Taking steps

To start undoing what has been done in our name:

Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), the chairman of the House intelligence committee, introduced an amendment to the 2010 intelligence authorization bill imposing a 15-year criminal sentence on any “officer or employee of the intelligence community” who tortures a detainee. (Twenty years if the torture involves an “act of medical malfeasance”; life if the detainee dies.)

And

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is concerned about possible misconduct in Afghanistan by the private security firm formerly known as Blackwater and has promised to review the issue, the Pentagon said.

So what does Blackwater do?

A Code Pink protester claimed a high-ranking Blackwater official threatened his life during a break of a Senate Armed Services hearing focused on the military contractor's actions in Afghanistan.

Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin reported that the threat was made by Johnny Walker, a program manager with one of Blackwater's subsidiaries. Walker testified at the hearing about the role his company, Paravant, played during its mercenary deployments to the Middle East.

But then this is going on:

In an interview with the Pakistani TV station Express TV, Defense Secretary Robert Gates confirmed that the private security firms Blackwater and DynCorp are operating inside Pakistan. “They’re operating as individual companies here in Pakistan,” Gates said, according to a DoD transcript of the interview. “There are rules concerning the contracting companies. If they’re contracting with us or with the State Department here in Pakistan, then there are very clear rules set forth by the State Department and by ourselves.”

And the realization that if we didn't have mercenary groups, we'd be unable to fight the wars we're in. We don't have the troops.

Yet the court sides against Rumsfeld:

CHICAGO � A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a civil lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for the alleged torture by U.S. forces of two Americans who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm.

U.S. District Judge Wayne R. Andersen's ruling did not say the two contractors had proven their claims, including that they were tortured after reporting alleged illegal activities by their company. But it did say they had alleged enough specific mistreatment to warrant hearing evidence of exactly what happened.

Andersen said his decision "represents a recognition that federal officials may not strip citizens of well settled constitutional protections against mistreatment simply because they are located in a tumultuous foreign setting."

Andersen did throw out two of the lawsuit's three counts but gave former contractors Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel the green light to go forward with a third count alleging they were unconstitutionally tortured under procedures personally approved by Rumsfeld.

Update 3/7:UPDATE:

A Xe spokesman has told Talking Points Memo that they are unaware of any plans for the RNC to hold a fundraiser at their Moyock, N.C. facility. The spokesman said he was unsure why there was a slide in an RNC fundraising presentation that suggested otherwise. RNC Communications Doug Heye also told Politico's Ben Smith, who broke the story, that "No such Blackwater event ever existed," despite the calendar entry.

The Republican National Committee plans to hold an April fundraiser at a Moyock, N.C. compound owned by the military contracting firm formerly known as Blackwater, Politico reports.

According to an RNC fundraising document uncovered on Wednesday, RNC "Young Eagles" -- party major donors under 40 -- will meet at the facility in the spring.

Win the war in pink boxer shorts!

Thank you for your service and your support of your squadron, sir. Whichever way you want to show up for battle....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday praised an Army soldier in eastern Afghanistan who drew media attention this month after rushing to defend his post from attack while wearing pink boxer shorts and flip-flops.

In fact, Gates said he wants to meet the soldier and shake his hand the next time he visits Afghanistan.

"Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage," Gates said in remarks prepared for a speech in New York.

"I can only wonder about the impact on the Taliban. Just imagine seeing that: a guy in pink boxers and flip-flops has you in his cross-hairs. What an incredible innovation in psychological warfare," he said.

And I thought the military was afraid of anyone wearing pink!

This comforts me

Even though I'm beginning to worry about Loyal Bushie moles and legacy polishers and Pentagon sabotage and Republicans grandstanding and everything....



(via Rook at Rook's Rant)

Just maybe that's the intent....

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has warned of "dramatic consequences" if Washington and Baghdad do not agree a security deal on US forces in Iraq.

He said if there were no Status of Forces Agreement the US would have to "basically stop doing anything".

Iraq's cabinet is demanding changes to a draft deal already agreed with Washington that would allow US forces to stay in Iraq until 2011.

Mr Gates said the US had "great reluctance" to renegotiate.

"I don't think you slam the door shut, but I would say it's pretty far closed," he said.

"The consequences of not having Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa) and of not having a renewed UN authorisation are pretty dramatic."

Failure to finalise the Sofa or renew a UN mandate would mean US operations would have to be suspended. The UN mandate for US-led coalition forces expires at the end of the year.

No Iraqi politician who wants to survive (literally) will touch the security deal. They're waiting for the new president elect anyway.

Bullying and intimidation?

What are you going to do to bad ol' Putin and Medvedev, Georgie? Your manly mighty military is bogged down in your vanity wars, thanks to your desire for a crusade to shock and awe. Besides, you've perfected your own bullying and intimidation over these horrible eight years not only to your own citizens but the world, so you should talk.

Actually that's all you've got, isn't it?:

Ms. Rice warned of “consequences” for Russia over its military offensive in Georgia. Earlier, in Washington, President Bush condemned as unacceptable what he called Russia’s “bullying and intimidation.” He also said Friday that Russia must withdraw its troops from all of Georgian territory and said the United States would stand with Georgia in the conflict.

“Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected,” he said.

However, neither Ms. Rice’s remarks nor those by Mr. Bush contained any hint of any further American response should Russia not pull back its troops.

And so much for looking into Putin's eyes to see his soul:

Mr. Gates’s remarks, while critical of Mr. Putin, also included an implicit rebuke of any effort to base American policy solely on a perceived friendship within the Kremlin. At the Pentagon, Mr. Gates was asked whether he trusted Mr. Putin anymore, and he paused before responding.

“ ‘Anymore’ is an interesting add,” he said. “I have never believed that one should make national security policy on the basis of trust. I think you make national security policy based on interests and on realities.”

Appeasers!

Bring out the scarlet letters!:

During a speech to the Israeli parliament yesterday morning, President Bush attacked Barack Obama, comparing him to Nazi appeasers for the Illinois senator's willingness to hold discussions with Iran.

One problem: Bush's speech came just hours after The Washington Post reported that Bush's defense secretary, Robert Gates, said that the United States needs to "sit down and talk with" Iran. Not only that, Gates added, "We can't go to a discussion and be completely the demander."

Oops.

Naturally, then, a media firestorm erupted, with the Bush administration and its political allies questioned all day about whether Bush has any idea what he is talking about, whether he has lost control over the Pentagon, whether Gates will be fired, what Gates thinks about Bush's comparison of those (like Gates) who advocate dialogue between the United States and Iran to appeasers of Adolf Hitler, and whether the fiasco will remind voters that the Bush administration's foreign policy has been marked by incompetence and dishonesty, thus doing irreparable electoral damage to John McCain and other Republican candidates.

Sorry -- what was I thinking? That didn't happen.

Instead, much of the news media got busy pretending the Post article didn't exist and that Gates had not undermined Bush's political attack on Obama. Instead, many news outlets simply rushed to repeat Bush's assault over and over again, as though it had merit.

Just like this guy... who had no clue what Neville Chamberlain had done and what appeasement actually means:

to yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.) in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.

crossposted at SteveAudio

Invest in plastic sheeting and duct tape!

There is considerable speculation and buzz in Washington today suggesting that the National Security Council has agreed in principle to proceed with plans to attack an Iranian al-Qods-run camp that is believed to be training Iraqi militants. The camp that will be targeted is one of several located near Tehran. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was the only senior official urging delay in taking any offensive action. The decision to go ahead with plans to attack Iran is the direct result of concerns being expressed over the deteriorating situation in Lebanon, where Iranian ally Hezbollah appears to have gained the upper hand against government forces and might be able to dominate the fractious political situation.

The White House contacted the Iranian government directly yesterday through a channel provided by the leadership of the Kurdish region in Iraq, which has traditionally had close ties to Tehran. The US demanded that Iran admit that it has been interfering in Iraq and also commit itself to taking steps to end the support of various militant groups. There was also a warning about interfering in Lebanon. The Iranian government reportedly responded quickly, restating its position that it would not discuss the matter until the US ceases its own meddling employing Iranian dissident groups. The perceived Iranian intransigence coupled with the Lebanese situation convinced the White House that some sort of unambiguous signal has to be sent to the Iranian leadership, presumably in the form of cruise missiles. It is to be presumed that the attack will be as “pinpoint” and limited as possible, intended to target only al-Qods and avoid civilian casualties.

The decision to proceed with plans for an attack is not final. The President will still have to give the order to launch after all preparations are made.

It's that last sentence that scares the &^#$ out of me.



Update: Senator Lieberman, John McCain's new sidekick, who has been urging an attack on Iran for years, speaks:

This morning, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, where Pat Buchanan asked him whether he believed “the United States states should conduct air strikes on the Iranian Quds force in Iran if they do not stop” interfering in Iraq. Lieberman replied that he “hoped” the U.S. would not have to strike at “the people who are responsible for killing Americans,” but said that the Iranians should “have in mind that it’s a distinct possibility.

Fallon resigns

Does this mean Bush and Cheney intend to attack Iran before the elections?

Admiral William Fallon is out as CENTCOM commander.

Fallon has resigned, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a press conference at the Pentagon.

Can we fast forward to 1/20/09?

Because Bush and Cheney can still do a whole lot of war crimes before then:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called CENTCOM commander Adm. William Fallon “one of the best strategic thinkers in uniform today.” Fallon opposed the “surge” in Iraq and has consistently battled the Bush administration to avoid a confrontation with Iran, calling officials’ war-mongering “not helpful.” Privately, he has vowed that an attack on Iran “will not happen on my watch.”

Unfortunately, this level-headed thinking and willingness to stand up to President Bush may cost him his job. According to a new article by Thomas P.M. Barnett in the April issue of Esquire magazine (on newsstands March 12), Fallon may be prematurely “relieved of his command” as soon as this summer:

[W]ell-placed observers now say that it will come as no surprise if Fallon is relieved of his command before his time is up next spring, maybe as early as this summer, in favor of a commander the White House considers to be more pliable. If that were to happen, it may well mean that the president and vice-president intend to take military action against Iran before the end of this year and don’t want a commander standing in their way.

The Taliban are gone.. no, wait, they are resurgent... no.. wait ...

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says the Taliban are gone:

In a congressional hearing today, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates implied that the U.S. military had routed the Taliban from Afghanistan. Echoing his recent assessment that the Taliban has “lost” in Afghanistan, Gates said the Taliban has been “thrown out”:

The Taliban no longer occupy any territory in Afghanistan. They were thrown out of Musa Qala a few weeks ago before over Christmas. And the Taliban have had some real setbacks. Probably 50 of their leaders have been killed or captured over the past year, and we know that that’s had an impact on their capability and also on their morale.

But Condi Rice says:

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she has seen progress in Afghanistan during the past few years, despite a determined Taliban insurgency that has disrupted security and prompted concerns that the NATO-led military campaign is faltering.

[snip]

The article goes on to state:

The high-level U.S.-British visit comes in the bloodiest year in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led toppling of the Taliban in 2001. More than 6,500 people - mostly insurgents - died in violence in 2007, according to an Associated Press count of figures provided by local and international officials.

The Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants have turned to suicide bombings and other tactics that make it more challenging to fight, she said.

"It's not work that's going to be completed overnight," Rice said of the efforts to rebuild the country and fight insurgents at the same time.

We're winning! Because we aren't defeated! Or something...

And just a question... how can you tell the Taliban are gone/ no longer functional/ lurking/ sending suicide bombers? Do they look any different than any other Afghani person? Do they wear uniforms?

No. The reason we 'won' in Afghanistan is because those warlords who 'supported' the Taliban shifted their 'support' to us because of promises we made. Which we then neglected to fulfill once we began pulling out to go attack the real prize, Iraq. So we now have pissed off warlords who look for someone else to get behind... Osama, al-Qaeda, or the Taliban.

If we had taken care of Afghanistan in the first place, flooded the place with goods and money, roads and infrastructure, we'd have possibly created the 'shining example' of democracy for Asia and the Middle East to admire.

Instead we have those pesky one a day bombs that kill people and sap morale....

Bush's form of diplomacy

'Ah'll crumple yer stoopid country like this coat if'n you don't let my cronies build that Star Wars Missile Shield thing!'

MOSCOW (AP) -- High-level talks Friday between the United States and Russia failed to bridge major differences over U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Europe and a range of strategic arms issues.

After a series of tense meetings that began with a blunt rebuff from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared to have been unable to turn around Moscow's opposition to missile defense.

Rice and Gates brought several new detailed proposals to the table meant to ease Russian concerns that the system would be aimed at Moscow, but the pair was unable to convince Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov or Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

"We see two serious problems with these proposals," Lavrov told reporters at a four-way news conference following the talks.

He said the two sides still disagree about the nature of the missile threat to Europe and that the Bush administration refuses to freeze its deployment plans while the issue is discussed.

"There is no agreement on this," Lavrov said. He said that while the initial U.S. plan to place elements of the system in Poland and the Czech Republic were small, it could grow to become a threat to Russia's deterrent force. "There is a potential threat for us here."

Serdyukov agreed.

"The principal thing to which we did not agree today is the deployment of anti-missile elements which have an anti-Russian character and which are to be placed in Europe," he said.

Rice said the ideas that she and Gates presented are "conceptual at this point" and would be handed to experts to consider further. The two sides plan to meet again in Washington in about six months.

"I know that we don't always see eye-to-eye on every element of the solutions to these issues, nonetheless, I believe we will do this in a constructive spirit, that we will make progress during these talks as we continue to pursue cooperation," Rice said.

Gates said that one idea is to have Russian personnel stationed at each missile defense site to improve coordination and openness with Moscow.

Neither Lavrov nor Serdyukov appeared impressed with the suggestion.

Meanwhile another Russian leader shows what outreach can do:

Mikhail Gorbachev drew loud cheers in New Orleans Friday when he promised to lead a local revolution if the Army Corps of Engineers doesn't keep its promise to improve levees by 2011.
"We will be coming back," the Soviet Union's last leader said, through an interpreter, during a ceremony in the Lower Garden District. "If this pledge is not fulfilled, we will start a new revolution in New Orleans."
After the applause died down, Gorbachev said that action should be a last resort, even though, he added, most Americans apparently have forgotten that their country is the result of a revolution.
"We shouldn't want another revolution," he said. "We should do our best in every (other) way."
Gorbachev, who is in New Orleans as the board chairman of a worldwide organization that promotes environmentally friendly construction, spoke at the International School of Louisiana after a quick tour of the Katrina-ravaged Lower 9th Ward.
"A few brief hours are not enough to see everything," he said, "but it is enough to appreciate the scale of the disaster that the city had to go through."

Diplomacy and ass-kissing

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Fallon did not get Georgie's memo:

Gates on Iran:

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - In a new move to tackle the potential nuclear threat in the Middle East, the U.S. is planning to address issues with Iran using diplomatic and economic means, according to new statements from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. After speculation that Washington was contemplating a military solution to a nuclear Tehran, Gates took to television to discourage the thought of a war with Iran, but did not rule it out.

In an interview with Fox News, Gates didn't confirm if President George Bush will consult Congress before launching a military strike against Iran. "I will tell you that I think the administration believes at this point that continuing to try and deal with the Iranian threat, the Iranian challenge through diplomatic and economic means is by far the preferable approach," Gates said.

Admiral Fallon on Petraeus:

WASHINGTON - In sharp contrast to the lionization of General David Petraeus by members of the US Congress during his testimony this week, Petraeus's superior, Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command (Centcom), derided Petraeus as a sycophant during their first meeting in Baghdad in March, according to Pentagon sources familiar with reports of the meeting.

Fallon told Petraeus that he considered him to be "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" and added, "I hate people like that," the sources say.

[snip]

Fallon's derision toward Petraeus reflected both the Centcom commander's personal distaste for Petraeus's style of operating and their fundamental policy differences over Iraq, according to the sources.

The policy context of Fallon's extraordinarily abrasive treatment of his subordinate was Petraeus's agreement in February to serve as front man for the George W Bush administration's effort to sell its policy of increasing US troop strength in Iraq to Congress.

In a highly unusual political role for an officer who had not yet taken command of a war, Petraeus was installed in the office of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in early February just before the Senate debated Bush's troop increase. According to a report in the Washington Post on February 7, senators were then approached on the floor and invited to McConnell's office to hear Petraeus make the case for the "surge" policy.

Fallon was strongly opposed to Petraeus's role as pitchman for the "surge" in Iraq adopted by Bush in December as putting his own interests ahead of a sound military posture in the Middle East and Southwest Asia - the area for which Fallon's Centcom is responsible.

The Centcom commander believed the United States should be withdrawing troops from Iraq urgently, largely because he saw greater dangers elsewhere in the region. "He is very focused on Pakistan," said a source familiar with Fallon's thinking, "and trying to maintain a difficult status quo with Iran."

[snip]

Fallon also expressed great skepticism about the basic assumption underlying the "surge" strategy, which was that it could pave the way for political reconciliation in Iraq. In the lead story of September 9, the Washington Post quoted a "senior administration official" as saying that Fallon had been "saying from Day 1, 'This isn't working.'"

Georgie's losing control of his mighty manly muscly military....

Homegrown incompetents?

I don't think duct tape and plastic wrap will save us from these guys....

The Centers for Disease Control has suspended bioweapons research at Texas A+M University, after the school failed to report four workers' exposure to biological agents. It's the first time the CDC has ever forced a research facility to stop work on so-called "select agents." Five labs and more than 120 lab researchers' efforts have been halted, pending a CDC investigation.

Three researchers tested positive for exposure to the weapons agent Q fever in April 2006, two months after another researcher fell ill from contact with the another agent, Brucella, according to documents obtained by an Austin-based bioweapons watchdog group.

University officials waited one year to report the Brucella case to the Centers for Disease Control. The Q fever case still has not been reported. Federal law requires quick reporting of incidents.

"The diseases, while rarely fatal in humans, cause high fevers and flulike symptoms, and both are difficult to cure," the Dallas Morning-News notes. "There was little danger of a disease outbreak – transmission of one of the diseases between humans is rare, and it's unheard of with the other – but the breakdown in reporting on the diseases could indicate a broader problem in bioweapons research, say the activists who uncovered it."

Weird update by the blogger asking was he the only one who's creeped out by the fact that this guy was running Texas A+M during the incidents?

Civil war continues between the Sunni and the Shia

Goaded on by those who benefit from the two fighting each other:

BAGHDAD -- Militants blew up the two golden minarets of an important Shiite Muslim shrine in Samarra today, evading tight security to again target a beloved site already damaged last year in a blast that unleashed fierce sectarian warfare.

Political and religious leaders scrambled to avert a repeat of the bloodshed, declaring indefinite curfews in at least four cities and issuing appeals for calm. But within hours, there were reports of revenge attacks against Sunni mosques and mortar strikes in Shiite-dominated parts of Baghdad.

Followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, whose Al Mahdi militiamen were blamed for driving last year's surge in bloodshed, suspended their participation in parliament to protest the failure to protect religious sites.

There is not just one civil war in Iraq, there are at least four. (I've read there are up to twenty different fighting factions):

Defense Secretary Robert Gates:

Our strategic stagnation results from the fact that we are fighting four wars, not one. According to Gates: "One is Shi'a on Shi'a, principally in the south; the second is sectarian conflict, principally in Baghdad, but not solely; third is the insurgency; and fourth is al Qaida, and al Qaida is attacking, at times, all of those targets."

Forget about our successful democratizing efforts in Iraq for a moment

How are our friends in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey doing?

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The government yesterday banned demonstrations in Pakistan's capital, the latest effort to quell mounting political turmoil over President Pervez Musharraf's decision to suspend the chief justice.

Thousands of Pakistanis have joined protests since the March 9 ouster of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, accusing Musharraf of trying to sideline the independent-minded judge before elections this year. Riots erupted last month when authorities stopped Chaudhry from leading a demonstration in the city of Karachi, leaving more than 40 people dead.

Musharraf, facing his deepest political crisis since taking power in a 1999 coup, emerged from a meeting with top military officers yesterday with a strong affirmation of their support.

The military denounced a "malicious campaign" against the government "by vested interests and opportunists who were acting as obstructionist forces to serve their personal interests and agenda even at the cost of flouting the rule of law." It said Musharraf assured the military that no one would be able to destabilize Pakistan.

Hmm. Thousands in the streets protesting? The army will take care of them. Next? How are our friends in Afghanistan?

The warriors of northern Afghanistan, whom former US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad thought he had astutely mothballed and consigned to the dustbin of history, are reappearing in the Amu Darya region that borders Uzbekistan.

[snip]

A Pandora's box of northern Afghanistan's ancient ethnic and tribal rivalries may have opened.

[snip]

The Taliban are evidently adopting a new strategy. After registering their presence in a vast swath of land in the south almost up to the approaches to Kabul city, they are beginning to commit attacks in the north. From all accounts, the suicide bomber who attacked the German troops was a Taliban activist. The attack took place in the busy market center of Kunduz. Three German troops were killed; five were wounded seriously and were airlifted to Cologne for medical treatment, apart from seven Afghan civilians who were killed and 13 wounded.

[snip]

Der Spiegel assessed that Berlin is mulling its role, and might well decide to withdraw from Operation Enduring Freedom. The point is, there is no possibility in sight for increasing Germany's troop levels if the situation were to deteriorate on the ground in northern Afghanistan.

[snip] Meanwhile Russia stirs.

Beyond this factor lies the geopolitics of the "new cold war". Certainly, Russian policies in the Central Asian region have shifted gear in recent months in response to the US decision regarding missile-defense deployments in Russia's neighboring regions. (Chinese criticism of the US missile-defense deployments has also become frequent and focused.)

[snip]

NATO activities in Afghanistan are under close Russian scrutiny. Moscow has openly begun voicing criticism of the US-led NATO policies toward Central Asia. CSTO secretary general Nikolai Bordyuzha said while on a visit to Bishkek last week that NATO has been pursuing a "policy of projecting and consolidating its military-political presence in the Caucasus and in Central Asia". He spoke of "external challenges and risks that undermine stability in the post-Soviet space", which are emanating out of the "growing activities of extra-regional structures, primarily NATO, the European Union and third countries".

Bordyuzha singled out Washington's "Greater Central Asia" policy, which envisages Afghanistan as the hub of the US strategy toward Central Asia. He criticized this as an attempt to drive a geopolitical wedge between regional states on the one hand and Russia and the CSTO on the other. Bordyuzha said, "This is an attempt to reorient the Central Asian states towards cooperation with the United States in a new format, encompassing, besides the Central Asian states, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and in the future, India."

Ok. Afghanistan has incoming tribal wars and Russia is licking its chops. Let's go visit Turkey!

DAMASCUS - Beleaguered Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who could be days away from losing US support and with it his job, is seeking renewed Kurdish support, even expressing his full backing for the Kurds in a potentially disastrous confrontation with Turkey.

This move could strengthen his position in internal Iraqi politics, but it looks like political suicide on the regional level, as in addition to Turkey, Iran and Syria, key players in resolving Iraq's problems, have Kurdish concerns.

The situation on the border has become so tense that US Defense Secretary Robert Gates this weekend cautioned Turkey against a military operation inside northern Iraq to attack outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases there.

Turkey is concerned at the emergence of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq and the presence there of the PKK, from where it launches attacks on Turkey.

Well, at least we're friends with China. Right? Right?

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Early this year, when China blasted one of its satellites into thousands of little pieces, it was condemned by Washington as a provocative act. But some arms-control experts believe Beijing was baring its teeth to send the White House a different message. They say that China, which has consistently opposed the weaponization of space, is hoping to negotiate an arms treaty that would rein in both nations' growing arsenal of so-called "space weapons".

Just days after the anti-satellite (ASAT) test, on January 27, Beijing seemingly had its answer. On the west shore of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, the United States' ground-based Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) shot down a dummy ballistic missile over the South Pacific as it skirted the edge of space roughly 110 kilometers high.

Hmm. Just keep Bush and Cheney at home and don't let them do any more of this shock and awe diplomacy.

Oh No!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sharp differences between the United States and Russia over President Bush's plan to build a missile defense system on Moscow's doorstep are likely to dominate talk during Bush's European tour.

Bush, who left Monday at the start of an eight-day trip to the G-8 summit of industrialized nations and visits to half a dozen countries, will see President Vladimir Putin at the summit in Germany later this week. It likely will be a difficult talk; relations between Washington and Moscow are strained almost to the breaking point, and Putin has been harshly critical of U.S. foreign policy.

Bush's message in advance of the trip has been to calm down, reminding Russia that "the Cold War is over." As if to drive home that point, Bush was bookending his summit stay with calls on the Czech Republic and Poland, former Soviet satellites where he wants to base major parts of the new defense shield.

Talking to reporters aboard Air Force One Monday en route to Prague, national security adviser Stephen Hadley acknowledged that "there has been some escalation in the rhetoric."

Oh dear God. We've seen what Bush does when he's with other world leaders....

Talking with his mouth full...


Waving stuff in front of Putin with his soulful eyes....


Unrequested shoulder massages....


Intelligent conversation at the last G8 summit exposing his awareness of geography and diplomatic finesse...

Mr Bush displays his trademark informality joking with leaders about their journey home. "Yo Blair, how you doin'?" he says at one point. "You leaving?"

"You get home in eight hours?" he says to another leader. "Me too! Russia's a big country and you're a big country. Gotta go home. Got something to do tonight."

"Thanks for the sweater," he says of his 60th birthday present from the prime minister. "Awfully thoughtful of you. I know you picked it out yourself."

The tone of America's public debate is far more rarefied than Britain's, and Mr Bush has over the years been careful to avoid being overheard swearing. The last time he was caught out in such a way was six years ago, before he was in the White House when he was overheard describing a New York Times correspondent as a "major-league asshole".

He may not be too concerned at this latest slip, given that the target of his abuse was Hizbollah, one of Middle America's oldest villains. When Vice President Dick Cheney used far stronger language in 2004 telling a Democratic congressman to leave him alone, opinion polls suggested many on the Christian Right approved.

The recording also picks up Mr Bush speaking to other leaders, bantering about his preference for Diet Coke, and making clear his irritation at the formalities of summitry.

The thought of making an after-lunch farewell toast clearly does not appeal - nor does the prospect of listening to fellow leaders some of whom he clearly thinks are far too in love with the sound of their own voices. "I'm just going to make it up. I'm not going to talk too damn long like the rest of them. Some of these guys talk too long."

We are so fucked.

Before you can fix what is broken

You have to stop what's breaking it.

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii (AP) -- The Army's new chief of staff says he wants to accelerate by two years a plan to increase the nation's active-duty soldiers by 65,000.

The Army has set 2012 as its target date for a force expansion to 547,000 troops, but Gen. George Casey said Saturday that he has told his staff to have the soldiers ready earlier.

"I said that's too long. Go back and tell me what it would take to get it done faster," he said in an interview with The Associated Press during a stop in Hawaii.

[snip]

A woman in the group asked Casey if her husband's deployments would stop getting longer. She said they used to last for six months in the 1990s but then started lasting nine months and 12 months. Two weeks ago, she heard the Army's announcement that deployments would be extended as long as 15 months.

"Do you honestly foresee this spiral, in effect, stopping?" she asked.

Casey said the Army wants to keep deployments to 15 months, but "I cannot look at you in the eye and guarantee that it would not go beyond."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates in January said he was recommending to the president that the Army boost its active-duty soldiers by 65,000 to 547,000. Casey said about 35,000 of those additional soldiers are already in place.

Gates also recommended that the Marine Corps increase its active-duty force by 27,000 to 202,000.

When people see how this administration treats the wounded and the dead, when they see benefits being cut from the vets, when they see the endless needless war we're entangled in, why on earth would anyone sign up?

We were told about Walter Reed two years ago

But then, no one was listening. Now with a Democratic Congress and Bush death-spiraling in the polls, we suddenly have a media who will print the story.

Paul Krugman: (my bold)

When Salon, the online magazine, reported on mistreatment of veterans at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center two years ago, officials simply denied that there were any problems. And they initially tried to brush off last month’s exposé in The Washington Post.

But this time, with President Bush’s approval at 29 percent, Democrats in control of Congress, and Donald Rumsfeld no longer defense secretary — Robert Gates, his successor, appears genuinely distressed at the situation — the whitewash didn’t stick.

Yet even now it’s not clear whether the public will be told the full story, which is that the horrors of Walter Reed’s outpatient unit are no aberration. For all its cries of “support the troops,” the Bush administration has treated veterans’ medical care the same way it treats everything else: nickel-and-diming the needy, protecting the incompetent and privatizing everything it can.

What makes this a particular shame is that in the Clinton years, veterans’ health care — like the Federal Emergency Management Agency — became a shining example of how good leadership can revitalize a troubled government program. By the early years of this decade the Veterans Health Administration was, by many measures, providing the highest-quality health care in America. (It probably still is: Walter Reed is a military facility, not run by the V.H.A.)

But as with FEMA, the Bush administration has done all it can to undermine that achievement. And the Walter Reed scandal is another Hurricane Katrina: the moment when the administration’s misgovernment became obvious to everyone.

Update: Crooks and Liars has the video of Waxman and Shays listening to Staff Sgt. John Shannon tell it like it is.

Does Cheney have access to the red button?

Since he is really the co-president and has amassed enormous powers for himself, can he declare war all by himself and tell the military to attack Iran? Is Bush that hypnotized that he would do what Cheney tells him to do? How close are we to pre-emptively nuking a sovereign nation?

The International Atomic Energy Agency concluded that Iran had expanded its nuclear programme, defying UN demands for it to be suspended. Hundreds of uranium-spinning centrifuges in an underground hall are expected to be increased to thousands by May when Iran moves to “industrial-scale production”. Senior British government sources have told The Times that they fear President Bush will seek to “settle the Iranian question through military means” next year, before the end of his second term if he concludes that diplomacy has failed. “He will not want to leave it unresolved for his successor,” said one.

But there are deep fissures within the US Administration. Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary, who has previously called for direct talks with Tehran, is said to be totally opposed to military action.

Although he has dispatched a second US aircraft carrier to the Gulf, he is understood to believe that airstrikes would inflame Iranian public opinion and hamper American efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. One senior adviser to Mr Gates has even stated privately that military action could lead to Congress impeaching Mr Bush.

Condoleeza Rice, the Secretary of State, is also opposed to using force, while Steve Hadley, the President’s National Security Adviser, is said to be deeply sceptical.

The hawks are led by Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, who is urging Mr Bush to keep the military option “on the table”. He is also pressing the Pentagon to examine specific war plans — including, it is rumoured, covert action.

Honest! This time it's the truth! Really!

Even though we did not protect the weapons stashes all over Iraq when we first invaded and there was rampant looting, these are not those bombs! The bombs have Iranian writing all over them. See the little sticker? Even though we fired all the translators, we can tell it says "Death to America! Love, Iran" on the sides!

We need to attack Iran! Just a bit...c'mon, that's why we started this war in the first place!

That isn't what Gates actually said, but almost:

MUNICH, Germany (AP) - Serial numbers and other markings on bombs suggest that Iranians are linked to deadly explosives used by Iraqi militants, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday in some of the administration's first public assertions on evidence the military has collected.

While the Bush administration and military officials have repeatedly said Iranians have been tied to terrorist bombings in Iraq, they have said little about evidence to bolster such claims, including any documents and other items collected in recent raids in Iraq.

The assertions have been met with skepticism by some lawmakers still fuming over intelligence reports used by the administration to propel the country to war with Iraq in 2003. Gates' comments came as a new Pentagon inspector general's report criticized prewar Defense Department assertions of al-Qaida connections to Iraq.

Gates told reporters Friday that markings on explosives provide "pretty good" evidence that Iranians are supplying either weapons or technology for Iraqi extremists.

Or maybe somebody else will go ahead and just attack Iran... (I have no idea if this is true or not, but sadly, I wouldn't put it past them.)

A recent strike by nuclear-armed Israeli Air Force fighter-bombers bound for targets in Iran was turned back after being intercepted by U.S. fighters over Iraq, this reporter has learned.

Two sources have independently confirmed the encounter, which took place on January 7, 2007. Though the first informant offered few details beyond an initial tip, a second source long-known by this reporter to have well-placed U.S. and “non-U.S.” military and government contacts provided specific information regarding the raid, which was aimed at the radical religious ayatollahs holding ultimate power in Iran.

Update: NTodd reminds us not to be fooled again ... fool us once, shame on you...

When you volunteer for something, it's for life. Your life.

Pentagon Extends Afghanistan Deployment For 3,200 Soldiers:

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A new order from the U.S. Department of Defense will keep 3,200 soldiers of the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, in Afghanistan for an additional 120 days and away from their homes and families in Fort Drum, New York.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates signed the extension, which will help supplement the ongoing NATO effort to defeat a resurgent Taliban.

Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, says, "What is certain is that Secretary Gates is very interested in ensuring that the successes that we've achieved in Afghanistan are not lost, and that commanders on the ground have sufficient forces to build upon the successes that we've achieved so far in Afghanistan."

Gen. Richard Cody, Army vice chief of staff, adds, "The Army is very proud of the soldiers of the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, and will ensure that they and their families have all the support and resources they need during this challenging time."

"These soldiers have accomplished a great deal in Afghanistan and will continue to get the mission done for our Army and this nation. They and their families are truly Army strong, and I am thankful every day for their professional and selfless commitment."

Update: NATO asked to step up Afghan support:

Nato foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have agreed to step up their military and economic assistance to Afghanistan, officials have said.

The decision came as the US pledged an extra $10.6bn (£5.4bn) to bolster its Afghan effort and retain troops there.

On the even of the meeting, the US made it clear it expected other Nato members to bolster their commitment too.