Iran is expected to give the U.N. its “formal answer” to the U.N. “demand” to halting their Uranium enrichment program today.  Sorry, I meant to say, “Iran says F U AGAIN to U.N.”

tags: iran, nukes, u.n., uranium

Over two years until Geroge W. Bush will be out of office and I just listened to him say, “We’re not leaving as long as I am President.”  The rest we have all heard before. One of the talking points and apparently one of the things we are supposed to admire most about our President is that we know exactly where he stands on issues. I can see why that is the case for two simple reasons.  One, he only says about 3 words in about 40 that are different from the previous 40.  And, he only talks about one or two issues. I guess there is something to be said for keeping things simple. Anyway, clearly he is putting his and his administration’s position is on Iraq and where they are planning on taking us. Now it is up to other people to put something else on the table.

tags: bush, foreign policy, iraq, president

I have to laugh. This “cease fire” or should I say Cease Fire #1,214 should last all of about 2 weeks. Does anyone really believe that there is not going to be any shots fired? Nobody killed? Better yet, does anyone believe that the “United Nations” is going to send troops into southern Lebanon to actually do something other than get in the way?  One of my favorite video clips from the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah was (and I am not poking fun at the fact that someone was injured) after a U.N. “observation post” was struck by artillery from Hezbollah or the IDF. The video showed 5 U.N. “troops” carrrying a sixth on a makeshift stretcher.  One of the 5 men carrying the stretcher had the light blue U.N. combat helmet on. The other four had on light blue turbans.  I am not sure if the U.N. was short combat helmets or if these four guys did not get the memo, but it pretty much summed up the United Nations’ involvement in observing the southern border in Lebanon for nearly 10 years. Unreal.

Not to be 100% cynical, but I am giving this cease fire about 14 days to hold until someone gets shot or a Katyusha rocket is sent over the border to their friends down south.

tags: cease fire, hezbollah, israel, joke, katyusha, lebanon

I have to say, I am not one to buy into the conspiracy theories much these days.  But, with that said, I had dinner with some friends this past weekend and they surprised me with their thoughts that after seeing the new 9/11 movie, that if asked today, they would say it was most likely a conspiracy.  Now, these are people that I would really think would be close to last on the list of people that I know that would say something like that.  He just forwarded this video called, Loose Change, that pretty much scares the hell out of me. Something I think everyone should see no matter what you believe.

tags: 9/11, bush, cheney, conspiracy, loose change, video

I am listening to Brian Williams right now, reporting from England, and I am wondering if this whole thing is going to become how we live in the future? My question is, is the way the Israelis have been living for the past 30+ years, with bombs blowing up all of the time, is how we are going to be living here in the United States?

I guess the President’s latest label of the day, “Islamic Facists” is the next step towards saying it is us against the Arabs…and the Persians. I am not sure he realized there was a difference, or if he even cares(d). I am one of those people who hates to beat around the bush. If you have a problem with me or you don’t like something that I have done, I would like you to tell me so. Not that it will necessarily be something I enjoy hearing, but I would rather know what the heck is going on rather than beating around the bush. My point here is simple, if we (America) don’t are at war with the Arabs, then let’s say that. Let’s be frank, they live totally differently than we do. Different culture, different people. They have been living their way for thousands of years…why the heck does anyone, anywhere think they are going to change the way they have been doing things because of something we say or do?

NOT

GOING

TO

HAPPEN

This whole thing is so stupid. If we are at war with the Arabs, then let’s stop giving them money. Let’s find other fuels that we can use here in this country, so that we don’t have to buy a god damned thing from the people and the region that we are at war with. We are the greatest country in the world and have some of the smartest minds in it. I just have to laugh when I hear people bark at anyone who advocates alternative fuel sources. If we can make explosives small enough and fast enough that they can deploy an airback in a millisecond, I am sure we can come up with some solutions for US energy.

For the record, I don’t hate Arabs or Persians per se. I grew up with a whole lot of Persians who fled Iran back when the Ayatollah came into power and they ended up in Los Angeles. They are my friends. But, the people who are looking to blow things up, shoot people and end America are not. I just would like to hear some people talk straight for once. I know it is not going to happen, but it sure as hell would make everyone’s lives a lot more simple.

tags: iran, israel, middle east, terror, terrorism, usa

I am sitting here catching up on my news programs, like Hardball and getting up to speed on the latest on the British terrorist deal.  What strikes me, and a friend of mine (whom I discussed this with yesterday), is that terrorists must be really dumb.  I mean, not that I would ever do this or think of doing this, it seems like anyone could easily walk into a subway station at rush hour and hurt a lot of people using a crude explosive device.  I mean, there was that dumbass that blew up that little thing at Olympic Park in Atlanta a while back. How come these idiots can’t seem to even pull something like that off? I guess we are much smarter than these people, because I just can’t see how hard it is, if they are willing to kill people and possibly themselves to do something like this. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we have made it too hard to get the ingredients necessary to pull something like this off and that the people trying to do it are really f-ing stupid.

Ok, whatever you think about how WE, the people, have arrived at the current position we find ourselves in, I think we all have to think about what needs to be done from this point forward. There are two schools of thought. One, withdraw, re-deploy, rotate out, or whatever you want to label removing US troops, from Iraq. Two, is to leave Iraq in a stable environment and self-sufficient.  The latter is something that is incredibly difficult and something that is going to take at least a decade from this point forward and one that I am not completely opposed to. BUT, here is the thing.  In my opinion, it is very clear, that we are under staffed for the job at hand in Iraq.  Moving troops around in order to accomplish something in the short-term, like “securing” Baghdad, doesn’t seem to make much sense to me when we are looking to secure the whole country.  So, what do we do? If we, as a country, decide that we are going to “stay the course” in Iraq then I think it is time to do the job right.  I used to get scolded by my grandfather a lot as a child to be sure to do things the right way…and not half-assed. Translation = Draft.  President Bush and Team Bush were very adamant about the fact that the forces deployed worldwide are an “all volunteer” force. Well, in my view, if we are going to do the job then let’s do it right.
I have heard generals and the like talk about using “overwhelming force” to accomplish our goals in just about every successful military campaign the US has been involved in in the past 20 years. Electricity and running water are not a fact of life in the capital city of Baghdad so let’s forget about paying for the war with oil revenues like we were promised. Let’s just get in there and kick some ass so that we can get out of there with something better than what it started as.  Otherwise, we may witness the second coming of Persia in our lifetimes.

tags: baghdad, draft, iraq, middle east, politics, war