Bush's mantra is "Stay the Course." If the stated objectives of that "course" are to "win the war on terrorism", I maintain that he has failed miserably and every day he "stays the course" he compounds that failure.
My mantra is this: The definition of stupidity is to stay the course when the course has failed.
A few examples of BushCo's recent misplaced priorities in the "War on Terror" follow:
- Bush staff wanted bomb-detect cash moved
While the British terror suspects were hatching their plot, the Bush administration was quietly seeking permission to divert $6 million that was supposed to be spent this year developing new homeland explosives detection technology.
Congressional leaders rejected the idea, the latest in a series of steps by the Homeland Security Department that has left lawmakers and some of the department's own experts questioning the commitment to create better anti-terror technologies. - Criminal Administration
A new report by Rep. John Conyers lays out the case against the Bush White House.
- Fascists of All Varieties
Reveling in yesterday's announcement that a plot to blow up American Airlines planes departing from British airports had been foiled by British authorities, George W. Bush leapt at the opportunity to sell his "war on terra" to whoever would listen. Using the best Madison Avenue technique money can buy, he was even ready to roll out a new slogan du jour on cue for the event. Today's phrase that pays: We are at war with "Islamic fascists. [...] Fascism, Mr. Bush, is not your strongest card. You should change the subject again.
- Awakening the Resistance
After 28 days of hell unleashed upon it by the arrogant racism of a militant and ideological Zionism— 89% of Lebanon’s Sunni Muslims, 80% of its Christians, 80% of its Druze and 100% of its Shiite populations support Hizbullah’s resistance against Israel and the United States.
- Egypt says US losing credibility in Mideast
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the United States and the West were losing credibility in the Middle East because they were dragging their feet on a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. In an interview with the Egyptian magazine October, released on Thursday, Mubarak also said it would be impossible to implement quickly a UN resolution which requires Hezbollah to disarm - one of the steps Israel and the United States want to see in a political settlement of the month-old conflict.
- Lebanese direct growing anger at US
With his arm raised and fist clenched, Sheikh Hussein furiously expressed a sentiment rapidly taking hold here.
"We know who our first enemy is: America," he shouted before tearful mourners at a funeral Wednesday for 30 civilians killed by an Israeli airstrike on Monday. The white-turbaned sheikh led the crowd in a militant chant: "Death to America! Death to America!" - A Slanted Truce and Rice's Latest Obscenity
I'm for anything that will stop the bloodshed in Lebanon and Israel.
But the resolution for a truce that Condoleezza Rice has cooked up is hopelessly slanted.
And woefully, unforgivably, tardy, too.
Every death in Lebanon and Israel over the last two weeks should weigh on the conscience of Condoleezza Rice and George Bush, because they could have halted this madness by calling for an immediate, unconditional, cease-fire back then.
At the August 7 press conference with Bush, Rice uttered what should be considered an obscenity when she said that “this has been time that’s been well spent over the last couple of weeks.”
Was it worth hundreds of lives? - Democracy Now! - Former President of Morgan Stanley Int'l: "It's Now Considered the American War Against the Arabs...
Calling Israel's war in Lebanon a "catastrophe," the former president of Morgan Stanley International talks about the democrats' "huge mistake" in backing the Bush administration's Israel policy.
Click here to view - listen - Bush's disastrous 'democratic fundamentalism' By Patrick J. Buchanan
In the ideology of "democratic fundamentalism" to which George W. Bush converted after 9-11, we are simply in a rough patch on the glory road to a democratic Middle East and "the end of tyranny on this earth." In reality, our situation has never been more grim.
- Iraqi PM criticises US operation against Shia death squads
A CLEAR rift opened between the Iraqi Prime Minister and the American military yesterday after Nouri al-Maliki lashed out at his allies for raiding the stronghold of a powerful Shia militia.
Mr Al-Maliki’s criticism of the US military as well as his Defence Ministry raised doubts about whether the security forces would have the political backing required to tackle powerful militias beholden to parties in the governing coalition. - Lebanese oil spill could rival Exxon Valdez disaster: UN
An oil spill caused by Israeli raids on a Lebanese power plant could rival the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster that despoiled the Alaskan coast if not urgently addressed, the United Nations has said.
- Ending the neoconservative nightmare - Haaretz - Israel News
"Witnessing the near-perfect symmetry of Israeli and American policy has been one of the more noteworthy aspects of the latest Lebanon war. A true friend in the White House. No de-escalate and stabilize, honest-broker, diplomatic jaw-jaw from this president. The American ladder had gone AWOL. It is 28 days since Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers, prompting a ground and air assault on Lebanon by the Israeli army
- TIME.com: Life in Hell: A Baghdad Diary
In the Red Zone (the name given to the rest of Baghdad by Green Zoners too nervous to venture outside the walls), the sporadic spurts of violence between Shi'ites and Sunnis have given way to a steady stream of blood. Partisans on both sides are arming themselves for battle, and ordinary folks are looking for ways to defend themselves.
- Mercenary Jackpot
While the Bush Administration calls for the immediate disbanding of what it has labeled "private" and "illegal" militias in Lebanon and Iraq, it is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into its own global private mercenary army tasked with protecting US officials and institutions overseas. The secretive program, which spans at least twenty-seven countries, has been an incredible jackpot for one heavily Republican-connected firm in particular: Blackwater USA. Government records recently obtained by The Nation reveal that the Bush Administration has paid Blackwater more than $320 million since June 2004 to provide "diplomatic security" services globally. The massive contract is the largest known to have been awarded to Blackwater to date and reveals how the Administration has elevated a once-fledgling security firm into a major profiteer in the "war on terror."
- Burnt Offering - By Gareth Porter - American Prospect
How a 2003 secret overture from Tehran might have led to a deal on Iran’s nuclear capacity -- if the Bush administration hadn’t rebuffed it.
- New Facts Surface:
In 2003 Iran offered to negotiate directly with the US. In its proposal the Iranian government agreed to accept the most stringent new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) protocols on its nuclear program. The protocols would involve onsite inspection of all nuclear sites, something that our own government has never accepted. These tough verification measures would make cheating virtually impossible.
Iran also changed its long standing rejectionist policy on Israel. It agreed to support the 2002 Arab peace initiative, which offered Israel an end to the conflict if the Israelis would abide by UN Security Council resolutions (242 and 338) on Palestine. This was an extraordinary development, yet, it was not even reported in the US.
But Iran went still further. It also agreed to end its logistical support of Hezbollah in the event of a political settlement with Israel. Gareth Porter’s excellent backgrounder provides details about the 2003 initiative.
According to Chomsky, Iran’s head mullah Ayatollah Khamenei again reiterated these offers in June 2006. - Focused on 9/11, U.S. Is Seen to Lag on New Threats
The Department of Homeland Security has taken significant steps since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to make it much harder to turn a plane into a flying weapon. But a nearly obsessive focus on the previous attacks may have prevented the federal government from combating new threats effectively, terrorism experts and former agency officials say.
Technorati tags: Bush, US Foreign Policy, neo-cons, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Israel, Democracy Now!, Pat Buchanan, Mercenaries, Rice, Egypt, John Conyers, Airport Security, news, commentary
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