Wow, finally, some good news from Washington about the war in Iraq!  I must say that I am truly impressed from hearing that our State Department has announced we are going to begin seeking a meaningful diplomatic solution to the war in Iraq.  Somebody pinch me!  I must be dreaming!

WASHINGTON - In a diplomatic turnabout, the Bush administration will join an Iraq-sponsored "neighbor’s meeting" with Iran and Syria, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday.  The move came amid growing discontent over the war, even as President Bush rushes an additional 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq and congressional Democrats struggle to settle on their next steps to end U.S. participation.  The administration said its decision to take part in the Iraq conference did not represent a change of heart, although the White House has accused both Iran and Syria of deadly meddling in the war. "We've always been inclined to participate in an Iraqi-led conference," White House counselor Dan Bartlett said.

Rice, in announcing the "neighbors meeting" on Iraq, said a wide range of interested countries were being invited. She said it was the Iraqi government's initiative to ask Iran and Syria. "We hope that all governments will seize this opportunity to improve their relations with Iraq and to work for peace and stability in the region," Rice said. Her announcement was welcomed by Democrats and Republicans alike. "Today's announcement is a first step, but it is not enough on its own," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "Our national security requires a robust diplomatic effort in the Middle East, and the Bush administration cannot again settle for mere half measures."

The Iraqi government announced in Baghdad that it was preparing the meeting for mid-March, and that invitees include members of the Arab League and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — the U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia. A second meeting involving the countries' foreign ministers — which administration officials said Rice would attend — would also be held, perhaps as soon as early April.

No editorializing required.  The benefit of the doubt is afforded and I will pray that these are the first steps to bringing our troops home. 

 

I received one of those sentimental emails from my Harley tour brother Gimp yesterday.  Can’t help it, I love these things.  I hope you enjoy it.

 

Break fast at McDonald's.

I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.  Her last project of the term was called, "Smile."  The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally. 

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to

McDonald's one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.  We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did. I did not move an inch... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved. As I turned around I smelled a horrible "dirty body" smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.  As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was "smiling". His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance. He said, "Good day" as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation.
            I held my tears as I stood there with them. The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, "Coffee is all Miss" because that was all they could afford... (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).  Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action. I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand. He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Thank you." I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, "I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope."
            I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, "That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope." We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give. We are not church goers, but we are believers. That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.  I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in "my project" and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, "Can I share this?" I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed. In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my husband, son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student. I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.  Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS - NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

 

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            Would it surprise any of you to learn that in our war against terrorism we are funding terrorists?  Consider: Al Qaeda are Sunni’s.  Saudi Arabia is primarily Sunni.  Almost all of the terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks were Saudi Nationals.  Currently in Iraq attacks against American troops have been heavily dominated by Sunni Radicals and yet our focus in controlling the escalating violence in that civil war has been against the Shiite sect.  The very Sunni’s who attacked the United States and to whom the Bathe party of Saddam Hussein swore allegiance are looking more and more like the sect of favor in our war on terror.

            Britain's no. 1 newspaper website, the Telegraph.co.uk, reported Sunday that America is secretly funding militant ethnic separatist groups in Iran to undermine the Shiite based government.  A wave of bombings and assassination campaigns against soldiers and government officials in Iran have been carried out with support from our Government.  “Fred Burton, a former US state department counter-terrorism agent, said: "The latest attacks inside Iran fall in line with US efforts to supply and train Iran's ethnic minorities to destabilize the (predominantly Shiite) Iranian regime."  Washington is officially denying involvement in such activity.  The funding of these activities, ala Iran-Contra, are said to be coming from the direction of the Vice Presidents office who fully understands such funding is outside of the jurisdiction of congressional oversight.

            In The New Yorker magazine, Seymour Hersh reported US clandestine operations in Iran, Lebanon and Syria aim at strengthening Saudi-supported Sunni Islam groups and weakening Iran-backed Shiites.  Somehow our war on terror is morphing into a conflict with Iran at the center.  The US Defense Department recently formed a special planning group to plan possible attacks on Iran "that can be implemented, upon orders from the president, within 24 hours."  Hersh claims, “The operations under the new tack have been guided by Vice President Dick Cheney and rely heavily on Saudi Arabia's national security advisor Prince Bandar bin Sultan.  A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al-Qaeda."  There you have it.  We have come full circle in the misguided war that our brave and honorable soldiers originally signed up to wage.

            What is most disturbing about the ramping up for a conflict with Iran is that one of the key Shiite targets of US policy in the Middle East, Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah, which Washington says is directed by Tehran, is on record as claiming to oppose sectarian Islamic conflict and is willing to talk with the United States.  Iran has indicated they are willing to talk with us.  And yet we refuse to discuss solutions to the sectarian violence in the Middle East with either of those Governments.  Instead, we get double-speak out of Washington.  As we are currently supporting Al-Qaeda backed militias US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice recently urged the Democratic-controlled US Congress not to interfere in the conduct of the Iraq war by considering legislation to revoke Congress’ 2002 vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq.  To support this line of thinking Rice said, “It is impossible to distinguish what is going on in Iraq from the larger fight against al Qaeda.” and “Some of these car bombs may indeed be the work of an organization like al Qaeda,”  She then suggested the President would defy troop withdrawal legislation. “The president is going to, as commander in chief, need to do what the country needs done.” 

What the country needs done?  Full circle, flip flop, however you want to describe it we were against Al-Qaeda before we were for them.  And yet Condoleezza will through out the “Al-Qaeda” card because she knows it still evokes a sense of fear in the American public. This whole situation threatens to become much much worse before we see an end to violence in the Middle East.  For what?  It hardly seems like a war on terrorism anymore.  I hope that one day we will be able to look back and make sense of this all.  I’m just not seeing it for the time being.

            The investor class of America continues to sing high praise for the economy while the benefit of this expansion has not been distributed equitably across all participants.  McClatchy Newspapers reported over the weekend that the percentage of poor Americans who are living in “severe poverty” has reached a 32 year high.  At a time where the stock portfolio’s of America’s most fortunate grow at a most satisfactory rate millions of working Americans are falling closer to the poverty line and the gap continues to widen between the nation’s “haves” and “have-nots.”  The “severe” poverty line is defined as a family of four with two children and an annual income of less than $9,903 which represents 50% of the income that qualifies the same family unit as living in poverty.  The “severe” poverty level for an individual is one earning less than $5,080 per year. 

            According to 2005 statistics, the most recent available, nearly 16 million Americans are living in deep or severe poverty.  That number represents an increase of 26 percent (3.3 million) from 2000.  The number of Americans living in poverty has increased in the same time period but those falling into the most severe depths of poverty grew at a rate 56% greater.  The share of national income going to corporate profits has dwarfed the amount going to wages and salaries.  Median household income for families has fallen for five straight years.  The numbers of Americans living in deep poverty are the highest they have been since 1975.  Two-thirds of those living in deep poverty are white (10.3 million) but blacks (4.3 million) and Hispanics (3.8 million) make up disproportionate shares. 

How does it come to be that the rich continue to get rich and the poor continue to get poorer under the Bush Administration?  Can this disparity be attributed to the economically challenged of the nation just not working hard enough?  On any given individual cases one might be able to make the argument that poor choices, a weak work ethic or random chance might have dictated the circumstance for an unfortunate few to fall through the cracks.  Yet when we consider that millions of Americans have fallen behind over a number of years it begs reflection of the idea that society has turned a blind eye.  I used the un-attributed expression, “Too many people in this country are sitting on third base and mistakenly think they hit a triple” before.  It would be prudent of us to consider another time worn expression, “There but for the grace of God go I” when we look at the entirety of our current economy. 

To my way of thinking our government does have a responsibility to ensure all Americans have an equal economic opportunity in this land.  If there has been a swelling of economic apathy among the financially challenged of our country then we have an obligation to educate and motivate those who have fallen by the wayside.  It makes good sense for us to offer a hand up to those living in poverty for a number of reasons; the least of which is not humanitarian.  When we see millions of our neighbors falling into poverty we must consider that they are less able to contribute to the economy that literally floats the boat of our economic well being. 

Not only does an expanding poverty class pose the threat of undermining the economy of the more stable in the middle class through reduced consumerism but in the end direct and indirect transfer payments must be absorbed by that same middle class.  Remember, we of the middle class pay a disproportionate share of the nation’s tax burden since 2000.  Whether it be health care, education or food we will not sit idly by and watch children be denied the quality of life we associate with living in America.  In the worst case scenario if this trend is left unchecked we should not be surprised to one day see a revolution of one sort or another amongst the poor. 

I am not saying that it is time to impose Robin Hood-esque policies to lift up people who are unwilling to work or who are complacent in their condition but rather it is time that we examine the causes of this trend and work to reverse it.  The growth of poverty in America is approaching alarming statistics.  When politicians come to our towns to ask for your vote over the next 24 months we should ask them to address the problem of the widening gap between America’s “haves” and “have-nots.”  The average compensation of a CEO in 1980 was about 40 times that of the average worker in his company. Today it is more than 500 times.  Does that seem right to you?  To translate that growth to those who earn an average wage in America, if the same increases in salaries were afforded laborers and white collar staffers the average income for all Americans would be in excess of $200,000 per year. 

 

The home of the Red Hog is one of over 100,000 Iowa homes without power due to a winter storm.  In the mean time, please visit my sister blogger Lori at Hahn at Home.

 

            After 19 hours with no heat or lights our trusted public utility has finally restored our power.  That wasn’t much fun.

I suppose one of the biggest differences between a professional columnist and a hack blogger such as I would have to do with consistency and emotion.  For now, please set aside any commentary you may have regarding grammar, sentence structure or spelling.  In light of some of the comments posted here recently I took a step back to consider what I am doing day in and day out on the pages of the Red Hog Diary.  I’ve been here before, made a commitment to be less inflammatory, less partisan, and more of a coalition builder.  And then I get sucked right back into lashing out at the things I see going on in this country that literally evoke a sense of disbelief in me.  Some of what is happening in our country is so far removed from what I conceive as just or humane that I get swept up in a sense of outrage.

            I like to take comfort in the old adage that everything happens for a reason and perhaps that great cosmic balance reaches all the way down to the pages of this blog.  You should read what I had originally intended to post on Saturday.  Wait, no you shouldn’t.  I killed it because it was over the top, even for me.  It was a full blown rant about the perceived evils of the neo-con agenda and was interwoven around the theme of “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”  I was incensed and wont to extract revenge against all who would fail to see things from my point of view.  I know, that doesn’t sound much like me; does it?  Anyway, I first opted to set the rant aside after reading it to “She Who Must Be Obeyed.”  My bitter and heartfelt rant that culminated in a dire plea for action resulted in laughter.  Yep, she didn’t mean to but she laughed out loud.  “A little too much?” I asked.  “Maybe a bit.” She replied.  I scrambled and put out the Saturday post you saw and went to bed.

            And then the planets aligned or something because it was if the aforementioned cosmic event was cast down upon me.  Consider my Saturday morning:

  First thing, in the morning, I saw a comment made on Friday’s post that woke me right up.  All of the news and noise that cloud my mind blurred away providing me tunnel vision to the seemingly lost objective of writing this blog.  “May we all remember why we are here on earth -- to prove that we (personally) can choose what's right in difficult circumstances and to bless the lives of others around us in the process.”  Keith Van Orden.  Wow Keith, thanks for that.  Keith steps up once in a while and sets me straight.  He was the one who reminded me last summer that it doesn’t make mush sense to “go off” about somebody’s intolerance if I can not be tolerant that others have ideas that are different from my own.

Then I made my way upstairs where I do my morning reading.  Our church provides a daily reader that I find useful to set my mind right before my daily bible read.  It said, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you. – Colossians 3:13.  The commentary went on to talk about withholding forgiveness meant we mean to strike back in vengeance for a perceived wrong against us.  As long as we focus on our hurt feelings, what ever precipitated our anger would remain unresolved.  My decision to change my post seemed smarter and smarter.

So then I grabbed my Saturday paper.  I’m always eager to rip open the Saturday paper to page two where the Garrison Keillor column is printed.  He said,

“The problem with liberals in our time, even though we‘d like to think we’re riding high at the moment, is that we’re not so much fun to eat lunch with.  We carry an air of self righteous sorrow about hunger, global warming, homelessness, tax inequity, the heartlessness of big corporations and a list of crises as long as your arm.  You eat lunch with a liberal and you are ashamed to order desert.” 

He continued, “The basic message of liberalism is simply: The true measure of a society is how it treats the weak and the needy.  A simple Christian message (“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”  Matthew 25:40), but when you place it alongside the consumer carnival and the raunch and razzmatazz of pop culture, it sounds joyless.”

Wow, three strikes, four if you count SWMBO’s unintentional laughter.  I don’t want the Red Hog Diary to be just another inflammatory rag of the blogosphere and I surly do not want anybody to consider it joyless.  I can do better and that is my pledge to you.  To be sure my objective is to point out many of the things I see that I believe need brought to your attention but I believe I can do that in a more conciliatory manner.  My wise friend Keith had additional comments worth repeating on Friday’s post, “Using rhetoric and often baseless or exaggerated arguments from either side of the political spectrum doesn't accomplish anything but engender hate and malice for one another here at home.”  Somehow that message is very clear to me now and it only took a rebuking from my wife, a reminder from a friend, a pointed message in my spiritual studies, and a coincidental column on topic from one of my favorite columnists to drive the point home.  I am such a quick study!

 

            Forty-seven years.  Shit.  At first, Friday morning, that gave me more than a little trepidation.  For a brief instant I was tempted to take a measurement of if I was where I wanted to be at this stage of life.  But I don’t really work like that.  Rather than plot some grand design for my life I have always preferred to do the best I can or in some cases as good as I want to and then take paths that appeal to me when I come to them.  It has worked out rather well for me; what with a family I adore, a decent day gig and some remarkable friends and all.  I reflected upon how proud I am of the adults my two oldest kids have become and how much joy my youngest brings to our home.  I thought about how my wife is still my best friend and how we still manage to have fun when we get moments alone, meet for lunch or spend an evening on the town and it’s all good.  I have hobbies in my life that are fulfilling and nurturing; riding my Harley and sharing my world with you readers on this blog.  Shit.  Forty-seven isn’t so bad.

            I thought about growing up in Cedar Falls and the fantasy of a childhood I was fortunate to enjoy.  There were sports and the freedom to ride my bicycle any and everywhere in a metro area of 100,000 and endless hours riding mini-bikes and motorcycles up and down the woods that lined the Cedar River.  At the age of 12 I started spending Saturday’s and summers working at the neighborhood gas station my father owned.  It was one of those classic stations that you don’t see anymore.  We had six full service pumps and two garage bays where we did tires, tune-ups, brakes and exhaust work.  Our front room was stocked with tires, batteries, oil and accessories.  I worked there with my Dad, my Grandpa Wilcox and a hired hand.  I often wonder if the oil shortages of the early seventies and the advent of mini-stores and self serve gas had not squashed the market for such outlets how very different my life might be today.

            I grew up in a loving home with progressive and religious parents who never had enough money to park a car in the driveway that was newer than 10 years old.  We were taught to be generous to those less fortunate than us and always respect others until they gave you reason to do otherwise.  My father passed away in 1989 and still it is the rare day when I don’t think of him.  As I look back on my first 47 years on planet earth I am thankful for the good fortune I had to be born of parents with integrity, compassion and faith.  The lessons they shared have served me well in life and that has me in a very good place.  I love you mom.  I’ll be coming up to see you Sunday and to score some of my traditional birthday banana cake!

 

By ROSE FRENCH, Associated Press: FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - A U.S. soldier was sentenced to 100 years in prison Thursday for the gang rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family last year.  Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24, also was given a dishonorable discharge. He will be eligible for parole in 10 years under the terms of his plea agreement.

Cortez, of Barstow, Calif., pleaded guilty this week to four counts of felony murder, rape and conspiracy to rape in a case considered among the worst atrocities by U.S. military personnel in Iraq.  In his plea agreement, he said he conspired with three other soldiers from the Fort Campbell-based 101st Airborne Division to rape 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi. The girl, her parents and a younger sister were all killed.

Earlier Thursday, tears rolled down Cortez's face as he apologized for the rape and murders. He said he could not explain why he took part.  "I still don't have an answer," Cortez told the judge. "I don't know why. I wish I hadn't. The lives of four innocent people were taken. I want to apologize for all of the pain and suffering I have caused the al-Janabi family."

The military judge hearing the case, Col. Stephen R. Henley, issued a sentence of life in prison without parole, the maximum for the charges. Under military law, the defendant is given the lesser sentence unless he violates terms of the plea agreement, which requires Cortez to testify against others charged in the case.

When I first heard that news I thought about the appropriateness of that sentence, about how nothing, not even the stress and horrors of war could excuse what the soldiers involved in this case had done.  And yet I was relieved that the sentence had been issued in a United States Military Court and not an Iraqi court.  I thought about how if we had never engaged in this war little Abeer would still be alive.  I thought about how horrible the last moments of that Iraqi family must have been, about how helpless and enraged it would make any father feel to witness the invasion of his home by four armed soldiers.  I thought about how the people who live in Iraq must wake up every day wondering how life had become such hell.  I thought about how lucky I am to have been born American and how that good fortune carries the responsibility that I speak out, that I vote, and that I do all I can to let the world know that I think our Commander in Chief is out of control and does not represent me or hundreds of millions of other Americans in any way.  Dear God, please forgive us.

 

“Support Our Troops!”  The words that are so easily spoken can evoke nearly an infinite number of meanings.  Of particular disdain to me is the inference by some that supporting the troops can only be done by supporting the Commander in Chief.  Even a large percentage of our soldiers are on record as being opposed to the policies of the President.  In my mind supporting our troops would mean properly equipping them, performing impeccable due diligence before beginning a war, sending them on clearly defined effective and adequately supported missions, adjusting strategies if they are failing and bringing them home as soon as possible.  When we bring them home we have an unquestionable obligation to welcome them and meet their needs. 
This would include to tending to their wounds, both physical and mental. 

            The Washington Post recently ran a series of reports that prove that this Commander in Chief who wears the flag on his sleeve has abandoned our troops once they have sacrificed their health for our protection.  The series exposed deteriorating conditions for hundreds of outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.  Many of our returning troops, suffering physical and psychological problems, have been cast aside to live in shoddy housing on or near Walter Reed AMC and face long battles with Army bureaucracy.  That we would neglect the needs of our wounded and subject them to a broken and cumbersome bureaucracy that has them living in squalid conditions and denies them basic needs is deplorable.  All the while our troops were facing this abuse the White House has been suggesting that the new Democratic majority in congress is undermining our troops in opposing Bush policy. 

            A report on February 18^th claimed, “Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses. They suffer from brain injuries, severed arms and legs, organ and back damage, and various degrees of post-traumatic stress. Their legions have grown so exponentially -- they outnumber hospital patients at Walter Reed 17 to 1 -- that they take up every available bed on post and spill into dozens of nearby hotels and apartments leased by the Army. Life beyond the hospital bed is a frustrating mountain of paperwork. The typical soldier is required to file 22 documents with eight different commands -- most of them off-post -- to enter and exit the medical processing world, according to government investigators.”  One example cited, “Lost paperwork for new uniforms has forced some soldiers to attend their own Purple Heart ceremonies in gym clothes, only to be chewed out by superiors.” 

            That news has to bother you regardless of your stand on the war in Iraq.  Somehow I have a feeling that Bush – Cheney/Burton supporters are more outraged that the journalists reported the news than they are by the news itself.  I have been tempted to fly the “Impeach Bush” banners that I see on so many of my liberal brethren’s websites but I can’t.  That would put Cheney in charge and I honestly believe Bush is the lesser of those two evils.  The news of the way our wounded troops are being welcomed home by the administration makes it clear to me that you can not claim to support our troops while continuing to support the president.

            And as if all of this news were not damning enough to the growing examples of incompetence by the president, the Inspector Generals Office reported yesterday that the Bush Administration is overstating terrorism conviction records.  Nearly half of all “terrorism” cases prosecuted by the Bush Justice Department were miscoded and included drug cases, mail and marriage fraud and the like.  At least I hope the entire presidency of George Bush can be explained by incompetence.  If he is doing this stuff on purpose we may not survive his remaining 22 months in office.

            Hey, tomorrow is the Red Hog's Birthday.  What I want is for somebody to wake me up and tell me that it is Wednesday November 8th, 2000 and that I was having a nightmare and that Al Gore is in fact our president.      

 

            Wow, it’s all out war against smokers in Iowa.  Currently there is legislation at the state house to raise the tax on cigarettes by $1.00 per pack, a ban on smoking in the work place and a bill to allow local control of smoking ordinances for the prohibition of smoking in bars and restaurants.  There was even talk of making it illegal to smoke behind the wheel of your personal vehicle.  As a smoker I should be upset about all this but I am not.  I am seeing it all as rather inevitable.  While we are busy banning and taxing stuff I hope we can take a look at tax and banning opportunities for alcohol, cologne and cell phones.  Those things seem to annoy me at least as much as I am sure my second hand smoke annoys anybody else. 

             A big anti-smoking organization in Iowa is running a commercial where a restaurant patron lights a smoke and then alarms go off and oxygen masks drop all over the restaurant.  The ensuing scene shows all the non-smokers frantically placing the oxygen masks over their faces.  I kind of like that idea.  If my second hand smoke bothers you either stay out of the restaurant or wear a damn oxygen mask.  I don’t care much one way or another which you would choose.  None of this is bothering me, really.  It is all so inevitable. 

           

Speaking of inevitable…

 

The BBC has confirmed the United States has two triggers for a planned attack against Iran.  The first such trigger reportedly includes any confirmation that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon - which it denies.  The second trigger would be any high-casualty attack on US forces in neighboring Iraq if it were traced directly back to Tehran.  The plan includes long range B2 stealth bombers dropping so-called "bunker-busting" bombs not only on targeted nuclear facilities, but also most of its military infrastructure including air bases, naval bases, missile facilities and command-and-control centers.  3 U.S. aircraft carrier fleets are currently deployed into the region.  Earlier this month US officials said they had evidence Iran was providing weapons to Iraqi Shia militias, but Iranian President Ahmadinejad said the accusations were "excuses to prolong the stay" of US forces in Iraq.

While our president is adding carrier fleets and surging 21,000 more inadequately equipped troops into Iraq his friend, Tony Blair, is making plans for the withdrawal of thousands of troops from Iraq. About 7,100 British troops are currently deployed in Iraq, and about 3,000 could return by Christmas.  The BBC reports that Blair will likely announce in the House of Commons today that hundreds of troops will return from Basra in the next few weeks, and more at a later period of time, unless security in the country worsens.  Unless it worsens? 

Iran has already warned us that if any such attack would be met with an appropriate response.  Speculation is that American interests would be attacked all across the globe and much needed oil, which must be exported across Iranian soil, would be interrupted.  Follow the money here kids.  If our oil imports from the Middle East were drastically reduced oil prices would go through the roof and oil company profits have historically risen on a sharper curve than the price of crude.  Another front to support would exponentially raise the profits of Halliburton and all of their defense contracting buddies as well.  It all seems so inevitable, doesn’t it?   

            I hope you all had a great President’s Day.  My employer was closed for the day which meant that I had the benefit of only working about a half a day.  I found my half day wonderfully analogous to the half-baked competency of our current president.  Oh, come on, you know I had to throw that in there.  

I learned some really interesting things in my idle time on Monday.  I learned that the game system, Wii is still about as hard to find as a WMD but I’m happy to report, that unlike WMDs - Wii game systems do exist.  We had drawn lucky ticket number three and the store continually apologized that they had no control over the number of systems that would arrive.  Foreboding foreshadowing; did they believe that would help me maintain my composure in the event that only two units arrived in the shipment?  “Good luck with that,” I thought to myself.  We won’t even discuss what might have happened if, after I waited around the mall for 90 minutes, Brown didn’t adequately show me what he could do for me.  The clerk nervously unboxed the UPS shipment and was relieved to see exactly three units had been delivered.  So there ya have it. I finally have completed my 2006 Christmas shopping!  So I’ve got that going for me. 

While waiting for the UPS truck to deliver the highly sought after Wii game systems I overheard some other customers talking about recent events.  I picked up on a conversation that almost brought me to my knees.  Have you heard?  Anna Nicole Smith passed away last week.  I don’t know how in the world I was supposed to know that, what with all of the hard hitting journalism and investigative reporting the main stream media devotes to Iraq coverage, our environment and government corruption.  I am betting the cast of Bay Watch was devastated by this news.  Oh wait, that was Pamela Anderson.  I wasn’t going to comment on the obsession of the cable news networks over the sad news of Ms. Smith’s passing.  The fact that air time is still being devoted to the story 10 days later has me thinking this is all a bit much.  If I didn’t know better I would think that the cable news networks were actually being exploitive of the opportunity to show pictures of beautiful blonde women or something like that.  Good thing I would never stoop to such tactics.

And then there was news of some race that occurred in Florida over the weekend.  It seems a bunch of guys got together to see who could drive 500 miles the fastest while only making left turns.  I’m sorry Red Hog Readers.  I just can’t seem to catch on to the appeal of NASCAR.  The fact that racing around in a circle is predominantly popular in red states says a lot I think.  I might be going out on a limb here, hehe, but I think many of the problems America is facing today would go away if we could just do away with network broadcasting of NASCAR.  Perhaps we could fill it's bloated time slot with chess tournaments, debate or book reviews!

 

Hardliner Blog has a video from a British reporter that shows some very graphic video of the results of the violence occurring in Iraq.  The 49 minute story goes into detail about the inability of the press to show us what is really going on there, of our inability to know what the real people who live there think.  I would recommend you watch the video.  It was posted as the February 16^th entry.

The video evoked some strong reactions in the comment section but one stood out from the rest.  I tried to learn more about the author who has their own blog, ibloggle, and I was surprised to find that there is very little political commentary on the relatively new site.  Here is the gist:  There are great differences in Bush 41 and Bush 43.  I loved this country when Bush Senior said, “This will not stand!” after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.  Bush Senior built a coalition of 52 nations and decreed, “No nation shall invade another nation.”  Countries large and small, strong and relatively weak united in arms to protect a smaller nation from the aggressions of a neighborhood heavyweight.  Together these 52 nations, much to the credit of the United States, made short work in ousting the Iraqi invaders from the sovereign nation of Kuwait.  In the days following that intervention it was not uncommon for Americans to travel the world and have flowers thrown at their feet. 

The resultant good will from the actions of Bush Senior and our military resulted in the world watching our back, alerting us to threats, investing in our markets, and trading in dollars.  Now as a result of Bush Junior’s atrocities we have only a few friends willing to stand by our side in armed conflict.  Instead of welcome investment we are now forced to sell our capital to fund this ever more expensive war.  Even South Korea, whom we have continually defended, is converting over to the Euro.  Other nations are getting the truth about what is happening in Iraq as evidenced in the video.  In America we are not even allowed to see our own soldiers coming home in flag draped coffins.    

I love America and have cried over what is being done to it and what is being done in our name.  Let’s not fix the blame.  Let’s fix the problem.  It is time to turn to diplomacy and fairness in the way we treat our neighbors.  Let us try a carrot and lay down our stick.  When Ronald Reagan was president and we were in the middle of the cold war with the United States and Russia aiming more and more missiles at each other diplomacy won the day.  The first time Reagan and Gorbachev met Reagan offered a friendly joke that went like this: “Mr. Gorbachev, anybody who wants can come to the White House lawn, and shout at the top of their lungs that Mr. Reagan is a no good rotten bum, I bet you can’t do that in Russia? Reagan still speaking but in the third person said, “and Mr. Gorbachev replied, “That is not true, anyone who wants can come to the Kremlin, and shout at the top of their lungs that Mr. Reagan is a no good rotten bum.”  Both leaders broke out in laughter that became the beginnings of a trust that would come in handy in the near future.

When President Reagan went to the Berlin Wall in Germany, against the advice of his speech writers and advisors, Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”  The relationship that had developed among many other factors resulted in the reunification of Germany.  That is the America I am proud of.  That is the America that everyone is willing to stand up and defend.  In comparison, how can we consider what our leaders are doing now as patriotic?  How are we going to train Iraqi soldiers to do what the best trained and best equipped fighting force on the planet can not do; beat down an insurgency that is desperate to be free from an occupying force. 

We can do better.  We have to do better.  As the war continues and casualties continue to climb many of the more moderate Iraqi’s, those people who are more like you and I, who went to school or work everyday, who used to go shopping and visit their friends are beginning to tire of occupation.  It is time that we begin to consider that our presence is only exacerbating the divisions among Sunni, Shiite and Kurd. 

The proponents of the military industrial complex are quick to suggest that redeployment deadlines will only lead to more violence or that it will lead to false security that will result in unforeseen bloodshed after our departure.  Nobody would suggest that those results would be anything we could stand by and watch.  Until we attempt that strategy, until we set deadlines and are willing to vacate to a point just over the horizon where we could return swiftly if needed; we will never know.  If our leaders would show the courage to put such a policy in place I would suggest that you divest your Halliburton stock.  We may be in for a lasting peace.

 

Here is a way to support the troops!

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