OpEdNews - Diary: The SECRET Plan To Stay In Iraq

"...until they are absolutely forced to do otherwise that is where they will stay, which is what is precisely meant by Bush's recent rejection of any kind of "graceful exit."

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DIANE'S NEWS CLIPS begins here :)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> http://www.peaceteam.net The SECRET Plan To Stay In Iraq In the 1968 presidential campaign Richard Nixon promised to end the war in Vietnam, but would not tell anyone exactly he would do it. In as many words this came to be known as his "secret plan." Yet, after his election the war still dragged on for another five years with 20,000 more American deaths and 100,000 wounded. ....................snip...................... The policy is, always was, and in the minds of the Bush cabal will always will be, to occupy Iraq indefinitely while we install 14 permanent military bases, where they have absolutely no business of the Iraqi people to be there. And until they are absolutely forced to do otherwise that is where they will stay, which is what is precisely meant by Bush's recent rejection of any kind of "graceful exit." Dennis Kucinich is calling for an end to funding for the war and occupation now. Ultimately, that's the only reason the war in Vietnam ended at all. Congress stopped .................snip................... paying for it. That's what must happen now. ACTION PAGE: http://www.peaceteam.net/ _________________________________ WHO BROUGHT US TO THE IRAQ ABYSS? By Bernard Weiner, The Crisis Papers Here are five predictions for the short-term in Iraq. After that, some context and explanations. 1. Maliki will be gone shortly. Not only is he an ineffective Iraqi Prime Minister, but he had the temerity to stiff Bush at the summit's first meeting. Bad move! Dubya has no tolerance for that kind of push-back. Bush did a Brown/Rumsfeld on the Iraqi Prime Minister ("heckuva job, Maliki-man"), which in Bushworld is the kiss of death. Expect him to be forced out, or a coup to topple him. 2. I think we can anticipate Iraq's "Tet Offensive": There may soon be a major, frontal assault by the insurgents against and perhaps even inside the Green Zone in Baghdad, along with coordinated major attacks all around the country. This assault will serve as a clear demonstration of how vulnerable and untenable the U.S. position is in Iraq. That will be the beginning of the end of the U.S. Occupation. [snip] Continued >> http://www.crisispapers.org/essays6w/abyss.htm _________________________________ .ron corvuswire@verizon.net You Can Buy Polonium-210 On The Web ... at this AMERICAN-OWNED AND OPERATED website >> http://www.unitednuclear.com/isotopes.htm ----- WAKE UP America! The giant phone and cable companies are trying to take control of the Internet away from the public and convert it into their own private, corporate network. http://www.itsournet.org/ _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://onlinejournal.com The "Gaza Solution" and the ongoing war on Islam By Mike Whitney | Online Journal Contributing Writer The central tenet of American foreign policy hasn't changed since the early 1980s when Secretary of State Henry Kissinger summarized our involvement in the Iraq-Iraq War saying, "I hope they kill each other." Kissinger's dictum reveals the basic racial and religious odium which animates the current policy and has become the organizing principle for maintaining the global empire. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1478.shtml ----- Should an arsonist be allowed to put out his own fire? By Ben Tanosborn | Online Journal Contributing Writer There seems to be something drastically wrong with letting someone don firefighting gear to extinguish a fire we've all witnessed he started. Not just wrong, but amoral, obscene. It applies to arson by an individual and, in a grander scale, to State-arson. And such rationale applies not just to arson originating from people with mental disorders, but also from individuals with political, profit and revenge motives. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1477.shtml ----- Pfizer's shell game; cuts 20 percent of sales force By Peter Rost, M.D. | Online Journal Guest Writer So the news is finally out, after months of speculation. Pfizer, the #1 drug company which started the arms race among pharmaceutical sales forces, is finally cutting back. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1485.shtml _________________________________ IF LINK DOESN'T WORK, THEN PASTE ARTICLE LINK(S) INTO YOUR BROWSER -- OR GO DIRECTLY TO >> http://www.truthout.org Dave Lindorff | Doomed by Politics, and by Ourselves http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506N.shtml "As things stand," writes Dave Lindorff, "we have an ignorant president who openly scoffs at the whole idea of global warming, and who is actively working to block even small efforts to combat it." ----- Panel Rejects Paper Trail Requirement for Voting Machines http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506O.shtml A federal advisory panel on Monday rejected a recommendation that states use only voting machines that produced results that could be independently verified. ----- Ray McGovern | A CIA Insider's Take on Gates http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506J.shtml Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst from 1963 to 1990 and Robert Gates's branch chief in the early 1970s writes: "As Iraq goes down the drain, and 'the crazies' accelerate their campaign to bomb Iran, what is more important than a defense secretary from whom Congress can expect truthful testimony? Hold the Gates nomination over to January." ----- Dean Baker | The Housing Crash Recession of 2007 http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506S.shtml "As we approach the end of 2006, the economy's prospects for next year appear more gloomy with each new piece of economic data," says Dean Baker. "And, just like President Bush in his assessment of the situation in Iraq, the economic forecasters are gradually revising their forecasts downward, as it no longer appears credible to present the rosy pictures that they had been trying to sell. The trouble began early in the year, when the housing boom that was supposed to continue forever turned into a housing bust." ----- The New York Times | Losing the Good War http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506B.shtml The editors of the New York Times write: "Afghanistan was supposed to be the good war - and the war America was winning. But because of the Bush administration's inattention and mismanagement, even the good war is going wrong." ----- Smuggling, Theft, Bribery at Homeland Security Agency http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506E.shtml Aside from patrolling the nation's borders and guarding against terrorism, the Department of Homeland Security also is battling fraud, theft, bribery, smuggling and other crimes by American citizens - with some of the most disturbing examples coming from the sprawling agency's own employees. ----- Bush Agenda Came First for Bolton at UN http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506F.shtml ----- Detainees' Rights Cases Remain in Limbo http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506P.shtml When the US military began shipping prisoners from the war on terror to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, one goal was clear: to keep them outside the reach of the US court system. But nearly five years later, those cases remain stuck exactly where the Bush administration didn't want them to be. ----- William Fisher | Four Hopeful Signs http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506K.shtml "Amidst the anger, dismay and depression felt by millions of Americans who see their country's civil liberties being unnecessarily surrendered in the name of 'The Global War on Terror,' there are occasional signs that our justice system is still alive and well," writes William Fisher. ----- Obama: "Maybe" http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506M.shtml Senator Barack Obama's announcement that he might run for president is altering the early dynamics of the 2008 Democratic nominating contest. ----- Justices Weigh Race, School Admissions http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506L.shtml ----- Search for Crops That Can Survive Global Warming http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/120506EC.shtml ----- Pentagon Resists Pleas for Help in Afghan Opium Fight http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120506T.shtml _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://mediamatters.org CBS, AP, LA Times failed to challenge Hadley's dismissal of Rumsfeld memo Read more >> http://mediamatters.org/items/200612050001?src=other ----- In "Eight for '08" series, Chris Matthews Show followed McCain gush-fest by bashing Hillary Clinton Read more >> http://mediamatters.org/items/200612050003?src=other ----- Four of six major papers left out prescient warnings in coverage of 2002 Iraq war vote A December 4 Washington Post article pointed out that the newspaper's own reporting from October 2002 on the House's passage of the Iraq war resolution failed to quote a single Democrat expressing concerns about "postwar challenges," though many had done so. Media Matters found that contemporaneous articles from three other major print outlets also left out any mention of such warnings. Read more >> http://mediamatters.org/items/200612040006?src=other ----- Kristol and Kagan falsely claimed exit polls showed public evenly split on "pullout from Iraq" Read more >> http://mediamatters.org/items/200612040003?src=other ----- Wash. Post uncritically cited Will's distortion of Post's reporting on Bush/Webb exchange Read more >> http://mediamatters.org/items/200612040002?src=other ----- Wash. Times editorial falsely claimed Levin supports deadline for withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq Read more >> http://mediamatters.org/items/200612050002?src=other ----- NY Times' Kristof: "Christian Right has largely retreated from the culture wars" [snip] ...Kristof concluded his column by claiming that "the Christian Right has largely retreated from the culture wars," adding that he hopes "that the Atheist Left doesn't revive them." Kristof provided no support for his assertion. Nor did he explain how it squares with recent actions by Christian conservative leaders. For example: Read more >> http://mediamatters.org/items/200612040005?src=other _________________________________ http://jablankfort@earthlink.net uruknet.info Letter from James Abourezk, former US Senator from South Dakota to Jeff Blankfort on the Israel Lobby :: from http://www.uruknet.info :: news from occupied Iraq Uruknet receives daily many hacking attempts. To prevent this, we have 10 websites on 6 servers in different places. So, if the website is slow or it does not answer, you can recall one of the other web sites: http://www.uruknet.info , http://www.uruknet.de, http://www.uruknet.biz, http://www.uruknet.org.uk, http://www.uruknet.com, http://www.uruknet.org, - http://www.uruknet.it, http://www.uruknet.eu, http://www.uruknet.net, http://www.uruknet.web.at.it Letter from James Abourezk, former US Senator from South Dakota to Jeff Blankfort on the Israel Lobby Jeff Blankfort >> December 4, 2006 The following letter was sent to me today by James Abourezk, former US Senator from South Dakota, and he readily complied when I asked that I be allowed to forward it to my list because what he had to say is of the utmost importance, given last month's election and all the new faces in Congress, and the immediate previous posting to you and James Petras's article earlier in the day.. Dear Jeff: [snip] http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m28769 _________________________________ NOTE from Diane: Gates wouldn't lie ...Well, we'll see. What if he's just practiced in saying the right thing? He is, after all, Bush's man. And didn't Gates and Bush have one-on-one long and very private meetings, "meetings," with an s, prior, (who wouldn't want to be a fly on that wall,) in addition to weeks of tutoring? There's nothing like the smell of leather when a recently approved for confirmation Secretary of Defense gets a new leash on life to do as his President pleases. And yeaaa! for political love feasts. _________________________________ LEADING THE CHARGE AGAINST GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS OCA continues to focus on the hazards of unlabeled and untested genetically engineered foods. In 2006 major controversies developed as genetically engineered grass and rice contaminated the environment and food stocks. Although the US government has approved the cultivation of GE wheat, sugar beets, flax, potatoes, fish, and rice, pressure from the OCA and allied consumer and farm groups around the world has convinced the biotech industry to hold off indefinitely on releasing these varieties commercially. An ongoing series of USDA and industry polls have found that 80-95% of Americans support mandatory labels for GE food, mainly so they can avoid buying these products. The OCA is working to recruit over 100 Congressional co-sponsors for a 2007 bill that would require GE foods to be labeled and safety tested. Mandatory labeling requirements in the European Union have basically driven genetically engineered foods and ingredients off the market. Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge-free.htm _________________________________ http://billionairesforbush.com | http://www.buzzflash.com | http://www.dailykos.com _________________________________ MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ... Space Weather News ... http://spaceweather.com MAJOR SOLAR FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites detected a powerful X-class solar flare on Dec. 5th, at 10:35 Universal Time. The source: big, new sunspot 929, which is emerging over the Sun's eastern limb. Because of the sunspot's position near the limb, this flare was not Earth-directed. Future eruptions could be, however, because the Sun's spin is turning the spot toward Earth. Sunspot 929 will be visible for the next two weeks as it glides across the solar disk. Please visit http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates. _________________________________ AVOID THE POST OFFICE 'Tis the season to avoid the post office. With everybody mailing cards and presents, the lines will be long. There's nothing you can do but join the end of the line, right? Wrong! You can weigh your packages at home and print out your own postage. That's easier said than done if you don't have a scale. But the U.S. Postal Service is offering free stack and weigh scales. They're designed to weigh priority packages up to six pounds. Unfortunately, there isn't a picture of the scales on the Postal Service's page. But in case you're curious, they look kind of like car ramps for changing your oil. These are ideal for people who sell a lot of things on eBay, too. TO VISIT TODAY'S COOL SITE, GO HERE: http://ecap21.usps.com Be sure to listen to me Monday through Friday. Use my map to find me near you http://www.komando.com/listen/index.aspx _________________________________ eHEALTHY NEWS Why is the Price of Gold Exploding and Your Paycheck Crashing? - Amazing videos that help you understand the real reason behind your shrinking paycheck. click here ----- The CDC: Centers for Deceit Control - The Centers for Disease Control may have covered up information connecting vaccines to autism in chilldren. http://www.mercola.com/2006/may/18/the_cdc_centers_for_deceit_control.htm _________________________________ VIDEO: Insane Jump 00:16 | 11.28.06 - A guy does lands a 360 degree flip from the roof of his house to his pool. http://break.com/verizon/360_flip_from_roof_to_pool2.html ----- VIDEO: Boat is Too Tall For Bridge 12/3/2006 - A boat tries to fit under a bridge but misses by about 30 feet. The good news is if he tried again the boat would make it, the bad news is 2 hours later it sank. http://www.break.com/index/boat_is_too_tall_for_bridge.html _________________________________ NationalGeographic.com http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/ _________________________________ NASA Astronomy picture of the day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html _________________________________ Lord save us all from... a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms. ~ Mark Twain