When you don't have to answer to anyone and are protected by a superpower like the US, why worry about the lives of powerless Palestinians and their property.
"We need an adequate defense, but every arms dollar we spend above adequacy has a long-term weakening effect upon the nation and its security."
This is a quote from Gen. Eisenhower in the 60s. The defense budget for this year, at least what they admit to, is somewhere around 680 billion dollars, four times that spent by China, the country with the next largest military budget. Couldn't we reduce that to twice as much as China is spending and still be able to defend ourselves?
As long as we have this kind of war machine the neocons will use it to achieve their goals rather than those of peace keeping. As Sec. Albright once said..."Why have this marvelous military if you don't use it?"
In that Afghanistan was the result of war hysteria caused by 9-11, I have often wondered what action Al Gore would have taken if he had won the election instead of a man with a child like mind, GW Bush?
I have to think Gore would had followed the same path as the Clinton administration did during the first bombing of the World Trade Center, which was to treat it as a crime rather than an act of war. Had Gore been elected Iraq and Afghanistan could have been avoided.
If bombing Iran and getting bogged down in the Syrian civil war is the price for keeping Saudi Arabia happy, then I say, let them deal with China. The cost of such entanglements, likely trillions of dollars if past experiences teach us anything, will far outweigh any financial benefits derived from importing Saudi oil.
Looking back at these images link to theguardian.com showing young men being tortured and humiliated you get the uneasy feeling our troops were actually enjoying their role as torturers.
Also in light of the revelations released by whistle-blower Snowden these images bring to mind the embarrassment by the Bush administration when the public viewed in horror what our government was doing in Abu Ghraib, which punctuates the need for transparency.
Even the Marquis de Sade said "What can be more brutal than war?"
I don't think anyone was more surprised than John Kerry when Putin picked up Kerry's off handed comment and ran with it. By doing so it was the Russian who defused the situation, which angered both the Israelis and Saudis, who wanted the US to repeat the mistake made when Bush started an unprovoked war with Iraq.
Since the heat has been turned up in an attempt to prevent Iran from refining uranium, as a novice I have attempted to understand the distrust between Saudi Arabia and Iran. I was puzzled as to why SA does not want the US to negotiate with Iran. The best explanation I have read was summed up this way..
"For Saudi Arabia, the stakes seem high. Regional rivalry with Iran has played out with increasing venom.
The two see themselves as representatives of opposing visions of Islam: the Saudis as guardians of Mecca and conservative Sunni hierarchy, and the Shi'ite Iranians as the vanguard of an Islamic revolution in support of the downtrodden."
As we all know the US has a dismal tract record when it comes to brokering deals in the middle east, but especially in this situation where we are walking on egg shells trying to broker a peaceful deal with Iran as Israel and Saudi Arabia apply pressure to use military force.
I have to think an agreement with Iran is not something John Kerry, a weak kneed neocon appeaser, is capable of accomplishing.
If the government shutdown has given me any insight it is how utterly ridiculous and unprincipled our elected leaders can be. Putting myself into the character of Canter, Cruz, Mitchell and the rest of the mongrel tea party neocons...voting to go to war with a country that posed no threat to our security now makes perfect sense.
If there was any lingering doubt Netanyahu is an idiot it was all erased when he uttered..."They can't have their yellow cake and eat it too." This on the heels of his Wile E Coyote bomb graphic makes me think he has Mel Brooks writing his material.
If I had a protest sign it would read... Netanyahu is a terrorist!
According to Crooks and Liars website Cruz knocked down $1.7 million last year. So yeah, he's in the one percent elite class who thinks he knows best how the working class should get their health care.
If only there could be a government shutdown over the cost of the needless war in Afghanistan. A senseless war that claimed the lives of seven more servicemen just last week, one soldier was 22 years old. That brings the total killed, for nothing, up to over 3,800.
I could support the government being made to debate wasting $6 billion a month to prop up warlords and line the pockets of Raytheon. I would love to see Meet The Press, Face the Nation and all of the cable news networks informing Americans about this 13 year old Bush/Cheney fiasco.
But our good Republican and media war pimps just love their wars and high drama. It seems the war gets a pass, barely ever mentioned, while a small percentage of food stamp abusers and hysterics over Affordable Health care for all Americans is topic A...24/7. What Patriots they are.
The history of our military interventions are not "Exceptional" even though America supposedly is.
Korea...stalemate that exist to this day.
Viet Nam...50,000 US soldiers killed by an undeveloped nation armed with rifles, land mines and mortars. War ends with videos of Vietnamese sympathizers clinging to US helicopters as they lift off from the US embassy.A video that should be shown every time the military insist we are a superior force. Another fallacy of exceptionalism.
Somalia....A drugged force of militants riding on pick up trucks overpower US forces
Afghanistan...A third world country drives USSR and US military out of their country. 4000 US servicemen killed, many thousands permanently disabled, trillion dollars squandered, with no lasting results.
Iraq...A cakewalk turned into a nightmare. US goes up against poorly armed militias (no tanks, helicopters, etc) and homemade bombs. Several years later we gladly gives them back the keys.
Syria...Disaster avoided for now. Netanyahu outraged.
Iran...Disaster avoided for now. Potential world wide depression should Iran be bombed and the Strait closed pushing oil up to $300 a barrel.
I get the distinct impression Republicans are really bored with all of this talk about health care and the debt ceiling. The reality is...they just hate Obamacare because it was proposed by Obama.
Their faux outrage seems so staged when they rant about the cost of all things domestic, whether it be AHC or food stamps, medicare, infrastructure repairs, while not blinking an eye that $6 billion a month is being wasted in needless war in Afghanistan. They certainly weren't interested in the cost of sending missiles into Syria, estimated to cost several hundred million dollars, if all things went well.
No, issues concerning their constituents just doesn't seem to get Republican war addicts blood boiling like a pending invasion or bombing of a country that poses no real threat to this nation. Mention war and they are like a staggering punch drunk prize fighter hearing a bell ring.
To be completely bipartisan let me include Schumer and his neocon democrat cabal in the war addict club also.
The GOP doesn't object to $6 billion a month being wasted in Afghanistan...that's $6 billion a month!...but food stamps is considered a complete waste.
I look at Eric Cantor and want to say...how about we cut back on aid to Israel? Just to see him go into cardiac arrest.
A Robert Gates quote..."Some people have a cartoonish view of what our military can accomplish." When you hear psuedo military experts like Krauthammer and Kristol talk about "surgical" airstrikes, you know what Gates is referring to.
Patrick Witty of TIME has a pictorial article about the cruelty of the rebels. Here is a part of his account.
At the moment of execution the rebels grasped his throat. The young man put up a struggle. Three or four rebels pinned him down. The man tried to protect his throat with his hands, which were still tied together. He tried to resist but they were stronger than he was and they cut his throat. They raised his head into the air. People waved their guns and cheered. Everyone was happy that the execution had gone ahead.
The evidence for war is, once again, sketchy and world leaders are not willing to fall for the same old, "We're all going to die" rhetoric this country's leaders are famous for. But our always reliable neocon Sunday morning talk show host are certainly ready for war. Here is an interesting article from a source that tracts the media. No surprises here that Wallace and Gregory seemed to be incensed Obama is asking congress for input, when all he really needs is Netanyahu's word that Assad is responsible.
What if recent history had played out differently? If Al Gore would have won the presidency instead of GW Bush I doubt seriously he would have invaded Iraq or Afghanistan. The first World Trade Center bombing was handled correctly as case for the police/ FBI to bring the perpetrators to justice, without launching a war.
What if McCain and Palin had won instead of Obama? I fear he would have already bombed Iran, creating a depression due to skyrocketing oil prices, and the debate to bomb Syria would only be to what degree. As a former pilot shot down over Viet Nam he would have no reservation about sending pilots into hostile territory.
All of this spying and our government is supposedly scratching its head over who gassed the Syrians? Now US officials are telling the UN...Listen you don't need to investigate...we know chemical weapons were used. Case closed.
I just read on Crooks and Liars that a letter was sent to the president urging he launch and attack against Syria. The list of signatures include Joe Lieberman, Karl Rove, Abrams...in other words the same crowd that pushed for the debacle known as the Iraq war.
Prof. Cole deserves his own political talk show, possibly replacing Schieffer or Gregory. Then sit back and watch the neocons and Wall Street types go bat a$$ crazy.
I doubt Lindsey Graham and McCain would be regular guest on a program that wouldn't let them get away with neocon talking points.
Let's not forget about the two Israeli spies working for AIPAC that had charges of spying completely dropped, even though they had passed along top secret documents to Israel. This sentence is totally unjust.
All done with the blessings of a FOX NEWS mentality helping those responsible for infringements on our constitution go unquestioned. David Gregory asked Ray Kelley, "If stop and frisk is done away with...will people die?" Of course Kelley said yes. How's that for a leading question with no facts to back it up. In a larger context this is what the media is doing with Iranian nuclear program.
My senator from SC said this to a group of Christians? Yeah, Christians United for Israel whooped it up when Graham suggested he would push for another war. Oh goody!
“If nothing changes in Iran, come September, October, I will present a resolution that will authorize the use of military force to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb,” Graham told a “cheering” audience at a conference put on by the right-wing group Christians United for Israel…
"The only way to convince Iran to halt their nuclear program is to make it clear that we will take it out,” Graham said, echoing comments he made last week, calling the war authorization “the last card to play in a very dangerous situation.”
Graham did not inform these giddy war mongers the day after Iran is bombed, they will be paying $10 to $15 a gallon for gasoline. That will take the wind out of their sails.
Graham and McCain should take care of business at home, SC and Arizona, before getting in their private jet and flying off to Egypt. I know as a resident of SC we could use some of that aid Sen. Graham is so proud of being spent (wasted) in Afghanistan.
Graham told the Egyptian generals..."You can't talk to people while they are in jail." Really? This is man who supports prisoners rotting in Cuba and drones assassinating women and children is claiming moral authority over Egypt?
Israel has already dictated the US should continue the $2 billion aid package so Egypt doesn't erupt into an angry cauldron.
There is an argument that a nuclear Iran would safeguard that country from implementation of the second round of wars called for in the neocon brainchild known as the Project for a New American Century. Israel has developed nuclear weapons to protect itself from being intimidated and did so in complete secrecy. The double standard is sickening.
I know our mainstream press has stifled all middle east experts, such as Dr. Cole, from appearing on MTP or Face the Nation because that person might ask...Why are we placing sanctions on a country that is NOT building a nuclear weapon? Or...This is the same bogus rhetoric we heard about Iraq 10 years ago, and look where that got us! or even...Tell us what happens to oil prices the day after we bomb Iran? Goodbye recovery.
The frustration I feel towards our spineless media, especially the three broadcast networks, reached it's zenith when the bogus intelligence to invade Iraq was never allowed to be questioned.
The sinking feeling returned when all of the revelations exposed by Manning were ignored by Ken Doll Brian Williams and the two NY socialites Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer. No wonder Snowden will not return to the US. He knows the lynch mob is waiting for him.
Selective outrage is being practiced by our elected leaders and pro Big Brother media, neither of which raised objections when two AIPAC spies got off without a slap on the wrist for passing along US secrets to Israel.
Jimmy Carter recently said democracy in this country is a thing of the past.
The United States and the rest of the world who imposed sanctions on Iran for NOT building a nuclear weapon seem ridiculously impotent when dealing with Israel. There must be a counterweight that can be used to remove the yoke from around our neck and stand up for Palestinian rights. I support a group trying to make companies investing in Israel or selling them equipment divest their interest but it has had little effect so far.
The apartheid being practiced by the Israelis, in broad daylight, is a total embarrassment to Lady Liberty. Palestinians should receive the same civil rights accorded to South Africans.
The Home of the Brave and Land of the Free seems to have lost it's meaning.
David Gregory and his neocon friends are really pissed Snowden exposed this kind of illegal Gestapo behavior and still will not allow anyone to criticize the NSA. All praise Snowden!
BTW...Didn't the documents Assange released years ago expose the US for tapping phones and bugging offices of foreign countries at the UN? Of course that was never discussed because the media quickly accused Assange of rape. Classic, deny and defame your accuser.
Morning Joe had their crack team of analyst (kidding) suggesting that Putin was loving his role of asserting Russian authority over the US.
I suppose the neocons, who have their shorts in a serious wad about Snowden, think Putin should hand over Mr. Snowden in the same fashion Bill Clinton threw Elian Gonzalez to the wolves.
Being a supporter of Snowden, I fear for his safety and what would happen if he was returned to the Gitmo loving Obama administration.
It's called selective outrage. Remember back in 2010 when two AIPAC employees skated on espionage charges? The outrage was not that top secrets had been passed along to Israel by these men, the outrage, by Dershowitz and the other protectors of the land given to Jews by God, was that the men had been charged at all. The legal eagles shrugged and said Israel and the US are so tight...the two countries actually pass information to each other all the time, where's the harm?
It's not unexpected that our Big Brother government would choose to bring charges against an individual who doesn't have the influence of AIPAC or the Dickster.
Maureen Dowd's column in the NYTs embraces former president Bill Clinton's comments that (1) embrace the US getting involved in yet another middle eastern quagmire and (2) throws Obama under the bus to in order to distance Hillary from the president she served with such lackluster results. Bill Clinton, who took polls to see where he should vacation, now swears Obama should ignore polls that show Americans war weary.
I suspect Obama's Syrian policy will be more like the charlatan Sarah Palin's take on Syria, which is, "Let Allah sort it out!"
I'm fine with Obama kicking the can down the road. At least this way we don't needlessly lose any young Americans with a hands off policy.
Clinton's economic success during his administration was a case of revenues coming in faster than the government could spend them, thanks in part to the dot com boom. If he was an economic magician, Arkansas would not have been at the bottom of the economic ladder all during his term as governor.
Clinton certainly cannot justify intervention into Syria as something he might have done, when he totally ignored 800,000 killed in Rwanda and the massacres that took place in Kosovo.
Assad is no day in the park, but who the heck would we be giving arms to? GW Bush dropped 150,000 soldiers amongst 40 million Iraqis and thought, according to his neocon advisers, there would be a favorable outcome. See where that got us.
I agree with former Sec of Defense Gates when Bob Schiffer asked him if we should get involved in Syria, he said..."Why do we have to do anything? Syria is more critical to countries in the region like Turkey and European countries than it is to the US. Let them get involved with Syria." Bill Kristol must have choked on his bagel when he heard that kind of response.
One guest on Fox, not unexpectedly, is supporting the death penalty for Snowden.On Morning Joe one MSNBC correspondent asked, " Will Snowden have more support than Bradley Manning, who is considered by many to be a traitor." A traitor? By who... Dick Cheney? It's the kind of prejudiced banter we have come to expect from journalist.
The American public is not interested and will gladly side with the crowd who continues to wave the bloody shirt of 9-11, claiming as Diane Finestein did, that Snowden should be prosecuted.
Valid point about the Fourth Amendment. Interesting that the government has, regardless of what they say, unlimited access to our personal information by claiming they are protecting us from the bad guys but chooses to prosecute anyone, like Bradley Manning, who dares release private information about crimes committed by our own government.
The Israeli Manchurian Candidate should worry about drug traffic coming across the border of Arizona and the massive foreclosure problem that plagues citizens of his state, instead of poking around Syria where he has no clue what to do about the conflict, other than pump more weapons into the region to increase the violence. Not a very gifted man.
Democracy was never on the top ten list of reasons the neocons wanted Bush to invade Iraq. The word democracy only came into play when Bush had to explain to the American people why there were no weapons of mass destruction. The joke was told after the invasion of a Bush spokesperson who tried to change the reason for invading Iraq...He said...Oh,WMD's is actually We Meant Democracy.
The turmoil in Iraq plays well for the Project for a New American Century warmongers. Seeing the Muslim nations such as Libya, Afghanistan,Syria and Iraq in a state of chaos could not please the Israelis and the American Israeli Lobby more. As long as Muslims are fighting each other Israel can continue to steal land from the Palestinians under the radar.
I'm fascinated and disturbed by neocons like Sen Graham who feigns outrage at the lack of investigation into Benghazi, where four Americans lost their lives, but has no curiosity at all about the bogus intelligence that led to the needless invasion of Iraq, where over FOUR THOUSAND soldiers lost their lives and another 40,000 wounded.
Let's see some indignation from the warmongers about long lines at the VA for treatment or months of waiting, as pointed out by Jon Stewart, for soldiers applying for benefits, whose files are lost on a regular basis.
Tick..Tick...Tick...Counting the seconds until the Israeli Lobby levels anti-semitic charges against Hawkings.
One of my favorite Hawkings quotes..
"What was God doing before the divine creation? Was he preparing hell for people who asked such questions?" asked Hawking, clearly not afraid of meeting a reddish man with a fork and a tail.
As a lifelong South Carolinian who left the Republican party when an illiterate warmonger named GW Bush began two senseless wars that have only served to weaken our country. I especially detest Lindsey Graham's poodle like persona when he is around neocons like Joe Lieberman.He is their "Useful Idiot."
A few months ago Graham made a tone deaf statement to a war weary county..."I think we should stay in Afghanistan until we get it right!" Really? Get what right? Until Afghanistan is indistinguishable from Switzerland?
To accentuate your point Dr. Cole, one of the oldest ports in South Carolina, Georgetown, has turned away job producing industries because the port needs eleven million dollars to deepen the shipping lane. Dredging would allow ocean going vessels to pick up exports manufactured in and around the lowcounty. Graham says there is no money to dredge the port but then says we should be pouring billions into Afghanistan. In other words...his own constituents can eat cake.
All well and good to address historical patterns of wars and terrorism, but as an average American I am concerned with the here and now. In a time of mourning and frustration with radical Muslims, it's hard to get traction with a grieving public by using historical perspective.
That said, it is well worth remembering the bomb set off by Zionist at the King David Hotel in the mid 1940s, a bomb that killed and maimed so many innocent civilians, in light of the comments made by Netanyahu's right hand man and possibly the next Israeli ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer. Dermer said 9-11 and the Boston bombs were good things, in that it will solidify support and aid for Israel. Nice to know they care so much about our tragedies.
I don't see CNN improving when Jeff Zucker takes control of CNN. While at NBC, Zucker, responding to the lack of reporters on the ground covering the neocon inspired invasion of Iraq, responded, "It's very costly to have reporters and cameramen in Iraq." Zucker then went on to lose hundreds of millions of dollars for NBC covering the Olympics.Zucker and Blitzer...two Likud party favorites.
During this time of rampant speculation about who set off the bombs in Boston, Glenn Greenwald had comments about the second explosion in Boston, which some have said was designed to kill first responders running towards the blast. Greenwald reminded us that this horrendous technique is actually employed by US drone operators. Shortly after a drone missile is fired into a home or place of business, the drone circles the blast and then fires a second missile as responders show up to dig out the wounded. Of course this is not murder because first...we are doing it and secondly...we are fighting a War on Terror. Oh what Joseph Heller could make of our excuses to kill innocent civilians.
If you wanted to join Blitzer in the wild speculation game you could make a flimsy speculative case the bombs were planted by an ex-military soldier who learned his tactics in the US army.
For one who follows the disastrous results of the needless invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, where daily bombings are part of the neocon legacy, I couldn't help but identify with those war torn citizens who live in fear of bombs being set off in market places as a way of life.
I don't know who the coward was that set off the bombs yesterday, but I pray it will not be a Muslim, which would give the neocon warmongers the excuse they need to bomb Iran.
As was the case in the years before invading Iraq, rational voices such as Dr. Cole are not allowed by the "Washington and New York media" to calmly point out there is no evidence Iran has any ambition to create a nuclear arsenal. Unfortunately, discussions about Iran's nuclear program are debated by hysterical pundits such as Jonah Goldberg,Liz Cheney, or the other usual suspects who make the rounds every Sunday morning promoting fear, lies and innuendos.
Juan... Last night as I watched the evening news present a segment on N Korea moving missiles around, I too thought...If N. Korea was located in the middle east the neocon press would be ratcheting up the war rhetoric to hysterical levels. By contrast most of the interviews last night centered around..."Don't worry they (NK) do this all the time."
The Bush/Cheney/neocon "preemptive strike" policy was just another, in the log list of scams, perpetrated on the American public to invade a sovereign country who just happened to be sitting on a sea of oil.
Secondly, just as Israel only attacks rock throwing populations with their F-15s and their neighboring countries who cannot retaliate, so the US is famous for going to war with non-nuclear countries whose military capabilities are limited, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Even then we fail miserably as was done in Viet Nam and Afghanistan. Money can't buy you victory.
On Sunday's This Week they ran a segment on a new book featuring pictures taken of GW Bush during his years in the White House. Some of the photos showed warmonger in chief kissing wounded soldiers as they lay wounded in a hospital bed while others showed Bush praying with MLK's widow.
This only proves the neocons still revere the stooge GW Bush, a man who created such much misery. Naturally, they did not show photos of bodies blow into fragments or young children hysterically crying as they laid to rest their fathers, all thanks to Bush/Cheney and their neocon cabal.
Opposing voices to Iran has Nukes will not be allowed on Meet the Press, Bob Schiffer, Fox (That goes without saying), CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, ABC Nightly News, Today Show, Good Morning America and sadly MSNBC.
Given that Israeli apartheid is not given a second glance, I doubt the American public will ever be informed of yet another terrorist act committed by the our so-called BFF in the middle east.
I don't think I'm being anti-American when I say good for them, "them" being Iraq and Afghanistan. Both of these countries have suffered huge losses to their populations, while warlords and war profiteers stuffed billions of borrowed US dollars into their off shore accounts.
Iraqi leaders certainly understand the US is little more than a puppet for Israel and AIPAC whose illegitimate grand plan to refashion the middle east put Iraq in their cross hairs, killing over 150,000 of their citizens.
Killing innocent civilians, starving a population while stealing their land and chopping down olive tree orchards in Gaza, destroying their homes with no concern for the lives or well being of those affected by their terrorist acts. Using their influence to start needless wars with Iraq and now with Iran, again with not one moment's regret or conscience of the human misery caused by such actions to Arabs or Americans.
Put these pieces of the puzzle together. without mentioning the name of the perpetrator, and the civilized world would react harshly to such atrocities. Mention that these acts of barbarism are carried out by Israel and you hear platitudes like..."Oh well Israel has the right to protect itself" while ignoring their crimes against humanity.
In the face of all of this evidence, Richard Perle would shrug his shoulders and calmly explain,"Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice are not Jewish! They are the government officials who started the war." Another of his comments goes,"If I had been the architect of the war, it would have gone better." Frank Lutz is working overtime to deny Jews are pushing for American troops to fight proxy wars for Israel.
Someone needs to organize a million man Peace Rally in DC to protest these neocon warlords.I'm on board if one is held...Prof. Cole...any ideas?
It's one hour and forty four minutes long drama on PBS called Page Eight. Great acting by well known stars and a spellbinding script about torture and Israel's involvement in taking the life of a peace activist, Rachel Corrie style. Someone you never see on TV. Written by David Hare, whom I have so much admiration for.
Years ago when documents showed one of Ford's compact cars was a fire trap and Ford knew it, the victims received millions in compensation. More recently, when the tobacco companies were held accountable for the cancer cigarettes created, they paid billions in settlement.
With all of the evidence available proving these wars, Iraq especially, were based on fabricated intelligence and "Sold" to the American and British public, via a conspiracy between the governments, media (Fox News especially), Israeli Lobby, oil and the military industrial complex, why isn't there law firms filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of the mother and fathers, wives and children of the soldiers killed or maimed in these neocon inspired wars? The Trillion dollar lawsuit would dwarf the tobacco settlement and we might, as a bonus, see Bush, Cheney, Blair and their neocon accomplices facing serious jail time or the death penalty for treason.
I strongly believe if gold star mothers and fathers were briefed on the evidence that is available, showing their loved ones died, not for this country, but for the neocon vision of a a Israeli dominated middle east, they would sign on in a heart beat to receive financial compensation for their needless loss and to see action taken against the monsters who inspired this war.
An extremely interesting article about the relationships between countries like Iran and Pakistan and how they might help stabilize Afghanistan. My guess is they will not intervene militarily and become the latest invading force to face defeat.
According to a new report this nations schools need about half a trillion dollars to repair our decaying schools. It is interesting in that a half trillion dollars is just about the amount we have squandered in Afghanistan alone. If only Bush could have airlifted pallets of money to our schools instead of Iraq.
Dear lord what are we doing in this drug infested third world country? I look at the picture featuring the hopeless children and think of how the arms industry, the industrial complex along with Afghan officials/warlords are siphoning off billions of US dollars each month, while the Afghan population lives their lives just above the level of dogs.
All the while Lindsey Graham and McCain proclaim us as Afghanistan's might liberators who must stay to complete the job.
Click onto my post above, in which I attach a Dailypost link. There you'll see Christane giving a former Catholic the opportunity to make a dramatic statement about the percentage of priest who are, in his opinion, homosexual. I've always found Amanpour to be balanced, which is why she is no longer anchor of ABC's Sunday morning political show.
To be free of war after 12 years of bogus wars fabricated by bloodthirsty neocons within our government would be like a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, this era will remain as a stain on our reputation for many years.
Unfortunately, watching the Hagel hearings yesterday I saw the invisible hand of the Israeli lobby and the armament industry once again pushing spineless senators to make shameless accusations against Iran. Accusations such as "Iran is the main exporter of terrorism in the world" and "We must stop Iran from their quest to build a nuclear bomb."
The peace may be short lived if the lobby and the war profiteers have anything to say about it...and they will.
In South Carolina, home of Bibi's BFF Lindsey Graham, it's depressing to find so many successful, intelligent men and women who think Iran already has nuclear weapons and will use them on this country, thanks to the ever popular and war crazy Fox News and the 24/7
For those of you who haven't been surfing the net, here is a nixed skit that was to run on SNL last week. Admittedly it is not funny, but the fact that SNL would suggest such a clip about the embarrassing Hagel hearings gives me hope.
"There is a tendency in the US government to use ‘al-Qaeda’ to describe all militant and/or inconvenient Muslim movements."
No kidding. The is evidenced by a paragraph in Michael Hastings book The Operators a great read about Gen. McChrystal and his staff. Before testifying at a senate committee hearing on Afghanistan, Sen. Lindsey Graham pulled McChrystal aside and whispered to him..."Keep mentioning al-Qaeda in your testimony." At the time of the hearing there was reported to be less than a handful of al-Qaeda members in the entire country of Afghanistan.
Graham, or as we refer to him in SC...Joe Lieberman's poodle, knows the benefits of waving the bloody shirt of 9-11 by simply mentioning the name of al-Qaeda, therefore insuring continued funding of the fiasco known as the war in Afghanistan.
Are we still the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave or cowards who back down to pressure exerted by bought and paid for, at least rented, politicians and their ignominious benefactors?
Being from SC, I had to smile at your title for Lindsey Graham, "The Red Queen."
I think back to the early days of the Obama administration when another patriot was maligned. As positions were being filled for the incoming Obama administration, Gen. Zinni's name was brought up as a candidate to serve. The general was denied a position because Gen. Zinni dared to point out that because of the no fly zone, Saddam was boxed in and not a threat, making the invasion of Iraq totally unnecessary.
It would have been a great moment in courage if Hagel had answered Graham by recounting a bragging comment made by Mr.Fox, the director of AIPAC. Fox reportedly held up a napkin and said, "If I need to, by noon I can have every senator's signature on this napkin." McCain and Graham know this to be a fact.
The sanctions show the ruthlessness and lack of respect for human life by Israel and the Israeli lobby.We only have to look at the boycott of the Gaza where food and medicines are rationed, causing near starvation coupled with unnecessary deaths to the Palestinians...all laid at the doorstep of the radical Zionist and supported by useful idiots like Lindsey Grahams in the senate and house.
I would like to see Obama follow in Nixon's footsteps. When Nixon visited the communist, human rights violator China, he made history. Obama should be able to extend an olive branch to Iran by visiting the country and having direct negotiations about their nuclear ambitions. Just to see the reaction from FOX NEWS would be worth the effort.
My wife and I have decided, even though we are avid movie buffs and usually attempt to view movies we disagree with, we will not contribute to the financial gain of this film. Our small protest against the Bush/Cheney/ Rumsfeld/ Rice legacy of torture.
My war loving senator, Lindsey Graham, who is attached with a leash held by Joe Lieberman says Hagel doesn't love Israel with that kind of unquestioned love required of all congressmen and senators.
It's like talking to a stone wall but if you would care to object to his smearing a war vet who has served his country in war, as opposed to the chickenhawks found in the neocon think tanks, here is Graham's website for comments.
I suspect Republicans hope the backlash from a denied farm bill, which reportedly will push milk to $6 a gallon, and a over taxed middle class will revolt, putting Obama in the bulls eye. Come 2014 and 16 Republicans will remind the public of the crisis caused by the democrats because of their zest to raise taxes on poor Rush Limbaugh and Rupert Murdoch.
Public be damned, this is a dangerous political ploy being played out by the tea party Republicans to damage the Democrat brand.
WOW! I'll say it a again. Wow! Hearing this young lady speak gives me hope that there are those who are willing to fight back against thugs and tyrants like Netanyahu.
Thanks for the heads up Prof Cole.
I am posting Ms. Martin's facebook page should anyone want to encourage her to keep up the good fight.
As I give thanks this week, my family and I will not forget the Palestinians who will be near starvation as they mourn the death and injury of their loved ones.
My stomach turns as I see our lapdog, nail biting press defend the brutality of the IDF by repeating the Likud Party's ridiculous claim of Israelis having the moral high ground.
With Gaza so much in the news it bled over into my viewing of Spielberg's Lincoln. Being made aware of the deplorable living conditions and second class citizenship endured by blacks and without any legal rights, made me think of the modern apartheid and inhuman conditions inflicted on Palestinians by the Israeli government.
I wondered through out the movie if anyone, other than myself, would make this comparison. I doubt Mr. Spielberg, a favorite son of Israel, would see the similarities, which made his telling of the human rights victory for blacks ring a bit hollow.
As the IDF continues to kill innocent Palestinians with their heavy handed retaliation, an old joke about Israeli denial comes to mind....
The mother of an IDF soldier, who is headed into war, instructs her son he should "kill a Palestinian and then rest." She continues.."The next day you kill another Palestinian and then you rest."
The son interrupts his mother and ask, "What if I get killed mama?"
The mother responds..."Why should anyone want to kill you?"
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When you don't have to answer to anyone and are protected by a superpower like the US, why worry about the lives of powerless Palestinians and their property.
"We need an adequate defense, but every arms dollar we spend above adequacy has a long-term weakening effect upon the nation and its security."
This is a quote from Gen. Eisenhower in the 60s. The defense budget for this year, at least what they admit to, is somewhere around 680 billion dollars, four times that spent by China, the country with the next largest military budget. Couldn't we reduce that to twice as much as China is spending and still be able to defend ourselves?
As long as we have this kind of war machine the neocons will use it to achieve their goals rather than those of peace keeping. As Sec. Albright once said..."Why have this marvelous military if you don't use it?"
In that Afghanistan was the result of war hysteria caused by 9-11, I have often wondered what action Al Gore would have taken if he had won the election instead of a man with a child like mind, GW Bush?
I have to think Gore would had followed the same path as the Clinton administration did during the first bombing of the World Trade Center, which was to treat it as a crime rather than an act of war. Had Gore been elected Iraq and Afghanistan could have been avoided.
If bombing Iran and getting bogged down in the Syrian civil war is the price for keeping Saudi Arabia happy, then I say, let them deal with China. The cost of such entanglements, likely trillions of dollars if past experiences teach us anything, will far outweigh any financial benefits derived from importing Saudi oil.
Looking back at these images link to theguardian.com showing young men being tortured and humiliated you get the uneasy feeling our troops were actually enjoying their role as torturers.
Also in light of the revelations released by whistle-blower Snowden these images bring to mind the embarrassment by the Bush administration when the public viewed in horror what our government was doing in Abu Ghraib, which punctuates the need for transparency.
Even the Marquis de Sade said "What can be more brutal than war?"
I don't think anyone was more surprised than John Kerry when Putin picked up Kerry's off handed comment and ran with it. By doing so it was the Russian who defused the situation, which angered both the Israelis and Saudis, who wanted the US to repeat the mistake made when Bush started an unprovoked war with Iraq.
Since the heat has been turned up in an attempt to prevent Iran from refining uranium, as a novice I have attempted to understand the distrust between Saudi Arabia and Iran. I was puzzled as to why SA does not want the US to negotiate with Iran. The best explanation I have read was summed up this way..
"For Saudi Arabia, the stakes seem high. Regional rivalry with Iran has played out with increasing venom.
The two see themselves as representatives of opposing visions of Islam: the Saudis as guardians of Mecca and conservative Sunni hierarchy, and the Shi'ite Iranians as the vanguard of an Islamic revolution in support of the downtrodden."
As we all know the US has a dismal tract record when it comes to brokering deals in the middle east, but especially in this situation where we are walking on egg shells trying to broker a peaceful deal with Iran as Israel and Saudi Arabia apply pressure to use military force.
I have to think an agreement with Iran is not something John Kerry, a weak kneed neocon appeaser, is capable of accomplishing.
If the government shutdown has given me any insight it is how utterly ridiculous and unprincipled our elected leaders can be. Putting myself into the character of Canter, Cruz, Mitchell and the rest of the mongrel tea party neocons...voting to go to war with a country that posed no threat to our security now makes perfect sense.
If there was any lingering doubt Netanyahu is an idiot it was all erased when he uttered..."They can't have their yellow cake and eat it too." This on the heels of his Wile E Coyote bomb graphic makes me think he has Mel Brooks writing his material.
If I had a protest sign it would read... Netanyahu is a terrorist!
According to Crooks and Liars website Cruz knocked down $1.7 million last year. So yeah, he's in the one percent elite class who thinks he knows best how the working class should get their health care.
If only there could be a government shutdown over the cost of the needless war in Afghanistan. A senseless war that claimed the lives of seven more servicemen just last week, one soldier was 22 years old. That brings the total killed, for nothing, up to over 3,800.
I could support the government being made to debate wasting $6 billion a month to prop up warlords and line the pockets of Raytheon. I would love to see Meet The Press, Face the Nation and all of the cable news networks informing Americans about this 13 year old Bush/Cheney fiasco.
But our good Republican and media war pimps just love their wars and high drama. It seems the war gets a pass, barely ever mentioned, while a small percentage of food stamp abusers and hysterics over Affordable Health care for all Americans is topic A...24/7. What Patriots they are.
The history of our military interventions are not "Exceptional" even though America supposedly is.
Korea...stalemate that exist to this day.
Viet Nam...50,000 US soldiers killed by an undeveloped nation armed with rifles, land mines and mortars. War ends with videos of Vietnamese sympathizers clinging to US helicopters as they lift off from the US embassy.A video that should be shown every time the military insist we are a superior force. Another fallacy of exceptionalism.
Somalia....A drugged force of militants riding on pick up trucks overpower US forces
Afghanistan...A third world country drives USSR and US military out of their country. 4000 US servicemen killed, many thousands permanently disabled, trillion dollars squandered, with no lasting results.
Iraq...A cakewalk turned into a nightmare. US goes up against poorly armed militias (no tanks, helicopters, etc) and homemade bombs. Several years later we gladly gives them back the keys.
Syria...Disaster avoided for now. Netanyahu outraged.
Iran...Disaster avoided for now. Potential world wide depression should Iran be bombed and the Strait closed pushing oil up to $300 a barrel.
I get the distinct impression Republicans are really bored with all of this talk about health care and the debt ceiling. The reality is...they just hate Obamacare because it was proposed by Obama.
Their faux outrage seems so staged when they rant about the cost of all things domestic, whether it be AHC or food stamps, medicare, infrastructure repairs, while not blinking an eye that $6 billion a month is being wasted in needless war in Afghanistan. They certainly weren't interested in the cost of sending missiles into Syria, estimated to cost several hundred million dollars, if all things went well.
No, issues concerning their constituents just doesn't seem to get Republican war addicts blood boiling like a pending invasion or bombing of a country that poses no real threat to this nation. Mention war and they are like a staggering punch drunk prize fighter hearing a bell ring.
To be completely bipartisan let me include Schumer and his neocon democrat cabal in the war addict club also.
The GOP doesn't object to $6 billion a month being wasted in Afghanistan...that's $6 billion a month!...but food stamps is considered a complete waste.
I look at Eric Cantor and want to say...how about we cut back on aid to Israel? Just to see him go into cardiac arrest.
Iran, like Syria agreeing to do away with chemical weapons, has disappointed the Likuds and Raytheon...they were so hoping for all out war.
A Robert Gates quote..."Some people have a cartoonish view of what our military can accomplish." When you hear psuedo military experts like Krauthammer and Kristol talk about "surgical" airstrikes, you know what Gates is referring to.
Summers is being denied the chance to screw something up.
Patrick Witty of TIME has a pictorial article about the cruelty of the rebels. Here is a part of his account.
At the moment of execution the rebels grasped his throat. The young man put up a struggle. Three or four rebels pinned him down. The man tried to protect his throat with his hands, which were still tied together. He tried to resist but they were stronger than he was and they cut his throat. They raised his head into the air. People waved their guns and cheered. Everyone was happy that the execution had gone ahead.
Read more: link to lightbox.time.com
Even the military is letting their voices be heard. Here is a youtube quite protest of attacking Syria. Only a minute long but very powerful.
link to youtube.com
The evidence for war is, once again, sketchy and world leaders are not willing to fall for the same old, "We're all going to die" rhetoric this country's leaders are famous for. But our always reliable neocon Sunday morning talk show host are certainly ready for war. Here is an interesting article from a source that tracts the media. No surprises here that Wallace and Gregory seemed to be incensed Obama is asking congress for input, when all he really needs is Netanyahu's word that Assad is responsible.
link to fair.org
What if recent history had played out differently? If Al Gore would have won the presidency instead of GW Bush I doubt seriously he would have invaded Iraq or Afghanistan. The first World Trade Center bombing was handled correctly as case for the police/ FBI to bring the perpetrators to justice, without launching a war.
What if McCain and Palin had won instead of Obama? I fear he would have already bombed Iran, creating a depression due to skyrocketing oil prices, and the debate to bomb Syria would only be to what degree. As a former pilot shot down over Viet Nam he would have no reservation about sending pilots into hostile territory.
All of this spying and our government is supposedly scratching its head over who gassed the Syrians? Now US officials are telling the UN...Listen you don't need to investigate...we know chemical weapons were used. Case closed.
I just read on Crooks and Liars that a letter was sent to the president urging he launch and attack against Syria. The list of signatures include Joe Lieberman, Karl Rove, Abrams...in other words the same crowd that pushed for the debacle known as the Iraq war.
Prof. Cole deserves his own political talk show, possibly replacing Schieffer or Gregory. Then sit back and watch the neocons and Wall Street types go bat a$$ crazy.
I doubt Lindsey Graham and McCain would be regular guest on a program that wouldn't let them get away with neocon talking points.
Let's not forget about the two Israeli spies working for AIPAC that had charges of spying completely dropped, even though they had passed along top secret documents to Israel. This sentence is totally unjust.
All done with the blessings of a FOX NEWS mentality helping those responsible for infringements on our constitution go unquestioned. David Gregory asked Ray Kelley, "If stop and frisk is done away with...will people die?" Of course Kelley said yes. How's that for a leading question with no facts to back it up. In a larger context this is what the media is doing with Iranian nuclear program.
My senator from SC said this to a group of Christians? Yeah, Christians United for Israel whooped it up when Graham suggested he would push for another war. Oh goody!
“If nothing changes in Iran, come September, October, I will present a resolution that will authorize the use of military force to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb,” Graham told a “cheering” audience at a conference put on by the right-wing group Christians United for Israel…
"The only way to convince Iran to halt their nuclear program is to make it clear that we will take it out,” Graham said, echoing comments he made last week, calling the war authorization “the last card to play in a very dangerous situation.”
Graham did not inform these giddy war mongers the day after Iran is bombed, they will be paying $10 to $15 a gallon for gasoline. That will take the wind out of their sails.
Graham and McCain should take care of business at home, SC and Arizona, before getting in their private jet and flying off to Egypt. I know as a resident of SC we could use some of that aid Sen. Graham is so proud of being spent (wasted) in Afghanistan.
Graham told the Egyptian generals..."You can't talk to people while they are in jail." Really? This is man who supports prisoners rotting in Cuba and drones assassinating women and children is claiming moral authority over Egypt?
Israel has already dictated the US should continue the $2 billion aid package so Egypt doesn't erupt into an angry cauldron.
There is an argument that a nuclear Iran would safeguard that country from implementation of the second round of wars called for in the neocon brainchild known as the Project for a New American Century. Israel has developed nuclear weapons to protect itself from being intimidated and did so in complete secrecy. The double standard is sickening.
I know our mainstream press has stifled all middle east experts, such as Dr. Cole, from appearing on MTP or Face the Nation because that person might ask...Why are we placing sanctions on a country that is NOT building a nuclear weapon? Or...This is the same bogus rhetoric we heard about Iraq 10 years ago, and look where that got us! or even...Tell us what happens to oil prices the day after we bomb Iran? Goodbye recovery.
The frustration I feel towards our spineless media, especially the three broadcast networks, reached it's zenith when the bogus intelligence to invade Iraq was never allowed to be questioned.
The sinking feeling returned when all of the revelations exposed by Manning were ignored by Ken Doll Brian Williams and the two NY socialites Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer. No wonder Snowden will not return to the US. He knows the lynch mob is waiting for him.
Selective outrage is being practiced by our elected leaders and pro Big Brother media, neither of which raised objections when two AIPAC spies got off without a slap on the wrist for passing along US secrets to Israel.
Jimmy Carter recently said democracy in this country is a thing of the past.
Huma Abedin hosting first 'Women for Weiner." Someone should have consulted a PR person before going with that fundraising name.
The United States and the rest of the world who imposed sanctions on Iran for NOT building a nuclear weapon seem ridiculously impotent when dealing with Israel. There must be a counterweight that can be used to remove the yoke from around our neck and stand up for Palestinian rights. I support a group trying to make companies investing in Israel or selling them equipment divest their interest but it has had little effect so far.
The apartheid being practiced by the Israelis, in broad daylight, is a total embarrassment to Lady Liberty. Palestinians should receive the same civil rights accorded to South Africans.
The Home of the Brave and Land of the Free seems to have lost it's meaning.
Here is Greenwald talking to a Socialist gathering about Snowden. Very interesting.
link to hillbillyreport.org
David Gregory and his neocon friends are really pissed Snowden exposed this kind of illegal Gestapo behavior and still will not allow anyone to criticize the NSA. All praise Snowden!
BTW...Didn't the documents Assange released years ago expose the US for tapping phones and bugging offices of foreign countries at the UN? Of course that was never discussed because the media quickly accused Assange of rape. Classic, deny and defame your accuser.
Morning Joe had their crack team of analyst (kidding) suggesting that Putin was loving his role of asserting Russian authority over the US.
I suppose the neocons, who have their shorts in a serious wad about Snowden, think Putin should hand over Mr. Snowden in the same fashion Bill Clinton threw Elian Gonzalez to the wolves.
Being a supporter of Snowden, I fear for his safety and what would happen if he was returned to the Gitmo loving Obama administration.
It's called selective outrage. Remember back in 2010 when two AIPAC employees skated on espionage charges? The outrage was not that top secrets had been passed along to Israel by these men, the outrage, by Dershowitz and the other protectors of the land given to Jews by God, was that the men had been charged at all. The legal eagles shrugged and said Israel and the US are so tight...the two countries actually pass information to each other all the time, where's the harm?
It's not unexpected that our Big Brother government would choose to bring charges against an individual who doesn't have the influence of AIPAC or the Dickster.
Maureen Dowd's column in the NYTs embraces former president Bill Clinton's comments that (1) embrace the US getting involved in yet another middle eastern quagmire and (2) throws Obama under the bus to in order to distance Hillary from the president she served with such lackluster results. Bill Clinton, who took polls to see where he should vacation, now swears Obama should ignore polls that show Americans war weary.
I suspect Obama's Syrian policy will be more like the charlatan Sarah Palin's take on Syria, which is, "Let Allah sort it out!"
I'm fine with Obama kicking the can down the road. At least this way we don't needlessly lose any young Americans with a hands off policy.
Clinton's economic success during his administration was a case of revenues coming in faster than the government could spend them, thanks in part to the dot com boom. If he was an economic magician, Arkansas would not have been at the bottom of the economic ladder all during his term as governor.
Clinton certainly cannot justify intervention into Syria as something he might have done, when he totally ignored 800,000 killed in Rwanda and the massacres that took place in Kosovo.
Assad is no day in the park, but who the heck would we be giving arms to? GW Bush dropped 150,000 soldiers amongst 40 million Iraqis and thought, according to his neocon advisers, there would be a favorable outcome. See where that got us.
I agree with former Sec of Defense Gates when Bob Schiffer asked him if we should get involved in Syria, he said..."Why do we have to do anything? Syria is more critical to countries in the region like Turkey and European countries than it is to the US. Let them get involved with Syria." Bill Kristol must have choked on his bagel when he heard that kind of response.
One guest on Fox, not unexpectedly, is supporting the death penalty for Snowden.On Morning Joe one MSNBC correspondent asked, " Will Snowden have more support than Bradley Manning, who is considered by many to be a traitor." A traitor? By who... Dick Cheney? It's the kind of prejudiced banter we have come to expect from journalist.
The American public is not interested and will gladly side with the crowd who continues to wave the bloody shirt of 9-11, claiming as Diane Finestein did, that Snowden should be prosecuted.
Valid point about the Fourth Amendment. Interesting that the government has, regardless of what they say, unlimited access to our personal information by claiming they are protecting us from the bad guys but chooses to prosecute anyone, like Bradley Manning, who dares release private information about crimes committed by our own government.
The Israeli Manchurian Candidate should worry about drug traffic coming across the border of Arizona and the massive foreclosure problem that plagues citizens of his state, instead of poking around Syria where he has no clue what to do about the conflict, other than pump more weapons into the region to increase the violence. Not a very gifted man.
Democracy was never on the top ten list of reasons the neocons wanted Bush to invade Iraq. The word democracy only came into play when Bush had to explain to the American people why there were no weapons of mass destruction. The joke was told after the invasion of a Bush spokesperson who tried to change the reason for invading Iraq...He said...Oh,WMD's is actually We Meant Democracy.
The turmoil in Iraq plays well for the Project for a New American Century warmongers. Seeing the Muslim nations such as Libya, Afghanistan,Syria and Iraq in a state of chaos could not please the Israelis and the American Israeli Lobby more. As long as Muslims are fighting each other Israel can continue to steal land from the Palestinians under the radar.
Wow! I did not expect that. Very nice.
You sure the US taxpayer didn't pick up the tab for his penthouse in the sky? A $127,000 bed sounds like a headline from The Onion.
I'm fascinated and disturbed by neocons like Sen Graham who feigns outrage at the lack of investigation into Benghazi, where four Americans lost their lives, but has no curiosity at all about the bogus intelligence that led to the needless invasion of Iraq, where over FOUR THOUSAND soldiers lost their lives and another 40,000 wounded.
Let's see some indignation from the warmongers about long lines at the VA for treatment or months of waiting, as pointed out by Jon Stewart, for soldiers applying for benefits, whose files are lost on a regular basis.
Tick..Tick...Tick...Counting the seconds until the Israeli Lobby levels anti-semitic charges against Hawkings.
One of my favorite Hawkings quotes..
"What was God doing before the divine creation? Was he preparing hell for people who asked such questions?" asked Hawking, clearly not afraid of meeting a reddish man with a fork and a tail.
Would Israel lie about Iranian missiles? (Choke)
As a lifelong South Carolinian who left the Republican party when an illiterate warmonger named GW Bush began two senseless wars that have only served to weaken our country. I especially detest Lindsey Graham's poodle like persona when he is around neocons like Joe Lieberman.He is their "Useful Idiot."
A few months ago Graham made a tone deaf statement to a war weary county..."I think we should stay in Afghanistan until we get it right!" Really? Get what right? Until Afghanistan is indistinguishable from Switzerland?
To accentuate your point Dr. Cole, one of the oldest ports in South Carolina, Georgetown, has turned away job producing industries because the port needs eleven million dollars to deepen the shipping lane. Dredging would allow ocean going vessels to pick up exports manufactured in and around the lowcounty. Graham says there is no money to dredge the port but then says we should be pouring billions into Afghanistan. In other words...his own constituents can eat cake.
All well and good to address historical patterns of wars and terrorism, but as an average American I am concerned with the here and now. In a time of mourning and frustration with radical Muslims, it's hard to get traction with a grieving public by using historical perspective.
That said, it is well worth remembering the bomb set off by Zionist at the King David Hotel in the mid 1940s, a bomb that killed and maimed so many innocent civilians, in light of the comments made by Netanyahu's right hand man and possibly the next Israeli ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer. Dermer said 9-11 and the Boston bombs were good things, in that it will solidify support and aid for Israel. Nice to know they care so much about our tragedies.
So will there be a charges brought against these "Top Level" government officials?
I don't see CNN improving when Jeff Zucker takes control of CNN. While at NBC, Zucker, responding to the lack of reporters on the ground covering the neocon inspired invasion of Iraq, responded, "It's very costly to have reporters and cameramen in Iraq." Zucker then went on to lose hundreds of millions of dollars for NBC covering the Olympics.Zucker and Blitzer...two Likud party favorites.
During this time of rampant speculation about who set off the bombs in Boston, Glenn Greenwald had comments about the second explosion in Boston, which some have said was designed to kill first responders running towards the blast. Greenwald reminded us that this horrendous technique is actually employed by US drone operators. Shortly after a drone missile is fired into a home or place of business, the drone circles the blast and then fires a second missile as responders show up to dig out the wounded. Of course this is not murder because first...we are doing it and secondly...we are fighting a War on Terror. Oh what Joseph Heller could make of our excuses to kill innocent civilians.
If you wanted to join Blitzer in the wild speculation game you could make a flimsy speculative case the bombs were planted by an ex-military soldier who learned his tactics in the US army.
For one who follows the disastrous results of the needless invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, where daily bombings are part of the neocon legacy, I couldn't help but identify with those war torn citizens who live in fear of bombs being set off in market places as a way of life.
I don't know who the coward was that set off the bombs yesterday, but I pray it will not be a Muslim, which would give the neocon warmongers the excuse they need to bomb Iran.
As was the case in the years before invading Iraq, rational voices such as Dr. Cole are not allowed by the "Washington and New York media" to calmly point out there is no evidence Iran has any ambition to create a nuclear arsenal. Unfortunately, discussions about Iran's nuclear program are debated by hysterical pundits such as Jonah Goldberg,Liz Cheney, or the other usual suspects who make the rounds every Sunday morning promoting fear, lies and innuendos.
Juan... Last night as I watched the evening news present a segment on N Korea moving missiles around, I too thought...If N. Korea was located in the middle east the neocon press would be ratcheting up the war rhetoric to hysterical levels. By contrast most of the interviews last night centered around..."Don't worry they (NK) do this all the time."
The Bush/Cheney/neocon "preemptive strike" policy was just another, in the log list of scams, perpetrated on the American public to invade a sovereign country who just happened to be sitting on a sea of oil.
Secondly, just as Israel only attacks rock throwing populations with their F-15s and their neighboring countries who cannot retaliate, so the US is famous for going to war with non-nuclear countries whose military capabilities are limited, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Even then we fail miserably as was done in Viet Nam and Afghanistan. Money can't buy you victory.
When dealing with important subjects such as the apartheid practiced in Gaza sometimes humor has more impact than anger.
Here is a bitter sweet vignette from Funny or Die showing a Palestinian attempting to get to a date in spite of the IDF.
link to funnyordie.com
On Sunday's This Week they ran a segment on a new book featuring pictures taken of GW Bush during his years in the White House. Some of the photos showed warmonger in chief kissing wounded soldiers as they lay wounded in a hospital bed while others showed Bush praying with MLK's widow.
This only proves the neocons still revere the stooge GW Bush, a man who created such much misery. Naturally, they did not show photos of bodies blow into fragments or young children hysterically crying as they laid to rest their fathers, all thanks to Bush/Cheney and their neocon cabal.
Opposing voices to Iran has Nukes will not be allowed on Meet the Press, Bob Schiffer, Fox (That goes without saying), CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, ABC Nightly News, Today Show, Good Morning America and sadly MSNBC.
Given that Israeli apartheid is not given a second glance, I doubt the American public will ever be informed of yet another terrorist act committed by the our so-called BFF in the middle east.
I don't think I'm being anti-American when I say good for them, "them" being Iraq and Afghanistan. Both of these countries have suffered huge losses to their populations, while warlords and war profiteers stuffed billions of borrowed US dollars into their off shore accounts.
Iraqi leaders certainly understand the US is little more than a puppet for Israel and AIPAC whose illegitimate grand plan to refashion the middle east put Iraq in their cross hairs, killing over 150,000 of their citizens.
Killing innocent civilians, starving a population while stealing their land and chopping down olive tree orchards in Gaza, destroying their homes with no concern for the lives or well being of those affected by their terrorist acts. Using their influence to start needless wars with Iraq and now with Iran, again with not one moment's regret or conscience of the human misery caused by such actions to Arabs or Americans.
Put these pieces of the puzzle together. without mentioning the name of the perpetrator, and the civilized world would react harshly to such atrocities. Mention that these acts of barbarism are carried out by Israel and you hear platitudes like..."Oh well Israel has the right to protect itself" while ignoring their crimes against humanity.
In the face of all of this evidence, Richard Perle would shrug his shoulders and calmly explain,"Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice are not Jewish! They are the government officials who started the war." Another of his comments goes,"If I had been the architect of the war, it would have gone better." Frank Lutz is working overtime to deny Jews are pushing for American troops to fight proxy wars for Israel.
Someone needs to organize a million man Peace Rally in DC to protest these neocon warlords.I'm on board if one is held...Prof. Cole...any ideas?
It's one hour and forty four minutes long drama on PBS called Page Eight. Great acting by well known stars and a spellbinding script about torture and Israel's involvement in taking the life of a peace activist, Rachel Corrie style. Someone you never see on TV. Written by David Hare, whom I have so much admiration for.
link to pbs.org
Years ago when documents showed one of Ford's compact cars was a fire trap and Ford knew it, the victims received millions in compensation. More recently, when the tobacco companies were held accountable for the cancer cigarettes created, they paid billions in settlement.
With all of the evidence available proving these wars, Iraq especially, were based on fabricated intelligence and "Sold" to the American and British public, via a conspiracy between the governments, media (Fox News especially), Israeli Lobby, oil and the military industrial complex, why isn't there law firms filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of the mother and fathers, wives and children of the soldiers killed or maimed in these neocon inspired wars? The Trillion dollar lawsuit would dwarf the tobacco settlement and we might, as a bonus, see Bush, Cheney, Blair and their neocon accomplices facing serious jail time or the death penalty for treason.
I strongly believe if gold star mothers and fathers were briefed on the evidence that is available, showing their loved ones died, not for this country, but for the neocon vision of a a Israeli dominated middle east, they would sign on in a heart beat to receive financial compensation for their needless loss and to see action taken against the monsters who inspired this war.
An extremely interesting article about the relationships between countries like Iran and Pakistan and how they might help stabilize Afghanistan. My guess is they will not intervene militarily and become the latest invading force to face defeat.
According to a new report this nations schools need about half a trillion dollars to repair our decaying schools. It is interesting in that a half trillion dollars is just about the amount we have squandered in Afghanistan alone. If only Bush could have airlifted pallets of money to our schools instead of Iraq.
Dear lord what are we doing in this drug infested third world country? I look at the picture featuring the hopeless children and think of how the arms industry, the industrial complex along with Afghan officials/warlords are siphoning off billions of US dollars each month, while the Afghan population lives their lives just above the level of dogs.
All the while Lindsey Graham and McCain proclaim us as Afghanistan's might liberators who must stay to complete the job.
Click onto my post above, in which I attach a Dailypost link. There you'll see Christane giving a former Catholic the opportunity to make a dramatic statement about the percentage of priest who are, in his opinion, homosexual. I've always found Amanpour to be balanced, which is why she is no longer anchor of ABC's Sunday morning political show.
Here Mr. Dowd, a Dominican Friar suggest, during an interview on CNN, that half of the priest in the Catholic church are homosexuals.
link to dailymail.co.uk
To be free of war after 12 years of bogus wars fabricated by bloodthirsty neocons within our government would be like a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, this era will remain as a stain on our reputation for many years.
Unfortunately, watching the Hagel hearings yesterday I saw the invisible hand of the Israeli lobby and the armament industry once again pushing spineless senators to make shameless accusations against Iran. Accusations such as "Iran is the main exporter of terrorism in the world" and "We must stop Iran from their quest to build a nuclear bomb."
The peace may be short lived if the lobby and the war profiteers have anything to say about it...and they will.
In South Carolina, home of Bibi's BFF Lindsey Graham, it's depressing to find so many successful, intelligent men and women who think Iran already has nuclear weapons and will use them on this country, thanks to the ever popular and war crazy Fox News and the 24/7
For those of you who haven't been surfing the net, here is a nixed skit that was to run on SNL last week. Admittedly it is not funny, but the fact that SNL would suggest such a clip about the embarrassing Hagel hearings gives me hope.
link to huffingtonpost.com
"There is a tendency in the US government to use ‘al-Qaeda’ to describe all militant and/or inconvenient Muslim movements."
No kidding. The is evidenced by a paragraph in Michael Hastings book The Operators a great read about Gen. McChrystal and his staff. Before testifying at a senate committee hearing on Afghanistan, Sen. Lindsey Graham pulled McChrystal aside and whispered to him..."Keep mentioning al-Qaeda in your testimony." At the time of the hearing there was reported to be less than a handful of al-Qaeda members in the entire country of Afghanistan.
Graham, or as we refer to him in SC...Joe Lieberman's poodle, knows the benefits of waving the bloody shirt of 9-11 by simply mentioning the name of al-Qaeda, therefore insuring continued funding of the fiasco known as the war in Afghanistan.
Are we still the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave or cowards who back down to pressure exerted by bought and paid for, at least rented, politicians and their ignominious benefactors?
That would be Abe Foxman
Being from SC, I had to smile at your title for Lindsey Graham, "The Red Queen."
I think back to the early days of the Obama administration when another patriot was maligned. As positions were being filled for the incoming Obama administration, Gen. Zinni's name was brought up as a candidate to serve. The general was denied a position because Gen. Zinni dared to point out that because of the no fly zone, Saddam was boxed in and not a threat, making the invasion of Iraq totally unnecessary.
It would have been a great moment in courage if Hagel had answered Graham by recounting a bragging comment made by Mr.Fox, the director of AIPAC. Fox reportedly held up a napkin and said, "If I need to, by noon I can have every senator's signature on this napkin." McCain and Graham know this to be a fact.
The sanctions show the ruthlessness and lack of respect for human life by Israel and the Israeli lobby.We only have to look at the boycott of the Gaza where food and medicines are rationed, causing near starvation coupled with unnecessary deaths to the Palestinians...all laid at the doorstep of the radical Zionist and supported by useful idiots like Lindsey Grahams in the senate and house.
I would like to see Obama follow in Nixon's footsteps. When Nixon visited the communist, human rights violator China, he made history. Obama should be able to extend an olive branch to Iran by visiting the country and having direct negotiations about their nuclear ambitions. Just to see the reaction from FOX NEWS would be worth the effort.
FBI estimates over two hundred million privately owned firearms. WOW!!
I'm afraid we are, to use an old expression, attempting to close the door after the horse has already left the barn.
It would be interesting to see an estimate on how many guns are thought to be in our country.It has to be in the hundred million range.
My wife and I have decided, even though we are avid movie buffs and usually attempt to view movies we disagree with, we will not contribute to the financial gain of this film. Our small protest against the Bush/Cheney/ Rumsfeld/ Rice legacy of torture.
My war loving senator, Lindsey Graham, who is attached with a leash held by Joe Lieberman says Hagel doesn't love Israel with that kind of unquestioned love required of all congressmen and senators.
It's like talking to a stone wall but if you would care to object to his smearing a war vet who has served his country in war, as opposed to the chickenhawks found in the neocon think tanks, here is Graham's website for comments.
link to lgraham.senate.gov
I suspect Republicans hope the backlash from a denied farm bill, which reportedly will push milk to $6 a gallon, and a over taxed middle class will revolt, putting Obama in the bulls eye. Come 2014 and 16 Republicans will remind the public of the crisis caused by the democrats because of their zest to raise taxes on poor Rush Limbaugh and Rupert Murdoch.
Public be damned, this is a dangerous political ploy being played out by the tea party Republicans to damage the Democrat brand.
WOW! I'll say it a again. Wow! Hearing this young lady speak gives me hope that there are those who are willing to fight back against thugs and tyrants like Netanyahu.
Thanks for the heads up Prof Cole.
I am posting Ms. Martin's facebook page should anyone want to encourage her to keep up the good fight.
link to facebook.com
As I give thanks this week, my family and I will not forget the Palestinians who will be near starvation as they mourn the death and injury of their loved ones.
My stomach turns as I see our lapdog, nail biting press defend the brutality of the IDF by repeating the Likud Party's ridiculous claim of Israelis having the moral high ground.
With Gaza so much in the news it bled over into my viewing of Spielberg's Lincoln. Being made aware of the deplorable living conditions and second class citizenship endured by blacks and without any legal rights, made me think of the modern apartheid and inhuman conditions inflicted on Palestinians by the Israeli government.
I wondered through out the movie if anyone, other than myself, would make this comparison. I doubt Mr. Spielberg, a favorite son of Israel, would see the similarities, which made his telling of the human rights victory for blacks ring a bit hollow.
As the IDF continues to kill innocent Palestinians with their heavy handed retaliation, an old joke about Israeli denial comes to mind....
The mother of an IDF soldier, who is headed into war, instructs her son he should "kill a Palestinian and then rest." She continues.."The next day you kill another Palestinian and then you rest."
The son interrupts his mother and ask, "What if I get killed mama?"
The mother responds..."Why should anyone want to kill you?"
You can register your protest with the president here...
link to whitehouse.gov