Current Events

He thought, I thought

We had a young person in court a while back that didn’t treat the judge with much deference. In itself, that’s not saying much, but what really irked the judge was this: the person in front of him didn’t meet his expectations. The Judge expected more from a person in the military. As far as the judge was concerned, he earned the right to be judgmental, and not just because…
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Current Events

A day later, a little opinion

It’s widely assumed that the administration scheduled General Petraeus’ testimony before congress on 9/10 and 9/11 to emphasize “what’s at stake,” but to me, it only emphasizes why I can’t fully trust what I’m being told. If the administration dishonestly linked 9/11 and Iraq to start a war, if they cherry picked or invented evidence to justify the war, if…
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Current Events

BBC NEWS | US lawmakers’ plane evades shots

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US lawmakers’ plane evades shots Three U.S. Senators were taking off at Baghdad. The lawmakers said their plane, a C-130 Hercules, had to avoid three rocket-propelled grenades over the course of several minutes. After taking evasive action, they safely completed their journey to Amman in Jordan. “It was a scary moment,” said Republican Senator Mel…
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Politics

A New York Times Op-Ed deconstruction

A week ago I wrote about an article I’d read about progress being made in Iraq. There was a New York Times op-ed by a couple folks from the Brookings Institution around that same time, with similar conclusions, which I had not read. I did read the press generated from the White House, holding this NYT op-ed by alleged “war detractors,” as real evidence of progress in Iraq. The…
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Politics

With apologies to my wife…

I simply couldn’t resist… If you think they hate us now | Salon.com Excerpts: Even if George W. Bush is the most awful American president in modern times, as many historians believe, and even though he has brought the United States into unprecedented disrepute around the world, as opinion polls indicate, the bombastic tone of the candidates seeking to succeed him from his own party…
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Current Events

Who to believe?

I’m kicking myself for not saving an article written by an AP military writer sometime in the last week. The article discusses the author’s feelings that progress is being made in Iraq. A re-reading would make me more comfortable characterizing the article, but I’ll give it a shot anyway. From what I recall, the basis for this position was increasing cooperation from locals in…
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Politics

We’ll see you in September Iraqi leader tells Bush: Get Gen Petraeus out - Telegraph

Iraqi leader tells Bush: Get Gen Petraeus out – Telegraph: “Relations between the top United States general in Iraq and Nouri al-Maliki, the country’s prime minister, are so bad that the Iraqi leader made a direct appeal for his removal to President George W Bush.Although the call was rejected, aides to both men admit that Mr Maliki and Gen David Petraeus engage in frequent…
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Politics

McCain v. Reid - TIME

McCain v. Reid – TIME In this piece, John McCain (and the author) engages the enemy at home… the 70% of American citizens also known as “defeatists.” “He derided ‘the fanciful and self-interested debates about Iraq that substitute for statesmanship in Washington.’ And he suggested that the Democrats had decided ‘to take advantage of the…
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Current EventsPolitics

Vietnam versus Iraq

If you’re like me and you read the news in print, on the web; you listen to it on the radio, in the office; and you watch it (seldom) on TV, you may have heard comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam. Although I’m rarely reading over your shoulder, or in shouting distance while you read these entries, I can hear a few of your responses: “Please. Not another list.” “What…
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