First Things First

Obama vs. McCain On Al Queda in Iraq

Senator Obama and Senator McCain staked out their contrasting positions yesterday on the question of al Qaeda in Iraq.  Judging from the opening salvos, there will be a spirited debate on the war as we move into the November presidential elections.

Watch it:

"A Flawed Policy Wrapped in an Illusion"

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) calls for withdrawal of US military from Iraq, Nov. 17, 2005

It has been two years since Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) stood on the House floor and called for a timetable to bring US troops home from Iraq.  The war in Iraq, he said, represents a "flawed policy wrapped in an illusion."  Citing his deep concern for the state of the American military, Murtha -- a highly decorated combat veteran -- said:

"This war needs to be personalized.  As I said before I have visited with the severely wounded of this war. They are suffering. Because we in Congress are charged with sending our sons and daughters into battle, it is our responsibility, our obligation to speak out for them. That’s why I am speaking out.

"Our military has done everything that has been asked of them, the U.S. can not accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring them home."

US Exit Strategy: Iraqi Army in Training

For over four years, President Bush has said the Iraqi army is being trained to "stand up" so the American army can "stand down" and begin the process of withdrawal.  Given this exit strategy, the following video clip is less than comforting.  Watch it:

Obama Asks: "Where Does Hillary Stand?"

Sen. Barack Obama, referring to his willingness to meet "without preconditions" with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea during the first year of his presidency, said today in Des Moines, Iowa:

"A couple of months ago, Senator Clinton called me "naïve and irresponsible" for taking this position, and said that we could lose propaganda battles if we met with leaders we didn't like.  Just yesterday, though, she called for diplomacy with Iran "without preconditions."  So I'm not sure if any of us knows exactly where she stands on this.  But I can tell you this: when I am President of the United States, the American people and the world will always know where I stand."

It appears the race is not yet over.  The differences between the candidates are only now becoming sharply defined.

Is Obama Rattling Clinton?

Is Obama rattling Clinton?  So it seems. 

Sen. Barack Obama Campaigning in New Hampsire

During a Democratic presidential debate back in July, Sen. Hillary Clinton charged that Sen. Barack Obama was naive because of his willingness to meet "without preconditions" with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea during the first year of his presidency.

Yesterday, responding to a voters question in New Hampshire, Clinton said twice she would negotiate with Iran "without conditions."

''I would engage in negotiations with Iran, with no conditions, because we don't really understand how Iran works. We think we do, from the outside, but I think that is misleading,'' she said.

Recently, Clinton voted to label Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.  Obama charged that this vote gave the Bush Administration a green light to launch military attacks against Iran. 

The actual text of the legislation says:

"(3) that it should be the policy of the United States to combat, contain, and [stop] the violent activities and destabilizing influence inside Iraq of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its foreign facilitators such as Lebanese Hezbollah, and its indigenous Iraqi proxies;

"(4) to support the prudent and calibrated use of all instruments of United States national power in Iraq, including diplomatic, economic, intelligence, and military instruments, in support of the policy described in paragraph (3) with respect to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies."

While this legislation is a "sense of the Senate" amendment," and has no legal binding force, it nonetheless indicates where the Senate stands regarding US relations with Iran.

Analysts are warning that the US focus on confronting Iran in a proxy war inside Iraq risks triggering a direct conflict. 

Rush Spews Venom At US Troops

On August 7, 2007, the New York Times published an editorial -- The War As We Saw It -- authored by seven noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division (Buddhika Jayamaha, Wesley D. Smith, Jeremy Roebuck, Omar Mora, Edward Sandmeier, Yance T. Gray, and Jeremy A. Murphy).  Since then, two of these infantrymen have been killed (Gray and Mora) and one was wounded while the article was being written (Murphy).  The wounded soldier is now in recovery.  In their article, these soldiers state:

"To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant  welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched."

"In the end, we need to recognize that our presence may have released Iraqis from the grip of  a tyrant, but that it has also robbed them of their self-respect.  They will soon realize that the best way to regain dignity is to call us what we are — an army of occupation — and force our withdrawal."

On September 26, Rush Limbaugh called members of the armed services who advocate withdrawal from Iraq -- such as those who wrote this article -- "phony soldiers." 

Since then, Limbaugh has come under heavy fire for disparaging pro-withdrawal US troops.   VoteVet.org has tried to hold Limbaugh accountable for his remarks.  An apology has been demanded.  But neither Limbaugh nor his listeners will have any of that.  Instead, his supporters have been sending "hate mail" to VoteVet.org.

Recently, Brandon Friendman, Vice President of VoteVet.org, read aloud some of this hate mail on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:   

Bush: Private Military Contractors in Iraq

On April 10, 2006, President Bush spoke at the John Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C.  Following his remarks, a first year student asked the president how he proposed to bring private military contractors [e.g., Blackwater, USA] under a system of law.

Our Little Monster

Iraq: The Military Industrial Complex

On January 17, 1961, President Eisenhower spoke to the nation in his Farewell Address.  In that speech, he cautioned "against the unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex."  He said: "We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes."

Iraq: The Death of History

The tragedy that unfolds in Iraq never ceases to amaze.  In a report to be released in December, the Lebanese archaeologist Joanne Farchakh claims that the looting in Iraq has not spared "one metre of the Sumerian capitals that have been buried under the sand for thousands of years."

Ur, Iraq: Capital of the ancient civilization of Sumeria

"The near total destruction of Iraq's historic past -- the very cradle of human civilization -- has emerged as one of the most shameful symbols of our disastrous occupation."

The armies of looters "have systematically destroyed the remains of this civilization in their tireless search for sellable artefacts: ancient cities, covering an estimated surface area of 20 square kilometres, which -- if properly excavated -- could have provided extensive new information concerning the development of the human race ... Humankind is losing its past for a cuneiform tablet or a sculpture or piece of jewellery that the dealer buys and pays for in cash in a country devastated by war.  Humankind is losing its history for the pleasure of private collectors living safely in their luxurious houses and ordering specific objects for their collection."

"There are 10,000 archaeological sites in the country. In the Nassariyah area alone, there are about 840 Sumerian sites; they have all been systematically looted."