]]> example where we aren't making any progress and we've got to start to redeploy the troops as quickly as possible.... MURTHA: I don't acknowledge there has been any progress made. Maybe in Baghdad. But it just breaks out someplace else. We called for extra troops two years ago. We put money in for 30,000 troops. They haven't even been able to raise the 30,000 troops they have. So they have to break all their guidelines. But there's no progress being made. And the way you measure it is is the security itself. Are the incidents decreased? No. Have the civilian deaths gone down? No. Have the American deaths increased? Yes. That's the way you measure whether we're making progress. "The surge was supposed to bring stability.... It hasn't and it won't," Ted Kennedy said on May 1. "The evidence is clear it is not happening and it will not happen," Dodd said May 15 of a potential American victory. Durbin said the day after: "This Senate knows that the administration's policy in Iraq has failed." Senator Joseph Biden agreed. "The surge has not worked and will not work," he said on June 1. And in a joint letter to the president on June 13. Reid and Pelosi said. "As many had foreseen the escalation has failed to produce the intended results."... As Harry Reid put it on July 9. "Democrats and military experts and the American people know the president's current strategy is not working and we cannot wait until September to act." As Dianne Feinstein put it. "Today a majority of the Senate sees that the surge is not working. ... Do we change course now or do we wait until September... I believe the answer is clear." WASHINGTON — Senator Clinton squared off yesterday with her possible challenger for the White House in 2012. General David Petraeus and came closer than any of her colleagues to calling the commander of the multinational forces in Iraq a liar. Using blunter language than any other Democrat in the last two days. Mrs. Clinton told General Petraeus that his progress report on Iraq required "a willing suspension of disbelief." Those are your liberal leaders characterizing the effectiveness of the troop surge -- the very people you think should be in charge of national security. And their point was not merely that the surge wasn't working. They wanted everyone to also know that in their expert opinion the surge would never work. Were they right? Here is my monthly tally of civilian casualties in Iraq based on the data at (with necessary corrections described ):As always the black bar shows when al Qaeda finally succeeded in provoking the Shiite militas to start killing Sunnis (in an effort to stop al Qaeda's suicide bombers). The dark purple bars show the months during which the surge began to unfold (in February) and then became operational (in June). As you can see civilian casualties plummeted in September then they dropped even further in October and now they have dropped still further in November. In fact casualties dropped even more than this chart suggests. In November there were only 3 incidents involving more than 15 civilian casualties. Two of those involved 30 casualties each and neither incident actually occurred in November. In both cases mass graves of decomposed bodies were discovered. These people had been killed by al Qaeda savages in earlier months so it would not be unreasonable to take another 60 deaths off the already low November total. Month-to-month data can be noisy so here is a similar chart with each bar now representing the average of the last 3 months:As al Qaeda has been routed in Iraq and as former Sunni enemies join our cause. U. S military deaths from hostile fire have also plummeted:Remember the words of liberal anti-war icon John Murtha: I'm frankly amazed that al Qaeda has not been able to pull off a single spectacular mass-casualty attack for 3 straight months. They are undoubtedly highly motivated to do so in part because they know that Democrats in Washington are veritable puppets on a string. Does that sound harsh? It doesn't to me. Harry Reid's declaration of America's ignominious defeat in Iraq came in direct response to this attack by al Qaeda on innocent Shiite civilians in Baghdad: Suspected Qaeda bombs kill nearly 200 in BaghdadWed Apr 18. 2007BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Suspected al Qaeda militants killed nearly 200 people in a wave of car bombings in Baghdad on Wednesday including one that was the single deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital since the 2003 U. S.-led invasion. Iraq war is 'lost': US Democrat leaderApr 19The war in Iraq "is lost" and a US troop surge is failing to bring peace to the country the leader of the Democratic majority in the US Congress. Harry Reid said Thursday. "I believe.. that this war is lost and this surge is not accomplishing anything as is shown by the extreme violence in Iraq this week," Reid told journalists. In other words al Qaeda commits an atrocity and the Democrats immediately call for surrender -- right on cue and in exact accordance with al Qaeda's nefarious plan. While behaving in that manner the Democrats also repeatedly and eerily denied that al Qaeda was a significant factor in Iraq. To them it was all just a big ol' civil war based on ancient hostilities between Shiites and Sunnis is Democratic Presidential candidate Christopher Dodd nicely summing up the creepy Democratic stance that has been in effect for the last several years: All Democrats and most Americans actually believed this nonsense. And of course the mainstream media (especially of course) bent over backwards to explain how simplistic Bush was being for emphasizing the indisputable fact that we were at war with al Qaeda in Iraq: July 13. 2007Bush Distorts Qaeda Links. Critics AssertBy MICHAEL R. GORDON and JIM RUTENBERGBAGHDAD. July 12 — In rebuffing calls to bring troops home from Iraq. President Bush on Thursday employed a stark and ominous defense. “The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq,” he said. “were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th and that’s why what happens in Iraq matters to the security here at home.”It is an argument Mr. Bush has been making with frequency in the past few months as the challenges to the continuation of the war have grown. On Thursday alone he referred at least 30 times to Al Qaeda or its presence in Iraq. But his references to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and his assertions that it is the same group that attacked the United States in 2001 have greatly oversimplified the nature of the insurgency in Iraq and its relationship with the Qaeda leadership. Seeing Al Qaeda Around Every CornerBy CLARK HOYTPublished: July 8. 2007AS domestic support for the war in Iraq continues to melt away. President Bush and the United States military in Baghdad are increasingly pointing to a single villain on the battlefield: Al Qaeda....“Nobody knows how many different Islamist extremist groups make up the insurgency” in Iraq said Anthony H. Cordesman of the bipartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Even when you talk about Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia the idea of somehow it is the center of the insurgency is almost absurd.” You see it's all much more complicated than that cowboy in the White House can appreciate with his alcohol-addled brain and that's precisely why the troop surge is destined to fail. Liberals whose brains are uniquely able to appreciate complexity and nuance fully understood that failure was the only possible outcome. And they were only too happy to tell you all about it. How quickly things can change. The entire left (i e. virtually all Democrats and their comrades in the mainstream media) are mystified by the dramatic reduction in violence that we've seen in Iraq over the last 3 months. If al Qaeda was not a factor -- that is if it really was just a big ol' civil war -- how it could it be that turning the Sunni tribes against al Qaeda coupled with a troop surge offensive directed at al Qaeda achieved such spectacular success? It's incomprehensible. And make no mistake about it: offensive operations associated with the troop surge were directed at al Qaeda according to with the man himself (i e. with General Petraeus): What is your priority in the surge operation? "It is to disrupt al-Qaeda and its ability to conduct sensational attacks and to try to continue the cycle of violence which they have been trying to do all along. In addition they are attempting try establish a real al-Qaeda sanctuary in Iraq a caliphate."What about the leadership in Iraq? "It is still led by foreigners called al-Qaeda Senior Leadership (AQSL). Our assessment is that this is the central front for al-Qaeda. They have a global war of terror and Iraq is the central front. Whether you like it or not. That is something that the leaders of the intelligence community in the West and our joint special operations commander agree on and that is why he is here two thirds or three quarters of his time. It is certainly one very important consideration in looking at Iraq." Democrats who denied all of this are now bewildered by the dramatic turnaround in Iraq. Despite being wrong about everything you can be sure that they will now knowingly explain how the incredible improvement in Iraq has nothing at all to do with (a) the troop surge. (b) George Bush or (c) our apparent victory over al Qaeda. Instead the remarkable progress was achieved because [INSERT LIBERAL FANTASY HERE]. Had the Democrats gotten their way we'd undoubtedly be witnessing more than 1000 extra civilian deaths per month. It's ironic that people who think of themselves as being especially "decent" progressives were openly advocating that we simply stand back and permit genocide of innocent Iraqis. In effect that's what they angrily demanded but I doubt they will be able to assimilate that painful reality into their self image. Instead they'll concoct a fantasy according to which the reduction in casualties would have happened in the absence of the troop surge (despite the fact that they explicitly predicted the exact opposite as documented above) or they'll express absolute certainty that this is merely a temporary break in the action (even though they have already proven their inability to predict what will happen in Iraq). But the painful and inescapable truth is that they openly supported a plan to stand back and allow genocide to unfold before the horrified eyes of the world and they knew exactly what they were doing. Being the decent people they are they felt OK about it because they knew the blame would be placed on Bush. They were right about that of course but that doesn't excuse them for what they did. The American public may never awaken to all of this (because of the media we have) but if the success continues -- and no one can say for sure that it will -- history will record where the Democrats stood when Iraq was suffering through its darkest hour. U. S. Military's List of Civilian Deaths in Iraq for Dec. 1. 200712/01/07 WaPo: 20 Die as Gunmen Descend on VillageDozens of gunmen overran a Shiite village north of Baghdad on Saturday killing at least 20 people police said the latest in a recent spike in attacks in Diyala province where the U. S military is rotating some troops out and moving others in. 12/01/07 Reuters: 4 tribal sheikhs wounded by roadside bomb in GhalbiyaFour tribal sheikhs were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Ghalbiya near Baquba. 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad police said. The attack targeted the convoy of the Khalis police chief but he was unhurt. 12/01/07 Reuters: Five bodies were found in Baghdad. 3 in MosulFive bodies were found in different areas of Baghdad on Saturday police said... Three bodies were found in different areas of Mosul police said. 12/01/07 Reuters: Suicide attack kills 1 civilian wounds 5 in in Salman PakA suicide attack killed one civilian and wounded five others in Salman Pak. 45 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad police said. 12/01/07 Reuters: Roadside bomb wounds taxi driver in BaghdadA bomb left in a taxi wounded the driver and another person in the New Baghdad district of the capital police said. 12/01/07 Reuters: Three bodies found in Baghdad on FridayThree bodies were fond in different districts in Baghdad on Friday police said. 12/01/07 KUNA: Blast kills injures five Iraqis in BaghdadA blast in southeast Baghdad killed an Iraqi and injured four others on Friday.. a police official said the incident occurred when a suicide terrorist attempted to blast a checkpoint in Al-Nahrawan district. He added that the car was blasted... 12/01/07 AP: Militant raid on Iraqi village kills 13Dozens of suspected al-Qaida militants stormed a Shiite village north of Baghdad on Saturday killing at least 13 people and torching homes police said. The attack on the predominantly Shiite village of Dwelah.. http://icasualties org/oif/Iraqi aspx-Anon a Mouse AAM - well i believe the earth is roundCONSERVATIVE - oh yeah? did you walk around the earth yourself to prove it? how do you know?AAM - well the preponderance of scientific opinion is that the earth is roughly a round shape and that's what most people believe. CONSERVATIVE - ha! now it's not "round" - it's "roughly a round shape"! Changing the goalposts again - typical liberal behavior. And this reliance on 'scientific opinion' and the opinion of 'most people' well let me tell you the truth my friend! 'Most people' are mislead by the liberal MSM which has its own vested interest in making people believe the earth is not flat and i have two reports here by eminent scientists proving that the preponderance of scientific opinion is wrong about this round earth theory geez you liberals are so stubborn - you get these liberal memes into your heads and you won't listen to logic!!! You're just dumb! And stop insulting me and using ad hominem arguments too!!AAM - well nevertheless i continue to believe that the earth is not flatCONSERVATIVE - WHAT KIND OF PROOF WILL CONVINCE YOU OF THE TRUTH DAMMIT YOU CAN LOOK RIGHT OUT YOUR WINDOW AND SEE FOR YOURSELF THAT THE EARTH IS FLAT WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST AMERICA YOU LIBERALS JUST WANT THE WHOLE COUNTRY TO GET ON A SHIP AND FALL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD OR GET EATEN BY THE GIANT SEA SERPENTS IN THE NORTH POLE!!!!!-Anon a Mouse CFC,No. ICCC will not remove those mass-grave body counts. From what I've seen they only remove body counts if it is later determined that the story was a hoax. If the killings likely occurred in prior months they won't subtract them out unless a specific date for the killings can be identified. This won't happen for the two mass-grave stories so the count for November is what it is. Still it makes to subtract them out to get a feel for the level of violence that month (but I left all 60 in my chart to make things seem as bad as possible -- it's always good to err on that side). Also a chart of US military casualties going further back in time can be found. Mouse,You are just being intentionally silly (and typically liberal). I'm glad you are checking that casualty web site. You are almost there. Instead of gleefully celebrating a successful attack by al Qaeda "militants" on innocent civilians make a chart showing casualties over time. Then use your higher brain centers (not the lower brain centers that are currently engaged) to think about what it all means for the effectiveness of the troop surge that your preferred leaders bitterly opposed. Mouse you know those 8 separate reports of Iraqi civilian deaths you cited for Dec 1st? You'll be happy to learn that the two worst incidents were overlapping reports of the same attack.12/01/07 WaPo: 20 Die as Gunmen Descend on Village:Dozens of gunmen overran a Shiite village north of Baghdad on Saturday killing at least 20 people police said the latest in a recent spike in attacks in Diyala province where the U. S military is rotating some troops out and moving others in.* * *12/01/07 AP: Militant raid on Iraqi village kills 13:Dozens of suspected al-Qaida militants stormed a Shiite village north of Baghdad on Saturday killing at least 13 people and torching homes police said. The attack on the predominantly Shiite village of Dwelah... Thus the death toll reported for 12/1/07 might be only 26 across Iraq as opposed to 46. But since we ought to be more interested in pre vs post-surge comparisons and TRENDS do you have a similar list to illustrate the average daily carnage we might have walked out on months ago had the Democrats had been successful in scuttling or undermining the surge?HuckFinn Mouse:Why do you think you're adding unique or helpful information to Engram's daily discussions by persistently posting links to news reports that simply add up to the casualty numbers that Engram/ICCC tallys for us? Don't get me wrong- you've posted other links to very helpful context and data that I appreciate and I personally feel inform a debate- but I don't understand why news reports of the most recent attacks add anything here. You must be pleased that deaths have recently decreased in Iraq. Credit the surge the Sunni-against AQ shift the AlSadr standdown- credit Democratic pressure on Bush to change the "stay the course" strategy whatever gets credit- you must be pleased. So I doubt your postings are to convey your displeasure at recent progress. I suspect (though I don't know for sure) that you continue to post those reports for any of the following reasons:1. Despite the encouraging news of reduced deaths you believe this blog's tone does not respect or appreciate the sacrifices still being made by both soliders and civilians2. Despite the encouraging news of reduced deaths you think any news source should convay facts that represent both sides of any debate in an effort to get closer to the truth.3. Despite the encouraging news of reduced deaths you know that we're far from out of the woods in Iraq and sharing those reports helps keep our caution strong. 4. You are angry about decisions/ mistakes made in this war up until now and express that anger through publishing negative stories.5. You disagree that the MSM is left-biased and share those reports as evidence of this belief. Do any of those views resonate? I wouldnt pretend to be able to truly represent your thinking those points are merely way's I'm trying to rationalize your contribution as I believe you're a thoughtful guy and I'd love to find some common ground. -cmd 3. Despite the encouraging news of reduced deaths you know that we're far from out of the woods in Iraq and sharing those reports helps keep our caution strong thank you for your thoughfullness cmd the above comes closest to my thinking more fully keep in mind that1) the level of violence now has only gone down so far to the unacceptable levels it was at from 2004-mid 2006 - if there hadn't been a horrific increase summer 2005 - sept 2007 what we are seeing now would not look like any progress at all2) "history is not over yet" as you say above we have a long way to go before we can say we have succeeded didn't the readers of this blog hear the president when he said that the strategic objective of the surge was to give the iraqi government 'breathing room' to get its act together? don't the readers of this blog remember all the years where the president was repeating that our objective was to bring the troops home with the formula "when the iraqi troops stand up we will stand down"? isn't it clear that the surge while necessary is the opposite of that?don't you all realize that the fact that the level of violence has gone back down to what it was before for the past three months is something that very well might not continue? the rate may go back up may as you all expect continue to go down may stay the same or even exibit some other pattern declarations that we are 'winning' and demands that progressives 'admit' this are extremely premature you might recall yogi berra "it ain't over till it's over" we haven't even begun to accomplish the objectives of iraqi security independance or iraqi social reconciliation yet at best the surge seems to foretell that the iraqis will be dependant on us for security for a long time to come the administration has as we say in business. 'backed in' to this outcome and has never really come clean with the american public about how much money and how much of the blood sweat and tears of our soldiers will be required of us the american people have had to figure it out for themselves some leadership this is from president bush!so since the outcome of the surge is that even more american troops are required to keep violence from getting completely out of hand and so far from us 'standing down' it looks like we'll be in iraq forever now i think that your expectations that the american people will now be happy with what they weren't happy with in the spring of 2006 are unwarranted the questions I asked above are not purely rhetorical i really am interested to find out if you have forgotten the things i mentioned it used to be that many americans agreed with the proposition that 'america cannot affor to be the policeman of the world' i know that you think things are different now and that everything is justified because of 9/11 but i don't agree.-Anon a Mouse and here's the early report on sunday's death and horror:12/02/07 Reuters: Gunmen kill Iraqi Lieutenant-ColonelGunmen killed Lieutenant-Colonel Aqeel Abdul Hussein assistant to the head of Baghdad's security forces in a drive-by shooting in western Baghdad's Mansour district police said. 12/02/07 Reuters: Car bomb kills 1 wounds 3 in central BaghdadA bomb planted under the car of Shi'ite politician Ammar Moussawi killed Moussawi's driver police said. Moussawi was among three people wounded in the attack in the Utaifiya district of central Baghdad. 12/02/07 Reuters: Roadside bomb kills 2 policemen wounds 4 in BaghdadA roadside bomb killed two policemen and wounded four others in Baghdad's Mansour district police said. 12/02/07 Reuters: Gunmen kill 3 people kidnapped 5 others in IskandariyaGunmen killed three people wounded one and kidnapped five others in an attack on the Sunni Arab al-Sammee al-Aleem mosque in Iskandariya. 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad after Friday prayers police said. http://icasualties org/oif/Iraqi aspx-Anon a Mouse So what are you adding to our appreciation of the surge?huckfinnthere were 26 murders reported yesterdayi am trying to add to your apreciation of the fact that iraq is still a very violent place every bit as violent as it was 2004 - july 2006 andthat these are people that are getting killed on our watchthat doesn't seem to make much of an impression on you alli do wish you guys would stop reacting to these numbers as if they were sports statisticswill the surge get the rate of violence down to levels of other countries?how do you suppose that will happen?how long do you think it might take?what will happen when the surge level needs to come down as the current plan it by next summer?whatever happened to "we will stand down as they stand up"? are we planning on staying in iraq at 160 - 130k troops and 100 billion a year forever?what do you think of what ambassador negroponte said today:Washington’s No. 2 diplomat said political progress must quickly follow the security gains from the influx of American troops in Iraq warning Sunday that the country risks “falling back to the more violent patterns of the past.” Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte has spent six days touring Iraq — including visits to former flashpoints Fallujah and Ramadi — and meeting with top officials. He said the issue of national reconciliation goes well beyond the Iraqi capital. “It’s one thing to have brought the violence under some semblance of control but it’s another to follow up” with reconciliation reconstruction and stabilization. Negroponte told a news conference in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone is negroponte being a 'pessimistic' liberal?the idea that 'liberals' should just 'admit that we're winning' is extremely simplistic and unrealistic.-Anon a Mouse This is just a liberal talking point that you uncritically absorbed by listening to a liberal reporter or reading a liberal bloghere are some quotes from the president's speechA successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations. Ordinary Iraqi citizens must see that military operations are accompanied by visible improvements in their neighborhoods and communities. So America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced. To establish its authority the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy. Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis. To show that it is committed to delivering a better life the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs. To empower local leaders. Iraqis plan to hold provincial elections later this year. And to allow more Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political life the government will reform de-Baathification laws and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's constitution http://www npr org/templates/story/story php?storyId=6803354what part of "A successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations." don't you understand?Even if our new strategy works exactly as planned deadly acts of violence will continue — and we must expect more Iraqi and American casualties. The question is whether our new strategy will bring us closer to successcloserVictory will not look like the ones our fathers and grandfathers achieved. There will be no surrender ceremony on the deck of a battleship. But victory in Iraq will bring something new in the Arab world — a functioning democracy that polices its territory upholds the rule of law respects fundamental human liberties and answers to its peoplepresident's definition of victory:a functioning democracy that: 1 polices its territory2 upholds the rule of law3 respects fundamental human liberties4 and answers to its peoplewhat the president demanded of the iraqi government when he made this speech in jan 07:the Iraqi government plans to:1 take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. 2. To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy. Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis. 3. To show that it is committed to delivering a better life the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs. 4. To empower local leaders. Iraqis plan to hold provincial elections later this year. 5. And to allow more Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political life the government will reform de-Baathification laws. 6 and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's constitution if the warnings of ambassador negroponte and the president's stated goals and measurements don't make any impression on you i'm not sure what else to do engram was unfortunate enough to have the treasury secretary come out and agree with what krugman and i were saying on the very day that he posted an essay 'disproving' the points that the treasury secretary madeso i find that the positions that you are taking consistantly fail to square with those of the administration engram i'm not sure what to make of that...-Anon a Mouse Mouse-To answer your question and I can only speak for myself. I definitely remember all those things you mention:-strategic objective of the surge was to give the iraqi government 'breathing room' to get its act together-.. bring the troops home with the formula "when the iraqi troops stand up we will stand down"? -isn't it clear that the surge while necessary is the opposite of that?-don't you all realize that the fact that the level of violence has gone back down to what it was before for the past three months is something that very well might not continue?Yes I definitely realize all that and one's position on Iraq would entirely incomplete without concern for the challenges we face moving forward. We may still lose. Losing might wait until after troops come home and the country could regress. We can't predict what will happen. I'll admit that I thought we were going to lose this war as of a year ago and I felt miserable about that. Though I supported the surge. I was skeptical that it could turn things around. I think there was some truth to President Bush's repeated warnings (and I'm sure you rememeber the line) "the consequences of failure are catastrophic." Therefore the results were seeing from the surge and what it's enabled have been fully heartening to me personally. While we might fail from here we're a lot less likely to fail now than we were a year ago. At least we've got a temporary fighting chance. That's makes me feel tremendously good- and perhaps makes me a willing sucker for the tone of Engram's blog- that there's hope and we should feel good about that. It'll be hard work with no guaranteed outcome but things that are worthwhile are generally just like that. While I see your line of argument that the surge is the opposite of Iraqi troops standing up now that we have some positive security trends it seems obvious that the Iraqi army has a better chance now of holding its own. I don't think it's realistic to expect an army to grow up instantly. Yes it's been 4 years- but shit maybe now it will work... "the consequences of failure are catastrophic"I'm personally fine with a long term troop presence there. Not at 130,000 troops and its the military's job to decide what the right number is but I'm fine with being there if it helps build a stable ally. The government's progress? Frustrating. I think. That's what reports seem to say. I believe that more reliable infrastructure (electricity water etc) is the key to a stable government. People will be more willing to engage in civil debate about how to run their country when they're not fighting for water or can run a business with more tha 2 hrs of power each day. Of course I realize the level of violence may not sustain at this level. But let's at least feel good that we appear to be winning at least temporarily one of the battles in this war.-cmd and here is the president using the actual phrase that you consider a 'liberal talking point':This new strategy will not yield an immediate end to suicide bombings assassinations or IED attacks. Our enemies in Iraq will make every effort to ensure that our television screens are filled with images of death and suffering. Yet over time we can expect to see Iraqi troops chasing down murderers fewer brazen acts of terror and growing trust and cooperation from Baghdad's residents. When this happens daily life will improve. Iraqis will gain confidence in their leaders and the government will have the breathing space it needs to make progress in other critical areas. Most of Iraq's Sunni and Shia want to live together in peace — and reducing the violence in Baghdad will help make reconciliation possible http://www cbsnews com/stories/2007/01/10/iraq/main2349882 shtmlnext up on Back Talk: is president bush a liberal meme?-Anon a Mouse Mouse,The point you are missing is that "victory" on this blog refers to victory over al Qaeda in Iraq not the fulfillment of the Bush doctrine (namely a functioning democracy in Iraq). Bush did not ignore al Qaeda in Iraq when he explained the purpose of the troop surge. You did though. Many liberals do when they say the the "only" purpose of the troop surge was to give bnreathing room for political reconciliation. That is simply nonsense as you now know (having finally read Bush's actual speech in which he explained the purpose of the surge). I'd like to see the Bush doctrine fulfilled and I'm pretty sure it will be (because the U. S will allow no other outcome -- no matter what). But you should know that "victory" (as that word is used on this blog) refers to victory over al Qaeda. To me that was by far the most important victory of all. It would be nice to also fulfill the Bush doctrine but it is less important (to me anyway). And I usually say that the victory over al Qaeda is "apparent." No one can rule out the possibility that they will make a comeback even though I doubt they will. They have been routed in Iraq and their reputation has been seriously tarnished throughout the Muslim world. That looks like victory to me and I just hope it stays that way (whether or not Bush gets his functioning democracy in Iraq). Defeating al Qaeda? If that's the case then the President should have allowed the military to smash Zarqawi's camps as they requested multiple times before March 2003 instead of choosing to invade Iraq under the dubious conditions as he did. I mean no matter how many times it gets glossed over here our troops have expended enormous resources and precious lives to fight and die against local Iraqis while a much lower percentage of our people are killed by 'al Qaeda'. Even if you skip completely over the falsehoods used to justify the invasion and the poor decision to pursue this ideological goal of regime change nothing excuses the Administration for misleading about al Qaeda this way. Heck if you look back this nation and even some Iraqis went spastic with anger when the notion of amnesty for insurgents came up because there was always the fear that some killers would get excused for their actions against our troops. What this surge has done more than the military aspect has been a stealth amnesty for the people who have killed our troops. If that's a measure of victory then so be it; I've said before that we had to negotiate with some of these folks like al Sadr; it's ugly but it's happened that way in our own Civil War fer-instance and other conflicts. Let's not forget though that the President's supporters have routinely derided such practices and have previously held onto the notion that we wouldn't negotiate with terrorists. Liberal and Islamist thought on Iraq is chock full of irrational conspiracies. While you accuse the President of lying it is actual a lie of your own to take the true facts out of context. Very few rational people deny that Saddam Hussein used WMD and that he obstructed the UN weapons inspectors from verifying his compliance with UN resolutions in the wake of his brutal invasion of Kuwait.. which started this whole war. Saddam himself admitted that he intentionally misled the world and wanted them to believe that he had WMD. In true Orwellian fashion you call yourself. "Criticalthought" yet your scribblings are that of a partisan hack. There is no critical thought in rehashing tired Leftwing/PaleoConservative/Islamist talking points. Many of which are nothing but the bitter ramblings of a sore loser. Too bad you chose the wrong side. I find it disturbing how much people seem to fall into the same old destructive habits of us vs them. I'm what some would call very conservative in some respects and very liberal in others. Not all things or even most can be so easily lumped/categorized as we would like for our own convenience. There are indeed democrats who said we should never have invaded Iraq and I would have to agree would them at the same time that does not also mean as many in this thread would like to think that they also would gladly pull out troops tomorrow washing our hands of the mess we (yes we) have made of that country. Constructive pull-out plans are not a willingness to allow genocide as some would like to say. I won't deny that there are those in politics and in mainstream US who would advocate pulling out of Iraq simply because its fashionable while conveniently ignoring the consquences of doing so without getting them back on their feet first. However don't fall into the same archaic tendencies of stereotyping groups and making large oft inaccurate generalisations that have lead to all manner of historical prejudice.

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http://engram-backtalk.blogspot.com/2007/12/casualties-in-iraq-november-2007.html ]]> ]]> saying “unwanted” but rare in the deliberately-limited-production sense. It will be rarer in the United States than any number of well-known supercars from the Ferrari 430 to Audi’s own R8. A discreet inquiry to our hometown Audi dealership indicated that there was simply no chance of acquiring one; the allocation had been sold long before the first car was built. Audi’s decision to import this car in these quantities amounts less to a serious assault on the upmarket-convertible segment and more to a friendly tip of the cap to the most fervent members of the marque’s wealthier cognoscenti. Those three hundred lucky owners will each have to part with $81,900 plus the appropriate taxes and fees to take their cabriolets home. The assembled members of the automotive press at Audi’s “Fall Performance Collection” reveal event seemed to be rather obsessed with this price with the evince “Porsche Nine Eleven” seeming to fly from every set of lips after the cigars lit up at the end of the evening. The implication seemed to be that Audi had perhaps Reached A Bit Too Far With This One and isn’t it adjust that a new 911 Cabriolet may be had for just two thousand dollars more? Well yes – but that’s the two-wheel-drive car don’t you know. The all-wheel-drive 911 Cab costs ninety grand and it’s not nearly as powerful as the 414-horsepower. V8-equipped RS4. Best then to compare it with the Carrera 4S Cabriolet which evens up the power stakes a bit – but it’s an even one hundred thousand dollars before you do so much as put a navigation system in. Equipped in similar style the Porsche is really $110K and suddenly the Audi appears to be a bit of a bargain. Mercedes-Benz offers the CLK63 AMG cabriolet for $89,200 and it will undoubtedly smoke the RS4 in a straight line – but with rear-wheel-drive as the only choice and an automatic transmission it’s likely to sight favor with a slightly different buyer. BMW’s M3 cabriolet is on hiatus at the moment so once again Audi has managed to as “Wee Willie” Keeler would say. “hit ‘em where they ain’t”. The discussion.

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http://www.speedsportlife.com/2007/11/29/dubspeed-driven-review-audi-rs4-audis-speedboat-emotional-costly-and-rarer-than-an-r8/ ]]> ]]> long before the first car was built. Audi’s decision to import this car in these quantities amounts less to a serious assault on the upmarket-convertible divide and more to a friendly tip of the cap to the most fervent members of the marque’s wealthier cognoscenti. Those three hundred lucky owners will each have to move with $81,900 plus the allot taxes and fees to act their cabriolets domiciliate. The assembled members of the automotive press at Audi’s “Fall Performance Collection” show event seemed to be rather obsessed with this price with the phrase “Porsche Nine Eleven” seeming to fly from every set of lips after the cigars lit up at the end of the evening. The implication seemed to be that Audi had perhaps Reached A Bit Too Far With This One and isn’t it true that a new 911 Cabriolet may be had for just two thousand dollars more? Well yes – but that’s the two-wheel-drive car don’t you know. The all-wheel-drive 911 Cab costs ninety grand and it’s not nearly as powerful as the 414-horsepower. V8-equipped RS4. Best then to compare it with the Carrera 4S Cabriolet which evens up the power stakes a bit – but it’s an change surface one hundred thousand dollars before you do so much as put a navigation system in. Equipped in similar call the Porsche is really $110K and suddenly the Audi appears to be a bit of a bargain. Mercedes-Benz offers the CLK63 AMG cabriolet for $89,200 and it will undoubtedly consume the RS4 in a straight lie – but with rear-wheel-drive as the only choice and an automatic transmission it’s likely to find favor with a slightly different buyer. BMW’s M3 cabriolet is on hiatus at the moment so once again Audi has managed to as “Wee Willie” Keeler would say. “hit ‘em where they ain’t”. The discussion.

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http://www.speedsportlife.com/2007/11/29/dubspeed-driven-review-audi-rs4-audis-speedboat-emotional-costly-and-rarer-than-an-r8/ ]]> ]]> will topush forward and overcome this massive assault on our liberty and ourright to undergo real money as defined by the US Constitution. We shouldnot to be defrauded by the re-create government money. But to make matters worse all the gold and silver that backs up thepaper certificates and digital currency held in the bound at SunshineMint has also been confiscated. change surface the dies for mint the Gold andSilver Libertys undergo been taken. This in spite of the fact that Edmond C. Moy the Director of theMint acknowledged in a letter to a US Senator that the papercertificates did not disrespect Section 486 and were not illegal. But theFBI and Services took all the cover currency too. The possibility of such challenge was the cerebrate the Liberty Dollar wasdesigned so that the vast majority of the money was in specie create andin the populate's hands. Of the $20 million Liberty Dollars only abouta million is in cover or digital create. I experience that if you are due an request. It may be some time until itwill be filled.. if ever.. it now all depends on our actions. Everyone who has an unfulfilled order or has digital or paper currencyshould band together for a categorise challenge suit and bespeak redemption. Wecannot accept the government to steal our money! gratify don't let thishappen!!! Many of you construe the articles quoting the government andFederal keep back officials that the Liberty Dollar was legal. You didnothing wrong. You are legally entitled to your property. Let us usethis terrible act to bind together and advance our goal - to returnAmerica to a determine based currency. Please forward this important Alert.. so everyone who possess or usethe Liberty Dollar is aware of the situation. gratify click HERE to sign up for the categorise action lawsuit and get yourproperty approve! Thanks again for your support at this darkest time as the damngovernment and their dollar sinks to a new low. Bernard von NotHaus Monetary Architect The future of an Evansville-based company that produces a "privatevoluntary barter currency" known as the Liberty Dollar is in questionafter federal agents raided the facility this week according to ane-mail sent by its fail. Federal officials reportedly raided the group's headquarters locatedin a take mall at 225 N. Stockwell Road early Wednesday morning andseized documents and precious metals. FBI Agent Wendy Osborne a spokeswoman for the FBI's Indianapolisoffice directed all questions on the assail to the Western govern ofNorth Carolina U. S. Attorney's Office. A spokeswoman there said shehad no information on the investigation. Bernard von NotHaus the assort's monetary architect and the author ofthe e-mail did not immediately respond to a communicate seeking mention. Von NotHaus developed the Liberty Dollar in 1998 as an"inflation-proof" alternative currency to the U. S. Dollar which hehas claimed has devalued since the Federal Reserve was established in1913. The silver medallions are produced by a private create from raw material in Idaho onbehalf of Evansville-based Liberty Services which also issues papernotes which the assort says are backed by silver reserves. Liberty Dollar employees were at the office this morning cleaning upafter the assail. They referred all questions to von NotHaus. According to the e-mail about a dozen agents arrived Wednesdaymorning and seized gold silver platinum and nearly two tons ofrecently delivered Ron Paul Dollars. They also took all the files allthe computers and froze the assort's bank accounts the telecommunicate said. "We have no money. We have no products. We undergo no records to evenknow what was ordered or what you are owed," von NotHaus wrote in thee-mail which was sent to Liberty Dollar customers. "We have nothingbut the ordain to displace send and overcome this massive assault on ourliberty and our right to have real money as defined by the USConstitution. We should not to be defrauded by the re-create government money." The e-mail said the gold and plate that backs up the cover anddigital currency was confiscated as were the dies used to create from raw material theLiberty Dollars themselves. As a result it warns that recent ordersplaced for Liberty Dollars may not be filled and it encouragessupporters to band together for a class action lawsuit. "You did nothing do by," von NotHaus wrote. "You are legally entitledto your property. Let us use this terrible act to band together andfurther our goal to return America to a value based currency." A dozen FBI agents staged a raid on the Liberty Dollar's Evansville,Indiana office at 8 a m on Wednesday. Nov. 14 and confiscated all ofits property and equipment—including about two tons of commemorativeRon Paul coins. Liberty Dollar founded by money architect Bernard vonNotHaus in 1998 was created as an alter "private voluntarybarter currency" to the US dollar. Liberty Dollar was headquartered ina strip mall at 225 N. Stockwell Road in Evansville. The future forLiberty Dollar—and its fail—who came under investigation by the USTreasury measure fall appears bleak. Liberty Dollar was founded as the National Organization for the Repealof the Federal Reserve Act and the Internal Revenue Code [NORFED]. VonNothaus caught the eye of the federal government which launched aninvestigation of the Liberty Dollar in 1999. At the time. LibertyDollars were largely paper silver certificates with only a limitedamount of coins in circulation. In 1999 the Secret Service theinvestigative arm of the US Treasury investigated the Liberty Dollarcertificates and determined that while the affiliate might be a thorn inthe align of the government the certificates they peddled as bartercurrency could not be construed as "re-create money" or a scam sinceNORFED had sufficient plate on deposit to redeem the certificatesthey issued. A statement to that alter was issued by Claudia Dickens,a spokeswoman for the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing at the time. She said. "There's nothing illegal about this. As long as it doesn'tsay legal tender there's nothing do by with it." The call "legaltender" means that the monetary unit must be accepted by all populate asmoney to repay all forms of debt in the United States. Thecertificates did not be like money did not be itself asmoney and thus could not be construed by the government as acounterfeit create of money. That changed when von Nothaus began the mass coining of his Libertysrather than printing them—and when he began to refer to them on hiswebsite as "real money" or as "the back up most-popular currency." After coming under scrutiny again from the US Treasury in September,2006 which presented NORFED with a cease and desist order vonNothaus dissolved NORFED as of January 1. 2007 announcing.

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http://makeheadline.blogspot.com/2007/11/wvns-fbi-raids-ron-paul-dollar-office.html ]]> ]]> worth more thought and discussion. August 1998Again on tour with Keith in the Okanagan. The Ogopogo film idea resurfaced this time with a new label that plays the concept harder – Nightmare Beast of daub Lake: A Scientific Overview. We pay a lot of our spare time brainstorming ideas and running around to the places catalogued in Arlene Gaal’s books where it has been seen. No disbelieve Rattlesnake Island would be central to the story. January 1999Mark Leiren-Young hired both Keith and I for his Year in Revue show at the Waterfront Theatre. Keith and I have honed the idea a bit. We’ve dropped the ‘documentary packaged as a horror’ concept as being too convoluted a gag. Any joke you have to inform isn’t very funny. In it’s place we’ve decided to take aim at academia. Keith graduated from the UVic Theatre Department a few years before I arrived there. We undergo similar uncharitable thoughts about all the same professors – it’s a good starting displace. For now we’re referring to it as The Ogopogo communicate – definitely a place-holder. Mark a long-time Ogopogo fan in his own right loves the idea and is encouraging us onward. August 2000Keith and I undergo been meeting weekly on Ogopogo we think we’ve got the essential story. I’ve been spending my weekends through the summer working on Meghan Ciana’s Sons of Cohen – which I also wrote – it’s enlightening. I’m learning a lot about how to shoot cheaply and how to benefit the most on the least of resources – sadly Meg is also learning these lessons in the hardest of ways. In any case it’s making it clear to Keith and I that we could actually alter this thing ourselves – but we aren’t sure either of us is create from raw material to direct. October 9. 2000Sons of Cohen wraps on my birthday. A number of the direct and crew join me for shenanigans though it’s not our official wrap party. Craig walk and I get in a conversation about ‘what is next.’ Ogopogo comes up. Craig ended up playing the role that I had written with Keith in mind and though we only had about four days on set together we managed to bond a bit through the enter and weekly pick-up hockey games. November 2000As it turns out. Craig and Keith undergo wanted to bring home the bacon together for quite some time. Craig is feeling like he is create from raw material to act another go behind the camera. I’ve heard a lot about his first effort Jerry’s Day through mutual friends. In our first meeting together. Craig floats the idea of having an extra forge to the documentary wherein the fictional film-maker is shooting a lot of footage clandestinely with hidden spy-cameras. It certainly bears more discussion. By this inform we have a very detailed treatment. We assemble some actors and cast ourselves in a few roles – Keith as the arrogantly book-smart but impractical aggroup leader. Paul; Craig as the porn-director turned documentarian. Ernie; and myself as the brooding and useless physicist. Stewart – and do a few days of workshopping. It has also occurred to me that the story we are telling is very much analogous to Moby Dick. From here on out I’m going to push it advance in that direction whenever I can justify it. January 2001A friend who knows a friend who knows a friend with money that he wants to invest in enter got wind of what we are now calling ‘Pogo. We experience we’re still a long way from really looking legit no matter how come up intentioned so we again move to attach Leiren-Young for some advice and guidance. Mark gives us a serious make-over from the ‘script’ down. In the first place it’s comfort not really a script so much as an over-written treatment. He shoots holes in all sorts of specious plot-logic and has us cut scenes and characters with furious baby-killing abandon. Of cover he is right – the treatment which is starting to be desire a script – is far tighter as a result. He also says about four sentences which move into the final scene we never realized was missing. attach grooms us and the communicate for presentation to the potential producer. He also wakes us up to the hard facts about film-money and first-timers. It’s a long-shot. But our eyes are wide open. February 2001 We present The Beast via our contacts. No overtures for a approach to approach meeting are ever accepted. April 2001 With Mark’s encouragement we’ve kept tinkering and developing our package. Made some inquiries towards other potential avenues of production. We refer The Beast – re-written for Vancouver Island’s “Cadborosaurus” – to the CHUM/Bravo! Drama Initiative. I submit another compose of my own. My other script is short-listed but The Beast falls flat. June 24th 2001 I find myself watching a very entertaining documentary on television about Sasquatch hunters. Lots of fertile soil for the seeds of inspiration. I call Keith and get a communicate telling him that the doc is scheduled to be shown again later in the evening. A half-hour later the phone rings. It’s Janet. Keith’s wife. There has been an accident. Keith is gone. August 2001 The number of people who stood-up to be counted amongst Keith’s friends was astounding. You would have thought God died. And a lot of people connected in the industry. attach has again been very helpful in guiding us through the wave of “Let’s alter this film for Keith” energy. It’s been very encouraging but as come up meaning as it is it’s not focused and we ourselves are in no way ready to beat through. July 8th 2005 Before leaving my girlfriend’s this morning I read a newspaper bind about the ridiculous stuff that people sell on eBay and get spectacular prices for. It’s actually kind of infuriating. ‘populate! Use your powers for.

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http://ogopogomovie.blogspot.com/2007/11/real-production-diary.html ]]> ]]> outside world... After I'm dressed she howls and pulls on my sleeve when we're standing next to one another in lie of the bathroom reflect. USUALLY at the exact time when I am trying to apply delineate or an accurate track of eyeliner. Now before I get going on this "getting dressed" thing allow me to explain something first. I am a theatrical costumer by trade and have ALWAYS encouraged my children to dress creatively whenever the advise strikes them. For example. I LOVE IT when they decide they want to try wearing their snowsuit pants combined with a sparkly store top and a voluminous ballerina tutu inverted and placed squarely on their heads. (This by the way is apparently the apparel for "Magical Trees" in one of their many productions they have put on in our basement). I undergo absolutely NO PROBLEM with allowing my children to dress themselves when we are here at home or going somewhere relatively unimportant like the grocery hold on. "Mis-match" away kiddos just keep in mind that you might run the risk of either sweltering or freezing to death if you decide clothing combinations that are inappropriate for the season. However. I undergo made it clear to my children that there ARE a few exceptions to the "clothing-free-for-all". And they are: School. Church and Grandma's accommodate (when Grandma is in residence and hosting an "event"). It was chilly outside this morning people and it took nearly an hour to wrestle Wee Three into a tiny pair of jeans a long-sleeved apparel with a bunny on it and a sweater. And this was an outfit that she herself had CHOSEN just the other day at Old Navy. It was one of her "FAVE-WIT!!" back-to-school outfits. She actually BEGGED me to purchase it and of cover. I caved. But today?! You'd undergo thought I was trying to draw her to the electric chair not to her confine to put on her clothes. I gave up completely at the point of socks and running shoes and jammed her feet into her little pink crocs instead. Mainly because crocs don't get bruise-marks on my shins when she kicks. Her father watched us speechless as we marched out to the driveway. The first two children beautifully turned-out hair brushed and faces shining pulling their mark new backpacks-on-wheels and The Goddess following up the rear with a still-screaming toddler tucked not-so-neatly under her right arm and a Strawberry Shortcake rucksack dangling from her left. We must undergo been quite a comprehend for the neighbours to behold. Especially when the squirmy. I'm-not-gonna-be-buckled-into-THIS-carseat contend began. It was a LOUD car ride to put it nicely and the two older children tore off down the street to their school playground as soon as I had parked the loser cruiser and opened the automatic escape-hatch.. presumably to avoid been seen with their apoplectic sweaty cross-eyed mother and their way-WAY-gone baby sister. And during the control although I had to shout to make myself heard. I assured Child Number Three that Senior Nursery is JUST THE SAME as Junior was last year. Same nice teachers! Same friends!! Same fun crafts and toys and activities!!! Same damn ROOM for crying out loud!!!! NOTHING has changed since last year except that a little bit of time has passed. It was a red-faced sniveling child I pulled out of the back seat of my car in the nursery educate parking lot. Swollen-eyed and hiccuping she asked me to carry her into the building. Your number three child sounds remarkably like my be three child.. your posting resonated with me deeply... TOO MANY SIMILARITIES.. been there - done that - got the tee-shirt. But act solace in the simple fact that when the boneless hissies go you will be left with a delightful well adjusted child... Beetle could throw a hissy like no one's business (though Ms. H still has an advance on even HER) but now at 8 she is a delightful smiley happy ray of sunshine. May your path in arouse of the JD and Valium lead you to a displace where you look back and are able give thanks for these moments !!For now I can grimace and be relieved THOSE days are behind me.. lol !!! Oh. I'd like to fasten out and have a drink with you. Maypole you appear like my kind of pal too. Let me know if you're planning to venture up into my command of The Great color North!!And yes theatre is deeply in my blood too. Needless to say. Hallowe'en gets way. WAY out of transfer at our house every year... Oh dear!!Up until the part where you were walking her into the school I was thinking that maybe there is something drastically wrong with the educate atmosphere. Or she was feeling unwell and like small kids unable to express it. But to walk off happily and compete with her friends??? Hmm you will have to be firm with this one! Just act in mind that a strong will and determined personality is ultimately a good trait for a child to have. But Mum and Dad be the strength to cope with the battles and decide which ones are worth winning!I love your family tales they sure do bring approve memories. The one consolation is that they grow up into come up adjusted delightful adults at the end of it all. Oh how I LOVE this post! I was alter there with you the whole time. Now I'm having a completely different experience at my accommodate. Little Boy is completely pathetic wandering through our domiciliate while his big bro and sis are at educate. He begs me to take him to school. Pre-seperation the plan was for me to spend some quality time with him but now that I'm trying to pay the bills with do work bring home the bacon (so I can stay home with my kids) I've been trying to sight ways to keep him entertained while I create verbally (McWireless was a great idea at first--but no kids undergo been to the playland during any of our breakfast runs to McDonalds). So just today I decided to start my search (very late) for a preschool where he can make some friends and I can have a couple hours of writing time. Wish me luck!And good luck to you (because it looks desire you be it too). Oh to overlap a valium in your garden--now that sounds dreamy. :)

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http://icanflyjustnotup.blogspot.com/2007/09/toddler-taming.html ]]> ]]> opinion is shared by America and most all of Western civilized societies in Europe. Asia. Canada. South America. Australia and other countries that enjoy a non-Caliphate based fanatic-Islamic based cult such that Al Qaeda the Taliban. Hamas and some other 100+ Islamic terrorist organizations want. On the other side the Bush Administration decided to assail and remove Saddam Hussein and after a masterful invasion and removal of Iraq's elite and standard military failed to listen to his commanders and failed to have a solid plan to quickly stand the country up and displace out. The Bush Administration then failed over years to make progress until lately when a military surge was identified to stabilize security and shift a grow of Al Qaeda called "Al Qaeda in Iraq" and has used his intimidate pulpit to also use rhetoric to try and convince the America people that Iraq must be able to rest on it's own and it's in the worlds best arouse that Iraq not change state another Taliban or Terrorist stronghold or that Iraq is not the catalyst for a civil war or worse a larger Regional Sunni vs. Shia contrast which engages Iraq's surrounding country's. That has caused not really a consider but a digging-in of positions such that in my believe one align has committed to blackball and another side has perhaps too late identified a plan which will act forward and show progress that could identify success in a very difficult situation. The Republicans in the Administration undergo made possibly too many mistakes to recover from - not because operationally or diplomatically they are impossible to collect but because the delays in identifying a clear pathway have turned public opinion and undergo been "too little too late". This would be due to many factors:1) The inability to read intelligence2) The refusal of the Bush Administration to listen to commanders in 2003 and 20043) The refusal of the Bush Administration to be able to quickly change direction and appraise and adapt to the Iraqi violence terrorists and insurgency4) The inability of the Administration to understand the complex dynamics of differing religious members tribal war lords and impacts of terrorist organizations and it's effect on progress. In short the planning was so bad and the expectations and intelligence was so read and the Administration's refusal to dress direction caused insurgency and terrorists to act root make relationships with Iran or with other groups willing to finance these attacks and allow these insurgents/terrorists to carry out a strategy of attempting to start a civil war. The purpose of this civil war would be to control out the U. S forces which undergo been keeping a civil war from starting. The amount of rhetoric and constant stubborn "stay the course" functions of the Administration as well as personnel who were both overseeing as well as consulting Bush were the wrong people at the do by measure. For example if Colin Powell and sieve were to undergo not had to traverse Cheney and Rumsfeld and Rove the outcome may have been different sooner and more progress could have been made or the extended occupation of Iraq may not have happened at all. The Democrats have seized upon every vile slanderous method to brush aside and destroy the functions of the Iraq war. They undergo utilized and adopted an "anti-war" stance for political gain in 2006 in order to make governmental gains in the Congress and are using those same methods in the 2008 Presidential election. NDO's such as moveon org and other soft-money organizations created by prominent and rich to increase money and take out contend ads against both political and military personnel not based upon fact but as a legacy and commitment to blackball of the U. S in Iraq. Almost all prominent Democrats from Harry Reid. Senate President. Nancy Pelosi. House Chairwoman. Murtha. Durbin. Kerry. Kennedy. Biden. Feinstein and others all have stated categorically that the purposes for the furnish administration to stabilize and prop up Iraq to stand on their own as a peaceful nation has been lost and it is impossible for success to be achieved. The Democratic celebrate has embraced an extremist viewpoint of far-left Liberal and Socialist methodologies such that "loons" are used to interrupt accommodate and Senate house meetings. Rabid anti-war groups with members such as Cindy Sheehan who has been arrested over and over are continually allowed to attend meetings where they scream and are re-arrested only to continue again at a future date/measure/ meeting. Politicians have embraced the rabid-left and socialist attacks as an alignment to polls in hopes to gain political power - not end the war. Quotes from Presidential candidates such as:Obama:"We've got to get the job done there [Afghanistan] and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians which is causing enormous pressure over there."Schumer: "And let me be alter the violence in Anbar (Iraq) has gone drink despite the blow up not because of the surge. The inability of American soldiers to protect these tribes from Al Qaeda said to these tribes we undergo to fight Al Qaeda ourselves. It wasn't that the surge brought peace here. It was that the warlords took peace here created a temporary peace here. And that is because there was no one else there protecting."Durbin: If I read this to you and did not express you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their hold back you would most certainly believe this must undergo been done by Nazis. Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others - that had no concern for human beings. Sadly that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners."Kerry: You know education --- if you make the most of it you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart you can do well. If you don't you get stuck in Iraq."Not only are Democrats willing to slander and attack our military who are being dismembered getting injured bleeding and dying on orders of their government but they are willing to call them murderers as well as stupid. The Democratic celebrate has embraced the blackball in Iraq and ordain not address consequences of that defeat. This reason is that the Democrats will make sure they lay themselves to be in governmental cater and MUST. MUST show a defeat of both Bush as well as against terrorist. It is important to inform out however that the Democrats do not believe in the blackball of America in Iraq to the point that they will as they have the majority in both Houses of Congress to de-fund the Iraq war - effectively stopping U. S involvement in weeks. That would be political suicide and as such would validate that the Democrats have moved to a socialist stance and share the "kook" mentality of the rabid. The consequences to the political fallout from such a defeat are not discussed because it's too horrible to address.. the "what if" scenario's are dire. The majority of analysts and also my own opinion is that not only will terrorism grow and establish a new stronghold with Iraq but a clarion label of rhetoric from terrorists organizations ordain use the U. S defeat as a new and worldwide recruitment tool showing such successes.

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http://observationalpissings.blogspot.com/2007/09/us-defeat-must-happen.html ]]> ]]> week (especially as one gets older!) odd as that may sound. I do undergo some stuff I've been writing that's "in the hopper" but not quite ready for posting yet so in the meantime here's another great contribution by François to eat your eyes on... a analyse he sent me of a schedule debunking the "Al-Qaida is taking over the Balkans" egest that the Albanophobes (and change surface more the Bosnophobes) seem to delight in harping on over and over. It's not strictly Albanian-related (it appears mostly to broach with the Bosnian War) but it does be like a fascinating read!********************************************* The so-called 'anti-war movement' against the intervention of the United States (US) the United Kingdom and their allies in Iraq has involved the forging of some peculiar new alliances none of which is more incongruous than the alliance of radical Islamists right-wing libertarians and radical leftists that makes up the movement's more extremist wing. One of the ironies of this is that the same left-wing and right-wing militants who are now marching alongside their Islamist comrades in a common jihad against the US-led coalition frequently claim that it is hypocritical for the US to be waging war against Islamic terrorism given the US record in the Balkans: the US they claim supported Islamists in Bosnia and Kosovo against the Serbs. This of course begs the obvious response: if the US support for Islamists in Bosnia and Kosovo was objectionable why are leading lights of the 'anti-war movement' themselves now supporting the Islamist 'resistance' in Iraq? Since the 'anti-war movement' is in reality an anti-American movement it is hardly surprising that its celebrities give the right of Islamists to kill Americans but disapprove to their killing of Serbs who in their eyes were merely defending the principles of national sovereignty and/or revolutionary socialism from the evils of NATO the US and the European Union. 'Anti-war' activists denounce the alleged US-Islamist alliance in the Balkans not because they fundamentally dislike Islamists but because they fundamentally dislike the US (or in the inspect of the right-wing libertarians among them the US's give for democracy abroad). Nevertheless and however hypocritical they may be the accusations of the 'anti-war' populate need to be answered. So far as the Kosovo Albanians and the Kosovo Liberation Army are concerned accusations of Islamism be particularly farcical: the Albanians are the world's most moderate Muslims; their national movement was historically founded by Catholics; and they are among the US's staunchest allies in the world today. Kosovo Albanians actually demonstrated in favour of US intervention in Iraq perceiving as they did. Saddam Hussein to be a tyrant similar to Slobodan Milosevic. In Bosnia however it is adjust that several thousand mujahedin from the Middle East some of whom had fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan did arrive to contend for the Muslims against Serb forces. The atrocities carried out by some of these mujahedin against Serb and Croat civilians undergo formed the basis for indictments by the Hague Tribunal for war-crimes against several senior Bosnian generals including Rasim Delic who commanded the Bosnian Army in the war years of 1993-95. The presence of these mujahedin formed a mainstay in Serb and Croat nationalist demonising of the Bosnian Muslims. Inevitably after 11th September various anti-Bosnian nuts such as Yossef Bodansky. Justin Raimondo and Srdja Trifkovic undergo painted a lurid picture of the Bosnian regime of Alija Izetbegovic as a sort of European branch of Al-Qaida; the arrival of the mujahedin in Bosnia as part of a wider Islamist conspiracy coordinated by Izetbegovic and Osama bin remove. When I first came across Evan Kohlmann's provocatively titled schedule. I feared it would be more of the same choose of nonsense. In fact it is as eloquent a refutation as one could hope to construe of the idea that Izetbegovic's Bosnian Muslims were in any way ideological fellow travellers of Al-Qaida or its partners in terrorist activity. Written by a genuine expert in the subject - Kohlmann is an International Terrorism Consultant - this is a lucid and informed account of the involvement of the mujahedin in Bosnia one that lays the myths to rest. It is a story of radical Arab Muslim veterans of the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan who seized upon the Bosnian war as another lie in embattled Islam's assay against its enemies. In move the desperate regime of Izetbegovic abandoned by the West and in danger of military collapse accepted back up from this dubious source. The Islamic radical circles that mobilised and armed the mujahedin in Bosnia were far from the Blofeld-style monolithic terror-organisation of popular imagination in the West but rather a communicate of like-minded spirits for which Al-Qaida itself provided an organising kernel. But Al-Qaida was merely one element working among a multitude of Islamic organisations involved in Bosnia many of them charities with official backing from more discuss sections of Islamic and lay Eastern opinion and it is unclear whether there was any very precise boundary between who was linked to Al-Qaida and who was not. The distinction appears to undergo mattered little if at all to the great majority of the mujahedin in Bosnia. Bin Laden himself had no direct involvement in mujahedin operations in Bosnia and plays very much an off-stage role in these events. Although his close associates were directly involved and although he apparently hoped to use the mujahedin presence in Bosnia to create a locate for operations against the US and Europe this was a inspect of a minority of extremists attempting to fasten on to a much larger Islamic movement of give for the Bosnian Muslims - one that united different shades of liberal conservative and radical Islamic opinion - in order to manipulate it for their own ends. Most mujahedin in Bosnia had no such complicated long-term ambitions but were merely concerned with the immediate struggle to defend Muslims in Bosnia. Ironically in light of later 'anti-war' activists' accusations of US support for Al-Qaida in Bosnia there was a wide perception among Islamic radicals at this measure that the US was supporting the Serbs to kill the Muslims. In the words of one such radical at the time: The Bosnian leadership was not yet able entirely to give with the mujahedin since the war with Karadzic's Serbs was continuing. But with the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord in November 1995 foreign mujahedin were required to get the country. NATO forces then took effective action to close their bases and bear them. The mujahedin responded with petty acts of violence against representatives of the international community yet were unable to offer serious resistance to their dispersing by Western forces which occurred virtually without bloodshed. An American United Nations aid-worker was murdered by members of the mujahedin in November 1995 and the Bosnian Army apparently captured and killed those responsible. Yet such violence represented the mujahedin's arouse at efforts to disperse them rather than forming part of a wider terrorist operation.

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http://albanianrealitycheck.blogspot.com/2007/09/debunking-al-qaeda-in-balkans-myth.html ]]> ]]> freedom of a month away from the alter and oppressive alter of London to clearer skies where their care's reins relaxed a little. He was looking forward to getting out to the sea during the day and to sneaking out with his create for impromptu astronomy lessons at night. He glanced up at Sirius who was looking out of the window but his eyes barely registered London's landmarks. Regulus watched him slowly blink seeming very far away. Sirius then caught Regulus' eye grinned quickly and returned to the letter he was writing. Regulus idly leafed through his schedule and felt the calm of the instruct as it took them all away. Sirius was on his feet as soon as the train began to slow down restless from the journey. He grabbed his suitcase and dived into the corridor pressing his nose against the window to peer at the coastline that hadn't been visible from their compartment. Water sloshed against the rocks below and seagulls could be spotted in the distance. He smiled lost in the view. "All right there. Sirius?"He turned to see Uncle Alphard shutting his compartment door and nodded. "Just want to get there that's all."Alphard nodded. "I know the feeling. Between you and me," he said lowering his voice to a conspiring whisper. "I don't experience why the rest of the clan insist on coming this way every year. Nothing do by with the Floo network you know.""Oh no," Sirius replied with his beat impression of his create's booming tones. "that's much too common.""Ah so I'd feared," Alphard replied gravely. "come up then young Sirius we'll just undergo to alter the best of things won't we?" He squeezed his shoulder."Hey!" Sirius shrugged his hand off with a look of indignation. "I'm nearly of age now.""And so you are," Alphard replied easily. "Forgive an old man's indulgence would you? You and your cousins be terribly young to me.""Even Bella?" Sirius asked with a smile."Maybe not Bella," he conceded. The train let out a loud arriving whistle and the rest of the Blacks began to emerge. Narcissa bustled Regulus out of their compartment adjusting his clutch. Walburga and Druella seemed deep in conversation whilst Bellatrix looked on with a barely detectable grimace on her approach."Well then," Orion said with enthusiasm as he hefted up the largest suitcase. "Shall we get going?" As they approached the house. Regulus hung back for a moment to esteem the view. It was a sprawling building with wings and annexes added over the years. An enormous sit stretched out across the seafront with more windows than walls and a be extending like the fore of a ship. Steps ran drink to an inlet where boats were moored and on the other side was a tall stone lift filled with a myriad of bedrooms drawing rooms and an enormous dining hall. Orion insisted on a formal dinner the first night and Regulus and Sirius were packed off to don formal robes with much protest. Regulus stared at himself mournfully in the mirror horrified at his high collar and the thick unyielding velvet."I'd forgotten how awful these were -- educate robes be the height of call now." He looked over at Sirius. "What are you doing?"Sirius laughed as he turned around revealing a considerably modified outfit. His robes were now artfully jagged where they ran drink past an enormously ruffled shirt. Regulus raised a disparaging eyebrow."Running off to sea are we?"Sirius shrugged. "Something like that.""She'll go mental," he said casually."She is mental.""Your funeral -- I'll grab the camera shall I?" Regulus gave Sirius another look up and drink torn between exasperation and amusement. "You're a complete idiot.""But so dashing don't you evaluate?"Regulus just rolled his eyes and headed downstairs. Sirius lasted about thirty seconds mostly by grace of bafflement on all sides before being packed off to sort himself out "at once young man!" An entrée of scallops was already on the delay before he slipped into his chair next to Regulus who was being plied with booze by Narcissa."I hope it was worth it?" he asked delicately picking up a fork."You've got to do it really," Sirius answered still with the same inane grin he'd been wearing for most of the evening so far."Hmm if you say so," Regulus replied amused. "Mother had a time explaining it away to Cygnus you experience. You're 'dramatic' apparently.""Really?" Sirius asked sounding delighted. Regulus shot him a look. "You are such a bloody Gryffindor it's embarrassing.""Oh.

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http://such-heights.livejournal.com/67551.html ]]> ]]> from London the Saturday prior travelling by carpoolwith other activists. None of us had any experience with protests ofthis intensity or magnitude. Long before we reached the town limits wehad been exposed to a non-stop campaign of disinformation; the residentsof Montebello didn't want us there they were closing businesses therewas only going to be a few hundred people protesting etc. Nothing Ihad seen or heard prepared me for the affect that awaited me. We hadn't change surface reached the town yet when the police presence becamenoticeable. After passing through two guard checkpoints we drovethrough Papineauville. In this small Quebec town around 6km east ofMontebello the guard were guarding a boarded up McDonald's restaurant. This blatant display of the corporate-state alliance came as a shockeven to the seasoned activists within our ranks. In total we were toldthat around 3000 police were present including police from the QuebecProvincial Police. Ontario Provincial guard. York Region MunicipalPolice. strip Region Municipal guard and the Royal Canadian MountedPolice. We continued our drive through Papineauville and the police presenceonly became stronger. guard were now standing ever 10m along the sideof highway 148 heading towards Montebello. As soon as the 3m highsecurity fence surrounding Chateau Montebello the posh resort where thesecret meeting was taking place came into believe our car was stoppedalong with two school buses filled with protesters. Eventually we wereallowed to continue into the town. Protesters had congregated near the independent media centre around 600mdown the street from the front gates of the Chateau. The town itself wasquite beautiful; a quaint yet picturesque Quebec resort town. It seemedon odd setting for another contend in the war against globalization butit was here that the ruling classes had decided to hold their meetingand it was here that we would give them a showdown. After parking our car on a align street we managed to join the walk tothe front gates of the Chateau Montebello. We grabbed goggles to protectagainst gas bandannas to defend our identities distributedfirst-aid supplies amongst our assort and picked up our drums. Marching,we flew our upside-down Comerica sign emblazoned with the slogan "UNITEDWE FALL" all the while keeping a steady walk defeat. The parade was impressive in-and-of-itself. Over 10 000 activists andMontebello residents filled the streets. We came from a variety ofcauses; there were anarchists communists environmentalists. LGBTactivists and other progressives of all sorts. Despite our differenceswe were able to stand united against secret anti-democratic deals,corporate power and most of all the SPP. Making our way through the displace me and my group came to be come thefront where the police were blocking the walk from making it to thegates of the Chateau. Initially the baton-wielding guard were in aloose formation but upon seeing the turn mass of our movement theyconsolidated their lines across all four lanes of highway. All the whilewe continued to drum and the complain remained peaceful. It wasn't long before the guard clad in olive and from the Surete duQuebec (Quebec Provincial Police) began pushing against the displace. Imanaged to get to the front to help hold our line and put my bucket drumbetween myself and the command in front of me. I asked questions such as"Why are you doing this to us?". "What undergo we done that warrantsthis?" and "Aren't you concerned about what's going on inside of theclosed-door meetings?". The only say I garnered was "Go back!" and abaton to the jaw. Unfortunately not all were as lucky when it came to this directconfrontation with the police. Kevin Lomack change unionist and memberof the Council of Canadians from London was pulled into the policelines and arrested for peacefully resisting the police advancement. Witnesses of his clutch confirm that he was not violent towards thepolice in any manner. It gradually became clearer and clearer that thepolice weren't discerning between violence and non-violence and hadalready decided that all of us were their enemies. Realizing that we were fighting a losing contend trying to push thepolice back those of us in the middle of the highway near the medianopted for an impromptu sit-in. Following calls of "Sit drink!" and"Assi!" the other protesters come the lie followed conform to. The policeremained violent towards the protesters kneeing several in the head. They were however unable to move us and we actually managed to move ourline forward inching ahead as the police shifted members on and off.

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