Iraq threatens to consume Bush's second term

[leftchick]

http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~2611956,00.html

<snip>

WASHINGTON — The deadly attack on a U.S. military base in northern Iraq on Tuesday scrambled the Bush administration's hopes to show progress toward stability there, while making clear that the war is creating a nasty array of problems for President Bush as he gears up for an ambitious second term.
Despite weathering criticism of his Iraq policy during the presidential campaign, Bush is heading into his next four years in the White House facing a public that appears increasingly worried about the course of events there and wondering where the exit is. And as he prepares to take the oath of office a second time and to focus more of his energy on a far-reaching domestic agenda, he is at risk of finding his presidency so consumed by Iraq for at least the next year that he could have trouble going ahead with initiatives like overhauling Social Security.

At the same time, Bush faces fundamental questions about his strategy for bringing stability to Iraq. How can the United States with the help of Iraqi security forces whose performance has been uneven at best assure the safety of Iraqis who go to the polls on Jan. 30 when it cannot keep its own troops safe on their own base? And are Bush and his defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld, more vulnerable to criticism that they have failed to provide U.S. forces with everything they need to take on a shadowy, fast-evolving enemy that, as Tuesday's attack showed, continues to display a notable degree of resilience?

<snip>

For a year, the administration has suggested that Iraq would move closer to stability as it reached one milestone after another: the capture of Saddam Hussein; the handover of sovereignty and the appointment of an interim government; the deployment of Iraqi security forces; the military campaign to expel the insurgents from strongholds like Fallujah, and the first round of elections next month for a constitutional assembly.

Yet most of those milestones have passed with little discernible improvement in the security situation. Now some analysts are concerned that the elections could make the political situation in Iraq even more unstable by producing an outcome in which the Sunni minority feels so marginalized by Shiites that it fuels not just more violence against Americans and Iraqis working with them but more intense sectarian strife or even civil war.

[leftchick]

1. and this gem....

<snip>
"On Iraq, what we've learned is that Americans are capable of worrying about something and simultaneously supporting it," said David Frum, a former speechwriter for Bush.

[saigon68]

9. Mean while back at the homeless shelter

Doris, age 68, a woman who had her house, foreclosed because of her deceased husbands medical bills. Ponders the fact that her poorly made dentures, make her soak her toast at breakfast today.

With out much hope she wonders if a temp agency will hire her to clean Walmart's toilets. so she can afford her arthritis medicine.

[Massachusetts]

12. What OUR government needs

is an ENEMA!

[saigon68]

14. "There must be some way out of here,"

"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl

ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER--JIMI HENDRIX

[UpInArms]

15. "Soldier Of Plenty"

God is great, God is good
He guards your neighborhood
Though it's generally understood
Not quite the way you would
You try to take the slack
Stay awake and watch his back
But something happens every now and then
And someone breaks into the promised land
Ah boy boy
This world is not your toy
This world is long on hunger
This world is short on joy

A-E-I-O
You speak as if you know
What's good for everyone
What's good in what you've done?
What's good about a world in which
War rages at a fever pitch
And people die for the little things
A little corn, a little beans

Ah boy boy
This world is not your toy
This world is, this world is
Long on hunger
Short on joy
How much longer
You gonna keep the world hungry boy?

You measure peace with guns
Progress in mega-tons
Who's left when the war is won?
Soldier of misfortune--
Soldier of an angry call
Soldier on foreign soil
I'm not here to fight your war
I know what you're fighting for

Ah boy boy
This world is not your toy
This world is, this world is
Long on hunger
Short on joy
How much longer
You gonna keep the world hungry boy?

Jackson Brown - Lives in the Balance

[shrub chipper]

18. Don't you mean Bob Dylan?

He wrote it, not Hendrix.

[saigon68]

21. You are right !!!

My favorite version of Watchtower is Hendrix

No disrespect to Bob Dylan

My favorite of Dylan's is "Blowing in the Wind"

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Both songs, appropriate to the CLUSTER FUCK, in IRAQ-NAM

[annabanana]

2. all those tons of stolen explosives........

are coming home to roost.

[roguevalley]

3. Lyndon Johnson without the social conscience. And the brains.

And the ability. And the knowledge. And the backbone. And the _______.

[Swamp Rat]

5. Part of the plan?

To keep the war going?

[Cooley Hurd]

7. Another story down the rabbit hole...

The missing explosives from al-Qaaqa.:shrug:

[Nay]

4. As it should.

I hope it blows Repubs out of office for a generation.

[clydefrand]

10. Nay, I'm in total agreement with you.

Often I stop to ponder our fate from this election. I sometimes wonder if maybe people voted for * because they wanted to show the repugs that the show is theirs, and just maybe when this country finds out what dismal failures they are, that we will be rid of them as majority for many years to come.

I know that's wishful thinking...but I'm allowed, right?

[dbt]

6. A little Justice for bu$h AT LAST?

Lizard Boy (see Swamp Rat's excellent graphic above!) has had more escapes than Bond, James Bond. Things that would've gotten Bill Clinton lynched have somehow served only to reinforce bu$h's image as Our Decisive Leader.

It would only be fitting and proper for Iraq to consume his every waking and sleeping moment, to be hung around his neck like a 400-pound albatross. But it wouldn't be near the Justice that this Worthless Little Fuck has earned! He, at the direction of his Handlers, has piled wrong upon wrong upon wrong, without so much as hint of Payback for it. He has slipped free every damn time! It would be SO reassuring to be shown that no one is above the (Universal) Law.

SIDEBAR: Imagine my shock to find that the article at the top of the thread comes from an American newspaper!

:freak:
dbt

[oscarmitre]

8. Just a thought

But the pain of Iraq may yet prove to be the saviour of the US. The NeoCon plan is falling apart and tragically it is the blood of ordinary people from many nations that is providing the lubricant. As the US becomes even more mired in Iraq so the chances of a Bush dynasty must surely recede. He should be driven from office but the best we can hope for is that the next Republican nominee fails.

[SweetLeftFoot]

20. I hate to say it

But a lot more blood might have to be spilt before the pain becomes enough. Let's not forget that only 8 years after Saigon fell Americans were off on a military adventure against mighty Grenada.

[mutius]

11. It's his tree

There it is the chip setting in his tree.

[Salluc]

13. The cost is way too high

but maybe this will take the wind out of his sail in relation to:
the environment
the Supreme Court
Social Security
more corporate welfare
more faith-based initiatives
more gay hatred
etc.

[UpInArms]

16. Welcome to DU Salluc!

Glad to have you here :hi:

We can only hope that *Co's ship becomes swamped and sinks.

[indepat]

17. The American public should have done their worrying before election day

[adigal]

19. 51% of Americans

are making us all reap what they have sown.