SPARKY: Since When is the Bush Junta II Puppet Boy King Likable?

Then again those of us on the 'Left Coast' can't see a scion of wealth Yale Graduate as a good ol' boy. We're too cynical of chickenhawks who lie and let American troops die while “Poppy” gets more rich. Having Osama's pop hand "W" $ 1 Million in seed money for his first big business failure makes him someone we're not inviting to dinner anytime soon.

David Ignatius: What Democrats Should Be Saying:

“This should be the Democrats' moment: The Bush administration is caught in an increasingly unpopular war; its plan to revamp Social Security is fading into oblivion; its deputy chief of staff is facing a grand jury probe. Though the Republicans control both houses of Congress as well as the White House, they seem to be suffering from political and intellectual exhaustion. They are better at slash-and-burn campaigning than governing.

So where are the Democrats amid this GOP disarray? Frankly, they are nowhere. They are failing utterly in the role of an opposition party, which is to provide a coherent alternative account of how the nation might solve its problems. Rather than lead a responsible examination of America's strategy for Iraq, they have handed off the debate to a distraught mother who is grieving for her lost son. Rather than address the nation's long-term fiscal problems, they have decided to play politics and let President Bush squirm on the hook of his unpopular plan to create private Social Security accounts.

Because they lack coherent plans for how to govern the country, the Democrats have become captive of the most shrill voices in the party, who seem motivated these days mainly by visceral dislike of George W. Bush. Sorry, folks, but loathing is not a strategy -- especially when much of the country finds the object of your loathing a likable guy. ... (complete in link) ”

Prewar Memo Warned of Gaps in Iraq Plans

“One month before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, three State Department bureau chiefs warned of "serious planning gaps for post-conflict public security and humanitarian assistance" in a secret memorandum prepared for a superior. ... (complete in link) ”

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U.S. Pentagon conference says weapons entered Iraq from Iran
August 9, 2005

Saddam's ex-pal Donald Rumsfeld. File photo of press
conference 2005-06-27. Photo by Cherie A. Thurlby

In a televised Pentagon press briefing Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald RumsfeldIraq from across the Iranian border. A weapons cache was said to have been intercepted. "It is true that weapons, clearly, unambiguously from Iran have been found in Iraq," Rumsfeld said today. stood by a press release from the Pentagon on Monday that reported explosives and bombs crossed into

Evidence reportedly indicated the quality and sophistication of the weapons was such that they may have been manufactured in Iran, but Rumsfeld was unable or unwilling to describe the weapons further. Timing of the Pentagon release coincides with the controversy over Iran restarting its nuclear facilities.

Rumsfeld, with the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs, Richard Myers, said the jihadist effort in Iraq was aimed at inciting civil war, since they realize they cannot directly defeat the coalition. Speaking on the issue of border crossings of troops and munitions from Syria and Iran, Rumsfeld implied that those nations don't want progress in to be made in Iraq. He said, "... what are the Iranians doing? Are they going to be helpful or unhelpful? ... same with the Syrians... are they being helpful or unhelpful?"

The two cited progress by the Iraqi government in working toward the August 15 deadline for drafting a new constitution. In a nod to the possibility that the deadline will be missed, it was said that the constitution could be amended, and that voting on ratification would occur in October of this year, with a general election to follow in December. Myers referred to a shift in the Sunni participation in the process, saying, "All indications are that the Sunni leadership in Iraq has made a fundamental decision that they want to be part of the process."

They reasserted previous President Bush statements that there is no clear time-table for an Iraqi withdrawal because it depends on the situation at the time. "The drawdowns that will occur eventually will obviously be based on those conditions." Rumsfeld said. Further questions by reporters intending to pin down a clear withdrawal time-line were rebuffed.

Myers said, "You have economic progress that has to be made; you have political progress that has to be made." He added that "173,000 Iraqi security forces" are in place in the country, but along with work on the country's infrastructure, much remains to be done with the training and equipping of their security forces.

Sources

• "Transcript: Defense Department Briefing". United States Department of Defense, August 9, 2005
• "Bush voices suspicions over Iran's nuclear intentions". USA Today, August 9, 2005 (contains short video clip of press conference)
  

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"Camp Casey" moves to safer land, as Mother's protest continues

August 17, 2005

In Crawford, Texas, anti-war protesters led by American Cindy Sheehan, mother of a fallen soldier, have found a new place to demonstrate. "A kind gentleman from down the road, closer to the Bush ranch, has offered us the use of his property," said Sheehan to the reporters, as the camp prepared a move to private land.

The property owner, U.S. Army veteran Fred Mattlage, said, "I just think people should have a right to protest without being harassed, and I'm against the war. I don't think it's a war we need to be in."

Sheehan continued to tell the reporters, "He offered it because he heard about the shots fired at us the other day and he didn't think that was right. He happens to be the third cousin of the person that fired the shots and so he came down and he said he supports us 100 percent."

The "shots fired" were those of nearby resident Larry Mattlage, whose land borders the protesters at their current location. After complaining about the proximity of the protesters, he fired a shotgun twice into the air Sunday - in order to prepare for duck hunting season, he said. Mattlage says at no time was he ever threatening the protesters with his shots.

Iraq war memorial at Cindy Sheehan's Camp Casey protest, desecrated
by Bush supporter. Source: Ernest Hancock, from www.crawfordorbust.com.
He stated, "Those are public domain, as far as I'm concerned."

Not all Americans agree with Mrs. Sheehan's position. On Monday, a man was arrested and charged with vandalism of Camp Casey's memorial for troops lost in Iraq. Around 10pm the previous night, authorities say the accused used his pickup truck to run over hundreds of small wooden crosses bearing names of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.

In comments to the press, Bush offered sympathy to Sheehan, "I sympathize with Mrs. Sheehan. She feels strongly about her -- about her position. And she has every right in the world to say what she believes.", he said. However, he has still declined to meet her. "I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say." Bush told reporters, "But, I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life."

Others have commented that Sheehan is being used by those with their own agendas, "What started out as a grieving mom that we all sympathized with has now turned into ... an orchestrated far-left campaign," commented Greg Mueller, a conservative public-relations executive.

A former FBI special agent, Rowley, and Becky Lourey, whose son was killed in Iraq, will leave for Texas on Thursday and camp at the site for a few days.

Rowley said, "It puts a human face on this issue; many people, if they don't have a personal connection to the troops, it's so easy for this to become a discussion that lacks seriousness and urgency. I think it's good to show that there are real people that are being affected."

"Our children are dying and I think it's time to go support Cindy and see if Bush will come out and we can say, 'President Bush, what is the mission exactly?'," Becky Lourey added. "Truth has been shifting all around and I think we need to rejoin the world community and not occupy another nation." Lourey said.

Sheehan wants the withdrawal of all troops from Iraq. President Bush claims that leaving Iraq now wouldn't be helpful for Iraqis or Americans, but only for terrorists.

Sources

• ANGELA K. BROWN "Bush Neighbor Lets War Protesters Use Land". AP, August 17, 2005

• VICTORIA WARD "Bereaved mother in Bush war protest faces divorce". The Scotsman, August 17, 2005

• US Embassy, London "As Iraqi Security Forces Stand Up, U.S. Will Stand Down, Bush Says". United States of America, August 11, 2005
  

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U.S. Army intelligence had detected 9/11 terrorists year before, says officer

August 18, 2005

A year before the 9/11 attacks, through data mining a U.S. Army intelligence group had identified two terrorist cells, including Mohammed Atta and three other 9/11 hijackers. Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, a liason officer of a unit called Able Danger, has spoken on the topic. By analysis of non-military data, several of the terrorists with direct links to top Al-Qaeda leadership were identified.

Able Danger also used publicly available information from government immigration agencies.

Description on CNN of the technology involved:

SHAFFER: "...Land Information Warfare Activity, LIWA, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, an Army unit ... this targeting exercise of al Qaeda. What the LIWA did -- and it was their ability to go through massive amounts of open-source data, 2.5 terabytes, and look for patterns that related to previously-known terrorists. It was that information then which popped up...

S. O'BRIEN: So, by trolling the Internet and LexisNexis, things like that, I think that's what you mean by open source data? Am I right about that?

SHAFFER: Open source -- anything that's not a classified database. We're talking about commercial databases, financial databases. Anything that's out there that relates to the real world."

On the Sean Hannity Show Wednesday, Shaffer said there were direct links to top Al-Qaeda leaders. He repeated that on Thursday.

Sources

• PHILIP SHENON "Officer Says Pentagon Barred Sharing Pre-9/11 Qaeda Data With F.B.I.". New York Times, August 16, 2005

• "CNN American Morning August 17, 2005 (Earth)". CNN, August 17, 2005

• "Sean Hannity Show". WABC, August 17, 2005

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Baghdad morgue received over 1,000 bodies in July
August 18, 2005

The bodies of over 1,000 civilians were brought to Baghdad's morgue last month, the highest recorded death toll for Iraq's capital since the invasion began in March 2003.

Amid preparations for the new Iraqi constitution, the Interim Government has tried to suppress details of the growing number of civilian casualties, but the truth emerged after British veteran journalist Robert Fisk paid a visit to the morgue and was shown the human cost of Iraq's security crisis:

So many corpses are being brought to the mortuary that human remains are stacked on top of each other. Unidentified bodies must be buried within days for lack of space — but the municipality is so overwhelmed by the number of killings that it can no longer provide the vehicles and personnel to take the remains to cemeteries.[1]

'The July figures are the largest ever recorded in the history of the Baghdad Medical Institute,' one of the senior managers at the morgue said, speaking on condition of anonimity.

An estimated 1,100 bodies were received by the Baghdad mortuary in July, a rise of 85% compared with figures for the same month before the US-led invasion. The latest figures show a rising trend: in 2004 and 2003 the numbers in July were 800 and 700 respectively. By comparison, equivalent figures for 1997, 1998 and 1999 were all below 200.

All of last month's dead are civilians, the majority male and most aged between 15-44. Fisk, writing in The Independent, described how the task of identifying all of the bodies has been complicated because many have been tortured or otherwise disfigured. 'In many cases, the remains have been shattered by explosions — possibly by suicide bombs — or by deliberate disfigurement by their killers,' he wrote.

The medical authorities have buried 500 nameless bodies since January.

Sources

• Robert Fisk "Secrets of the morgue: Baghdad's body count". The Independent, August 17, 2005 - (Subscription required)

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Dear Sparky,

It can get ugly here in Washington - especially with Tom DeLay and Republicans in Congress abusing their power on a daily basis. But even under these difficult circumstances, Democrats in Congress can still win inspirational victories that make it all worthwhile.

The six months since I introduced my bill, H.R. 810, to expand stem cell research are such an inspirational time. When President Bush won re-election, most political analysts thought the hopes of millions of Americans for serious stem cell research were dead. Even fewer thought that the House of Representatives would challenge the President when he threatened to veto any bill lifting his stifling limitations on stem cell research.

But now Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist has found it in his conscience to stop obstructing hope, and to support expanding federal support for stem cell research. This makes it more likely that the Senate will pass our bill, which Democrats pushed through the House in May, and send it to President Bush's desk.

I applaud Senator Frist for choosing compassion and hope over the demands of the extreme right. Stand with me in demanding that President Bush do the same:

Tell President Bush to Withdraw His Veto Threat on Stem Cells.

In his nearly five years as president, George Bush has never vetoed a bill. To do so now would be devastating to the 110 million Americans who could potentially see their lives and their children's lives improved dramatically or even saved.

This should not be a partisan issue. The progress we made on this legislation in a Congress that is normally ruled by an iron Republican fist (or hammer) shows that, in the end, it need not be.

The extreme elements of the Republican base have tried to cast this as an ideological battle. But Republican Senator Arlen Specter, who is co-sponsoring the Senate version of the stem cell bill and who has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, has brought the debate home for many of us:

"The scientists know more than the people in the White House. And the scientists tell us they have enormous potential to cure diseases like the one I'm suffering from...I think it is scandalous when we have the potential to save lives and we're not doing so."

Tell President Bush to Withdraw His Veto Threat on Stem Cells.

When Congress returns from recess, President Bush will have to make a decision on whether to obstruct the clear will of the American people and dash the hopes of millions on behalf of a few fringe supporters. Please stand with me in asking President Bush to have the courage to do what's right for all of America, and for people across the globe.

You and the DCCC have stood together and helped this issue gain the national attention it deserves. Over 10,000 of you have already signed our petition, and hundreds of you wrote in and helped to create a massive archive of stories from across the country explaining why stem cell research is personal to you. This is not about politics. We've overcome the opposition of Tom DeLay in the House and now we've drawn Senator Frist to our side.

We need to get another 10,000 signatures and show the President that passing this legislation - not doing the bidding of his radical supporters - is the will of the people.

There is only one obstruction left.

Tell President Bush to Withdraw His Veto Threat on Stem Cells.

Thank you so much. Sincerely,

Rep. Diana DeGette
Colorado's First District
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Hannity & Colmes

Hannity & Colmes is an American television program on the FOX News cable television network featuring conservative host Sean Hannity and liberal host Alan Colmes.

Usually, guests are invited on to debate the two hosts on current news stories. For most issues, Hannity and Colmes invite a conservative guest and a liberal guest who debate the issue in question. Also, there are occasional one-on-one sit-down interviews. Normally, in these interviews, Hannity interviews conservative guests and Colmes interviews liberal guests.

FOX News points to this show as an example of balance when critics claim that the network is too conservative. The program's supporters claim that both hosts receive equal amounts of time, and that they introduce and debate items in an equal manner. However, critics claim that Hannity often expresses his points more forcefully than Colmes, Hannity is more telegenic than Colmes, Colmes is really more moderate in his views, Hannity is a more popular media personality than Colmes, and that Hannity is often misleading or untruthful in his statements. In his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, satirist Al Franken highlights this apparent discrepancy by consistently using small fonts for Colmes, referring the show as "Hannity and Colmes." ...

<>On Sean Hannity, In 2004, Bill Moyers famously criticized conservative talk radio by saying, "On the eve of the election last month my wife Judith and I were driving home late in the afternoon and turned on the radio for the traffic and weather. What we instantly got was a freak show of political pornography: lies, distortions, and half-truths — half-truths being perhaps the blackest of all lies. They paraded before us as informed opinion." (complete in links)

External links

• Official Hannity and Colmes website
• Criticism of Hannity and Colmes by liberal media watchdog website Media Matters for America

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That's all for today folks! Thanks for the eyeballs - Sparky
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