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The word we dare not speak: Conscription!
2008-05-17 21:06:00 More troops - significantly more - are needed to maintain the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pentagon officials recently acknowledged the fact that existing troops have been assigned multiple rotations and shorter periods between combat assignments in order to take up the slack. The answer is clear: recruit more troops. But normal recruiting efforts have come ...
VA Email? Don?t Diagnose PTSD!
2008-05-16 09:38:00 The continuing saga of the Bush administration leadership in the Veterans Administration revealed evidence there was an attempt to alter the diagnosis of veterans in order to save money. Veterans diagnosed with PTSD are eligible for health benefits, and, in some cases, disability retirement pay. According to Brandon Friedman, of the VoteVets.org, there is a ...
Muslim GI Claims Army Bigotry
2008-05-15 16:46:00 A Muslim soldier and his wife in North Carolina are upset their infant son’s body was subject an autopsy after his sudden death which is in contradiction to Muslim religious practice. Doctors suspected sudden infant death symdrome and wanted an autopsy to confirm their diagnosis. Pfc. Eli Agee has contactd the Miiltary Religious Freedom Foundatin ...
Iraqi President Takes Charge Of Mosul Offensive
2008-05-14 20:09:00 More proof the Iraqi government is finally stepping up: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took personal charge Wednesday of a military operation to rout al-Qaida in Iraq in what the U.S. has described as the terror group’s last major stronghold, even as a tenuous cease-fire took hold over Baghdad’s Sadr City slum. addthis_url ...
By: The Hot Joints
Bush disappointed with intel before Iraq war
2008-05-14 18:51:00 President Bushsaid Tuesday he was disappointed in "flawed intelligence" before theIraq war and was concerned that if a Democrat wins the presidency inNovember and withdrew troops prematurely it could "eventually lead toanother attack on the United States."Inan interview with Politico magazine and Yahoo News, Bush also said hegave up golf in 2003 out of respect for U.S. soldiers killed in thewar, which has now lasted more than five years."I didn't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see thecommander in chief playing golf," he said. "I feel I owe it to thefamilies to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I thinkplaying golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."Disappointed? Gave up golf? What kind of lame fucking excuses is that? I'm more then willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, and previous President's as well, as it is a tough job, where any decision you make effects the world, but let's be real here.Almost all intelligence agencies...
Obama: Blame the Iraq War for Lack of US Climate Change Leadership
2008-05-14 15:01:00 Oh, I admit it; I’ve fallen hard for Obama. Perhaps it is his handsome face or eloquent manner of speech, or perhaps it is because he is the first viable candidate (sorry Kucinich and Nader) to...
By: Green Options
Former Gitmo Detainee Carries Out Suicide Bombing In Iraq
2008-05-08 02:02:00 Liberals love to describe the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay as basically a ‘house of horrors’ where innocent people are tortured and kept in a dungeon for years at a time. The left would have the world believe that George Bush and his barbarians are keeping poor innocent Muslims locked away without access to lawyers or ...
By: The Hot Joints
Stephen King Fires Back At Iraq War Criticism
2008-05-07 17:40:00 From The Bangor Daily News:BANGOR, Maine — Stephen King has fired back at conservative critics who attacked him over a remark he made a month ago at a writers symposium for high school students.A blogger jumped on King’s statement at the Library of Congress about the importance of reading in which he suggested poor readers have limited prospects, including service in the Army."I don’t want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don’t, then you’ve got the Army, Iraq, I don’t know, something like that. It’s not as bright," King said at the April 4 event in which he was accompanied by his wife Tabitha and son Owen.Read more .... Previous Post: 100+ Stephen King Books -- The Stephen King CollectionMy Comment: The people that I have met who are serving in the military .... or who have served .... definitely do not fall under the generalization that Stephen King has made. Having said that, we...
By: Bookyards
Sign of the times? Three classes this semester, an Iraq War veteran in each
2008-05-06 22:25:00 Sign of the times? Three classes this semester, an Iraq War veteran in each.
Afghan Officials Involved In Karzai Assassination Plot
2008-05-05 09:42:00 Nearly seven years have passed since the American invasion of Afghanistan supposedly ended the rule of the Taliban, but recent events reveal the war that was over is stiill thriving in the chaotic condtions of the Karzai government. Authorities have arrested two government officials who had linke to the assassination plot which nearly killed President ...
Impeachment IS Possible
2008-05-04 06:00:00 This is an interview with David Swanson and Cindy Piester presented by Ventura County’s Citizens for Impeachment Patriot Series. Filmed in Ventura on April 23, 2008. Great information and perspective. Watch it here. After viewing, consider, do we want to keep Elton Gallegly, our 24th District California House Representative in Congress after he has voted almost exclusively ...
Open Doors Of VA To Active Service Members!
2008-05-03 15:53:00 Under new bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Barak Obama, Kit Bond, and other senators, active and reserve service m embers would be eligible for m ental health counseling from one of the 207 veterans’ centers operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill would extend military survivor benefits in cases of suicides among service ...
McCain Suggests Oil Is Reason for Iraq War
2008-05-02 20:57:00 A Ross Report source was at a McCain town hall meeting held this morning outside of Denver. McCain decided to toss in a plug for his upcoming energy policy rollout. However, in the midst of decrying the dangers of America’s reliance on foreign oil, McCain suggested that this reliance caused the current struggle in Iraq: “My friends I will ...
The Syrian Nuclear Puzzle
2008-05-02 04:15:00 But some observers see other motives in pulling back Syria?s nuclear curtain. Andrew Semmel, the former top State Department official for nonproliferation, tells Voice of America the release may have been aimed at ?putting a positive spin? on intelligence that was bound to leak. Dar Al-Hayat columnist Elias Harfoush sees the disclosure as an attempt ...
By: 1913 Intel
Defense Secetary Gates Opposes New GI Bill!
2008-04-30 21:17:00 Twenty-six veterans groups have come together to support an improved GI Bill which significantly raises benefits for those attending college. The 21st Century GI Bill has been pushed by former Marine, Senator Jim Webb, in an effort to ensure those who have served receive the similar benefits as to what was provided veterans of World ...
63% of Americans still think Iraq war a mistake.
2008-04-29 00:00:00 At an all-time high, a new Gallup poll tracks the American public's discontent with this war in Iraq: A new USA Today/Gallup poll found that 63 percent of Americans say "the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq, a new high mark by one percentage point." Gallup notes that "majority opposition to the Iraq war is basically cemented." Gallup adds, "The new high in Iraq war opposition is also notable because it is the highest 'mistake' percentage Gallup has ever measured for an active war involving the United States -- surpassing by two points the 61% who said the Vietnam War was a mistake in May 1971." Finally, By now, public opposition to the war is pretty well-established. Gallup has found at least half of Americans calling the war a mistake in all but one survey since December 2005. The average percentage saying the war is a mistake has increased every year of the conflict, and is nearly twice as high thus far in 2008 (the sixth year of the conflict) as it was ...
DNC Ad Hits McCain Hard — On ‘100 Year’ Iraq War
2008-04-28 16:14:00 McCAIN’S ORIGINAL ‘100 YEAR’ TOWN-HALL PROCLAMATION RELATED: 10 Things To Know About John McCain a.k.a McSame a.k.a McBush a.k.a McWarMonger a.k.a McBomb-Iran Related Posts March... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
McCain - Serious aggression issues that look worse than Bush
2008-04-28 09:50:00 Was reading Glenn Greenwald today. His points on McCain are excellent. Read below: Saturday April 26, 2008 12:36 EDT John McCain’s serious foreign policy (updated below) John McCain was on a conference call with right-wing bloggers yesterday and boasted: I think that people should understand that I will be Hamas’s worst nightmare. What possible reason would a U.S. President have for ...
David Swanson Endorses Mary Pallant for Congress
2008-04-27 06:39:00 David Swanson of AfterDowningStreet.org endorses Mary Pallant For Congress in her effort to unseat Elton Gallegly. read more | digg story
Food Shortages: It?s The Iraq War, Stupid
2008-04-26 00:00:00 Like many guys, I don?t like to shop. The Dear Friend & Conscience, on the other hand, loves to shop and just the other day we went out to drop off an old wrought-iron lawn chair at a repair shop so that it could be spot welded and came home ...
By: Pakistan News
Are Peace and Impeachment Possible? By David Swanson in Ojai, CA
2008-04-24 22:47:00 Went to hear David Swanson in Ojai, California this past Tuesday. His remarks to the packed crowd were inspirational. We cannot let up on the efforts for impeachment for both Cheney and Bush. Cheney first. The importance of impeachment to the future of our nation is too important. We cannot allow the lawbreaking that has ...
Free Speech Issue In Turkey
2008-04-24 16:41:00 The ongoing debate within Turkey regarding rights of free speech continued with the conviction in a Turkish court of a politician who was accused of inciting hatred and violence. Hilmi Aydogdu as found guilty of threatening public safety after hewarned Turkey against taking any action in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in Iraq. Aydogu, ...
Petraeus Chosen To Head CENTCOM
2008-04-23 23:46:00 Via AFP: General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, was tapped Wednesday to lead US forces in the Middle East in a major shift in the military command at a time of growing tensions with Iran. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Petraeus would be replaced in Iraq by his former number two, General Raymond ...
By: The Hot Joints
Deadlockmania Sweeps Democratic Party As Hillary Wins
2008-04-23 15:30:00 Senator Hillary Clinton continued chugging along as the famous little train does in the children’s story as she edged her way to the top of the Pennsylvania hill only to gaze downward in anticipation of more hurdles to overcome. The New York senator is flush with a smile of a ten point victory over Barack ...
What the Iraq War Is About
2008-04-23 10:51:00 Sudhan @10:50 cet Paul Craig Roberts | Antiwar, April 23, 2008 The Bush regime has quagmired America into a sixth year of war in Afghanistan and Iraq with no end in sight. The cost of these wars of aggression is horrendous. Official U.S. combat casualties stand at 4,538 dead. Officially, 29,780 U.S. troops have been wounded in ...
By: Suzie-Q
It?s Us Says Al-Qaida, Not Them Jews!
2008-04-23 09:28:00 Osama bin Laden’s chief deputy denied with anger the theory that somehow Israel was behind the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Ayman al-Zawahri accused Shiite Hezbullah and Iran of spreading such false allegations in order to denigrate the work of al-Qaida. “The purpose of this lie is clear(to suggest) that there are no ...
The Pentagon's massive Iraq war propaganda machine.
2008-04-23 00:00:00 There is an extensive story in the NY Times today about the massive propaganda machine set up by the Pentagon to sell the Iraq war to the American public: Five years into the Iraq war, most details of the architecture and execution of the Pentagon's campaign have never been disclosed. But The Times successfully sued the Defense Department to gain access to 8,000 pages of e-mail messages, transcripts and records describing years of private briefings, trips to Iraq and Guantanamo and an extensive Pentagon talking points operation. These records reveal a symbiotic relationship where the usual dividing lines between government and journalism have been obliterated. Internal Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as "message force multipliers" or "surrogates" who could be counted on to deliver administration "themes and messages" to millions of Americans "in the form of their own opinions." Over time, the Pentagon recruited more than 75 retired officers, althoug...
May Day! - Americans Strike Against Criminal Leadership!
2008-04-21 04:17:00 May 1st is shaping up to be quite a day of resistance, with strikes by the ILWU, the Teamsters, Postal Workers, plus immigrant rights rallies, and peace and impeachment activities. It’s Mission Accomplished Day (5 Years!) It’s Downing Street Minutes Day (3 Years!) It’s May Day, the original Labor Day (122 Years!) ...
The Media and the Iraq War
2008-04-20 22:48:00 George Bush got away with one of the biggest foreign policy blunders of all times, often based upon deception, partially due to inadequate scrutiny by the news media. The New York Times has a must-read article on how the Bush administration used military experts, posing as an unbiased source despite often having a conflict of ...
By: Liberal Values
Message force multipliers: Third-party advocates and the Iraq war [del.icio
2008-04-20 19:36:00 Trying to recruit the support of third-party advocates is an accepted public relationstactic. When third-party advocates can't be recruited, simulating them, such as by the creation of "advocacy groups" that are often thinly disguised industry organizatio
Impeachment Events in Ventura- Ojai Area
2008-04-19 21:16:00 In a nation opposed to the occupation of Iraq, the opposition party is preparing to shell out another $102 billion of our grandchildren’s money to continue it. Our nation has come so far in seven years that the president and vice president openly admit to authorizing torture in blatant violation of the Eighth Amendment, longstanding US laws and treaties, ...
Muslim Activist Jailed In Great Britain
2008-04-19 16:18:00 A Muslim activist who is known for his radical views regarding the war in Iraq was jailed and sentenced for four and a half years for his inflammatory speeches in a London mosque. Judge Nicholas Price said that Abu Izzadeen, was among the leaders of a group of men who gathered in the Regent’s Park ...
Pentagon institute calls Iraq war ?a major debacle? with outcome ?in doubt?
2008-04-19 03:18:00 WASHINGTON ? The war in Iraq has become “a major debacle” and the outcome “is in doubt” despite improvements in security from the buildup in U.S. forces, according to a highly critical study published Thursday by the Pentagon’s premier military educational institute. The report released by the National Defense University raises fresh doubts about President Bush’s ...
By: TexasFred's
Appeal court rules ASDF's transportation of U.S. soldiers in Iraq war uncon
2008-04-18 00:00:00 {mosgoogle right}NAGOYA -- The transportation of U.S. soldiers engaged in the Iraq war by Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) troops is unconstitutional, an appeal court ruled on Thursday."The ASDF's mission to transport U.S. soldiers in Iraq constitutes a violation of Clause 1, Article 9 of the Constitution that bans the use of force," Presiding Judge Kunio Aoyama said as he handed down the ruling.The Nagoya High Court is the first court that declared the ASDF's activities, b ...
Pro-troop documentary: Outside the Wire 2007 Trilogy
2008-04-17 14:24:00 Outside the Wire Yes someone has actually produced a documentary/movie that does not trash American soldiers. In fact the DVD in question is a collection of three documentaries on the experience of a group of American soldiers in Iraq. The docs range from the nitty gritty of combat against al Q; complete with two truck bombs ...
Rep. John Yarmuth blames recession on Iraq war
2008-04-15 03:00:00 Representative John Yarmuth, a Democrat from Kentucky, said that the Iraq war is a is a “leading cause” of the United State’s recent economic troubles. The Iraq war cost “more than half-a-trillion dollars,” money that he said could and should be used on problems within the United States and not wasted on the improgress associated ...
By: Politinks
Iraq War 'Blank Check' Balloons
2008-04-15 02:44:00 by Jason Leopold Besides demanding Iraq War money with no withdrawal timetables attached, the Bush administration has insisted on another kind of “blank check” – war spending that has more than doubled in four years while evading serious congressional oversight because it’s wrapped in “emergency” appropriations bills – a study says. The Congressional Research Service reported that the average monthly costs to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has reached about $12.3 billion, $10 billion for Iraq alone, more than double what it cost to fund the war in 2004. CRS also noted that nearly all the $516 billion allocated by Congress to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has come from “emergency” spending bills that deprive Congress of the routine opportunity to scrutinize how the Pentagon spends the money. Dozens of these “emergency” funding requests have zipped through Congress since 2001 in an unprecedented manner when compared with previous military conf...
Sir, Islam Still Happens To Grow Faster !
2008-04-15 01:51:00 ’Beauty of Islam’ The strident smear campaign against Islam and Muslims following 9/11 in the US encouraged many American men and women to study and embrace Islam, Yusuf Estes, a leading Islamic scholar and preacher from Texas, said on Friday night. “They are doing the job for us,” Estes, himself a convert, said while delivering a lecture ...
Cost of Iraq War
2008-04-14 19:00:00 This is an astounding figure. Not to mention the loss of over 1 million civilians, the sectarian blood-baths, the destruction of a civilisation and reduction of a country to rubble..And, this economic cost is just a little part of this sordid, ugly tale of our times. Naomi Spencer writes:Stiglitz said the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would be somewhere between $5 trillion and $7 trillion for the US alone. Another estimated $6 trillion will be borne by other countries, he said.?More than a million civilians have been killed in Iraq alone. Some 4.5 million more have been displaced by the violence, with thousands of refugees fleeing the country into Syria, Jordan and elsewhere every day. With $3-5 trillion, the US government has destroyed an entire society.??One consequence of the chaos wrought in the Middle East, Stiglitz asserts, has been the enormous rise in the price of oil. For industrialized countries, the increase in the cost of oil attributable to the war is around...
By: Light Within
Iraq Movies: Why They Fail
2008-04-14 18:51:00 In his latest column, NY Times Op-ed writer Frank Rich gets it wrong (as usual) when talking about Iraq. This week in particular Frank misses the mark with his explanation of why movies about the Iraq war do so poorly at the Box Office. He claims Americans want to avoid talking about the war or seeing ...
Iraq Movies: Why They Fail
2008-04-14 18:38:00 In his latest column, NY Times Op-ed writer Frank Rich gets it wrong (as usual) when talking about Iraq. This week in particular Frank misses the mark with his explanation of why movies about the Iraq war do so poorly at the Box Office. He claims Americans want to avoid talking about the war or seeing ...
By: The Hot Joints
Michael Yon: ?Let?s Surge Some More?
2008-04-12 00:03:00 Michael Yon has a piece in the WSJ today discussing the progress in Iraq and it’s an excellent read. For those who don’t know who Michael Yon is, your really missing out. Yon is a former special forces soldier turned blogger who has literally been living embedded with the troops in Iraq since 2004. He first ...
By: The Hot Joints
Are Soldiers Entitled To Human Rights?
2008-04-11 14:33:00 A British High Court has ruled members of the armed forces are entitled to protection of the Human Rights Act even while on active duty and fighting on the front lines. It decided sending members of the armed forces out on patrol with defective equipment is breach of the Human Rights act. The decision ...
How to win the Iraq war debate against your dumb friends
2008-04-10 23:44:00 by Lee Camp Recently I was arguing with one of my dumber friends about the Iraq war. He loves Bush and thinks bigger bombs is the answer in Iraq. I wasn?t gaining any ground in the argument until I used a simple analogy. I said, ?Your solution is like shattering an expensive vase and then saying, ?We need to keep smashing it until it?s fixed.?? I stumped him. He was silent. So here?s a brief list of other analogies you can use on your dumb friends. And the truth is, I?ve seen similar ones work on some of the smartest political pundits. 1) The country of Iraq has essentially been demolished. The right-wingers keep saying the answer is continued large-scale military action. That?s like if someone got into a car accident, went into a coma, and the doctors believed the patient could be healed by more car accidents. So they just keep putting him into cars and sending him off cliffs. 2) I?ve heard people say that being against Bush or Petraeus or the war in Iraq is equivalent to being aga...
Video: President Bush Talks Iraq
2008-04-10 22:32:00 addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehotjoints.-com%2F2008%2F04%2F10%2Fvideo-pr-esident-bush-talks-iraq%2F'; addthis_title = 'Video%3A+President+Bush+Talks+-Iraq'; addthis_pub = ''; Related PostsBush Accepts Petraeus Plan To Pause Troop ReductionsTed Turner: “Iraqi Insurgents Are Patriots”Video: Anti-War Idiots ‘Freeze In Place’ To Protest Iraq WarVideo: President Bush Sings At DC Gridiron DinnerVideo: President Bush Tap Dances While Waiting ...
By: The Hot Joints
Bush Accepts Petraeus Plan To Pause Troop Reductions
2008-04-10 22:11:00 In a speech today President Bush ordered an indefinite halt in U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq after July, embracing the key recommendations of his top war commander. Bush said Gen. David Petraeus will “have all the time he needs” to consider when more American forces could return home. The president also announced he will try and ...
By: The Hot Joints
The Iraq War will forever be a failure
2008-04-10 01:17:00 By VictorM:General Petraeus comes to Congress with his many charts trying to explain that the surge is working. Frankly, the whole thing makes me want to puke.Look, that whole mess was and will always be a failure. Anyone claiming "victory" or "progress" from that mess is in denial.Watching the Iraq war and all the spinning by the Bush administration is like watching a suicide happening before your own eyes. All we're doing now is trying to come up with justification for it, and standing around wondering what to do with the body.The stench reeks from anyone defending that disaster.
By: ARGville
Petraeus Says No Troop Increases For Iraq
2008-04-10 00:12:00 General David Petraeus enduring his second day of grilling by Congress said today that he’s not willing to commit any further troops to Iraq even if the security situation were to deteriorate. He also repeated his plans to continue reducing the number of U.S. forces in Iraq to pre-surge levels, or about 140,000 troops. That level ...
By: The Hot Joints
British Appeal Court Blocks Deportation Of Terrorist
2008-04-09 14:52:00 A British Appeal Court halted the deportation of Abu Qatada who is accused of beng the “spiritual ambassador to Europe” of al-Qaeda. Although, Jordan promised the British government it would not torture the man, the Court refused to accept that guarantee. Judges also blocked the deportation of two Libyan men due to fear of ...
No Pubic Iraq Inquiry Says House Of Lords To Mums
2008-04-09 14:06:00 The British House of Lords turned down a request from mothers of soldiers fighting in Iraq for an inquiry into why their children were sent into battle. The women argued there was failure on the part of the Blair government to ensure in advance the war was lawful and justified. “That duty,” said their lawyer, ... |
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