[Ryos]

This comes from Richard Clarke so I'm sure certain individuals are going to automatically discount this, but yeah. Maybe I was bored or maybe I found this intriguing while watching the interview at school, but these seem fairly plausible (at least more than your random left-wing the United States is out to violate kittens conspiracy). Some of these concern future plans, some of these concern current issues. My memory may also be foggy, considering I saw this interview seven hours ago and it may be slightly inaccurate - I don't exactly have a source with the interview handy.

1. There are plans to begin suppression of "trouble cities" in Iraq in the middle of November. Predictions are that these operations will hold a fundamental risk to the lives of many American troops involved in them. More observant individuals may note that these plans seem to fall right after a certain federal election day.

2. The higher-ups in Iraq blame Washington for making the situation in Iraq really bad. When noting some of the more messed up strategies that have been tried and failed (Fallujah among others), they were acting under pressure from Washington despite the fact they knew such strategies would fail.

3. A number of Republicans in Washington do not support what Bush is doing but will not say anything publicly for fear of censure (well, Clarke said because they wanted Christmas cards, but that was just a joke ).

I think there was some other disturbing element, but I can't remember. Sorry. Anyway, if anyone knows where a copy of the September 21 episode of The Daily Show is, the interview is on that.

 

[GALVATRON]

The item you left out that made Jon Stewart's audience audibly gasp was:

4. There have been whisperings from certain unnamed Republicans that the Bush administration is now talking about a "regime change" in Iran as well.

Yep. So, kids, don't forget to sign up for active duty on your way to the voting booth!
The strategy to employ a happily democratized Iraq as a staging ground for neighbouring military offensives was transparent from the start. Team Bush was naively anticipating pitching camp with a dozen army bases and friendly pricing on oil outflow, transforming the region into a mini-mall of Saudi Arabian-like business allies.

Remember how the turnover of power to the Iraqis in June was going to improve things?...It doesn't seem to be working as advertised. A free election being held in January looks improbable with the current carivan of bumper-to-bumper car bombs. I think i read last week that it's escalated to an average of 87 attacks per day on U.S. troops. Between this and the crime lords running things in similarly ruinous Afghanistan, I have to laugh whenever I hear Republican puffing about how Bush "has brought democracy to two countries".


Is America losing control in Iraq? (Need we ask?)
We already know the answer from our TV screens. The latest grim forecasts from CSIS, NIA, and other watchdog groups warn to expect worsening anarchy and an impending civil war "ten times worse than Lebannon," fracturing the country into a jigsaw of warring ethnic states.

The sorry part is that Bush rushed into Iraq to remove a terror threat that didn't exist, and has instead ended up creating one. If you caught any of Bush's rosy campaign deliveries during the week, his continued response (in denial) is to hammer a "might makes right" approach. But the generals already admit that the chore of retaking the no-go Sunni Triangle zone will bleed a lot of American lives, so the administration is hand-sitting and bluffing about "progress" being made until after the November election, meanwhile relying on hit-and-miss airstrikes that kill Iraqi civilians just as often (whose death toll is now estimated near 30,000), fueling incentive for growing insurgence even among moderates.

Ironically, Bush has become Al Queda's best recruiting agent.
"They hate us for our freedom!"
No, they hate you because you're blowing the sh!t out of them and cheating muslims of oil revenues by militarily enforcing low gas prices, all the while pushing them to "embrace" a Western manifest destiny that they ideologically oppose. A British diplomat caught some political backdraft last week after accidentally being quoted for questioning whether the invasion of Iraq was merely the worst mistake America has made since Vietnam, or "the worst mistake ever in American history."

... I hope someone doesn't cop the "anti-Americanism" card on me here. Checking your wristwatch, you'll notice that international opinion swinging collectively in that negative direction coincides exactly with the inaugeration of the current president. You're free to call me guilty of "anti-Bush-ism" without objection.

fight teh poWer !​