Politics: Time For A Better Way

The WahPoo tells us that Jewish liberals (and, hopefully, progressives, moderates, nonsectarians, democrats, independents, and anybody who has seen that the State of Israel is being used as a catspaw for American imperialist ambitions in the Middle-East to the detriment of the Jewish people) are forming a PAC to counter the influence of the far-right AIPAC lobbyists.

The hawks of AIPAC do not represent the Israeli people, who are far more interested in peace than in the continuing manipulation of American foreign policy with detrimental results for both Israeli and Palestinian peoples. They do not represent the American people, who are bankrolling their militarism to the tune of nearly $100 billion. They do not represent anyone except a small handful of wealthy, powerful, militaristic maniacs who stand to profit from the continuing murder and horror.

Gaza is a concentration camp, and the stain of that, the responsibility for that, lies with AIPAC and "Israel uber alles" hawks. What the Israeli military is doing to the Palestinians is equalled only by what Nazi Germany did to the Jews. What a shame and a disgrace to think that the sufferings of the Jewish people, that forced the whole world to examine its conscience, should now be played out by the State of Israel on the hapless and helpless Palestinians. Israeli and Palestinian women have worked together for years to persuade the state of Israel to abandon its function as a tool of American militarism, with small success.

The article states, in part:

The lobbying group will be known as J Street and the political action group as JStreetPAC. The executive director for both will be Jeremy Ben-Ami, a former domestic policy adviser in the Clinton White House.

"The definition of what it means to be pro-Israel has come to diverge from pursuing a peace settlement," said Alan Solomont, a prominent Democratic Party fundraiser involved in the initiative. In recent years, he said, "We have heard the voices of neocons, and right-of-center Jewish leaders and Christian evangelicals, and the mainstream views of the American Jewish community have not been heard."

One can only hope that all Jews with a conscience will join together to counter the militaristic approach that has shown such dismal results, and try to forge a new policy. Peace in the Middle East is long overdue. Israel cannot guarantee the survival of the Jewish people by continuing militarism. It's time for negotiations, diplomacy, and an understanding that there has to be a better way.

AIPAC is much richer and more powerful than the new organization can hope to be for some time, but they own too many of our politicians already. Their influence must be countered. Americans, Jewish and non, are beginning to resent the influence of the powerful Israeli lobby on American foreign policy and the American pocketbook. So be prepared, folks. AIPAC will fight back, and they already own many of our politicians.

Even supporters said the new groups will be hard-pressed to match AIPAC's influence in Washington. AIPAC has more than 100,000 members, 18 offices around the country and an endowment of more than $100 million--dwarfing what organizers say will be a first-year budget for J Street of about $1.5 million.

AIPAC has cultivated alliances across the political aisle, especially in recent years with President Bush, who has worked hard to build good relations with leading Jewish groups. But AIPAC also works closely with congressional Democrats and the leading Democratic presidential candidates, and it sees itself as representing a broad cross section of Jews with an interest in fostering strong ties between Israel and the United States.

Those of us who have watched the demolition of Palestinian farms and homes, the violation of basic human rights, the murder of activists like Rachel Corrie with growing horror over the past few years, must work to show that America's &mdash and the world's &mdash commitment to Israel does not include violations of the human rights of non-Jews. Peace in the Middle East has been the stated goal of the world for our entire lifetime.

We are facing the death of our planet with all its peoples. Scarce water, rising temperatures, crop failures, epidemics, pollution. If the human race, in millions of years of evolution, cannot find a way to work together in peace, we will all die, and sooner than we want to, or think likely. It is time to join forces and work for all.

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Iraq: "Surge"

Of course, expecting Tony Snow to tell the truth, ever, on any subject for any reason, would have to mark you as a gull of the first order. That man lies every time his lips move. Still, he said something today that caused a major twitch in the PoliticalCat ears: Apparently (according to the lying diseasebag and shill Tony Snow), some 80 per cent of Bush's advisors opposed the surge, that disastrous temporary increase of troops to Baghdad that allowed Iraqi insurgents to migrate smoothly to other cities in Iraq, where they have since fulfilled their mandate of causing extreme trouble.

Snow's mendacity, exceeded only by his extreme stupidity, can best be seen in this statement:

“Everybody was telling him, ‘You’re crazy, don’t do this,’” Snow said. “You get the chills. He’s really unafraid to take the hits if he thinks he’s doing the right thing.”

Tony, you pathetic fucking idiot, what does he have to be afraid of? It's not like anybody's shooting at him, his kids, his family. We here at Casa de Los Gatos are completely and really unafraid to give the Iraqi insurgents the finger! In fact, we so firmly believe that we are doing the right thing that we hereby give the entire Afghani nation the finger.

What are they gonna do about it? Bomb some Canadian troops? Maim some American soldiers? Shoot some German soldiers in the head? Hahahaha! We laugh at their patheticness.

Jeebus fucking J.H. Christ, where do these morons come from? What the hell does Chimperor McDunce have to be afraid of? It's not like anyone's coming to take his meds or his case of Wild Turkey away for exhibiting verbal diarrhoea.

That's why he could say "Bring it on!" to the Iraqi insurgents, and when they did, he just threw 30,000 more bodies into the meatgrinder. Not his body, oh no. Like Darth Cheney, the Idiot Boy has "other priorities."


No, instead he sends his chimpminions to drag this suicidal, homicidal, bipolar, alcoholic soldier out of a hospital bed and return him to the frontlines. And these guys. And these guys.

And it's just so marvelously effective, all this surgeation and redeployment. Why, just look! Look how we're winning, winning, winning.

Meanwhile, because we took our collective eye off the ball in Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is hiding, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is now forced to beg NATO nations for more troops for Afghanistan.

This focus, Gates writes in his letter, explains why Washington is now sending 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan -- troops which will join the 26,000 soldiers already stationed in Afghanistan. The Marines, though, will stay for seven months at the most, after which other NATO allies are expected to take up the slack. Where Gates is pointing the finger, though, is clear: at the Germans.

How disingenuous of Gates to fail to mention that the U.S. Marines wanted out of Iraq and into Afghanistan, which is why they're being sent there. And why not? At least Afghanistan is a just war.

However, our NATO allies are having problems with our overly enthusiastic warmongering, it seems. It's not just the $5.2 trillion lost in world stock markets thanks to the U.S. subprime lending woes (Regulation BAD, right Republicans? Here's yer $5.2 TRILLION worth of bad, you dumb pricks) that's bothering them. Der Spiegel says:

Early in the week, the Canadians also ramped up the pressure on Berlin. After losing 78 soldiers in Afghanistan, Ottawa issued a clear threat to its allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels: Either the Europeans send 1,000 combat troops, together with helicopters, to Kandahar, or Canada will completely withdraw its roughly 2,500 soldiers from Afghanistan next year.

[...]

Officials at the German defense ministry have called the Gates letter an "outrage." The Americans, they say, are fully aware of the special circumstances -- conditions imposed by the German parliament -- under which German forces currently operate in Afghanistan.

Of course, Gates is trying to disguise the begathon as a "stern warning." Good luck, ya dumb fuck.

Here's what the Germans have to say:

"I have a clear mandate from the German parliament," Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters Friday. "It consists of 3,500 soldiers serving along the northern border, and only helping out in the south for a limited period of time, as needed."

Meanwhile, the NATO Secretary-General's take on Gates' posturing for the home market is, um, refreshing:

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was quick to condemn the letter on Friday. According to Reuters he said it was "not helpful."

He said it was unfair to say Germany was doing too little and he would prefer if discussion on boosting troop numbers in Afghanistan was not done in public.

Of course, Gates' begathon would probably have yielded better results if he hadn't first trashed other NATO commanders' role in Afghanistan. Or shill for an administration that has shown all too clearly that the "war on terrrrra" is really a pretext for a war on American citizens and taxpayers.

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2008 Elections: It's Official

Complete Loon and Chimpmunk Impersonator John McCain

John "Walnuts" McCain is nuttier than a fruitcake.

He would have started an illegal, immoral war of occupation in Iraq regardless of the presence of WMDs, he says. He seems to have forgotten that even Big Dick and his li'l pet chimp thought it was necessary to lie to the American people to get them to sacrifice their lives and their children's lives.

Does he think he's running for King? As fucked up as the Constitution has been in the hands of Bushco, we here at this fine establishment still believe it does not permit kings and queens, elected or otherwise.

"It's not American presence that bothers the American people, it's American causalities," said McCain in an interview with Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet The Press" on Sunday.

Jeezus, you cynical bastard. Do you think the nation has sunk that low? That the deaths, crippling and wounding of Iraqi men, women, and children, as well as Americans and whatever's left of the ragged "coalition" won't bother us? Oh, wait, he says so in plain language:

"What I believe we can achieve is a reduction in casualties to the point where the Iraqis are doing the fighting and dying [and] we're supporting them," McCain said.

Out. Out, you crazy motherfucker. You don't deserve a single vote. Just get the hell out of the race now and crawl back to your mansion and your trophy wife and life out your last couple of years in obscurity.

You shameless spawn of Greed and Pandering. Supporting death and destruction. How dare you? How many trillions will you siphon out of the treasury so working class men and women can stay out in that hellhole while our bridges and levees turn to dust? While we sell our roads and ports to every stranger with a dollar? You piece of pigshit.

To think I once respected this man. Now I just want him to develop instant cancer.

Raw Story has the details and the video clip.

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Entertainment

Your Xmas gift, from Bloomberg: The Chimp-in-Chief plans to spend most of next year schlepping around the world

to rebuild the U.S.'s international standing and create a foreign-policy legacy beyond Iraq.

Did that make you LOL? Huh? Did it?

Just asking. Because you know, we thought it was LOL funny. He's going to SCHWHAAAAT? Does the idiot have any idea how thoroughly unpopular he is? Wait, let's see, where does he plan to go? I mean, the British don't like him much because he dragged them into an unpopular war, saddled them with the lying lapdog Tony Blair, and showed an unforgivable lack of protocol when dealing with the Queen's state visit; the French don't like him much because he and his cohorts bruited about all that anti-French sentiment at the start of the war of occupation in Iraq; the Germans don't like him much because of the completely uncivilized, stupid, ignorant, idiotic behaviour he's displayed both towards Merkel and towards any global initiative, whether it be on warming, war, or trade; and pretty much everyone except maybe the Poles think he sucks ass.

On his last visit to India, the parliamentary representatives of the people threatened to pelt him, so he couldn't speak before them; they tried to let him speak at the Lal Qilla (Red Fort) but that heavily Muslim area was deemed too great a security risk; and he ended up lecturing before the animals in the zoo at the Purana Qilla (Old Fort).

He's not too popular with the Chinese, based on his manhandling of China's prime minister and his attempts to force reevaluation of Chinese currency after borrowing huge gobs of money from them to finance his pet war project.

So where is he going? According to Bloomberg,

The president plans trips to the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America,

Gee, at last count we don't recall him being popular at all in Africa, the Middle East, or South America, either.

Maybe he can get Daddy to go with him and keep the bottle away.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Sorry, the idea of the Chimperor doing any fence-mending this late in the game, when he's single-handedly succeeded in making this nation almost universally hated and despised just kills us.

We remember 9/12, when millions of people all over the world demonstrated their solidarity with us, mourning our dead and sending love and good wishes to this nation. Six short years later, that's all gone to hell:

`"Bush also has problems at home, but he has even bigger problems with the rest of the world," said Andy Kohut, president the Pew Research Center in Washington.

[...]

A Pew study of public opinion in 47 nations found ``extensive'' anti-Americanism and ``increasing disapproval'' of the cornerstones of U.S. foreign policy.

A perception that Washington acts unilaterally was shared by 89 percent of the French, 83 percent of Canadians and 74 percent of Britons. America's image in most Muslim nations is ``abysmal,'' Pew said.

You know, if Shrubya the Lesser was a modest, humble sort of feller, he could pull it off. But he's pissy, arrogant, snippy, rude, immodest, uncultured, an absolute boor. He has no cultural sensitivity whatsoever. Chances are, he'll rub some stateman's bald head, or give a shoulder massage to some head of state, or spit breadcrumbs all over some diplomat or politician, as he's done before, and piss off both friends and enemies even more. The dumb schmuck.

This has been your Xmas HO HO HO.

Let's hope no one arrests the idiot on war crimes charges.

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Iraq - Polish Bases Targeted In South

From Reuters comes this report of Shia militants vowing to step up pressure against Polish bases in southern Iraq - until recently held by British forces - followed by mortar and machinegun attacks.

On Sunday Reuters obtained a copy of a video in which two previously unknown Shi'ite groups claimed responsibility for attacks on Poland's ambassador and its embassy and warned Polish troops to leave Iraq "before you drown in its swamp".

Previously unknown Shi'ite groups. So the U.S. military, which has been remarkably deceptive about everything happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, can no longer continue to try and bamboozle the people of the world.

Despite Bush The Lesser's claims to the contrary, Al Qaeda in Iraq did not exist until after the illegal U.S. invasion, and has never been the main source of the strife. There are multiple splinter groups, not to mention the main factions of the Sunni, Shia, and Kurds, warring for supremacy in various areas. Now that the British military has effectively pulled out of Basra, the insurgents have set their sights on the Polish military south of Diwaniya. It's starting to look worse for the U.S. military. Not much of a coalition left, and although these attacks did relatively minor damage to the Poles, if more attacks and more damage occur, public sentiment in Poland will likely force a pullout of Polish troops.

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has vowed to keep Polish troops in southern Iraq despite the attack on the ambassador earlier this month.

The ambassador was wounded in a triple bomb attack on his diplomatic convoy in Baghdad in which one Polish secret service officer and a passerby were killed. Five days later a car bomb killed two people near Poland's Baghdad embassy.

Monday's attacks come days ahead of an October 21 parliamentary election in Poland in which Kaczynski, a strong U.S. ally, faces a challenge from opposition parties who want to pull Polish troops out of Iraq.

Iceland has already withdrawn its troop, and the Australian government of Howard looks shaky, given the rise of anti-war sentiment in that nation. Chimpy does have a way of destroying his friends' and supporters' careers, so I expect Howard will go down in flames, Australia will withdraw its troops, and the UK is on schedule to withdraw its military, so Americans will be left to die in the sands of Iraq, because Chimpy McTardibus will never, ever, ever withdraw. After all, it's not his, or his friends', kids dying out there.

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Iraq - The Truth Begins To Leak Out

It's very disappointing that a Spanish newspaper is publishing this while U.S. media is busy still speculating about Britney Spears' underpants or lack thereof, or whatever the topic of the week is.

Via Raw Story comes the report that Bush had made up his mind to invade Iraq in February of 2003, regardless of U.N. authorization, and threatened other nations who did not agree with his unilateral position.

Bush also threatened nations with retaliation if they did not vote for a UN resolution backing the Iraq war, according to the transcript. Nations like Mexico, Angola, Chile and Cameroon must know that the security of the United States is at stake, the president tells Aznar.

The [Spanish newspaper]* El Pais reported that Bush threatened to pull financial aid from Angola and warned that a free-trade agreement with Chile might be delayed in the Senate if they did not back another UN resolution.

What a bully and a lout. He doesn't understand diplomacy, tact, charm, any of those things. Bluster, swagger, and braggadocio are more his metier.

Well, it appears his bluster and swagger were insufficient to bind Iceland to the Coalition of the (Somewhat Un)willing any longer. Iceland Review recently announced that Iceland had withdrawn its sole military contribution to the coalition.

We'll be discreet and say nothing of all the others who have already left. We'll just point out that even the British are leaving. In fact, have left in all but name, already.

* AFP, as is their wont, refer to El Pais as a "leftist" newspaper, but from what I can find, it appears to be the largest Spanish daily paper and is published in association with the IHT, hardly anywhere close to left of center.

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War: The Coalition in Iraq

Next time you hear some halfwit giving you the old blather-am-skate about the "Coalition of the Willing" in Iraq, please direct them to this URL.

Yes, apparently Iceland, a member of the Coalition of the Willing, is withdrawing its sole military representative in Iraq. Apparently, the soldier has more pressing duties elsewhere.

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War on Terra - Pakistan Edition

Or "How To Make Enemies And Alienate Friends And Allies". Alternative working title.


It appears that Pervez Musharraf has had quite enough of being lectured to by his erstwhile bosom buddies, Dick "Dick" Cheney and George "Chimpotentate" W. Bush.

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Politics this week

How delusional can a person get? Condi Rice insists the coalition is intact in Iraq. Someone should point out to her that the British are pulling out nearly one quarter of their troops, and the Danish are pulling out all their troops. Who does that leave? The Australians and Poles? The Editors at The Poor Man Institute has the figures on who's pulled out and when.

Presidential hopeful John McCain is getting the respect that he deserves from Dick Cheney:

Karl: “You probably heard John McCain again come out and say that your friend Donald Rumsfeld is perhaps the worst secretary of defense ever. What do you make of that?"

Cheney: “I just fundamentally disagree with John. John said some nasty things about me the other day, and then next time he saw me, ran over to me and apologized. Maybe he'll apologize to Rumsfeld.”

Act like a lapdog, you get treated like a lapdog. "... ran over to me and apologized ...."? I guess even Dick can't bring himself to say "groveled and fawned over me till I slapped him down."

More here.

In other news, Stupie McChickenHawk's puppet government in Iraq appears to be calling him a liar. Wonder how he's going to respond.

The National Guard is falling apart, with insufficient equipment and manpower to handle any domestic crises, even as Bush prepares for a new war with Iran. Even as rumours start, again, that al Qaeda is planning an attack on American soil. Nasty sense of deja vu, no? This is exactly what happened the last time. Chatter picked up by intel about attack planned on American soil, Stupie McChimperson took a vacation, and voila! 9-11. While he's distracting us with Iran, sending troops, carriers, arms and equipment in that direction, al Qaeda is creeping in the back door, jackbooted foot aiming at our collective arse.

My prescription? Drink early and often. At least your muscles will be relaxed when whatever it is hits, and you'll do yourself less injury. Skoal!

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