Phidipides, thank you for linking the video. About a year ago, I ran across a photo of a soldier, in uniform, holding his son of about 1 years old. The little child is also wearing a copy of his Dad's army uniform with an American flag on the sleeve. I keep this photo taped to my computer, where I have to look at it 24/7. Here is a man holding his son before leaving to face war and death, and the future for his son will be more wars and more death. Have we learned nothing? Is there no one to stop the insanity?
This Country has been meticulously sheltered from the pictures in the video. Showing a soldier's grief or wailing Iraqis is a dangerous proposition for this WH, especially when the war you are fighting is nothing short of evil.
Posted by Judith at May 21, 2007 02:59 AMSeven more Americans are dead as of this morning.
Posted by Judith at May 21, 2007 03:10 AMArticle in the Post yesterday about pre-war predictions that were ignored:
It's pretty much spot on. Anyone know how the senators mentioned voted on the war?
WASHINGTON — Two intelligence assessments from January 2003 predicted that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and subsequent U.S. occupation of Iraq could lead to internal violence and provide a boost to Islamic extremists and terrorists, according to congressional sources and former intelligence officials familiar with the prewar studies.
The two assessments, titled "Principal Challenges in Post-Saddam Iraq" and "Regional Consequences of Regime Change in Iraq," were produced by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) and will be a major part of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's long-awaited Phase II report on prewar intelligence assessments about Iraq. The assessments were delivered to the White House and to congressional intelligence committees before the war started.
The committee chairman, Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and the vice chairman, Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., announced this month that the panel had asked Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell to declassify the report for public release. Congressional sources said the two NIC assessments are to be declassified and would be part of a portion of the Phase I report that could be released this month.
The assessment on post-Saddam Iraq included judgments that, while Iraq was unlikely to split apart, there was a significant chance that domestic groups would fight one another and that ex-regime military elements could merge with terrorist groups to battle any new government. It even talked of guerrilla warfare, according to congressional sources and former intelligence officials.
The second NIC assessment discussed "political Islam being boosted and the war being exploited by terrorists and extremists elsewhere in the region," one former senior analyst said. It also suggested that fear of U.S. military dominance and occupation of a Middle East country, one sacred to Islam, would attract foreign Islamic fighters to the area.
Posted by CG at May 21, 2007 04:29 AMJosh Marshall pointed this out over the weekend:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has a little trick up his sleeve that could spell an end to President Bush's devilish recess appointments of controversial figures like former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton. We hear that over the long August vacation, when those types of summer hires are made, Reid will call the Senate into session just long enough to force the prez to send his nominees who need confirmation to the chamber. The talk is he will hold a quickie "pro forma" session every 10 days, tapping a local senator to run the hall.
Posted by iamcoyote at May 21, 2007 05:47 AM"Hans von Spakovsky"? Did he get his name at a Convention of Supervillainy?
Posted by norbizness at May 21, 2007 07:00 AMnorbizness, p'raps a graduate of Regent? Same diff, eh?
Posted by iamcoyote at May 21, 2007 07:29 AMAn statistic I read this morning:
52% of Republican men say the country is ehading the right way.
Those who think the U.S. is heading in the right direction tend to be white male Republicans in strong financial situations who say they sense a solid economy and are satisfied with the country's leadership.
Posted by ann at May 21, 2007 07:49 AMAOL poll? Did they only poll people with dial-up internet access? No wonder they're unhappy.
How about a Comcast poll?
Posted by muckdog at May 21, 2007 09:16 AMNo, not an AOL poll, an AP-Ipsos poll from this month.
Only 25% overall feel that the country is on the right track.
Posted by ann at May 21, 2007 09:25 AMI agree with Norbizness, the name "Hans Von Spakovsky" makes you hope that somewhere "Moose and Squirrel" are working on our behalf to redress wrongs...
Posted by leftymn at May 21, 2007 10:36 AM