Can anyone offer advice to a soldier on where he can get married by Elvis in Gatlinburg? All I can think of to suggest is contacting the Gatlinburg chamber of commerce.

Both Dick Cheney and John McCain made "unannounced" visits to Iraq, neither for "political purposes."

Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip Monday to Baghdad, where he plans to push Iraqi political leaders toward opening the country’s vast oil fields to international companies, a senior Bush administration official said.

Mr. Cheney, who arrived in the Iraqi capital with his wife and daughter in the morning, is to meet with top officials including the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a Shiite, and the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.

The vice president plans, among other things, to push Iraqi officials to pass petroleum legislation that would help bring international oil companies to Iraq, according to a pool report of comments by a senior administration official who was flying with Mr. Cheney.

The official described the petroleum issue as being about Iraqi leaders “figuring out how they really begin to exploit” the country’s resources, according to the pool report.Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip Monday to Baghdad, where he plans to push Iraqi political leaders toward opening the country’s vast oil fields to international companies, a senior Bush administration official said.

Mr. Cheney, who arrived in the Iraqi capital with his wife and daughter in the morning, is to meet with top officials including the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a Shiite, and the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.

The vice president plans, among other things, to push Iraqi officials to pass petroleum legislation that would help bring international oil companies to Iraq, according to a pool report of comments by a senior administration official who was flying with Mr. Cheney.

The official described the petroleum issue as being about Iraqi leaders “figuring out how they really begin to exploit” the country’s resources, according to the pool report.

Well, we know where the sentiments of his mechanical heart lie.
Oil, baby!
And Fox News told me the trip was to promote peace in the Middle East. That may be so in regards to Cheney not getting his Exxon's way means there'll be more war.

And then there's the presumptive GOP presidential nominee's trip to consider.
McCain will NOT be going to "stroll freely through a Baghdad market", heavily protected by the US military on this trip due to "security considerations."
Hell, they won't even announce his schedule!
More evidence the surge is working and we need to occupy our 51st state for 100 more years, or until we drain all our oil from underneath their sand.

So what if the glories of deregulation are about to exhibit the magnificence of free market capitalism at it's finest (socialist Fed Reserve bailouts and all) 'cause you didn't need that 401k retirement money anyways.
(Good thing we went ahead privatized Social Security, eh Bush?)

Can't think about that right now, we've got a war to fight. Don't laugh Iran, you're next!

"Although Petraeus and other senior commanders in Iraq had been suggesting the possibility of a pause in the drawdown, the idea runs counter to those in the military — particularly in the Army and Marine Corps — who worry that strains on troops from long and multiple combat tours will grow worse unless the drawdown continues after July."
Link...

Note that they are no longer using the word withdrawal. When Bush is taking troops out it is called a "drawdown"

I just hope all the Americans who have had their eyes opened about this war will remember to be more alert when it comes to the Washington/ Republican propaganda machine.

I hope the betrayed early supporters of this war will refuse to vote Republican in the general election.

UT Issues Committee:

Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author, will discuss his most recent book, Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib , in which he lays out the chain of events from the September 11th attacks to the war in Iraq.

Hersh’s work became famous in 1969 when he exposed the My Lai massacre and its subsequent cover-up. As both a free-lance journalist and a writer for The New York Times and the Associated Press, Hersh has written controversial and groundbreaking reports on the C.IA’s bombing of Cambodia, Henry Kissinger’s wiretapping of his staff, the C.I.A’s operations against Chilean President Salvador Allende, and prison abuse in Abu Ghraib. Hersh currently contributes regularly to The New Yorker . In addition to his journalistic contributions, Hersh has published eight books.

Event Details

Date: Feb. 6, 2008 19:30
Location: UC Auditorium
Cost: Free

Contact: issues@utk.edu

Facts can be proven but statistics are much more easily bent. Could this be a perfect example?

Okay folks here it comes. Realizing the surge (as positive as it has been security-wise) has done little to achieve what was once the primary goal of the American occupation in Iraq, the Bushites have once again rushed to huddle in the back of their medicine show wagon, and they've come out with a whole new trunk of sleight-of-hand tricks and smoke and mirrors.

From the NYT: "With American military successes outpacing political gains in Iraq, the Bush administration has lowered its expectation of quickly achieving major steps toward unifying the country, including passage of a long-stymied plan to share oil revenues and holding regional elections."
Link...

What? Did I hear that right?

Trying to turn this total defeat of purpose into a success story will not be an easy task, but Bush, Inc. still believe their magic-mojo is intact and now they're about to introduce a new act they hope will make heads spin.

When it comes to Iran, this administration continues to beat the drums of war. Every day we hear about the help they are giving insurgents in Iraq. It is, in fact, one of the excuses being used to start pumping up support for a strategic strike against them.

Yet, according to this NY Times article, documents found in a recent raid show it is Saudi Arabia and Libya that provide the most insurgents.

"American military and diplomatic officials who discussed the flow of fighters from Saudi Arabia were careful to draw a distinction between the Saudi government and the charities and individuals who they said encouraged young Saudi men to fight in Iraq. After United States officials put pressure on Saudi leaders in the summer, the Saudi government took some steps that have begun to curb the flow of fighters, the officials said.

Yet the senior American military officials said they also believed that Saudi citizens provided the majority of financing for Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. “They don’t want to see the Shias come to dominate in Iraq,” one American official said."
Link...

Though the role the Saudis play in the Iraq war and the jihad movement have been discussed for a long time, Washington continues to look the other way when it comes to Saudi behavior. In March the stoning of a rape victim there brought little comment from the White House, while we are told daily how evil repressive governments are in places like Iran. Link...

The controversial, politically charged movie Redacted will be aired before its theatrical release on HDNet's Movie Channel tonight, Wed. Nov. 14th at 10:15 PM Eastern. It is a docudrama about modern media coverage of war and particularly the war in Iraq, loosely based on the Haditha incident.

This story has deep implications. It also reveals some intriguing connections with Hunt Oil and GWB. Some politicians suggest this deal foreshadows a knowledge that the country is about to be divided by us in a way that will give the Kurds control of Iraqi oil. This will not happen without a lot of uproar and bloodshed. Our stated goal in Iraq, the one our troops are dying for was to insure ALL Iraqis shared equally in oil revenues. Then why is our government not stopping Hunt Oil from making a contract with only one party--the Kurds? I think this is only the tip of the iceberg. It has been known for a couple of weeks, but it isn't getting much press. Hmm...I wonder why? Congressman and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is trying to get answers. Link...

"President George W. Bush has twice appointed Mr. Hunt to a seat on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), which is said to have access to intelligence that experts acknowledge is advantageous to the international energy interest of the Hunt Oil Company."

Why has this oil man been given access to intelligence when members of our own Congress have often been rebuffed by the White House?

This will make you wince.

From Congressional Quarterly:

The Senate also may vote on a “sense of the Senate” resolution that would say the policy of the United States is to "combat, contain and roll back" Iran and its surrogates in Iraq.

Lieberman is a co-sponsor.

The Webb amendment that would have given troops more time at home between deployments was blocked by Senate Republicans.

Senate Democrats could not get enough votes for cloture to end a Republican filibuster of the bill.

Tennessee Sens. Alexander and Corker both voted against cloture, which is a vote against the amendment.

As Sven noted yesterday, Alexander had said just the day before that he was "studying" the amendment and might consider it.

But Alexander and Corker both decided to once again toe the Bush party line. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) said "The White House has been very effective of making this a loyalty test for the party."

Sens. Collins and Snowe of Maine, Coleman of Minnesota, Sununu of New Hampshire, and Smith of Oregon were the other Republicans who supported the troops, along with every Democrat.

We interrupt the regularly scheduled cable OJ and helicopter car chase programming for this: CNN is reporting that Blackwater has been banned from Iraq:

Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead. The U.S. State Department said it plans to investigate what it calls a "terrible incident."

In addition to the fatalities, 14 people were wounded, most of them civilians, an Iraqi official said.

Joe Powell has lots more.

Of all the reporters in Iraq, I am most impressed with Michael Ware's reporting. He has a vast street-level knowledge of what's going on over there and also an ability to explain what's happening at the higher levels. I like the way he smirks when he hears things that are totally stupid and false about Iraq. Tonight he gave a really heartwrenching account of the tragedy Iraqi civilians face when one of their loved ones is killed---how impossible it is to even retrieve their bodies for burial. Because of this volunteers collect and bury the dead. What a noble act to do this grisly task. You have to feel really bad for the Iraqi people that are still left in Iraq. So many have fled, but so many remain. Sometimes their plight seems like Katrina. They can't leave or haven't left and therefore are facing ghastly deprivations and hellish scenarios.

Quite a different picture from the President's speech. Perhaps Bush ought to sit down and talk to Michael Ware instead of people like his ignorant VP and his stooge-like Secretary of Defense.

Michael Ware rocks when it comes to reporting from Iraq!

Sen. Lamar Alexander, who is up for reelection, is posturing distancing himself from Bush and the Petraeus report and getting some bi-partisan support:

"My answer is, let’s have a change in mission as rapidly as we can," said Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who next year will defend a seat rated by CQ as "Republican favored."

Alexander and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., have jointly proposed changing the mission of troops from combat to support, to reduce the presence long-term and to increase political and diplomatic efforts.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., embraced Alexander’s proposal Monday as a model for bipartisan compromise because it calls for a long-term military presence in the Middle East.

This is the same Sen. Alexander that has voted with the Bush administration every single time on Iraq.

In related news, the Knoxville News Sentinel had an unbelievably absurd front-page above the fold big bold headline today that said "Bush to endorse troop removal" with the sub-head "Speech to outline plan to cut forces in Iraq by 30,000 with conditions." Those would be the 30,000 troops he sent over for the surge. Even Bush is distancing himself from Bush.

The sad thing is, people will buy this B.S., and will be talking about how Bush and the Republicans are doing something while Democrats are sitting around making up silly ads and arguing over whether we should surrender to Iran or al Qaeda.

Democrats need to start calling it like it is, and send all these creeps home that we can in 2008. We need to start by moving Alexander's seat from "Republican favored" to "in play." Who's going to step up to the plate? Democrats need to quit avoiding tough fights and waiting around for wounded candidates to run against.

...in New York City!

By way of Whitescreek, the internets are buzzing with the latest revelation that Bush knew there were no WMD in Iraq and withheld this information from Congress before the vote to authorize the use of military force.

In related news, Bush later admitted in a 2004 public speech that there were no WMD, but still privately insisted they were there up until April, 2006.

Is this the portrait of a decisive leader or a disturbed man? (Hint: he sees ghosts.) Only 500 more days until our long national nightmare is over.

From the NYT:

For now, though, Mr. Bush told the author, Robert Draper, in a later session, "I’m playing for October-November." That is when he hopes the Iraq troop increase will finally show enough results to help him achieve the central goal of his remaining time in office: "To get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence," and, he said later, "stay longer."

Keith Olbermann comments:

A man with any self respect, having inadvertently revealed such an evil secret, would have already resigned and fled the country! You have no remaining credibility about Iraq.

Russ McBee explains.

Some might conclude that there are three kinds of criminals in the federal government right now.

Bush: Criminally insane.

Congress: Criminally negligent.

Cheney: Just a plain old criminal.

I just wanted to cross-post something I wrote on The Moderate Voice about the motivations of Sunnis who turned against Al Qaeda in Iraq. It deals with what I think is one of the least discussed and most important elements of future US strategy in Iraq.

Link...

According to my back-of-the-envelope calculations, President Numbnuts' war supplemental is equivalent to just under 25% of all personal income tax collected by the federal government annually.

$3.85 billion a week.* It's more than that, of course, because it won't be drawn out of the national checking account; it'll be rung up on the national credit card.

I might be able to swallow the largest single chunk of my tax dollars being blown on whiskey and sexy in one big eff-it-all Fall of the Republic bender. But no, the Magnificent Leader has decided to invest it in burning flesh, snake oil and training thousands in how to better kill my countrymen.

Matt Taibbi sums it up perfectly:

What the Bush administration has created in Iraq is a sort of paradise of perverted capitalism, where revenues are forcibly extracted from the customer by the state, and obscene profits are handed out not by the market but by an unaccountable government bureauc­racy.

This is the triumphant culmination of two centuries of flawed white-people thinking, a preposterous mix of authoritarian socialism and laissez-faire profit­eering, with all the worst aspects of both ideologies rolled up into one pointless, supremely idiotic military adventure -- American men and women dying by the thousands, so that Karl Marx and Adam Smith can blow each other in a Middle Eastern glory hole.

* Consider this: the Hoover Dam cost $2.4 billion to build (in 2006 dollars).

By Bobby Muller, Veterans for America

I have a fundamental question for you two – a really simple basic question. One that every American should be asking themselves right now as you – and the rest of our Senators – get ready to return from your month-long break.

When the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that our troops were at their breaking point, when the Department of Defense reported that our current deployment policies are compounding the wounds of war, causing mental health problems among our troops to skyrocket, and that one of the primary causes was our current policy of deploying troops back to Iraq and Afghanistan without adequate dwell time at home, why didn’t you do something about it?

New York Times: Report Offers Grim View of Iraqi Leaders

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 — A stark assessment released Thursday by the nation’s intelligence agencies depicts a paralyzed Iraqi government unable to take advantage of the security gains achieved by the thousands of extra American troops dispatched to the country this year.

The assessment, known as a National Intelligence Estimate, casts strong doubts on the viability of the Bush administration strategy in Iraq.

Front page of today's Knoxville News Sentinel: Analysts find Iraq still in need of outside help

Intelligence report warns against scaling back mission of U.S. forces

The Iraqi government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months and its security forces have not improved enough to operate without outside help, U.S. spy agencies conclude in a new assessment of the country’s political and military fortunes.

Despite some uneven improvements, the analysts concluded that the level of overall violence is high, Iraq’s sectarian groups remain unreconciled, and al-Qaida in Iraq is still able to conduct highly visible attacks.

On a related topic, there's also some buzz about Bush's support for Iraqi PM "heckuva job" Maliki. One talking head said Maliki had no political power because right now power in Iraq boils down to who has the biggest militia, leaving me to wonder who has a bigger militia than Maliki's U.S. Armed Forces?

Also, is anyone else sick of hearing about "military commanders on the ground" (why are they on the ground? should someone help them get up?) and the hype surrounding the highly anticipated Petraeus report? This is an Iraqi political problem, not a U.S. military problem. Where is Condi Rice? Out shopping for shoes?

I also blog on occasion at Joe Gandelman's site, "The Moderate Voice." I thought I'd repost an entry I did there on Knoxviews.

Link...

We knew he had a questionable safety record for his coal mines. We knew that he blames an imaginary earthquake for his Utah mine disaster. We heard him use a tragic moment to rail against everything from global warming to Hillary Clinton. So I guess this shouldn't surprise. Excerpt:

"Mitch McConnell calls me one of the five finest men in America, and last time I checked he was sleeping with your boss," Murray told the [MSHA] inspectors...

Heckofa job, Bob! Heckofa job, Mitch and Elaine!

Oh, you can always find corrupt individuals in both parties. William Jefferson comes to mind. But this really continues the Authoritarian pattern of today's GOP as orchestrated perfectly by the Bush administration. The same Bush the whole GOP proudly hung its future (and that of the world) on not so very long ago. And the same Bush who was the GOP's hero up until about the past year.

"W" "THE PRESIDENT"! We hardly knew ya. But many of us knew better.

BONUS!: Is Ragsdale really any more guilty for things that have happened under his watch than W is for those under his? How is the evidence different?

Maybe the Bush Administration and the Pentagon should use Google:

Rebuilding Iraq price comparison
Compare Rebuilding Iraq prices before you buy to make sure you get the best deal. Find a list of Rebuilding Iraq prices from multiple vendors at MSN ...

You’re going On Vacation?

Where does the Senate and the House of Representatives think they are going? Vice President Cheney flew to Iraq and told the government they shouldn’t go on vacation.

I want to turn on C-Span and see the House of Representatives and the Senate sitting in their respective chairs making policy; discussing it, showing the American people that they just might have read the bills they are signing. Right now it looks like everybody left at half time. Never mind, “negotiations behind closed doors” that perpetuate the Iraqi War with no end in sight; sending the same men and women back into combat, because there is no draft and because that would certainly stop this sick fiasco.

Sit down, every last one of you, in front of the American people and do the JOB that you were elected TO DO. Stop shuffling the cards. If you are going to Impeach, Impeach. You voted to keep this war, explain why our children (and certainly not many of yours) need go back three and four times to die for it. Explain why it costs billions for 150,000 troops in Iraq ? Where is the rest of the money going? To whom? Explain NOW, or bring the troops home. If you want to clean up the air, clean it up NOW.. Don’t designate funds. Fix the Ninth Ward in New Orleans . We need jobs. Stop building America with Mickey Mouse ears. Don’t pitch McDonald’s hats for graduation gifts. Don’t tell Americans they can’t buy cheap drugs from Canada , because the drugs may have problems while we sell alcohol and cigarettes with a label that says watch out, but do it anyway. Say the word “homeless” out loud several times, so it exists. You might even do something about it. Get off non-issues that feed this consumptive culture.

Resolution to Vote For? Shall it be this leg, that one, a toe, half a head, an eyeball? A son, a daughter? Which part? Which whom are you willing to part with? This war is about privatizing oil and building bases in Iraq . Our soldiers are wounded and dying and this country is running out of gas. Stop it NOW!

NO waiting until September. No fishing. No golf. No freebies. No raises this year. No nothing! Cut the sad faces. Show up on time. Sit in the heat of it. You work for us and at this point, you are non- union.

David Plumb

I was going through the old SKB archives looking for posts about the run up to the Iraq invasion, trying to come up with a summary of what the mood was like in the Fall of 2002 and early 2003.

I found some funny stuff, some poorly written stuff, some confused stuff, even some hawkish stuff early on when we were all still furious and hurting over 9/11 (not that it's worn off much, but there have been many distractions and sideshows since). I may put together a compendium of some of those posts sometime.

But it appears my feelings evolved over time, and I finally arrived at this "Special Commentary" style rant which seems to sum it all up. Sadly, not much has changed four and a half years later...

Read more...

While Congress debated whether to end the senseless U.S. occupation of Iraq last night, four more American soldiers died.

Bush just trotted out one of his Stepford Aides to give a press briefing on Homeland Security the growing threat of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Fran Townsend, Bush's Homeland Security Advisor, gave a robotic reading from declassified portions of a National Intelligence Estimate that was long on rhetoric but short on intelligence.

The bottom line is that al-Qaida is stronger in Iraq because our invasion of Iraq has weakened them, or something. It was mostly incoherent, except that we must stay in Iraq to keep us safe here.

Townsend also reiterated the alleged "link" between al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 attacks, and asserted that because al-Qaida is now in Iraq they have access to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons, and they will not hesitate to use them against us.

Here's the AP report.

(*Oh, and in case you didn't get the headline joke... although it's not really a laughing matter.)