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Bush's mess grows in Iraq
Submitted by SHNS on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 17:34.
WASHINGTON -- We were rudely reminded the other day that President Bush is still in office.
While we were worrying about Barack Obama's relationship with his strange preacher, Hillary Rodham Clinton's strange misremembering about being under sniper fire in the Balkans when she clearly was not, and whether John McCain wants to bomb Iran, Bush was trying to figure out how to mark -- celebrate? -- the five-year anniversary of the Iraq War.
He went to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, the state that gave him the margin of victory in 2004, and said it is hard to believe that it was "only five years ago" that the United States toppled Saddam Hussein. World War II ended sooner than that.
As economists debate whether the war will cost one, two or three trillion dollars, the 4,000 U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq have not died in vain, he insisted.
The reason they have not, and the reason why more Americans will die, is to show the world that freedom can flourish in Iraq, he said, although the level of democracy in Iraq is highly debatable.
Even as Bush was speaking of the great progress in Iraq, U.S. diplomats were told to take cover in Baghdad and not to leave reinforced structures because of insurgent rocket and mortar fire. A curfew was set for the coming weekend.
The surge of 30,000 troops to which Bush reluctantly agreed and now touts as a brilliant strategy has not worked as it was supposed to. It was done to permit time for national reconciliation in Iraq so the Iraqi government could meet specific benchmarks. That has not happened. Violence did decline but is again on the upswing.
As for the overwhelming culture of corruption in Iraq, Bush merely conceded that "corruption remains a challenge."
Bush, who will have been at war for all but seven months of his eight years in office, barely even mentions Afghanistan any more. But the situation there -- which Bush seems to keep forgetting still is patrolled by U.S. soldiers -- is deteriorating as the Taliban regroups.
Osama bin Laden is still at large. Bush scarcely bothers to mention the top terrorist, who orchestrated 9/11 and continues to plot new ways to attack America from his hideaway in Pakistan.
Our stubborn president who cannot admit ever being wrong will be faulted by history for not asking the right questions as his team of neo-cons, including Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld, pushed relentlessly for war with Iraq with absolutely no planning for what would happen after the invasion.
Al Qaeda was not in Iraq before 9/11, but it is there now. Iraq had absolutely no connection with 9/11 and the White House knew that, but Bush did not care.
The fact that the world -- including most Americans -- opposes his idea of pre-emptive war, torturing prisoners and suspending civil liberties does not bother Bush.
Vice President Cheney responded sarcastically -- "So?" -- when reminded that most Americans oppose the war in Iraq.
Many Americans do not realize that Bush has mortgaged our children's future by deferring the cost of the war. Whether it will be $1 trillion or $3 trillion, the war is being paid for on credit.
The argument that pulling out of Iraq would permit us to concentrate on more important national issues "makes no sense," Bush said scornfully. He ridicules the idea of cutting our losses in Iraq by calling that notion "retreat."
Bush has decided he will not substantially reduce the number of soldiers in Iraq. Yes, he will be gone in 10 months, turning the mess over to his successor. But the damage he has done will last for generations.
(Scripps Howard columnist Ann McFeatters has covered the White House and national politics since 1986. E-mail amcfeatters(at)nationalpress.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)


Atta in Prague
"Iraq had absolutely no connection with 9/11 and the White House knew that, but Bush did not care."
Uh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Perhaps this will help you along a little bit.
Atta in Prague (THE PHOTO)
http://www.thexreport.com
Selective Memory
"The fact that the world - including most Americans - opposes his idea of pre-emptive war, torturing prisoners and suspending civil liberties does not bother Bush."
The fact is that THE AMERICAN PEOPLE - every single one of them - KNEW that Chimp was running torture chambers BEFORE Americans rewarded The Torturer with a second term in power, back in 2004. Spin it any way you want, but if the American people hadn't supported men who they KNEW were committing crimes against humanity, then those torture chambers, etc, simply wouldn't exist.
God Bless America.
Oh, Bushies are still
Oh, Bushies are still peddling that "Atta in Prague" nonsense despite the fact that Czech intelligence service which had Iraqi embassy staff under tight control including al Ani all the time have denied it officially a hundred time as unfounded gossip. They have identified positively every single contact of al Ani in Prague around the time of alleged meeting with Atta after the story had emerged for the first time and so they are pretty sure that it did not happen. But in the meantine then Czech PM Milos Zeman had leaked the unconfirmed info to Americans and they used it in their push for war with Iraq. Cheney and some others are still keeping that silly nonsense alive.
Atta in Prague
"Oh, Bushies are still peddling that "Atta in Prague" nonsense despite the fact that Czech intelligence service which had Iraqi embassy staff under tight control including al Ani all the time have denied it officially a hundred time as unfounded gossip"
Show us an official link stating what you said. I don't want to see anything but an official response.
I'll answer it for you. YOU CAN'T
Photographic proof trumps all hearsay.
america
america is owned and operated by jews and right wing christians my advice to all of you is to get the hell out of the usa and move to costa rica like i am planning to do
Busha Culpa
Blame it all on Iran...
Atta in Prague
A quick google search turns up this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atta_in_Prague#9.2F11_Commission
9/11 commission report pages 228 & 229
http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/index.htm
and an article in slate
http://www.slate.com/id/2070410/
official responses
"Show us an official link stating what you said. I don't want to see anything but an official response"
Interesting that now you require hard data to believe things. You should have been that thorough when it came to so many lies from your government, your dear murderer-in-chief, and his puppets and puppeteers. I don't know why anybody would try to "illuminate you", the smart-guy-with-the-photo.
Take a hike!
Atta In Prague
RE: "google search"
I am not interested in countering what anyone else thought with what they had to go on.
I will say this though, the Czechs never refuted the claim, contrary to planted & false information.
The following report was published on 10/22/2002 (with attribution) on the matter: CZECH REPUBLIC PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN REJECTS 'NY TIMES' REPORT AS 'FABRICATION.' A spokesman for Czech President Vaclav Havel has dismissed a report in "The New York Times" claiming Havel told U.S. officials there is no evidence that suspected 11 September hijacker Mohammad Atta met an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague, CTK reported on 22 October. The 21 October report cited unidentified Czech officials as saying Havel discreetly called White House officials to cast doubt on the alleged meeting. "It is a fabrication. Nothing like this has occurred," Havel's spokesman, Ladislav Spacek, said of the alleged phone conversation". ("RFE/RL Newsline," 22 October)
source link: (about 1/4 of the way down the page) http://www.rferl.org/reports/mm/2002/10/41-251002.asp
"The photo's are supporting evidence". No amount of disinformation and or faulty reporting can change that.
The other covertly taken photo shows Saddam's intelligence official al Ani in a surveillance operation against an American interest. RFE/RL is an American interest BTW..
http://www.thexreport.com
Lots of Americans, Brits, Aussies emigrating
"my advice to all of you is to get the hell out of the usa and move to costa rica like i am planning to do"
That's interesting, I've been encountering a lot of Americans these days who are emigrating from the USA. A couple going to Latin America like yourself-- one to Argentina, one to Chile-- though most it seems like, are going to EU countries especially Germany but occasionally Italy, France or Belgium. Technical, professional, highly skilled types often go to Germany, I guess German is useful to know anyway for someone in the sciences or engineering and it's a big language almost anywhere in Europe-- but I run into people brushing up on their French, Italian, even Dutch or Danish.
The combination of the free-falling dollar compared to the Euro, both political parties bought by moneyed interests, spiraling national debt and so forth, is pushing people out.
I also run into a lot of Australians and Britons who are also learning these languages, emigrating-- possibly b/c Australia and the UK are in a similar boat as the USA. Mired in debt, stuck in war, with crumbling economies depending on military Keynesianism.
NO OPERATIONAL LINK BETWEEN SADDAM AND AL-QAEDA
How about a Department of Defense report to debunk your Saddam Hussein link with al-Qaeda?
http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/iraqi/index.html
Let us know if you find your photo of Mohammed Atta in there.
God Bless America
"The fact is that THE AMERICAN PEOPLE - every single one of them - KNEW that Chimp was running torture chambers BEFORE Americans rewarded The Torturer with a second term in power, back in 2004. Spin it any way you want, but if the American people hadn't supported men who they KNEW were committing crimes against humanity, then those torture chambers, etc, simply wouldn't exist."
This is, indeed, a great point. Most Americans seem to be opposed to the Iraq invasion and occupation TODAY not because in was a monstrously wrong thing to do but because it turns out to be expensive and inefficient. The opposition softened when 'the surge' aftermath seemed to indicate that 'victory was in sight'.
Americans re-elected f___heads such as Clinton and W Bush and, in this campaign, Clinton 2 and some senile, mediocre, violent man, running as Bush 3 are 'major' contenders for the WH job. What is this telling us about the American nation? Are we, really THAT good for Christ to still love and support us? Hmmm...
except that...
i would dispute the contention that "Osama bin Laden ... orchestrated 9/11 and continues to plot new ways to attack America from his hideaway in Pakistan."
Here's a headline from the NY Times:
Developer Sues to Win $12.3 Billion in 9/11 Attack
Larry A. Silverstein, who has won nearly $4.6 billion in insurance payments to cover his losses and help him rebuild at the World Trade Center site, is seeking $12.3 billion in damages from airlines and airport security companies for the 9/11 attack.
Now, who do you really think orchestrated - or at least profited from - 9/11?
Not a thinker, are you?
Using a developer's lawsuit (filed after the event) as proof of blame for 9/11 is just wrongheaded.
I received a lot of money when my grandfather died....I'm sure you'll agree that that does not make me a murderer.
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