A Deadly, Deteriorating Mess

[Thurston Howell IV]

The bogus transfer of sovereignty from the US to Iraq at the end of June turned out to be a political magic trick by the Bush Administration. Coverage of the daily carnage in Iraq dropped of the front pages (Hey, it's not our problem anymore!), and public opinion turned positive concerning progress in Iraq. However, in recent weeks, the situation has deteriorated greatly -- coordinated insurgent attacks, whole sections of the country becoming "no-go" zones, more than 1000 Americans killed, al-Sadr living to fight another day, etc. The situation refuses to be swept under the rug.

Now we have an intelligence report, based on data collected before the recent problems, that suggests that things in Iraq will either be tenuous, bad or downright ugly. Yet Bush continues to live in fantasy land, making optimistic pronouncements on progress in Iraq. What is this guy's plan, anyway? Other than mouthing platitudes from his daily affirmation calendar? Can we trust the security of the country to someone who is so out of touch with reality? This report should blow a nice sized hole in Bush's "War President" credibility, if Kerry seizes on it effectively.

[David Dunham]

1. Moveonpac.org's new ad "Quagmire" is the best ad of 2004

Watch it at moveonpac.org and please donate to them.

[Thurston Howell IV]

5. Got the link?

I can't find the "Quagmire" ad. Could you post the link?

BTW, I've given to MoveOn and ACT. Both are very worth efforts.

[Carla in Ca]

8. The SSS has 28 million dollars added to its budget for 2005

"the nation must be prepared to conduct a draft"

--Lewis C. Brodsky, director of public and congressional affairs with the Selective Service System

Many people have been wondering if our President has secret plans to reinstate the draft. This website will provide absolute proof that Bush is making plans to reinstate the draft by the middle of 2005.

In the last few months Bush has launched a recruiting drive for people to work on the draft boards around the country, the DefendAmerica government site posted an advert looking for volunteers, but when someone brought this to the attention of the press it was promptly removed, fueling rumours about the possibility of a draft.

There are also CURRENTLY bills in the Senate and in the house that, if passed, will make military service a requirement for all men, women (including college students) between the age of 18 and 25

-more-

[readmylips]

2. bush took a page from Nixon's book of tricks...

Nixon turned Vietnam sovereignty to the Vietnamese in name only, so that he could be re-elected. It worked for Nixon but that was when we didn't have the internet...there's no place for bush to hide...we expose all his lies and media liers.

[Fire Bush]

3. But if they get another term...

They promise to get it right this time.

[Skittles]

4. Bush's plan

is to steal the election again and give us another four years of hell

[barb162]

6. The Bush plan on Iraq is the same as the plan on the

economy: repeat in every speech that things are improving, thingsare turning the corner, there may be bumps in the road but things are getting better (watch audience cheer)

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. You're right

and do you think he will bring ebay into it like Cheney did in his attempt to make the economy look good?

Maybe he can offer WMDs for sale?

[barb162]

9. why not

as long as the rich get their tax cuts , Bush gets their vote; as long as Bush says the bible is his most important book, millions of social right wingers vote for him; as long as the jobless sell their possessions on ebay....

[Matilda]

10. Shouldn't Kerry be changing his mind on Iraq?

It's a diabolical mess - worse than most of us ever imagined, I
suspect, yet Kerry is still saying he'd see it through, just change
the way it's being handled. He's doesn't say how he would manage
it better, and I don't suppose he really knows - I'm not sure the
best generals could really answer that one at this stage, because
the Iraqis just want all the troops out, now, and I don't think
they will settle for anything else.

It really worries me that he's not backing off from his support of
the war - people who back the war will support Bush, so what about
those who don't? They don't really have anywhere to go, as the
situation becomes more and more untenable.

I'm sure Bush will accuse him of flip-flopping, but what the hell -
at least he'd be offering an alternative.

[Thurston Howell IV]

11. Politically speaking

I think the burden is on Bush -- he's in charge right now -- what is he going to do beside ignore reality and mouth platitudes -- is he just going to let the situation spin out of control? What's his plan to deal with the situation until January, 2005?

Kerry only needs to provide broad principles which will guide his decision making once he becomes president, 4 months from now. Becoming the anti-war president at this late stage, just before the election, seems much too risky politically. He should have done his gut-check on this a long time ago.

[Matilda]

12. It's so frustrating that nobody - nobody in the public eye or the media -

is asking the right questions of Bush. It's extraordinary that he
still gets up there telling everyone how wonderfully everything is
going, and although the world knows he's lying, nobody's calling him
on it.

I know Kerry got it wrong from the start, but as things are getting
so wildly out of control I'm feeling so depressed because I can't
see Kerry giving a viable alternative to Bush. Even with Kofi Annan
weighing in yesterday, Kerry can't run with it because he's really
on the same side as Bush, and got it just as wrong.

I can't help wondering now whether the media helped build up Kerry
because they knew he could be beaten. Because as things stand now,
the real alternative would have been Dean, but the media killed him
stone dead. Funny about that.

[Disturbed]

13. The Media is

part of the Oligarchy. When Dean said that he would dismatle Media conglomeration they decided to assasinate him. I still feel that he was the candidate that could have given the Dem party some for real enthusiasm. As it is now most Dems are merely ABB. Kerry is painted as Left Liberal but in my view he is centrist. The Oligarchy prefer the Neo Fascists but could put up with a Kerry/Edwards Admin. This is GW Bush's War unless Kerry is elected.

If it gets real bad Kerry may have to announce that he has come to the realization that Iraq must be left to solve it's own political future.

Dems would be pleased with that. The rabid Right Wing would scream obscenities but the swing voters just may vote for Kerry because most people are getting to the notion that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake and staying serves no purpose.