While Middle East Anticipates Bush Free World, White House Launches Propaganda Storm

Middle East already planning for Bush’s departure

Bush, Congress could collide on Iran By Matt Stearns | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON – Taking military action against Iran could put President Bush on a collision course with Congress, leading Democrats and a Republican lawmaker cautioned Friday following Bush’s threat of unspecified consequences for alleged Iranian meddling in Iraq.

Iraq pullout could create chaos By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — U.S. troops could withdraw from Iraq within months, but if Iraq’s government remains politically deadlocked, it probably would collapse and the nation would descend into chaos … the U.S. Army concluded earlier this month.

I feel disinformation raining down on my head. I feel another ‘marketing ploy’ to confuse important issues, again. BushCo wants to beat Musharraf at the ‘State of Emergency’ game! Watch out Iran … Darth Cheney has his eye on you …

Cheney’s Secret Escalation Plan? By Dan Froomkin Special to washingtonpost.com
At yesterday’s press conference, President Bush announced that he had put Iran on notice. “One of the main reasons that I asked [U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan] Crocker to meet with Iranians inside Iraq, was to send the message that there will be consequences for people transporting, delivering EFPs, highly sophisticated IEDs [improvised explosive devices] that kill Americans in Iraq.”
Describing Iran as “a very troubling nation right now,” largely because of its nuclear program, Bush warned its leaders that “when we catch you playing a non-constructive role [in Iraq] there will be a price to pay.”
So what price is Bush prepared to exact? Is this saber-rattling a harbinger of war? And perhaps most to the point: What is Vice President Cheney up to?
…..Cheney has long been said to be looking for some way to maneuver Bush into having no choice but to launch a full-scale attack against Iran. Vice President Cheney does not support President Bush’s tack towards Condoleezza Rice’s diplomatic efforts and fears that the President is taking diplomacy with Iran too seriously.     “This White House official has stated to several Washington insiders that Cheney is planning to deploy an ‘end run strategy’ around the President if he and his team lose the policy argument. . . .  “According to this official, Cheney believes that Bush can not be counted on to make the ‘right decision’ when it comes to dealing with Iran and thus Cheney believes that he must tie the President’s hands.’”    Isn’t that called TREASON?

Anger follows fear! Fear that the hijackers of this country are getting closer to taking a fatal step toward the Armageddon they so desperately want. Anger that I must sit here and watch worthless caucuses decide who our leader will not be. Yes, Iraq will need a babysitter. No, we do not have to threaten Iran with ‘mass destruction’ to pour water on the fire we set. As soon as America can demonstrate that religion of oil (the new Christianity) is not the solution, the middle east may be more negotiable. The last thing Americans should endorse is sending Christian Missionaries … shades of the Catholic Missionaries annihilating the natives of the New World who did not convert quick enough. When someone invades your country and shouts that you must renounce the faith of your fathers and embrace Jesus as their Savior, all hell will break loose! This is what Jihadists see. This is what they are called to die for, even thought politics and economics is still the bottom line. The convert or die mentality is the spark for an Armageddon conflagration! I am very angry at Bush for stirring up Christian Dominionists in this country to endorse a theocratic national agenda. Our soldiers are not evangelists! Keep religion out of politics! If the truth hurts, get out before you start a civil war in this country. We know you are watching and listening to our anger … bring it on!

King George Is Writing What Secret Disaster Plan? … Ooooh, I Feel Safer Now

States Feel Left Out Of Disaster Planning

By Spencer S. Hsu Washington Post Staff Wednesday, August 8, 2007

A decision by the Bush administration to rewrite in secret the nation’s emergency response blueprint has angered state and local emergency officials, who worry that Washington is repeating a series of mistakes that contributed to its bungled response to Hurricane Katrina nearly two years ago. State and local officials in charge of responding to disasters say that their input in shaping the National Response Plan was ignored in recent months by senior White House and Department of Homeland Security officials, despite calls by congressional investigators for a shared overhaul of disaster planning in the United States.

“In my 19 years in emergency management, I have never experienced a more polarized environment between state and federal government,” said Albert Ashwood, Oklahoma‘s emergency management chief and president of a national association of state emergency managers.

The national plan is supposed to guide how federal, state and local governments, along with private and nonprofit groups, work together during emergencies. Critics contend that a unilateral approach by Washington produced an ill-advised response plan at the end of 2004 — an unwieldy, 427-page document that emphasized stopping terrorism at the expense of safeguarding against natural disasters.

Bruce Baughman, Ashwood’s predecessor as president of the National Emergency Management Association and a 32-year veteran of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said that a draft of the revised plan released to state officials last week marks a step backward because its authors did not set requirements or consult with field operators nationwide who will use it to request federal aid, adjust state and county plans, and train workers.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The disagreement over the plan comes at a time of increasing mistrust between Washington and state homeland security officials. In recent months, they have sparred over dwindling federal grants, the adequacy of local intelligence-gathering efforts and what states regard as Washington’s reluctance to share information about potential threats.

“Coordination between state and local governments and the feds . . . seems to be getting worse rather than better,” said Timothy Manning, head of emergency management in New Mexico and a member of a DHS-appointed steering committee that initially worked on the emergency plan before being shut out of the deliberations in May.

Testifying before a House panel last week, Ashwood and colleagues openly questioned why the draft was revised behind closed doors. The final document was to be released June 1, at the start of this year’s hurricane season.

Federal officials, Ashwood said, appear to be trying to create a legalistic document to shield themselves from responsibility for future disasters and to shift blame to states. “It seems that the Katrina federal legacy is one of minimizing exposure for the next event and ensuring future focus is centered on state and local preparedness,” he said.

The blunt remarks spotlight a breakdown in joint efforts to fulfill a core recommendation by investigators who examined federal missteps after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in August 2005.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

…. a special Republican-led House panel on the Katrina disaster reported. Conflicting command roles under the plan also contributed to a bitter public feud between Chertoff and Michael D. Brown, who resigned as FEMA director in September 2005 after Chertoff relieved him of his on-site relief duties on the Gulf Coast.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“The draft National Response Plan will be presented to the president after an extensive 30-day review period by federal, state and local officials, and we look forward to receiving the draft plan after that review period,” White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

…. John R. Harrald, a professor at George Washington University‘s Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management, cautioned that shutting out state and local voices during the plan’s preparation would be ill-advised. He said that the administration appears “to be guided by a desire to ensure centralized control of what is an inherently decentralized process. . . . Response to catastrophic events requires collaboration and trust in a broad network of organizations.”

What is so secret about a disaster plan? Why is it so complicated to include the disaster responders in coordinated planning? Didn’t the last disaster plan fail because the first responders and federal responders had no clue what each other were doing? This is another act of ‘weenie wagging’ that this administration is guilty of. They will take every opportunity to show you theirs is bigger than yours and they will remain in control, no matter how bad things turn out. Hiding stuff is what this administration is all about. I could make some really nasty comparisons, but for your sake, I will restrain myself.      I have had enough of these guys. I would vote for Larry Flint before I vote for another Republican. Why isn’t Larry running? Past indiscretions are no longer stop signs for politicians. Honesty is too rare and should be embraced where ever it comes from. Kucinich might just fill that void.

 

Good Timing For Bush – American Al Qaeda Speaks

Qaeda video vows attacks on US missions

LONDON (Thomson Financial) – A wanted American member of Al-Qaeda has warned in a new video that US diplomatic missions and other interests were ‘legitimate targets,’ vowing that the network would attack these ‘spy dens.’

In the footage compiled by Al-Qaeda’s production arm As-Sahab, an unnamed narrator singled out US missions in oil-rich Gulf Arab states as potential targets.

American Terrorist Threatens U.S. in New Al Qaeda Video

CAIRO, Egypt — An American member of Al Qaeda threatened foreign diplomats and embassies in the Islamic world calling them “spy dens” in the terror network’s latest video released Sunday. “We shall continue to target you, at home and abroad, just as you target us, at home and abroad, and these spy dens and military command and control centers from which you plotted your aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq,” said Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzan al-Amriki.

Well, well, well, whether the threat is real or not, the timing of this new threat is impeccable. That children’s story, about the kid who cried ‘WOLF’ too many times, is front and center in my mind. King George has deceived us so many times and been caught in so many lies, that I am skeptical about any more video productions allegedly from Al Qaeda. If this threat is real, we are at the same security level we’ve been in since the war began. Nothing has really changed. Bush and his marketing handlers have staged so many productions that Hollywood should be the one threatened. Funny how Al Qaeda pops into the news every time Bush wants to pull something over on Americans. This ‘American Al Qaeda’ is probably a CIA operative who is handed a script to boost polls to continue Bush’s Armageddon Envy.

Latin America’s Mercenaries On US Payroll

Chile’s Iraq Mercenaries Under Investigation by U.N. Group Mike Hager The Santiago Times July 9, 2007

Hired Mercenaries Are Second Largest ‘Coalition Force’ in Iraq

A United Nations work group arrived in Chile today to begin investigating the recruitment of Chilean mercenaries in the American war in Iraq. The U.N. Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries (UNWG) also hopes to get Chile to sign on to the 1989 U.N. Mercenary Convention aimed at restricting mercenary activity.

The group, created in July 2005, has also investigated the recruitment of Honduran, Ecuadorian, Peruvian, and Fijian citizens to fight or provide military-related services in foreign conflict zones. Socialist Party Sen. Alejandro Navarro estimates that as many as 1,000 former Chilean soldiers are now working in Iraq.

In a report last year, UNWG denounced the 48,000 security workers in Iraq, saying they make up the second largest “coalition” fighting force after the United States. Great Britain provides the third largest number of military personnel.

“Presently, we know that there are ex-military and ex-police recruited by a Chilean company with headquarters in Uruguay, a company that has the support of a U.S. company,” said Gomez del Prado. “These [private security] companies come to Latin American countries and recruit people for $31 a day, which is what we just saw in Peru. And once they are on a plane or bus, recruits are made to sign an English contract with a sister company from the United States, a contract that leaves them completely unprotected.”

In 2005, for example, the Your Solutions security firm sent 147 Chileans into conflict zones in Iraq; 28 of the recruits broke their contracts and returned home early, claiming they received inadequate training and poor equipment.

The Los Angeles Times recently reported that 180,000 mercenaries are working in Iraqi territory, outnumbering the 160,000 American troops on the ground. The mercenaries include 21,000 American citizens, 43,000 foreigners, and 118,000 Iraqis. One thousand of these privately contracted security personnel have died, reported the L.A. Times, and at least 10,000 have been injured.

If that is not racism, what is? We can withdraw America’s ‘standing army’ any time we want. But the mercenaries will stay behind for larger salaries and less health benefits … except of course the Latin American mercenaries. Then, of course, we have hired the Paistani Army and other unknown armies at an exorbitant price, thanks to American Taxpayers.

No Wonder Iraqi Military And Police Aren’t Ready

US Papers Friday: President a Defiant Decider

Bush sees Iraq as half-full; Iraqi Army loses ground; House votes to bug out

Today’s front pages were dominated by the tussle between President George W. Bush, the declared decider, and Congress, the would-be inhibiter.

U.S. kills six Iraqi policemen in Baghdad raid

By Alister Bull Reuters Saturday, July 14, 2007; 8:20 AM

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – U.S. soldiers killed at least 13 people including six Iraqi policemen after coming under fire from a police checkpoint in Baghdad on Friday, the U.S. military said.

An Iraqi reporter working for The New York Times was also shot dead on his way to work in Baghdad, the newspaper said, a day after two Reuters employees were killed during an incident involving U.S. forces in the city.

Iraqi Military’s Readiness Slips

Report Says That Since January, Fewer Units Can Operate Independently

By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Friday, July 13, 2007; Page A04

Despite stepped-up training, the readiness of the Iraqi military to operate independently of U.S. forces has decreased since President Bush‘s new strategy was launched in January, according to the White House progress report released yesterday.

The Pentagon refused yesterday to elaborate on the “slight reduction” in independent Iraqi units. Any information about the number, size or designation of such units is “in the classified realm,” said a spokesman, Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros.

Bush and Cheney ARE the Axis of Evil pounding lie upon lie about Iraq! We ARE the obstacle to Iraq’s readiness. Our continued presence IS the irritant that aggravates the civil war inside Iraq. The continually mounting collateral casualties among those who are supposed to replace our soldiers has erased our credibility.

As much as our military tries to discriminate between good guy & bad guy, “they all look alike” and if you can tell who is who “kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out”. Some of these casualties are family of Iraqi Army and Police.

The policy of ‘kill multiple innocents to get one or two terrorists’ has backfired in both Afghanistan and Iraq!