There’s an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal (yet another one claiming that the war in Iraq is effectively over, and that the United States has won), and it brought to mind two interesting thoughts:
1) What was gained by invading Iraq
and
2) How long before people who opposed the invasion not only recognize success, but recognize what was gained?
Read the rest of this entry »
Former UN ambassador John Bolton has written a scathing article that is a cold shower for people who prefer to ignore politics, history, and the world’s current course. It’s informative and worth reading, but doesn’t leave a lot of room for debate. That’s not Bolton’s fault though. It’s the fault of Iran, the UN, and the people who have destroyed international deterrence.
This weekend, yet another “deadline” passed for Iran to indicate it was seriously ready to discuss ending its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Like so many other deadlines during these five years of European-led negotiations, this one died quietly, with Brussels diplomats saying that no one seriously expected any real work on a Saturday.
The fact that the Europeans are right — this latest deadline is not fundamentally big news — is precisely the problem with their negotiations, and the Bush administration’s acquiescence in that effort.
I am NOT at all a fan of World Net Daily, but I can vouch for Ryan Mauro’s piece for several reasons. It corroborates earlier articles from other sources. It corroborates my own research. It revolves around a man of honor-not some political partisan hack or the Maple Syrup King of Vermont/Dr/Gov/Middle East expert and DNC chairman. Lastly, because Ryan is not WND, RNC, or DNC, but because he’s Ryan.
Many people like to stick to the partisan talking point that there was “NO WMD” or “No stockpiles” found in Iraq. This is inaccurate, misleading, and based on politicization of wartime facts. The ISG report found that Iraq was indeed a WMD threat (just as the UN had claimed only 2wks before the invasion), but not in the form of stockpiles. The ISG report even included pictures proving this, but people who believe anything the DNC says, and nothing the Bush Admin says don’t even look at the pictures. They just take other people’s opinions which they find palatable, and parrot them.
A former American overseer of Iraqi prisons says several dozen inmates who were members of Saddam Hussein’s military and intelligence forces boasted of helping transport weapons of mass destruction to Syria and Lebanon in the three months prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Don Bordenkircher – who served two years as national director of prison and jail operations in Iraq– told WND that about 40 prisoners he spoke with “boasted of being involved in the transport of WMD warheads to Syria.”
A smaller number of prisoners, he said, claimed “they knew the locations of the missile hulls buried in Iraq.”
One of the greatest accomplishments of Senator Obama and the past few years has been the bi-partisan effort w Sen Lugar (R) to contain the spread of loose nuclear weapons to rogue states and to terrorist groups that might be used by rogue states as a deniable/stealthy means of attack. Once a terrorist-delivered nuke destroys a city-like Los Angeles, it will happen w/little or no warning, and take months of forensics to determine the possible nation responsible for the matl. However, nukes tend to destroy most evidence, so it could take longer-particularly if the forensic facilities were destroyed.
President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official.Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread scepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran, the president has given an “amber light” to an Israeli plan to attack Iran’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times.
No. He hasn’t FULLY approved of their plan-just backed it. However, the lack of complete and full support, the prospects for future support, and other factors might make this the tipping point for Israel to say, “Gotta do it now or never.”
Senator Barack Obama’s previous opposition to the war in Iraq, and his apparent doubts about the urgency of the Iranian threat, have intensified pressure on the Israeli hawks to act before November’s US presidential election. “If I were an Israeli I wouldn’t wait,” the Pentagon official added.
President Bush has been stereotyped as a shoot-first/ask-later kinda cowboy who prefers to use force rather than diplomacy. It’s been a successful political campaign to create and market that image despite the fact that he’s only attacked 1 country-Saddam’s Iraq-in the last 8yrs (recall that Pres Bush could have attacked Afghanistan in 1/01 in response to the USS Cole attack, but he foolishly chose diplomacy instead, and subsequently the US counter-attacked that nation 9months later).
So much for the idea that the Bush Administration can’t do diplomacy. Read the rest of this entry »
Any military strike by Israel against Iran’s suspected nuclear bomb factories will have to go from Israel, over Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, then Kuwait, and finally into Iranian airspace. OR the Israeli bombers could fly over Jordan, refuel inside Iraq, and then directly into Iran. The reports are sketchy, and dubious, but not at all impractical.
Bear in mind, it was years ago that Israel had special F-16i fighter/bombers designed and built specifically for this mission. It’s a risky endeavor that would lead to a worldwide terrorist war, and massive regional war with worldwide economic devastation, but it’s also a cold, hard reality that the world has failed to deter Iran’s nuclear bomb program. Diplomacy has failed. Now we only have to wonder when the strike will be, and whether it will be the Americans or the Israelis or both who wage it?
Found a great article that explains the gravity of this news event that most people barely notice. I’ll have more on the Pandora’s Box of a nuclear-armed Iran later. Till then, this is WELL WORTH THE READ!
An Israeli raid would be complicated - it’s over 1000 miles from Israel to Iran, and their planes would need permission to overfly Iraq, Saudi Arabia or Syria, refuel in the air and destroy several targets which are not only scattered throughout the country but also hardened. And even if successful, an Israeli attack would be unlikely to wipe out Iran’s nuclear program.
What would happen next? Iran has already announced it would retaliate by attacking US and Israeli targets in the region and blockading the Straits of Hormuz, which would be considered an act of war against the United States. An Israeli attack on Iran, with or without American cooperation, would trigger an Iranian response which could turn the Middle East into a ‘fireball’, according to UN nuclear weapons chief Mohammed El Baradei.
But wait - it gets worse. Forty percent of the world’s oil goes through the Straits of Hormuz, which is just 21 miles wide with shipping lanes only two miles wide. Blockade, sabotage, terrorist incidents - all of these are possible and any of them could halt the flow of oil. Even if the Straits remain open in such a crisis, insurance rates would be prohibitive. Gas rationing would be a given, and $5 gallon a gas just a fond memory. The economies of several countries would literally collapse.
The U.N.’s chief nuclear watchdog, Mohamed El Baradei (not exactly a guy in the tank for Bush), in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV, said, quite explicitly, that Iran will be able to produce a nuclear weapon in six months to a year. Via lgf. Read the rest of this entry »
Now, let’s face it…Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews aren’t gonna change their minds and suddenly face the reality that Saddam’s regime was willing to work with AQ groups, did work with AQ groups and leaders, and the threat of the so-called “Nexus of Evil” connection even existed.
Captured members of Al Queda groups from this same camp claim that they were assisted, trained, supplied, and funded by Saddam’s IIS as well as taking orders from Saddam’s IIS.
Captured documents confirm their claims.
Captured regime members confirm their claims.
Now even highly anti-war/pro-Democrat MSNBC confirms the claim itself.
Al Queda leaders confirm the claims (Zawahiri and Zarqawi specifically).
Why believe “Bush Lied”? Because it’s easier to believe that the solution to today’s problems can be solved by changing a circle to a dot on a ballot than it is to face the real and scary threat as well as own up to the failures of the past.
…Another investigation finds that the Bush Administration didn’t lie, fabricate, or deliberately mislead people about the threat posed from Saddam Hussein’s regime. STILL, the average Joe seems to believe that President Bush is an evil mastermind capable of fooling 535 members of Congress, all the national and international media, and successfully cover up a myriad of lies about “Saddam’s wmd” in almost a dozen independent, bi-partisan, often international investigations. Amazing. Read the rest of this entry »
The recent “report” from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has a number of conclusions and amendments. Often, when these reports are released, many people don’t have the time or tenacity to read the entire report. Instead, they literally jump to the conclusions and argue their political talking points from there. I’ve taken the time to go through this latest “report,” cut out the conclusions, and added any amendments to those conclusions whenever possible. Readers are encouraged to read the actual report (particularly the “Additional Views” and “Amendments” sections). It appears that there are at least 150 examples in this report where Democrats have deliberately misled the American people. Examples range from false quotes, blaming Bush Administration officials for making statements not supported by intelligence when the intelligence report cited came out months or even years after the statement in question, misleading wording, and much more. It’s for this reason that the amendments are added to the following Key points/conclusions of the report. By including the amendments and putting them right next to the conclusion that is misleading, readers will see first hand that the report is fictional, distorted, inept, and written with incredibly poor ethical standards of fact-checking to say nothing of the political bias. Read the rest of this entry »
The Senate Intelligence Committee finally released it’s long-awaited/overdue report on their investigation into pre-war intelligence on Saddam’s Iraq. This final report was supposed to look at statements made by government officials in the run up to war from 1991-2003. It was supposed to examine the pre-war marketing or threat assessment and descriptions to the public about the intelligence regarding the threat posed by Saddam’s regime. Instead, the report looked at just 5 Bush Administration speeches. It completely left out any and all comments from Pres Bush Sr, Pres Clinton, anyone in his administration, and every member of the House and Senate over a twelve year period. The Committee determined that nothing any of those people ever said was as important and moving to the American people as 5 speechifications from President Bush and his administration. Read the rest of this entry »
Last week the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the final findings of their four year investigation into pre-war intelligence on Saddam’s Iraq. The report was amazing. In direct contradiction, on the very first page of the report, Democrats controlling the committee chose to seize the opportunity to target the Bush Administration and cover up any and all accountability for anyone else (particularly themselves) regarding pre-invasion statements about how threatening Saddam’s regime was to the United States. Previous reports have been bi-partisan and even unanimously supported by the committee. This one was not. This time, the Republican minority used their allotted “Additional Comments” section of the report to flat out accuse Senate Democrats of a cover-up, of distorting the report’s findings, and of deliberately misleading the American people at the specific expense of degrading the capability of American intelligence agencies. Read the rest of this entry »
Hours after Senator Clinton dropped out of the race, and the news cycle was swamped with never-ending coverage of the inevitable doing the inevitable something was released under the radar.
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