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2..ater_main_071908/
Iraqi Leader: US Should Leave as Soon as Possible
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/20/10482/
Afghanistan Hit by Record Number of US and NATO Bombs
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/07/airforce_bomb_oef_071708/
Filed under: 2-party system, 2008 Election, AIPAC, al-qaeda, Barack Obama, Chuck Hagel, CIA, David Petraeus, flip flopping, Iraq, John McCain, left right paradigm, nation building, NATO, neocons, Neolibs, Nuke, obama, occupation, Pakistan, Propaganda, Pullout, Shiite, sunni, surge, Taliban, Troops, War On Terror, zbigniew brzezinski
Obama Promises 10,000 More Troops for Afghanistan
If president Obama would install combat brigades into Afghanistan, McCain agrees
Guardian
July 15, 2008
US marines, from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, patrol in the town of Garmser in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Photograph: Rafiq Maqbool/AP
Barack Obama yesterday pledged to increase US troops in Afghanistan by a third if he becomes president, sending 10,000 more to reinforce the 33,000 already there.
He was speaking after the US lost nine soldiers at the weekend in the deadliest attack on its forces in the country since 2005.
Obama has promised, soon after becoming president in January, to begin scaling back the 156,000 US troops in Iraq and Kuwait, and to shift the focus to Afghanistan.
Obama’s Two-Faced Foreign Policy
Independent
July 16, 2008
Obama lays out his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan in an op-ed for The New York Times. It reveals on full display a proposed foreign policy of confusion and contradiction.
With the notable exception of calling for a “residual force” to fight Al Qaeda and train troops, Obama sensibly argues that the best policy is to wean the Iraqis from dependence on the United States and create “a successful transition to Iraqis’ taking responsibility for the security and stability of their country.”
Not recognizing the contradiction, however, Obama proposes the exact opposite solution for Afghanistan. Instead of letting the Afghans take “responsiblity for the security of their country,” he wants to make them even more dependent on American welfare:
As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan. We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more nonmilitary assistance to accomplish the mission there.
Obama’s Brave New World Order
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/usa/new..avest_danger%22_to_US
Obama: Afghanistan is the war that we have to win
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080715/ap_on_el_pr/obama_iraq
Obama Calls For $5B For International Intelligence Agency
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/07/obamas_summit_o.html
Obama’s Hagel-Brzezinski Plan for Iraq
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/07/obamas_hagelbrz/more
Obama: My Plan for Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/opi..ref=opinion&oref=slogin
McCain Wants Iraq Like Surge In Afghanistan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080715/..AvFi7ndipTMId.HaERInvDph24cA
Obama outlines policy of endless war
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jul2008/obam-j16.shtml
Obama’s Foreign Policy Adviser Picks Tell Us All We Need To Know
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/7434
Filed under: Afghanistan, Baghdad, Britain, Europe, european union, George Bush, green zone, Iraq, Maliki, Military, nation building, neocons, occupation, Pullout, sovereignty, special forces, Troops, United Kingdom, War On Terror | Tags: tigris river
Iraq ready to kick U.S. out of green zone
Times Online
July 13, 2008
The green zone of Baghdad, a highly fortified slice of American suburbia on the banks of the Tigris river, may soon be handed over to Iraqi control if the increasingly assertive government of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, gets its way.
A senior Iraqi government official said this weekend the enclave should revert to Iraqi control by the end of the year. “We think that by the end of 2008 all the zones in Baghdad should be integrated into the city,” said Ali Dabbagh, the government’s spokesman.
“The American soldiers should be based in agreed camps outside the cities and population areas.
“By the end of the year, there will be no green zone,” he added. “The separation by huge walls makes people feel angry.” Dabbagh acknowledged that getting rid of the green zone would be a huge undertaking, given the thousands of American soldiers, private contractors and foreign workers who live inside. He said the concrete walls that divide it from the rest of the city would be taken down slowly, “depending on the threat and circumstances”.
British government ‘to pull troops out of Iraq by mid-2009’
While there are no plans to withdraw before George W Bush hands over to the new American president at the turn of the year, the decision is now expected to be made “in the first half of 2009”.
Only troops training Iraqi military or police and special forces are likely to stay, unless there is a sharp change for the worse.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7498904.stm
Spending Bill Suggests Long Stay in Afghanistan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy../07/13/AR2008071301644_pf.html
Maliki hands out money to Iraqis
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ap/200807..weapon-d3b07b8.html?printer=1
U.S. Considers Increasing Pace of Iraq Pullout
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/13/america/13military.php
Filed under: Abu Dhabi, Afghanistan, afghanistan deaths, Dennis Kucinich, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Iraq, iraq deaths, Iraqnam, Maliki, marine, Military, nation building, neocons, occupation, poll, PTSD, Pullout, Shiite, Texas, Troops, UAE, UN, veterans, War On Terror
Iraq Looking At U.S. Timetable For Withdrawal
Reuters
July 7, 2008
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki raised the prospect on Monday of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops as part of negotiations over a new security agreement with Washington.
It was the first time the U.S.-backed Shi’ite-led government has floated the idea of a timetable for the removal of American forces from Iraq. The Bush administration has always opposed such a move, saying it would give militant groups an advantage.
The security deal under negotiation will replace a U.N. mandate for the presence of U.S. troops that expires on December 31.
“Today, we are looking at the necessity of terminating the foreign presence on Iraqi lands and restoring full sovereignty,” Maliki told Arab ambassadors in blunt remarks during an official visit to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
“One of the two basic topics is either to have a memorandum of understanding for the departure of forces or a memorandum of understanding to set a timetable for the presence of the forces, so that we know (their presence) will end in a specific time.”
How You Ended The War
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/31178
Kucinich To Introduce One Article Of Impeachment
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Kucinich_to_bring_single_article_of_0708.html
‘No plans for early Afghanistan pullout’
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/?page..7�8story_8-7-2008_pg7_52
Soldier found dead in Texas apartment after shootout with police
http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/long..121.story?page=1
Canadian court rules Iraq war illegal
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/ne..b3-9bbc-bb4687684d5f
Panel urges new law on government war powers
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0826563920080708
Injured Iraq War Veterans Pay More for Health Care, Report Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/..N6Dgs3JM&refer=us
Filed under: Afghanistan, Britain, Canada, Europe, european union, George Bush, gordon brown, Impeach, Iraq, iraq deaths, Military, nation building, occuptation, Protest, PTSD, Pullout, Richard Clarke, Troops, United Kingdom, VA, veterans, War Crimes, War On Terror
UK to pull Iraq troops
The Independent
June 16, 2008
Gordon Brown is ready to override the misgivings of George Bush by going ahead with a major announcement on British troop withdrawals from Iraq. The US President will sit down to talks with Mr Brown today after their dinner at Downing Street last night sparked anti-Bush protests in Parliament Square.
Before he arrived at No 10, Mr Bush issued a veiled warning to Mr Brown that now was not the right time to be withdrawing forces from Iraq, saying such a decision depended on success of the allied mission. “I am confident that he, like me, will listen to our commanders to make sure that the sacrifices that have gone forward won’t be unravelled by drawdowns that may not be warranted at this point in time,” Mr Bush added.
But David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, signalled that Mr Brown would go ahead with plans to pull out British forces when the training of Iraqi forces was completed. Brushing aside tensions with the President, Mr Brown plans to make the announcement on the remaining 4,100 troops in Basra before the end of next month, when MPs begin their summer recess.
Canadian troops sickened by Afghan soldiers raping Afghan boys
UPI
June 16, 2008
A growing number of Canadian soldiers are suffering after witnessing Afghan boys being raped by Afghan soldiers, the Toronto Star reported Monday.
Several military chaplains told the newspaper they had counseled veterans returning from combat in Afghanistan for severe post traumatic stress disorder and their reports weren’t being dealt with by the Canadian military.
On Saturday, the Star reported a Canadian corporal gave closed-door parliamentary testimony about a boy’s rape he witnessed in 2006 and the visible signs of rape trauma.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/military_suicide_060808w/
Bush urges Brown not to set Iraq pullout timetable
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL1345429520080615
VA Using Vets As Guinea Pigs
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/20..drugs-on-war-veterans/
U.S. Soldier Refuses Iraq Deployment
http://www.breitbart.com/article.p..214802.2e0eis17&show_article=1
Outgoing US Commander Cites 50% Spike in Afghan Attacks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp..R2008061401639.html
Iraqi Troops Mass for Assault in South
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m44865&hd=&size=1&l=e
Richard Clarke on Bush: “We Should Not Let Them Back into Polite Society”
http://www.chron.com/comm..A67c5da8c-9fc8-4399-b1c9-c479257a3731
Iran’s Supreme Leader: U.S. Military Presence is Iraq’s Main Problem
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364441,00.html
Filed under: 2008 Election, Afghanistan, austan goolsbee, Barack Obama, Big Brother, bilderberg, biometrics, Blackwater, CFR, Control Grid, cult, David Rockefeller, Dick Cheney, Eugenics, global elite, global government, global police force, global poverty tax, Global Warming, Globalism, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, jay rockefeller, jihadist, Martial Law, microchip, NAFTA, nation building, Neolibs, New World Order, North American Union, occupation, Pakistan, Pullout, Real ID, Ron Paul, Russ Feingold, Senate, skull & bones, skull and bones, State Sponsored Terrorism, Surveillance, Taliban, trilateral commission, Troops, UN, War On Terror, zbigniew brzezinski
Obama takes name off Iraq withdrawal bill
Huffington Post
February 27, 2008
Over the past year, Sen. Barack Obama has been a vocal supporter of the Feingold-Reid Iraq legislation that sets a strict timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. But when a version of that bill was introduced this past week without a final date for troop removal, the Illinois senator chose not to attach his name to the list of co-sponsors.
Yesterday, Sen. Russ Feingold succeeded for the first time in getting the Senate to begin debating his measure to begin withdrawing troops in 120 days (with exceptions for certain specified missions). Neither of the Democratic presidential candidates was in D.C. to vote in favor of cloture, which allowed the bill to ultimately come to the floor. But only one — Sen. Hillary Clinton — co-sponsored the legislation.
A change in Feingold’s bill — the removal of an end date for troop redeployment in an effort to win wider support — persuaded Obama to not co-sponsor the measure.
“Senator Obama has long said that he would only support Iraq legislation that has an end date for the removal of troops,” an Obama aide told the Huffington Post. As for whether the Senator would ultimately support the bill, the aide said, “it will depend on the final version.”
Barack Obama: The Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9P15YZrnv0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro6OIgeGBC4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MCy1dRwxzY
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/29/rockefeller-gets-behind-obama/
Obama Intends to Swap One Failed War for Another
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/29/7364/
Austan Goolsbee, Barack Obama’s chief economic adviser, told Canada not to worry about Obama’s anti-NAFTA rhetoric
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe..228/20080229?hub=TopStories
Obama’s Blackwater Problem
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/2008..G_R3IIfsdHx3gBawj9wxIF
Filed under: Afghanistan, GAO, George Bush, Iraq, Military, nation building, occupation, Pullout, Saddam Hussein, Troops, War On Terror
Iraqi sees need for U.S. military until 2018: report
Canada.com
January 14, 2008
Iraq’s defense minister said on Monday his country would need foreign military help to defend its borders for another 10 years and would not be able to maintain internal security until 2012.
Abdul Qadir’s remarks, in an interview with The New York Times posted on the newspaper’s Internet site, could become an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.
“According to our calculations and our timelines, we think that from the first quarter of 2009 until 2012 we will be able to take full control of the internal affairs of the country,” Qadir said.
“In regard to the borders, regarding protection from any external threats, our calculation appears that we are not going to be able to answer to any external threats until 2018 to 2020,” he said.
President George W. Bush has said U.S. troops may have to stay in Iraq for years but most presidential candidates, especially Democrats, would like them to withdraw much faster.
Qadir is currently visiting the United States. On his agenda is weapons acquisitions for the new, U.S.-trained Iraqi army. According to the Times, these included ground vehicles, helicopters, tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers.
The United States disbanded the country’s previous armed forces built by Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi president who was executed in December 2006.
The United States and Iraq have said they would negotiate a formal agreement governing the legal status of American military forces in Iraq but talks have not yet formally begun.
http://voanews.com/english/2008-01-15-voa69.cfm
GAO: Bush admin fudged numbers to make Iraqi govt. look good
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM..1dya7NN_PLKDEwD8U6HL7O1
Filed under: 2008 Election, Afghanistan, airstrike, al-qaeda, Fox News, Fox News Debate, George Bush, GOP, Iran, Iraq, iraq deaths, John McCain, Military, military strike, nation building, NATO, neocons, occupation, Pullout, Ron Paul, Saddam Hussein, south carolina, south carolina primaries, Troops, Turkey, War On Terror
Bush: We Could “Easily” Be In Iraq For Another 10 Years
Huffington Post
January 11, 2008
U.S. President George W. Bush said on Friday the United States would have a long-term presence in Iraq that could “easily” last a decade, but that it would be at the invitation of the Iraqi government.
In an interview with NBC News, Bush was asked about recent comments by Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain that it would be fine with him to have a U.S. military presence in Iraq for 100 years.
John McCain Lies at Fox Debate and is EXPOSED by Ron Paul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsqDAafTaFc
McCain: Permanent Presence In Iraq Is Fine As Long As Iraqis Are The Ones Dying
http://noworldsystem.com/2008/0..the-war-is-fine/
Iraq to reinstate Saddam party followers
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080112/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
Bush: No Guarantee On Iraq Troop Reductions
http://www.washingtonpost.c..01/12/AR2008011201121_pf.html
Turkey pounds northern Iraq
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=38318§i..351020201
NATO used Afghan children to detect land mines: ex-German soldier
http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0801113311094602.htm
Filed under: 2008 Election, Afghanistan, Alex Jones, Bloggers, Department of Defense, DoD, George Bush, Iraq, iraq deaths, john murtha, Military, neocons, Pentagon, poll, PTSD, Pullout, Ron Paul, Troops, veterans, War On Terror, zogby
New Poll Shows Majority Want Immediate Iraq Troop Withdrawal
Zogby poll shows many more likely to vote for an anti-war candidate willing to bring troops home now
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
November 19, 2007
A Zogby poll commissioned by Alex Jones Productions has revealed that the majority of Americans are more likely to vote for a candidate who wants to begin an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
A total of 1009 people were asked the following question:
Which candidate are you more likely to vote for – a candidate who is opposed to the Iraq War and wants to begin an immediate withdrawal from Iraq or a candidate who wants to stay the course in Iraq?
Over 49% said they were more likely to vote for a candidate who would begin immediate withdrawal, compared to just under 41% who said they would vote for staying the course and around 10% who were not sure.
The full break down of the results from the poll is as follows
The 1009 people who took part in the poll were taken from two different categories of age groups consisting of 4 and 5 different age ranges respectively, ensuring an overall view representative of all voters in America.
Given that Ron Paul is the only Republican to oppose the war and advocate an immediate withdrawal of troops this indicates he is clearly the most popular GOP candidate on this issue. Furthermore, given that none of the Democrat front runners have advocated an immediate troop withdrawal, Ron Paul is the only GOP candidate who could possibly win more votes than them on this issue.
However, corporate media talking heads and neocon bloggers continue to suggest Ron Paul’s policies represent “the fringe view” in America.
The Zogby poll echoes the results of previous polls this year that have all shown the majority oppose the war and want immediate withdrawal.
A Pew Research Center poll last month revealed that 54% said they advocated bringing troops home as soon as possible. A September CBS News Poll found that 49% wanted troops to remain in Iraq for less than one more year, while a CNN poll in the same month found that 54% wanted an immediate withdrawal.
Almost all polls commissioned this year have revealed that the vast majority of Americans oppose the war and its handling by the Bush administration with figures ranging from 60-70% in most cases.
15,000 or More US Deaths in Iraq War?
Counter Punch
November 18, 2007
The Pentagon has been concealing the true number of American casualties in the Iraq War. The real number exceeds 15,000 and CBS News can prove it.
CBS’s Investigative Unit wanted to do a report on the number of suicides in the military and “submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Defense”. After 4 months they received a document which showed–that between 1995 and 2007– there were 2,200 suicides among “active duty” soldiers.
Baloney.
The Pentagon was covering up the real magnitude of the “suicide epidemic”. Following an exhaustive investigation of veterans’ suicide data collected from 45 states; CBS discovered that in 2005 alone “there were at least 6,256 among those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week in just one year.” That is not a typo. Active and retired military personnel, mostly young veterans between the ages of 20 to 24, are returning from combat and killing themselves in record numbers. We can assume that “multiple-tours of duty” in a war-zone have precipitated a mental health crisis of which the public is entirely unaware and which the Pentagon is in total denial.
If we add the 6,256 suicide victims from 2005 to the “official” 3,865 reported combat casualties; we get a sum of 10,121. Even a low-ball estimate of similar 2004 and 2006 suicide figures, would mean that the total number of US casualties from the Iraq war now exceed 15,000.
That’s right; 15,000 dead US servicemen and women in a war that–as yet–has no legal or moral justification.
CBS interviewed Dr. Ira Katz, the head of mental health at the Department of Veteran Affairs. Katz attempted to minimize the surge in veteran suicides saying, “There is no epidemic of suicide in the VA, but suicide is a major problem.”
Maybe Katz is right. Maybe there is no epidemic. Maybe it’s perfectly normal for young men and women to return from combat, sink into inconsolable depression, and kill themselves at greater rates than they were dying on the battlefield. Maybe it’s normal for the Pentagon to abandon them as soon as soon they return from their mission so they can blow their brains out or hang themselves with a garden hose in their basement. Maybe it’s normal for politicians to keep funding wholesale slaughter while they brush aside the casualties they have produced by their callousness and lack of courage. Maybe it is normal for the president to persist with the same, bland lies that perpetuate the occupation and continue to kill scores of young soldiers who put themselves in harm’s-way for their country.
It’s not normal; it’s is a pandemic—an outbreak of despair which is the natural corollary of living in constant fear; of seeing one’s friends being dismembered by roadside bombs or children being blasted to bits at military checkpoints or finding battered bodies dumped on the side of a riverbed like a bag of garbage.
The rash of suicides is the logical upshot of the U.S. war on Iraq. Returning soldiers are traumatized by their experience and now they are killing themselves in droves. Maybe we should have thought about that before we invaded.
Murtha Two Years Ago Today: Bush’s Iraq Course Is ‘Flawed Policy Wrapped In Illusion’
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/17/murtha-vindicated/
Filed under: Afghanistan, Congress, DEBT, Economy, gas prices, George Bush, House, Inflation, Iraq, Military, nation building, occupation, Oil, Petrol, Pullout, Troops, US Economy, veterans, War On Terror, White House
Iraq, Afghan War Costs Are $1.6 Trillion
Breitbart
November 13, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) – The economic costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to total $1.6 trillion—roughly double the amount the White House has requested thus far, according to a new report by Congress’ Joint Economic Committee. The report, obtained by The Associated Press and scheduled to be released Tuesday, attempted to put a price tag on the two conflicts, including “hidden” costs such as interest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars, lost investment, the expense of long- term health care for injured veterans and the cost of oil market disruptions.
The $1.6 trillion figure, for the period from 2002 to 2008, translates into a cost of $20,900 for a family of four, the report said. The Bush administration has requested $804 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined, the report stated.
For the Iraq war only, total economic costs were estimated at $1.3 trillion for the period from 2002 to 2008. That would cost a family of four $16,500, the report said.
Future economic costs would be even greater. The report estimated that both wars would cost $3.5 trillion between 2003 and 2017. Under that scenario, it would cost a family of four $46,400, the report said.
Oil prices have surged since the start of the war, from about $37 a barrel to well over $90 a barrel in recent weeks, the report said. “Consistent disruptions from the war have affected oil prices,” although the Iraq war is not responsible for all of the increase in oil prices, the report said.
Still, the report estimated that high oil prices have hit U.S. consumers in the pocket, transferring “approximately $124 billion from U.S. oil consumers to foreign (oil) producers” from 2003 to 2008, the report said.
High oil prices can slow overall economic growth if that chills spending and investment by consumers and businesses. At the same time, high oil prices can spread inflation throughout the economy if companies decide to boost the prices of lots of other goods and services.
The report comes as the House prepares to vote this week on another effort by Democrats to set a deadline for withdrawing troops from Iraq as a condition for providing another $50 billion for the war.
“What this report makes crystal clear is that the cost to our country in lives lost and dollars spent is tragically unacceptable,” said Joint Economic Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a statement prepared to accompany the report’s release.
‘Hidden costs’ raise US war price
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7092053.stm
Filed under: 2-party system, David Petraeus, George Bush, Harry Reid, Iraq, left right paradigm, Nancy Pelosi, nation building, neocons, Neolibs, occupation, Pentagon, Pullout, Troops, War On Terror
‘Blank check’ seen headed Bush’s way, despite Democratic promises to change course in Iraq
Nick Juliano
Raw Story
November 5, 2007
Democratic leaders in Congress are quietly preparing to give President Bush essentially everything he wants to keep the Iraq war going for at least another six months without forcing any change in course.
Swept into power on the votes of war-weary Americans last year, Congressional Democrats have so far failed in all their attempts to curtail Bush’s war efforts. As they consider the president’s latest request for $200 billion in supplementary war funding party leaders have pledged not to hand over another “blank check.”
But, as Roll Call reports, a “blank check” is exactly what appears headed for the Pentagon.
“Democratic leaders continue to fear GOP attacks that cutting off or slowing funds would hurt the troops, despite anger among the Democratic base over the party’s failure to use Congress’ power of the purse to end the war,” reports the Capitol Hill newspaper’s Steven T. Dennis.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) have said they won’t consider a supplemental funding bill that doesn’t include timelines for troop withdrawals. But, Dennis reports, “Democrats are quietly preparing to give the president enough spending flexibility to keep the war going anyway,” for as long as six more months.
As adamant as they say they are about tying war funding to deescalation timetables, Democratic leaders appear even more firmly against an overall cut-off of war funds, which critics say may be their only recourse to actually effect a draw-down of troops from Iraq.
“Sure we have the power on anything to stop the money … but the thing we have to do is make sure we do it the right way,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on a liberal radio show last month. “It’s not a question of all or nothing; it’s a question of making sure we do the right thing.”
Congress approved billions in extra funding and stopgap spending resolutions after Gen. David Petraeus’ testimony on Capitol Hill in September. Next up is the regular Defense spending bill, which Democrats are crafting to allow funding to be diverted from regular Pentagon accounts to fund the war, according to Roll Call. Appropriations Chairman John Murtha (D-PA) told the paper that the Defense Department would be able to maintain the war “until May or June” with the extra flexibility.
In the Senate, an aide told the paper that leaders are considering “short bursts” of war funding as Democrats continue to try to persuade war-weary Republicans to break with the president and support course-changing legislation.
Democrats acknowledge frustration among voters, especially the party’s liberal base that has long been calling for an end to America’s adventure in Iraq. Pelosi acknowledged the frustration and said she too was frustrated at the lack of progress toward ending the war.
Whether Democrats will be able to reverse the tide depends on their ability to re-frame the debate and stand firm against funding for anything except redeployment, an aide to a Democratic member of the Out of Iraq Caucus told the paper.
“As long as leadership is not willing to challenge the way the president is hiding behind the troops,” the aide said, “they’re going to continue to get rolled.”
CNN: Price of Iraq war 10 times pre-war predictions
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/CNN_Price_of_Iraq_war_10_1102.html
Filed under: Afghanistan, army, Britain, Iraq, iraq deaths, JCS, Kurdish, nation building, occupation, Pentagon, Pullout, Raid, Robert Gates, Troops, Turkey, USMC, War On Terror
Gates plays down report Marines want to leave Iraq
Reuters
October 11, 2007
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday played down a newspaper report that the U.S. Marine Corps was pressing to remove its forces from Iraq and switch to a leading role in Afghanistan.
“I have heard that they were beginning to think about that and that’s all that I’ve heard. I’ve seen no plan, no one’s come to me with any proposals about it,” Gates told reporters in London after meeting his British counterpart, Des Browne.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the Marines’ suggestion was raised in a session last week convened by Gates for the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and regional war-fighting commanders. It comes at a time when Washington’s key ally in Iraq, Britain, is drawing down its presence there.
“My understanding is that it’s — at this point — extremely preliminary thinking on the part of perhaps some staff people in the Marine Corps but I don’t think at this point it has any stature,” Gates said.
Under the proposal, the newspaper said, the U.S. Army would concentrate on Iraq while the Marines would focus on Afghanistan.
Supporters of the idea argue that a realignment could allow the U.S. Army and Marines each to operate more efficiently in sustaining troop levels for two wars that have strained their forces, the New York Times said, citing senior military and Pentagon officials who requested anonymity.
The plan would require a major reshuffling and make the Marines the dominant American force in Afghanistan in a war that has broader public support than the one in Iraq, the Times said.
REALIGNMENT
Some officials sympathetic to the army said such a realignment would help ease pressure on the army by allowing it to shift attention from Afghanistan into Iraq, the newspaper reported.
Currently, there are no major Marine units among the 26,000 or so U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In Iraq there are about 25,000 Marines among the more than 160,000 U.S. troops there.
Despite some signs of disquiet in Washington about British plans to withdraw troops from southern Iraq, Gates and Browne put on a show of unity and insisted their plans were closely coordinated.
“The United Kingdom has been and continues to be a stalwart ally and a major contributor at every stage of the Iraq campaign,” Gates said.
Britain said this week it planned to halve its forces in Iraq to about 2,500 troops by next spring. There is an expectation that Britain will then focus more troops on Afghanistan, although the Ministry of Defense has not confirmed such a move.
“The U.S. and the U.K. share exactly the same aspirations for Iraq — for a stable, prosperous and democratic Iraq,” Defense Minister Browne said after meeting Gates.
“But ultimately only the Iraqis themselves can deliver that,” he said. “Our job is to fulfill our strategic objective which is to get the Iraqi security forces to a stage where they can take over responsibility for their own security.”
Marines Press to Remove Their Forces From Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/1….gewanted=print
Number Of U.S. Army Recruits With Criminal Records Doubles
http://www.huffingtonpost.com…-us-army-recru_n_68018.html
Terrorists and Civilians Killed in Coalition Raid in Iraq
http://voanews.com/english/2007-10-11-voa8.cfm
Turkey escalates action near Iraq border
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071010/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_iraq
Turkey set to attack Kurds in Iraq
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IJ12Ak01.html
Filed under: 2008 Election, blowback, Coup, Founding Fathers, GOP, Iraq, middle east, Military, military base, nation building, occupation, Pullout, Ron Paul, Troops
Ron Paul: Foreign policy should follow Founding Fathers’ ideals
Nick Juliano
Raw Story
October 08, 2007
Just because Ron Paul doesn’t want US troops traipsing across the globe doesn’t mean he is an isolationist, the fiery libertarian argues in a column Monday.
The Texas congressman is the only Republican presidential candidate who is calling for a full and immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, and he has called for US military bases overseas to be closed, leading some to charge that he wants to shut off America to the rest of the world.
“It is not we non-interventionists who are isolationists,” Paul writes in the New Hampshire Union Leader Monday. “The real isolationists are those who impose sanctions and embargoes on countries and peoples across the globe because they disagree with the internal and foreign policies of their leaders. The real isolationists are those who choose to use force overseas to promote democracy, rather than seek change through diplomacy, engagement, and by setting a positive example.”
Paul was writing in response to a Union Leader editorial that argued Paul was naive for believing his policies would not risk a US invasion. That is “just what the isolationist Republicans of the 1930s believed — right up until Pearl Harbor,” the paper said.
The call to reduce America’s foreign presence is based on the Founding Fathers, whose “political philosophy — the wisdom of the Constitution, the Declaration, and our Revolution itself — is not just a primitive cultural relic,” Paul writes.
“[B]y what superior wisdom have we now declared Jefferson, Washington, and Madison to be ‘unrealistic and dangerous’?” Paul asks. “Why do we insist on throwing away their most considered warnings?”
Paul, whose campaign has garnered more attention since a $5 million fundraising haul last quarter, accuses his Republican opponents — and the current administration — on using fear of a terrorist bogeyman to justify wars and foreign intervention.
“It scares the living daylights out of me that they would do that, to talk about perpetual war,” Paul told the Concord Monitor, dismissing the contention that the country will be threatened by Islamic terrorism for a generation or longer. “All that is, they have to have an enemy.”
Paul has made waves in Republican debates as the only candidate on stage calling for a drawdown of US troops across the globe. He has claimed “blowback” from US occupation of Middle Eastern countries has fueled terrorist threats against America.
“A Paul administration would see Americans engaged overseas like never before, in business and cultural activities,” he wrote in Monday’s column. “But a Paul administration would never attempt to export democracy or other values at the barrel of a gun, as we have seen over and over again that this is a counterproductive approach that actually leads the United States to be resented and more isolated in the world.”
Ron Paul Responds To Union Leader Oped
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?h….-88e9-9e992810f700
Paul: Politicans Use Fear To Justify Wars
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbc..ONTPAGE/710080330
CNBC pre-debate presidential poll
http://www.cnbc.com/id/21149087
The Ron Paul Breakthrough
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=11723
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