Before exposing what I have learned on the GOP’s playbook on rigging elections, I would like to point out a few observations I had when catching a few clips of CSPAN’s broadcast on Friday on the recent House vote on the tortured and endless nightmare in Iraq.
It is well about time that a few souls in Congress discovered they possessed a shred of spine and tad of courage to stand up to Daddy’s Supreme Court appointed and product of rigged elections, the current “President” of the United States. Maybe our installed and fake “President” is really a mere puppet whose puppet masters are none other than the obvious. Like, Cheney the Enabler-in-Chief for corporate interests. Next is Rove as the W-Political-Whore-in-Chief to ensure Bushie types prevail for decades to come. Rove is also Cheney’s bitch in ensuring that the VP’s darkest side becomes organic on all levels. Their ultimate goal is to dismantle our Democracy and deliver it to the Bush/Cheney highest masters, corporate interests.
Bush, Cheney and Rove knew full well that we Americans were asleep at the wheel and they took full advantage of our complacency. After 9/11 the puppet and his puppet masters seized upon a national catastrophe to use it as a political target of opportunity. It subsequently and quite successfully played us all for fools. It also quite successfully wreaked havoc on and destabilized the Middle East.
It is time to wake up America because if we do not, we will be no better off than serfs.
On Friday, in the House, true to its nature, the sorry remnants of the do-nothing and rubber stamping Congress used its usual tedious, tired and defeated bullying tactics when pontificating and grand standing about our troops. These low life bullies and chicken hawks, except for a few who actually did serve (there are a few in the GOP) used the usual empty rhetoric and catch phrases fresh from the party’s talking point propaganda factory. I heard the usual “cowards,” “when did blue become yellow?” “cut ‘n run,” “surrender” and on and on and on and on.
The real cowards are the GOP who sent our troops to battle with fake intelligence and on the cheap. Repeat, the real cowards are the GOP who sent our troops to war based on fabricated intelligence and without sufficient troop numbers, equipment and resources to ensure the success of the mission. Worse, the reprehensible Bush Administration is sending wounded troops back into active duty before they have time to fully recover.
From Salon.com:
“Army Deployed Seriously Wounded Troops”
The Bush enablers are also spineless ninnies because they allowed our “President” to over spend his budget over and over and over again and never thought to ask him to account for a dime of our taxpayers' dollars.
John Murtha made this fact abundantly clear during his interview on CNN with Wolf Blitzer:
Murtha’s Interview on CNN’s Wolf Blitzer
What pathetic and inept jokes for representatives. Or maybe our Congress people are as corrupt and cynical as W. and Cheney. Inept or corrupt? Or both? Pick your poison, America, if you want our democracy to keep on dying. If you want it to live and thrive as it should, get rid of the poison.
Speaking of ineptitude and corruption, according to Senator Chuck Hagel yesterday on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, we have spent one-half trillion of our tax payer dollars on Iraq, $40. billion in investments and there are billions of untouched dollars sitting in Iraq’s bank account.
Excerpt:
You know, we had the Inspector General testifying, our Inspector General, Mr. Bowen, he was testifying before the Congress this week. I met with him alone for an hour and a half. He reminded all of us that we have now spent almost a half a trillion dollars in Iraq. We have put at least 40 billion in economic development there. Which we don't know what we got out of it. There's still no oil law. Billions of dollars have been ripped off, unaccounted for, and one more point on this -- over $12 billion of Iraqi money still sits in the accounts of the Iraqi government that they haven't spent. So something has to give here, George.
This Week with George Stephanopoulos
Transcripts of with Hagel’s Interview on ABC
Forget about funding for education and universal healthcare for we-the-people-who-do-not-matter here at home. Send our dollars instead to Iraq to be squandered and stolen.
Because these dudes are fixated solely on greed and power and since they are also shamefully incompetent, the only way they can get elected is to steal the elections.
Here is how they do it.
A generous corporate donor's firm happens to manufacture electronic voting machines. Diebold’s CEO, for example, said that he would deliver the election to W. in 2004. In Ohio, he did just that. Corporations tend to adore the GOP because of their distain for big business regulation and oversight. The GOP is also more likely to work for lobbyists and corporate interests than they are for we the little people.
CEO Of Diebold Promises to Deliver 2004 Election to Bush
Next we have low level partisan hacks serving as Secretary of State such as Katharine Harris of Florida (2000) and Ken Blackwell of Ohio (2004). These political sluts excel at voter suppression. They are low level grunts that desperately and despicably hope, that by doing their master’s bidding, they will be rewarded later. But, if a lot of controversy surrounds their deeds on blatant voter suppression, these lap dogs are usually dropped like hot potatoes. Suddenly no one in the RNC knows who they are. Ken who?
Rep. John Conyers Report on What Went Wrong in Ohio
The most blatant, destructive, chilling and insidious methodology in ensuring voter suppression is to install U.S. attorneys who are partisan hacks. These so called “attorneys” are more loyal to their political masters than they are to the law of the land. As in the case of Iraq and how the intelligence was fixed to support Bush’s policy, likewise is happening within our judicial system.
From the McClatchy Paper’s “New U.S. attorneys seem to have partisan records”
Excerpts:
Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the four U.S. attorneys weren't chosen only because of their backgrounds in election issues, but "we would expect any U.S. attorney to prosecute voting fraud."
Taken together, critics say, the replacement of the U.S. attorneys, the voter-fraud campaign and the changes in Justice Department voting rights policies suggest that the Bush administration may have been using its law enforcement powers for partisan political purposes.
The Bush administration's emphasis on voter fraud is drawing scrutiny from the Democratic Congress, which has begun investigating the firings of eight U.S. attorneys - two of whom say that their ousters may have been prompted by the Bush administration's dissatisfaction with their investigations of alleged Democratic voter fraud.
New U.S. Attorneys Who Will Support Political Ideology over the Law of the Land
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Monday, March 26, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Bush’s War in Iraq Has Increased Terrorism Sevenfold
A new report has been recently released by Mother Jones, entitled “Iraq 101: Aftermath, Long Term Thinking” (Part 4) This in-depth, 5-part study was led by Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank, research fellows at the Center on Law and Security at NYU’s School of Law.
According to the study, Bush has been insisting that fighting terrorists “over there” means we don’t have to fight them “over here.” When Rumsfeld has been asked if the war has created more terrorism, he would routinely reply “No one knows. The world doesn’t know.” The report reveals that until now, no one has ever done a statistical analysis of the effects of the war in Iraq on terrorism.
Bergen and Cruickshank’s report give us a crystal clear view into Bush and his GOP enablers' work in abysmal and profound failure, the deaths of hundreds of thousands, devastating human suffering both at home and in Iraq, a nightmare of regional migration displacement, gross corruption and the squandering and depletion of U.S. treasure. As if this personal, social, military, geopolitical and national calamity isn’t horrible enough, Bush & Co. seriously compromised our security and safety by opening Pandora’s Box of terrorism.
All for a lie.
Below is a summary of some of the facts revealed by the study. A link to the full report can be found on the URL for Mother Jones below.
Excerpts:
We have undertaken such a study, drawing on data in the mipt-rand Terrorism database (terrorismknowledgebase .org), widely considered the best unclassified database on terrorism incidents.
Our study yields one resounding finding: The rate of fatal terrorist attacks around the world by jihadist groups, and the number of people killed in those attacks, increased dramatically after the invasion of Iraq. Globally there was a 607 percent rise in the average yearly incidence of attacks (28.3 attacks per year before and 199.8 after) and a 237 percent rise in the fatality rate (from 501 to 1,689 deaths per year). A large part of this rise occurred in Iraq, the scene of almost half the global total of jihadist terrorist attacks. But even excluding Iraq and Afghanistan—the other current jihadist hot spot—there has been a 35 percent rise in the number of attacks, with a 12 percent rise in fatalities.
Contrary to Bush’s assertion, jihadists have not let the Iraq War distract them from targeting the United States and its allies. The rate of attacks on Western interests and citizens has risen by almost 25 percent, while the yearly fatality rate has increased by 4 percent, a figure that would have been higher had planned attacks, such as the London airline plot, not been prevented.
The globalization of jihad and martyrdom has disquieting implications for American security in the future. Jihadists are already leaving Iraq to operate elsewhere, a “blowback” trend that will greatly increase when the war eventually winds down. Terrorist groups in Iraq, which have learned to raise millions through kidnapping and oil theft, may be in a position to help fund their jihadist brethren elsewhere. Finally, Iraq has increased the popularity of a hardcore takfiri ideology so intolerant that, unlikely as it seems, it makes Osama bin Laden appear relatively moderate.
End of excerpt:
Human Consequences of a Failed War
Migration Disaster for Iraq and the Region:
1.6 million Iraqis have been displaced, 1.8 million have left. Saudi Arabia is building a wall at its 560 mile border to prevent migration from Iraq. 700,000 Iraqis live in Jordon, 60,000 in Sweden, according to the report.
All because of a lie.
Social Upheaval:
In 2006, 30% of Iraqi children attended school. Prior to the war, attendance was 100%.
47% of the children have suffered from a traumatic event.
2,000 doctors have been murdered.
30% more Iraqis are in jail now than before the war.
Iraq has descended into a civil war. More and more civilians are being killed.
All because of a lie.
The Cost to U.S. in Blood
Over 3,100 troops killed.
23,000 soldiers have been wounded
4,600 Iraq vets suffer from severe head or brain injury
1,300 have lost limbs
1 in 5 suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
22 Army soldiers have committed suicide.
All because of a lie.
The Cost to U.S. Treasure:
The report also reveals the extraordinary costs of prosecuting the war which is costing U.S. taxpayers $275 million per day. According to the study: “If the U.S. had not invaded, militarily containing Saddam through 2015 would have cost an estimated $23 million a day.”
Additionally, the estimate cost of the ISG which did not find any WMD in Iraq is a cool $900. Million. The amount Congress has budgeted for a “success commemoration” is $20 million.
All because of a lie.
Oil Production:
Excerpt:
Pipe Dreams: Iraq’s Energy Crunch
In 2003, then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said oil exports would rebuild Iraq “relatively soon.” But last year, Iraq missed its export goal by nearly 1/3 and spent only $2 billion on reconstruction, while the U.S. spent $5.4 billion. Baghdad gets an average of 4 hours 30 minutes of electricity a day. Estimated cost of boosting Iraq’s power capacity by 2010: $20 billion. Estimated cost of installing enough solar panels to power every home in Iraq: $6.6 billion.
End of Excerpt.
Iraq: a war waged by a heck-of-a-job Bush, Cheney and the GOP.
The liars lied and others die or suffer.
And Pandora’s Box on terrorism has been thrown wide open.
All for……..? LS
MOTHER JONES PIECE HERE
According to the study, Bush has been insisting that fighting terrorists “over there” means we don’t have to fight them “over here.” When Rumsfeld has been asked if the war has created more terrorism, he would routinely reply “No one knows. The world doesn’t know.” The report reveals that until now, no one has ever done a statistical analysis of the effects of the war in Iraq on terrorism.
Bergen and Cruickshank’s report give us a crystal clear view into Bush and his GOP enablers' work in abysmal and profound failure, the deaths of hundreds of thousands, devastating human suffering both at home and in Iraq, a nightmare of regional migration displacement, gross corruption and the squandering and depletion of U.S. treasure. As if this personal, social, military, geopolitical and national calamity isn’t horrible enough, Bush & Co. seriously compromised our security and safety by opening Pandora’s Box of terrorism.
All for a lie.
Below is a summary of some of the facts revealed by the study. A link to the full report can be found on the URL for Mother Jones below.
Excerpts:
We have undertaken such a study, drawing on data in the mipt-rand Terrorism database (terrorismknowledgebase .org), widely considered the best unclassified database on terrorism incidents.
Our study yields one resounding finding: The rate of fatal terrorist attacks around the world by jihadist groups, and the number of people killed in those attacks, increased dramatically after the invasion of Iraq. Globally there was a 607 percent rise in the average yearly incidence of attacks (28.3 attacks per year before and 199.8 after) and a 237 percent rise in the fatality rate (from 501 to 1,689 deaths per year). A large part of this rise occurred in Iraq, the scene of almost half the global total of jihadist terrorist attacks. But even excluding Iraq and Afghanistan—the other current jihadist hot spot—there has been a 35 percent rise in the number of attacks, with a 12 percent rise in fatalities.
Contrary to Bush’s assertion, jihadists have not let the Iraq War distract them from targeting the United States and its allies. The rate of attacks on Western interests and citizens has risen by almost 25 percent, while the yearly fatality rate has increased by 4 percent, a figure that would have been higher had planned attacks, such as the London airline plot, not been prevented.
The globalization of jihad and martyrdom has disquieting implications for American security in the future. Jihadists are already leaving Iraq to operate elsewhere, a “blowback” trend that will greatly increase when the war eventually winds down. Terrorist groups in Iraq, which have learned to raise millions through kidnapping and oil theft, may be in a position to help fund their jihadist brethren elsewhere. Finally, Iraq has increased the popularity of a hardcore takfiri ideology so intolerant that, unlikely as it seems, it makes Osama bin Laden appear relatively moderate.
End of excerpt:
Human Consequences of a Failed War
Migration Disaster for Iraq and the Region:
1.6 million Iraqis have been displaced, 1.8 million have left. Saudi Arabia is building a wall at its 560 mile border to prevent migration from Iraq. 700,000 Iraqis live in Jordon, 60,000 in Sweden, according to the report.
All because of a lie.
Social Upheaval:
In 2006, 30% of Iraqi children attended school. Prior to the war, attendance was 100%.
47% of the children have suffered from a traumatic event.
2,000 doctors have been murdered.
30% more Iraqis are in jail now than before the war.
Iraq has descended into a civil war. More and more civilians are being killed.
All because of a lie.
The Cost to U.S. in Blood
Over 3,100 troops killed.
23,000 soldiers have been wounded
4,600 Iraq vets suffer from severe head or brain injury
1,300 have lost limbs
1 in 5 suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
22 Army soldiers have committed suicide.
All because of a lie.
The Cost to U.S. Treasure:
The report also reveals the extraordinary costs of prosecuting the war which is costing U.S. taxpayers $275 million per day. According to the study: “If the U.S. had not invaded, militarily containing Saddam through 2015 would have cost an estimated $23 million a day.”
Additionally, the estimate cost of the ISG which did not find any WMD in Iraq is a cool $900. Million. The amount Congress has budgeted for a “success commemoration” is $20 million.
All because of a lie.
Oil Production:
Excerpt:
Pipe Dreams: Iraq’s Energy Crunch
In 2003, then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said oil exports would rebuild Iraq “relatively soon.” But last year, Iraq missed its export goal by nearly 1/3 and spent only $2 billion on reconstruction, while the U.S. spent $5.4 billion. Baghdad gets an average of 4 hours 30 minutes of electricity a day. Estimated cost of boosting Iraq’s power capacity by 2010: $20 billion. Estimated cost of installing enough solar panels to power every home in Iraq: $6.6 billion.
End of Excerpt.
Iraq: a war waged by a heck-of-a-job Bush, Cheney and the GOP.
The liars lied and others die or suffer.
And Pandora’s Box on terrorism has been thrown wide open.
All for……..? LS
MOTHER JONES PIECE HERE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)