There Will Be Blood For Oil

Libya has been fighting a civil war for a couple of weeks now. In the process the oil production from the country has been partially interrupted and fears of a total stoppage had to exist.  So the U.N. got together and decided that not only will there be a No Fly Zone but also authorized military strikes on the Libyan government's army.

Obviously Col Gaddafi learned the lessons of Gulf War I and Gulf War II. He immediately declared a cease fire.  That makes him smarter than Saddam Hussein was.

Of course Libya is interesting to the world because it produces about 1.5 million barrels of oil per day.  Of course 7 years ago, when up to 1,000 people were dying each a day in the Congo, we couldn't be bothered to raise our gun hand. Then again, the Congo only produces a couple hundred thousand barrels of oil each day.

What's Got You So Scared?

Oh, that's not you?  Funny.  It seems like that's all of us.  All of us in the United States.  How else to explain our defense budget?

• The defense budget is almost 60% of discretionary spending.
• We spend more on defense than almost every other country in the world.  Combined!!
• By our own estimates the defense R&D budget (&80.4B) is more than any other country's defense budget
• US Special forces outnumber the total military of some 100 countries.

And we're not on track to reduce it any time soon. The budget submitted by the Most-Liberalest-President-Ever^TM looks to continue military expansion well into the future.

This guy's dead, though.

For that matter, so's this guy.

This guy?  Vanguished!

So who scares us so damn much that we have to outspend every other nation combined on defense?

People are continually saying they are upset about the federal deficit.  But they aren't at all interested in reducing defense spending, nearly a 1/4 of the budget.  Admittedly the budget can't be balanced on the back of Defense. Even if the U.S. were to magically stop all spending money on Defense the budget would not be in balance.  However, if we're really serious about tackling it - and I don't for a moment really believe that - then the sacred cow of Defense has to be put on the butchers block.

Sobering

Can we call it even now? Please? I need a drink!



(Graph from here. Via.)

Best Blog Opening Line Nominee

At LGM: "John Yoo and his uncrushed testicles turned 42 years old today."

About Those Photos

Yesterday the Obama Administration announced that they are not going to release additional photos of prisoner abuse and torture. The ACLU, left leaning blogs, and other liberal groups blew a gasket.

"He was going back on his promise."

"He's just like Bush and Cheney."

And on the surface I didn't like the decision either. I figure these photos are going to get out one way or the other. As Scalzi said it's like removing a bandage. Better to do it now and take the up front pain.

He also brought up another point, Obama clearly knows information that we don't and that information may, MAY, justify not releasing the photos. There's another point to consider though. Obama is proving to be a master of letting his opponents hang themselves. He feeds a little rope and they tie the knot. Ethically, it would probably be better to release the information. However, politically he could be leaning on the ropes waiting for them to get too close and let down their guard.

Sully who was worked up about it yesterday is coming to think the same. He thinks those getting rope-a-doped though is the American public. That Obama is setting us up to realize just how widespread and awful the abuse really was.

UPDATE: I reread this and wanted to point out that, at this moment, I am disappointed and upset the photos are not being released. With what I know I full heartedly believe they should be made public. I think that holding them back is only temporary and they will come out anyway. Probably in a slow painful trickle as each small group of photos released makes a splash in them media and are posted on the web. Political considerations can, and often should, be trumped by what is ethically and legally correct. I'm just with holding final judgment at this point because I still believe that Obama is a smart and ethical president and I believe he is making his decision based on what is best for the country as a whole. I'm prepared to be wrong this time and will admit it when I think all the evidence is in.

Throwing Shoes

In case anyone was curious why shoes were thrown. I still don't condone it but if you want to understand it.

It would be hard to pick the dumbest thing said by our out going president. I submit this one for consideration.

Bush: There have been no attacks since I have been president, since 9/11. One of the major theaters against al Qaeda turns out to have been Iraq. This is where al Qaeda said they were going to take their stand. This is where al Qaeda was hoping to take ...

Raddatz: But not until after the U.S. invaded.

Bush: Yeah, that's right. So what?

So what? Here's an idea. Next time you and your significant other have a big row over something, go over to your neighbors house and use their living room. See how they like it.

Bush Bobs. Bush Weaves. Shoes Miss Target.

Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq and Afghanistan over the weekend. He held the usual press conference with Iraqi President al Maliki. At the end of the press conference, Iraqi journalist Muntathar al Zaidi stood and threw his shoe at Bush. In the process he shouted, "This is a goodbye kiss, you dog". He then threw his second shoe before being tackled by fellow journalists and being drug out by security.

When I first heard the story this morning I thought, "Yes! That'll show Bush." Deeper thought though and it is a disturbing story. How good is the security at the press conferences. These shoes appear to be mostly harmless but what if one of them had a heal made of explosives? Would they have been spotted. Would other, less sophisticated weapons get through.

Should security around the president be EVEN TIGHTER than it already is? But the president - not just Dubya, but all modern presidents - is already one of the most isolated people on Earth. Remember Bush Sr. didn't even recognize an optical scanner at a grocery store when he ran for president. How does one effectively govern a populace when one has no real contact? What level is the correct trade off between security and isolation is appropriate? I don't have a good answer but it makes me worry. It makes me sad to admit, but Obama is going to be in more danger than most presidents just because of his skin color. How isolated will he become?

And even assuming the danger from the shoe throwing doesn't go beyond a black eye, I still don't think it is at all proper or right to attack another person. I also think it is terribly disrespectful - which was the point - to do such a thing to another country's leader.

I wonder if Bush knew then or now what the level of insult this reporter was throwing at him. As I understand it this is about as bad as it gets in the Arabic world.

Let me also say that Bush had a good over all reaction about the attack. At the press conference he said something to the effect of, "All I can report is it is a size 10." Even better was on the plane ride to Afghanistan, "I didn't know what the guy said, but I saw his sole."

"He's a Muslim"

No, Barack Obama is not a Muslim despite how much people on the right like to hint at that rumor.

But if he was, that's nothing to be ashamed of.

Thank you and R.I.P Kareem

McCain's Living in Catch-22

I don't mean he's in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation, although that might be the case. No, what I mean is that McCain is viewing history in the same way the book was written: out of sequence. Hilzoy explains while filling in for Sully. The short explanation is that Johnny McStraighTalk is crediting the surge for enabling the Andbar Awakening when the reality is that the Anbar Awakening started months before the surge, the on site U.S. commander describes the tipping point as 4 months prior to the announcement of the surge, and his troops left Anbar before any surge troops arrived in Iraq.

Best Damn News Of The Week! Period.

Tom's home!!!!!!

Obama On McCain and Shrub

Via Andrew via Ambinder.

He's conceding nothing to them including foreign policy. I really don't think the goppers have a clue what is about to hit them!

"Well I want to be perfectly clear with George Bush and John McCain – if they want a debate about protecting the United States of America, that’s a debate I’m ready to win, because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for."
...
"...in the Bush-McCain worldview, everyone who disagrees with their failed Iran policy is an appeaser. And back during his “No Surrender” tour, John McCain said anyone who wants to end the war in Iraq responsibly wants to surrender; he even said later on that he would be ok keeping troops in Iraq for 100 years, but yesterday he said our troops could be home by 2013. He offered the promise that America will win a victory, with no understanding that Iraq is fighting a civil war. Just like George Bush, his plan isn’t about winning, it’s about staying, and that’s why there will be a clear choice in November: fighting a war without end, or ending this war. Because we don’t need John McCain’s prediction about when the war will end – we need a plan to end it."

It's On!

Nightmares?

I think I've mentioned that a group of us at work use a "secure" message board to conduct what used to be our email chatter. Well the rabid Clinton hating libertarian posted this picture with the title, "Nightmares Anyone?"


Now I'm well on record as an Obama supporter. I have become disgusted with HRC in the past month or so. Her use of gopper-like attack ads against my chosen candidate pisses me off. I'm convinced Obama has this locked up. There's no realistic chance HRC will get the nomination. But if she does, I will hold my nose and vote for her in November.

Why?

Because this guy gives me more nightmares.


The short list of nightmares:
Every time he talks about the gas tax.
Or health care
Or China and Russia
Roberts and Alito are his ideal Supreme Court Justices
Or the "League of Democracies"
Or 100 more years in Iraq
"Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran"
Missile Defense in Czechoslovakia

Civilian Command

American generals in Afghanistan want to widen the combat theater into Pakistan. Bush and Co. are telling them no. Fine, I don't know the merits of bombing v. not bombing. But it s fine contrast to the rhetoric from Bush and Co. and Johnny McStraightTalk that we have to listen to our generals on the ground (in Iraq) at all costs. It's just convenient that the general on the ground was chosen because of his adherence to the Prez's favored strategy of kicking the can down the road.

War Criminals

More evidence that the most senior of Bushies approved torture.

Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding.

The high-level discussions about these "enhanced interrogation techniques" were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed -- down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic.

The advisers were members of the National Security Council's Principals Committee, a select group of senior officials who met frequently to advise President Bush on issues of national security policy.

At the time, the Principals Committee included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
...
According to a former CIA official involved in the process, CIA headquarters would receive cables from operatives in the field asking for authorization for specific techniques. Agents, worried about overstepping their boundaries, would await guidance in particularly complicated cases dealing with high-value detainees, two CIA sources said.

Highly placed sources said CIA directors Tenet and later Porter Goss along with agency lawyers briefed senior advisers, including Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and Powell, about detainees in CIA custody overseas.

"It kept coming up. CIA wanted us to sign off on each one every time," said one high-ranking official who asked not to be identified. "They'd say, 'We've got so and so. This is the plan.'"

Sources said that at each discussion, all the Principals present approved.

Colin Powell, who I've tried to maintain a modicum of respect for, is especially disturbing. I understand the "loyal soldier" explanation. I appreciate the idea of trying to fix a problem from the inside. Especially when those on the outside are so ineffectual. But there has to be a point where one publicly walks away from this situation and announces publicly why.

If what the article says is accurate then obviously the CIA operatives involved knew what they were doing was wrong. Why else go back for approval each and every time. It was classic CYA. Kick the responsibility up the ladder for every incident. When you get called to the mat for it you can at least use the "following orders" defense. You can ask for immunity and bring down the bigger fish.

Rumsfeld seemed to know what was going on:

Then-Attorney General Ashcroft was troubled by the discussions. He agreed with the general policy decision to allow aggressive tactics and had repeatedly advised that they were legal. But he argued that senior White House advisers should not be involved in the grim details of interrogations, sources said.

According to a top official, Ashcroft asked aloud after one meeting: "Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly."

Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, et al., would be well advised to never leave the U.S. again. It is shameful that they will never face justice for what they have done in the United States.

Our country's black eye is deep, purple and will take a long time to heal. I can't express how depressed this makes me feel. My government has tortured and killed people.

Good Quote

From Drum, Via Balloon Juice:

Ambassador Crocker again refuses to engage in hypotheticals with Senator Biden. Unless we hypothetically talk about leaving Iraq, in which case he is absolutely sure that everything would fall apart and the world would end.

McCain = Shrub

The ever verbose Glenzilla:

Just as was true for Bush in 2000, McCain is running at a time when the Republican brand is sullied (in 2000 because of the ugly Gingrich/impeachment crusades and in 2008 because of the destructive Bush years). Thus, McCain is being politically marketed in exactly the same way that Bush the presidential candidate was (he's a uniter not divider; a new kind of Republican; you always know where he stands; he's a conservative who deviates from dogma and appeals to Democrats; he transcends partisanship; we're going to be a more humble nation, etc. etc.). It's exactly the same wrapping. And the media believed all of that about Bush and they now believe it all about McCain.
...
But on the foreign policy issues that are most consequential, McCain is George Bush. They pay lip service to the same pretty concepts of internationalism and democracy in order to justify endless militarism, occupation and war. They believe the "transcendent" obligation of America is to use its military force and other resources to re-make the world in our image. The Middle East is our personal playground and controlling it will consume most of our attention and energy. We should work cooperatively with other countries whenever they are willing to support our foreign adventures.

See, I told you it won't be all condo, all the time.

"Rule of Law" in Fallujah

In a city once a stronghold of the insurgency, where U.S. soldiers fought street to street to root out the insurgents, the current police chief and his force practice torture.

"In the city's overcrowded, Iraqi-run jail, located inside a compound that also houses a U.S. military base and U.S. police advisers, detainees were beaten with iron rods, according to the current warden. Many were held for months with no clear evidence or due process. They were deprived of food, medical care and electricity and lived in utter squalor, said detainees, Iraqi police and U.S. military officers, who began to address the problems three weeks ago. Last summer, the warden said, several detainees died of heatstroke.

Of course, the police chief, Col. Faisal Ismail al-Zobaie, denies it. Sorta.
"'We never tortured anybody,' he said. 'Sometimes we beat them during the first hours of capture.'"

This is what 4000 dead U.S. soldiers have bought: "Rule of Law" ala Saddam Hussein. Even if you think the spent lives and treasure worth freeing Iraq we haven't done that. What little security we think has been there over the past months is being shattered (see post below).

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this war is lost. We lost it a long time ago. As an old line goes, "It's all over but the dying." It's just when are we going to decide we're done dying.

Here It Comes

Sadr's cease fire appears to be coming to an end.

A cease-fire critical to the improved security situation in Iraq appeared to unravel Monday when a militia loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr began shutting down neighborhoods in west Baghdad and issuing demands of the central government.

Simultaneously, in the strategic southern port city of Basra, where Sadr's Mahdi militia is in control, the Iraqi government launched a crackdown in the face of warnings by Sadr's followers that they'll fight government forces if any Sadrists are detained. By 1 a.m. Arab satellite news channels reported clashes between the Mahdi Army and police in Basra.

U.S. military and civilian casualties also appear to be rising.

I've been expecting this unhappy news for a while now. I guess I'm vaguely happy that the relative peace lasted as long as it did but I think this was inevitable. The various forces in Iraq eventually have to sort themselves out. It would be ideal if they did so peacefully. Politically. But that has never seemed like an option.

Waterboarding

It is torture. Period! Take it from a man who trains our special forces to survive the evil practice. As I said last week and yeterday, it makes me sad and depressed beyond words..

Rummy On The Run

Uncofirmed reports are that former Sec. of Def. Donald Rumsfeld has been spirited out of France. Fears were that French authorities would arrest Rummy on war crime charges in connection with the torture of military detainees in Iraq and Cuba.

My initial reaction was, "Good! Get the S.O.B.!"

Then I just became sad. Like many (most?) Americans I am very proud of the good ole U. S. of A. I do think, even if just by sure dumb luck, that we have been a leading force for the betterment of a lot of people around the world. Dating back to George Washington's orders to treat British POWs humanely we have strived to be a moral leader. Yes, I know there are many instances where we didn't live up to our promise. Some of my own ancestors, the Cherokees, would be some of the first to point this out. But to paraphrase the Black Knight, "We got better." And in the late 1980's that bastion of GOP conservatism, The Gipper, praised the Geneva Conventions against torture.

To know that our elected government has condoned and intentionally used torture can only be described as shameful. Reprehensible. Appalling. What word is strong enough? Although I don't think it will ever happen, the war criminals in this administration should be brought to justice. But the whole country will wear the black eye they gave us for a long, long time to come.