Life in OUR America, Volume 5, the Livyjr Files Options

[Livyjr]

Boy ...

It seems each time ...

That you think this crap going on with OUR American military .....

In this day and age of Donald "GASBAG" Rumsfeld hand's on the tiller ....

Has finally hit the bottom ....

Surprise, surprise .....

For it seems that under his leadership .....

There isn't any way .....

To go ....

But even further down ....

And so ....

"Military recruiters cited for misconduct"

By MARTHA MENDOZA, Associated Press
Last updated: 3:21 a.m., Sunday, August 20, 2006

More than 100 young women who expressed interest in joining the military in the past year were preyed upon sexually by their recruiters.

Women were raped on recruiting office couches, assaulted in government cars and groped en route to entrance exams.

A six-month Associated Press investigation found that more than 80 military recruiters were disciplined last year for sexual misconduct with potential enlistees.

The cases occurred across all branches of the military and in all regions of the country.

"This should never be allowed to happen," said one 18-year-old victim.

"The recruiter had all the power."

"He had the uniform."

"He had my future."

"I trusted him."

At least 35 Army recruiters, 18 Marine Corps recruiters, 18 Navy recruiters and 12 Air Force recruiters were disciplined for sexual misconduct or other inappropriate behavior with potential enlistees in 2005, according to records obtained by the AP under dozens of Freedom of Information Act requests.

That's significantly more than the handful of cases disclosed in the past decade.

The AP also found:

--The Army, which accounts for almost half of the military, has had 722 recruiters accused of rape and sexual misconduct since 1996.

--Across all services, one out of 200 frontline recruiters -- the ones who deal directly with young people -- was disciplined for sexual misconduct last year.

--Some cases of improper behavior involved romantic relationships, and sometimes those relationships were initiated by the women.

--Most recruiters found guilty of sexual misconduct are disciplined administratively, facing a reduction in rank or forfeiture of pay; military and civilian prosecutions are rare.

--The increase in sexual misconduct incidents is consistent with overall recruiter wrongdoing, which has increased from just over 400 cases in 2004 to 630 cases in 2005, according to a General Accounting Office report released this week.

The Pentagon has committed more than $1.5 billion to recruiting efforts this year.

Defense Department spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke insisted that each of the services takes the issue of sexual misconduct by recruiters "very seriously and has processes in place to identify and deal with those members who act inappropriately."

In the Army, 53 recruiters were charged with misconduct last year.

Recruiting spokesman S. Douglas Smith said the Army has put much energy into training its staff to avoid these problems.

"To have 53 allegations in a year, while it is 53 more than we would want, is not indicative of the entire command of 8,000 recruiters," he said.

"We take this very seriously and we take appropriate action as necessary to discipline these people."

------

The Associated Press generally does not name victims in sexual assault cases.

For this story, the AP interviewed victims in their homes and perpetrators in jail, read police and court accounts of assaults and in one case portions of a victim's journal.

A pattern emerged.

The sexual misconduct almost always takes place in recruiting stations, recruiters apartments or government vehicles.

The victims are typically between 16 and 18 years old, and they usually are thinking about enlisting.

They usually meet the recruiters at their high schools, but sometimes at malls or recruiting offices.

"We had been drinking, yes."

"And we went to the recruiting station at about midnight," begins one girl's story.

Tall and slim, her long hair sweeping down her back, this 18-year-old from Ukiah, Calif., hides her face in her hands as she describes the night when Marine Corps recruiter Sgt. Brian Fukushima climbed into her sleeping bag on the floor of the station and took off her pants.

Two other recruiters were having sex with two of her friends in the same room.

"I don't like to talk about it."

"I don't like to think about it," she says, her voice muffled and breaking.

"He got into my sleeping bag, unbuttoned my pants, and he started, well ..."

Her voice trails off, and she is quiet for a moment.

"I had a freak-out session and just passed out."

"When I woke up I was sick and ashamed."

"My clothes were all over the floor."

Fukushima was convicted of misconduct in a military court after other young women reported similar assaults.

He left the service with a less than honorable discharge last fall.

His military attorney, Capt. James Weirick, said Fukushima is "sorry that he let his family down and the Marine Corps down."

"It was a lapse in judgment."

Shedrick Hamilton uses the same phrase to describe his own actions that landed him in Oneida Correctional Facility in upstate New York for 15 months for having sex with a 16-year-old high school student he met while working as a Marine Corps recruiter.

Hamilton said the victim had dropped her pants in his office as a prank a few weeks earlier, and that on this day she reached over and caressed his groin while he was driving her to a recruiting event.

"I pulled over and asked her to climb into the back seat," he said.

"I should have pushed her away."

"I was the adult in the situation."

"I should have put my foot down, called her parents."

As a result, he was convicted of third-degree rape, and left the service with an other-than-honorable discharge.

He wipes the collar of his prison jumpsuit across his cheek, smearing tears that won't stop.

"I literally kick myself ... every day."

"It hurts."

"It hurts a lot."

"As much as I pray, as much as I work on it in counseling, I still can't repair the pain that I caused a girl, her family, my family, my kids."

"It's very hard to deal with," he says, dropping his head.

"It's very, very hard to deal with."

In Gainesville, Fla., a 20-year-old woman told this story: Walking into an Army recruiting station last summer, she was greeted by Sgt. George Kirkman, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound soldier.

Kirkman is 41.

He was friendly and encouraging, but told her she might be a bit too heavy.

He asked if she wanted to go to the gym with him.

She agreed, and he drove her to his apartment complex.

There, he walked her to his apartment, pulled out a laptop, and suggested she take a basic recruiting aptitude test.

Afterward, Kirkman said he needed to measure her.

Twice.

He said she had to take her pants off.

And he attacked her.

Kirkman, who did not respond to repeated requests for an interview, pleaded no contest to sexual battery in January and is on probation and a registered sexual offender.

He's still in the military, working now as a clerk in the Jacksonville, Fla., Army recruiting office.

Not all of the victims are young women.

Former Navy recruiter Joseph Sampy, 27, of Jeanerette, La., is serving a 12-year sentence for molesting three male recruits.

"He did something wrong, something terrible to people who were the most vulnerable," State District Judge Lori Landry said before handing down the sentence in July, 2005.

"He took advantage of his authority."

One of Sampy's victims is suing him and the Navy for $1.25 million.

The trial is scheduled for next spring.

------

Sometimes these incidents are indisputable, forcible rapes.

"He did whatever he pleased," said one victim who was 17 at the time.

"... People in uniform used to make me feel safe."

"Now they make me feel nervous."

Other sexual misconduct is more nuanced.

Recruiters insist the victims were interested in them, and sometimes the victims agree.

Sometimes they even dated.

"I was persuaded into doing something that I didn't necessarily want to do, but I did it willingly," said Kelly Chase, now a Marine Corps combat photographer, whose testimony helped convict a recruiter of sexual misconduct last year.

Former Navy recruiter Paul Sistrunk, a plant supervisor in Conehatta, Miss., who had an affair with a potential recruit in 1995, says their relationship was entirely consensual.

She was 18, an adult; he was 26 and married.

"Things happen, you know?" says Sistrunk, who opted for an other-than-honorable discharge rather than face court-martial.

"Morally, what I did was wrong, but legally, I don't think so."

A nine-year veteran of the Navy, Sistrunk lost his pension and health benefits.

His victim, who discovered during a medical exam at boot camp that she had contracted herpes, unsuccessfully tried to sue the federal government.

"In my case," said Sistrunk,

"I was flirted with, and flirting, well, that's something I hadn't seen a lot of until I became a recruiter."

"I had no power over her."

"I really didn't."

Kimberly Lonsway, an expert in sexual assault and workplace discrimination in San Luis Obispo, Calif., said "even if there isn't overt violence, the reality is that these recruiters really do hold the keys to the future for these women, and a 17-year-old girl often has a very different understanding of the situation than a 23-year-old recruiter."

"There's a power dynamic here that's obviously very sensitive," agreed Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, a group that studies military policy.

"Let's face it, these guys are handsome in their uniform, they're mature, they give a lot of attention to these girls, and as recruiters they do a lot of the same things that guys do when they want to appeal to girls."

"There's a very fine line there, and it can be very hard to maintain a professional approach."

Weirick, the Marine Corps defense attorney who has represented several recruiters on rape and sexual misconduct charges, said it's a problem that will probably never entirely go away.

"It's difficult because of the nature of nature," he said.

"It's hard to put it in another way, you know?"

"It's usually a consensual relationship or dating type of thing."

When asked if victims feel this way, he said, "It's really a victimless crime other than the institution of the Marine Corps."

"It's institutional integrity we're protecting, by not allowing this to happen."

Anita Sanchez, director of communications at the Miles Foundation, a national advocacy group for victims of violence in the military, bristles at the idea that the enlistees, even if they flirt or ask to date recruiters, are willingly having sex with them.

"You have a recruiter who can enable you to join the service or not join the service."

"That has life-changing implications for you as a high school student or college student," she said.

"If she does not do this her life will be seriously impacted."

"Instead of getting training and an education, she might end up a dishwasher."

Ethan Walker, who spent eight years in the Marine Corps including a stint as a recruiter from 1998 to 2000, said he was warned.

"They told us at recruiter school that girls, 15, 16, are going to come up to you, they're going to flirt with you, they're going to do everything in their power to get you in bed."

"But if you do it you're breaking the law," he said.

Even so, he said he was initially taken aback when he set up a table at a high school and had girls telling him he looked sexy and handing him their telephone numbers.

"All that is, you have to remind yourself, is that there's jail bait, a quick way to get in trouble, a quick way to dishonor the service," he said.

All of the recruiters the AP spoke with, including Walker, said they were routinely alone in their offices and cars with girls.

Walker said he heard about sleepovers at other recruiting stations, and there was no rule against it.

There didn't need to be a rule, he said.

The lines were clear: Recruiters do not sleep with enlistees.

"Any recruiter that would try to claim that, 'Oh, it's consensual,' they are lying, they are lying through their teeth," he said.

"The recruiter has all the power in these situations."

------

Although the Uniform Code of Military Justice bars recruiters from having sex with potential recruits, it also states that age 16 is the legal age of consent.

This means that if a recruiter is caught having sex with a 16-year-old, and he can prove it was consensual, he will likely only face an administrative reprimand.

But not under new rules set by the Indiana Army National Guard.

There, a much stricter policy, apparently the first of its kind in the country, was instituted last year after seven victims came forward to charge National Guard recruiter Sgt. Eric Vetesy with rape and assault.

"We didn't just sit on our hands and say, 'Well, these things happen, they're wrong, and we'll try to prevent it.'"

"That's a bunch of bull," said Lt. Col. Ivan Denton, commander of the Indiana Guard's recruiting battalion.

Now, the 164 Army National Guard recruiters in Indiana follow a "No One Alone" policy.

Male recruiters cannot be alone in offices, cars, or anywhere else with a female enlistee.

If they are, they risk immediate disciplinary action.

Recruiters also face discipline if they hear of another recruiter's misconduct and don't report it.

At their first meeting, National Guard applicants, their parents and school officials are given wallet-sized "Guard Cards" advising them of the rules.

It includes a telephone number to call if they experience anything unsafe or improper.

Denton said the policy does more than protect enlistees.

"It's protecting our recruiters as well," he said.

The result?

"We've had a lot fewer problems," said Denton.

"It's almost like we're changing the culture in our recruiting."

end quotes

LAPSES IN JUDGMENT ....

LIKE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ....

LIKE SUBORDINATES ....

VOTE REPUBLICAN .....

TO KEEP "GASBAG" RUMSFELD .....

IN CHARGE OF OUR AMERICAN MILITARY .....

IF YOU ARE FOR THIS KIND OF STUFF ....

THESE LAPSES IN JUDGMENT ....

WHICH COME FROM THE TOP ON DOWN ...

As George W. Bush says .....

If it makes you feel good ....

Deep down there in your gut ....

Which is where George makes his decisions ...

And you are the decider .....

Then go ahead and do it ...

Because when you are the decider .....

Who can really stop you?

And so ...

[Livyjr]

EXCEPT MAYBE WE, THE PEOPLE ....

"Poll finds moms bolting the GOP - Mothers concerned about security inclined to vote for Democrats"

By JIM VAN DE HEI, Washington Post
First published: Sunday, August 20, 2006

CLINTONVILLE, Ohio -- Married women with children, the "security moms" whose concerns about terrorism made them an essential part of Republican victories in 2002 and 2004, this year are taking flight from GOP politicians in ways that look likely to provide a major boost for Democrats in the midterm elections, according to polls and voter interviews.

This critical group of swing voters -- who are an especially significant factor in many of the most competitive suburban districts in which control of Congress will hinge -- is more inclined to vote Democratic than at any point since Sept. 11, 2001, according to data compiled by the Pew Research Center for The Washington Post.

Married mothers said in interviews here that they remain concerned about national security and the ability of Democrats to keep them safe from terrorist strikes.

But surveys indicate Republicans are not benefiting from this phenomenon as they have before.

Disaffection with President Bush, the Iraq war and other concerns such as rising gasoline prices and economic anxiety are proving more powerful in shaping voter attitudes.

The study, which examined the views of married women with children from April through last week, found married mothers support Democrats for Congress by a 12-point margin, 50 percent to 38 percent.

That is nearly a mirror-image reversal from a similar period in 2002, when this group backed Republicans 53 percent to 38 percent.

In 2004, exit polls showed Bush won a second term in part because 56 percent of married women with children supported him.

Significantly, Pew and other polls in recent days have found little or no advantage for Republicans in the aftermath of the recent foiled terror plot in London, even as Vice President Dick Cheney and GOP leaders have warned that the event showed the risk of voting for a Democratic Party they claimed is dominated by security doves.

end quotes

To keep their hold on power here in OUR America ....

It sounds like the REPUBLICANS need to have another "terror attack" .....

Not just one of the many "scares" that they have been doling out ....

But an actual attack this time ....

Right before the national elections ....

So that they can capitalize on that .....

In the elections ...

Like they did off the hokey one on 9-11 ....

With all of its still unexplained questions ....

And if anyone could pull that off .....

My money would be on the REPUBLICANS to do just that ....

After all ...

What are a few American lives ...

Of common people ...

When the reward ....

Is control of the world ....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

FROM BOOKWORM ROOM

I knew without reading it that Anna Diggs-Taylor’s decision striking down the surveillance program would be a poorly written, poorly reasoned, legally and factually unsupported bit of garbage.

Did I know this because I’m intimately familiar with the legal issues involved?

No.

Because I know all (or even any) of the facts?

No.

Because I’ve been following developments in this case with incredible care and knew we had to win, and that a loss could only be because of fallacious reasoning?

No.

I knew that the decision was a bad bit of work the moment I read that Diggs-Taylor was a Carter appointee and a die-hard liberal.

http://www.wordpress.com/tag/anti-war

If al-Qaida really wanted to take over the United States .....

As the REPUBLICANS would have us believe ....

They wouldn't be messing with the Democrats .....

So far as I can see, anyway ...

Or this TAY-RIST BULL CRAP, either ....

Because the Democrats .....

Could never deliver OUR America to al-Qaida ....

Not in a million years ....

And the REPUBLICANS have to know that ....

As well as I do ...

The Democrats are just too unorganized ...

And too democratical for that ....

And not regimented enough ....

Like the REPUBLICANS are ....

As I see it ...

If al-Qaida wanted to take over OUR America ....

They would simply infiltrate the REPUBLICAN party ....

Buy their way in ....

With all that money they are said to control ...

And with that money in their hand ....

The REPUBLICANS would welcome them right on in ...

Because that is what the REPUBLICANS are really all about .....

Class ....

And privilege ....

And money ....

And who has that ....

A lot of money ....

And is willing to give some to the REPUBLICANS ....

Becomes under their protection ...

And once in ....

They would inherit ....

An organization ...

That is already conditioned ....

To simply take orders ...

And to not think for themselves ...

Or to question anything that they are told to think ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

"Sen. Hagel says GOP has lost its way"

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

31 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Republicans have lost their way when it comes to many core GOP principles and may be in jeopardy heading into the fall elections, Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. says.

Hagel, a possible presidential candidate in 2008, said Sunday that the GOP today is very different party from the one when he first voted Republican.

"First time I voted was in 1968 on top of a tank in the Mekong Delta," said Hagel, a Vietnam veteran.

"I voted a straight Republican ticket."

"The reason I did is because I believe in the Republican philosophy of governance."

"It's not what it used to be."

"I don't think it's the same today."

Hagel asked: "Where is the fiscal responsibility of the party I joined in '68?"

"Where is the international engagement of the party I joined — fair, free trade, individual responsibility, not building a bigger government, but building a smaller government?"

His frustration does not lead him to think Democrats offer a better alternative.

But Hagel wants to see the GOP return to its basic beliefs.

"I think we've lost our way," Hagel said.

"And I think the Republicans are going to be in some jeopardy for that and will be held accountable."

Hagel has not decided whether he will run for president in 2008.

But he respects his wife's reservations about being first lady — cited in a book about Hagel.

"I think it just shows the immense good judgment of my wife and how sane she is."

"I don't know of any spouse who would wish the job of president on their husband or wife," Hagel said on Fox News Sunday.

"It's a big job."

"It's a tough job."
___

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that in some parts of the country, the fall elections may turn out to be a referendum on the war in Iraq.

"Most of time we know these elections are local, but it's beginning to look more like some of them may be global as far as they are impacted by Iraq," he said.

"We've got to fight hard."

"We've got to win."

"We need to keep both houses of Congress."

McCain predicted Republicans will retain control of the Senate but said it is too early to tell if they can keep the House.

"This is a very tough election coming up," he said.

"The war is difficult."

"The president is not getting enough credit for a good economy which we have today," he said.

McCain, a potential presidential candidate for 2008, appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press."
___

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton matches up well against Sen. John McCain in early polling about a possible presidential contest in 2008.

A Time magazine poll released Sunday found McCain, R-Ariz., at 49 percent and Clinton, D-N.Y., at 47 percent among registered voters when people were asked which candidate they would support for president if they had to decide now.

McCain had a 10-point lead over the Democratic nominee from 2004, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, and a 9-point lead over 2000 Democratic nominee Al Gore in similar matchups.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said they have a favorable opinion of McCain and 53 percent said they have a favorable view of Clinton.

While Clinton is an early favorite to win the Democratic nomination for president, some have voiced concerns whether she be competitive with the Republican candidate in the general election.

The poll of 1,003 adults was taken July 13-17 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
___

Associated Press Writer Michael Sniffen contributed to this story.

[Livyjr]

And by DECREE .....

Of his ROYAL HIGHNESS ....

George the VERY, VERY MAGNIFICENT .....

Any talk .....

Of climate change ....

In America .....

Is in aid and abetting .....

Of al-Qaida TAY-RIZM ....

And will not be tolerated .....

By the REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

Of which GEORGE THE VERY, VERY ....

IS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ....

And so ....

Don't say that I posted this following ....

Which implies that up here ...

Where I am ...

The climate has gone quite screwy .....

From what it used to be before ...

I don't want to be stuck in some REPUBLICAN CONCENTRATION CAMP somewhere .....

Having to wear women's underwaer ....

For the rest of my life ....

With big dogs trying to tear my face off ....

I'm a LIBERAL, after all ...

And I don't think I could stand that for the long haul ....

I think I'm going to cut-and-run ....

Oh, WAH, WAH, WAH ....

"Storms disrupt power to 20,000 - 3 inches of rain fall in an hour in southern Saratoga County"

By KEN THURMAN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Monday, August 21, 2006

COLONIE -- A narrow band of thunderstorms knocked out power early Sunday to about 20,000 National Grid customers in the Capital Region.

Full service was expected to be restored before today.

The storm, which moved into the area about 1 p.m., brought with it high winds and strong flashes of lightning which brought down power lines primarily in parts of Rensselaer, Schenectady and Saratoga counties.

There were no reports of injuries, but one person in Schenectady had to be rescued from the flooded intersection of Foster and Lang streets around 3 p.m.

A National Weather Service official in Albany estimated that as much as 3 inches of rain fell in little more than an hour in some parts of southern Saratoga County.

"There was a fairly narrow area of activity ... at least in terms of rainfall," said Weather Service meteorologist Ray O'Keefe, who said the heaviest downpours were primarily confined to central Schenectady and southern Saratoga counties.

The northern parts of Albany County and Rensselaer counties also were affected, he said.

O'Keefe said the strong storms were fueled by a highly charged atmosphere laden with moisture and set off by a low-level jet stream and wind gusts of 50 to 60 miles per hour.

"They were moving relatively rapidly ... one line would come through followed by another," O'Keefe said.

National Grid spokeswoman Debbie Emmert said most of the service outages were caused by tree limbs falling onto power lines.

"At the height of the storm, we had approximately 20,000 customers without power," she said.

Emmert said most of the outages were concentrated in the city of Schenectady, southern Saratoga County, including Clifton Park and Ballston Lake, and Cobleskill.

Emmert said power to all customers would be restored before today.

Early Sunday evening, a few less intense storms moved though the area, but the worst is over and clearing skies and cooler temperatures are expected for this morning.

Today's forecast calls for partly cloudy conditions with a high around 80, and clouds again Tuesday with the high near 80.

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject of the LORD GOD EMPORER GEORGE THE MOST HANDSOME AND KNOWLEDGEABLE AND BUSINESS-LIKE OF THEM ALL .....

We have another IMPERIAL DECREE .....

From his VERY, VERY ....

This one being that .....

If you know something in America .....

If you have any knowledge at all .....

Of anything ...

Like the median of the average number of raisins .....

In a box of Raisin Bran ....

Or the total number of uses of Crisco ....

Or how much a cubic foot of water weighs .....

On the equator ....

That is also in aid and abetting .....

Of al-Qiada TAY-RIZM .....

Here in OUR America ....

Where the Democrats want to cut-and-run .....

Before GEORGE THE STRONG .....

Achieves TOTAL VICTORY ...

FOR THE FORCES OF SHEER IGNORANCE ....

AND MINDLESSNESS ....

Over those with the ability to think .....

THE FEARED AND DANGEROUS INTELLECTUALS ....

Not only here in OUR America ....

But in all the world, as well ...

And so .....

GUARD YOUR MINDS WELL, AMERICA ....

GEORGE W. BUSH IS COMING ....

TO TAKE THEM AWAY ....

TO CRUSH THEM .....

LIKE GRAPES .....

INTO THE VINTAGE OF TOTAL IGNORANCE ....

And so ....

"Use of 'secret' label grows - Government extends designation to information previously included in public documents, report says"

By CHRISTOPHER LEE, Washington Post
First published: Monday, August 21, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has begun designating as secret some information the government long provided even to its enemy, the former Soviet Union: the numbers of strategic weapons in the U.S. nuclear arsenal during the Cold War.

The Pentagon and the Department of Energy have treated as national security secrets the historical totals of Minuteman, Titan II and other missiles, blacking out the information on previously public documents, according to a new report by the National Security Archive.

The archive is a nonprofit research library housed at George Washington University.

"It would be difficult to find more dramatic examples of unjustifiable secrecy than these decisions to classify the numbers of U.S. strategic weapons," wrote William Burr, a senior analyst at the archive who compiled the report.

"The Pentagon is now trying to keep secret numbers of strategic weapons that have never been classified before."

The report, released Friday, comes at a time when the Bush administration's penchant for government secrecy has troubled researchers and bred controversy over agency efforts to withhold even seemingly innocuous information.

The National Archives was embroiled in scandal during the spring when it was disclosed that the agency for years kept secret a reclassification program by the CIA, Air Force and other agencies to withdraw thousands of records from public shelves.

One month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft instructed federal agencies to be more mindful of national security when deciding whether to publicly release documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

Last year, in a study of FOIA requests at 22 agencies from 2000 to 2004, the nonpartisan Coalition of Journalists for Open Government found agencies cited reasons to withhold unclassified information 22 percent more often than before Ashcroft's directive.

Maj. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said officials strive to properly apply rules governing what should be classified and are researching why the missile information cited in the archive report was blacked out.

"The Department of Defense takes the responsibility of classifying information seriously," Ryder said.

"This includes classifying information at the lowest level possible."

Bryan Wilkes, a spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration, a part of the Energy Department, said the Pentagon excised the missile numbers.

Under a 1998 law, Wilkes's agency focuses on scrubbing declassified documents for sensitive U.S. nuclear weapons information that, in the wrong hands, could be used to harm Americans, he said.

"It's not our call to do missile data," Wilkes said.

"There's no question that current classified nuclear weapons data was out there that we had to take back."

"And in today's environment, where there is a great deal of concern about rogue nations or terrorist groups getting access to nuclear weapons, this makes a lot of sense."

Archive officials say the Pentagon was using guidelines developed by the Energy Department in blacking out the missile data.

During the Cold War, the United States devoted substantial manpower and money to counting Soviet missiles, experts said.

At the same time, U.S. officials sometimes were quite open about the number of American missiles, using the data to illustrate the deterrent power of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and to make the case for more defense spending.

Such numbers were routinely disclosed in annual reports to Capitol Hill by secretaries of defense dating from at least the 1960s, according to Burr.

In a 1971 appearance before the House Armed Services Committee, for instance, Defense Secretary Melvin Laird offered a chart showing, among other things, that the United States had 40 strategic bomber squadrons, 54 Titan intercontinental ballistic missiles and 1,000 Minuteman missiles.

Those numbers, made public March 9, 1971, are redacted in a copy of the chart obtained by the archive's researchers in January as part of a declassified government history of the U.S. air and missile defense, according to archive officials.

"It's yet another example of silly secrecy," said Thomas Blanton, the archive's director.

In another case, Burr cited two declassified copies of a 75-page memo on military policy issues that Defense Secretary Robert McNamara sent to President Johnson in 1964, one obtained from the National Archives in 1999 and the other from the Pentagon this year.

In the 2006 copy, Pentagon reviewers blacked out numbers that were left untouched in the earlier version, including the number of ballistic missile launchers and the number of heavy bombers the United States expected to have in 1965, 1967 and 1970. (Comparative numbers for the Soviet Union were left alone.)

Burr also compared two copies of a memo Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote for President Ford for a 1974 National Security Council meeting on arms control negotiations.

One copy, obtained from the NSC through a Freedom of Information Act request in 1999, has visible references to "200 older B-52 bombers" and 240 Trident missiles, among other weapons data.

In the second copy, released by the Gerald R. Ford Library in May 2006, such information is blacked out -- as is similar data for the Soviet Union.

Experts say there is no national security reason for the administration to keep such historical information under wraps -- especially when it has been publicly available for years.

end quotes

A NATION THAT KNOWS NOTHING .....

IS EASY TO MANIPULATE .....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

And as the FRINGE ....

Er ...

BASE ....

Come out in mindless support ....

For the KINGSHIP ....

Of George W. Bush, THE MAGIFICENT ....

Here in OUR America ...

We have ....

From their collective minds ....

As follows ....

FROM BOOKWORM ROOM

I knew without reading it that Anna Diggs-Taylor’s decision striking down the surveillance program would be a poorly written, poorly reasoned, legally and factually unsupported bit of garbage.

Did I know this because I’m intimately familiar with the legal issues involved?

No.

Because I know all (or even any) of the facts?

No.

Because I’ve been following developments in this case with incredible care and knew we had to win, and that a loss could only be because of fallacious reasoning?

No.

I knew that the decision was a bad bit of work the moment I read that Diggs-Taylor was a Carter appointee and a die-hard liberal.

http://www.wordpress.com/tag/anti-war

"Political fallout of Schiavo case continues"

By JAY BOOKMAN
First published: Monday, August 21, 2006

The Terri Schiavo case was the most bizarre debacle of an already strange political era, and it's only natural that 18 months later, its repercussions are still being felt across the country.

In Florida, where Schiavo lived and died, the case is an issue in the governor's race.

Both Democratic candidates are boasting about having opposed government intervention in the case.

On the GOP side, Schiavo's father recently attacked the leading Republican candidate for governor, claiming that Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist "let my daughter die."

"He had it within his authority to save her life, but he turned a blind eye to her suffering."

In Connecticut, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman's support for federal intervention in the Schiavo tragedy has come back to haunt him -- his Democratic opponent, Ned Lamont, cites Lieberman's stance as evidence that the incumbent's alliance with the GOP's right wing extends well beyond the singular issue of Iraq.

Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, has even traveled to Connecticut to campaign for Lamont, part of a conscious effort on Schiavo's part to remind voters of the madness that once swirled around him and his wife, and of the part that certain political figures played in creating and appealing to that madness.

For the most part, U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., President Bush, Lieberman and other politicians now treat the Schiavo case as a momentary and embarrassing lapse in judgment that would be better forgotten.

Lieberman, for example, tried to brush aside Lamont's criticism by saying it's time that politicians let Terri Schiavo rest in peace.

Of course, politicians weren't the only ones to learn lessons from the Schiavo case.

Thousands of Americans drafted living wills for the first time and had intimate conversations with their loved ones about end-of-life issues.

Political experts predicted the case might be the high-water mark for the power of social conservatives, which time suggests may be true.

But looking back, the case suggests other lessons that weren't fully appreciated at the time, lessons about the vulnerability of the American people and their leaders to what amounts to irrational mass hysteria.

Think back to how weird it all was.

Politicians who had spent careers attacking federal judges for activism and defending state government against federal encroachment were suddenly demanding that federal judges ride to the rescue by overriding Florida laws, even using Congress to enforce that demand.

People who called themselves Christians and believed themselves defenders of morality stooped without conscience to spreading the most vicious and uncharitable of unfounded lies about Michael Schiavo, calling him everything from wife abuser to a murderer who killed his wife for the money.

Facts didn't matter.

In fact, useful "facts" were invented out of thin air and injected into the national debate far more quickly than they could be rebutted.

Amplified on the Internet, cable TV and elsewhere, those "facts" quickly generated a rolling tide of anger among a relatively small and concentrated group of people -- polls at the time found that only 20 percent of Americans approved of intervention by Congress.

Yet somehow that anger washed over our system of government, drowning rational thought and overwhelming traditional safeguards against hasty action.

The bill authorizing federal intervention in the case passed by voice vote in the Senate and passed overwhelmingly in the House as well.

Bush even flew to Washington to sign the bill when he could easily have signed it at his ranch.

While powerful, sudden surges of public opinion have always been a danger of democratic government, the Schiavo case suggests that risk has been compounded by the speed and power of modern communications technologies.

In fact, experts in modern information warfare have a word for that new phenomenon.

They call it a "swarm," likening it to an attack by a mindless hive of bees that suddenly focuses its venom on a single target.

Some swarms form on their own accord, a natural phenomenon, so to speak.

The blogger swarm that exposed the shoddy reporting by CBS News regarding Bush's National Guard service -- and brought down Dan Rather in the process -- was a natural swarm.

But as the Schiavo case illustrates, swarms can also be created and directed, and in the next few years such phenomenon may well become a familiar if unwelcome feature of our modern political system.

Jay Bookman writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His e-mail address is jbookman@ajc.com.

[Livyjr]

But looking back, the case suggests other lessons that weren't fully appreciated at the time, lessons about the vulnerability of the American people and their leaders to what amounts to irrational mass hysteria.

Facts didn't matter.

In fact, useful "facts" were invented out of thin air and injected into the national debate far more quickly than they could be rebutted.

AND SPEAKING ABOUT IRRATIONAL MASS HYSTERIA .....

AND THE FACTS NOT MATTERING .....

AND FACTS BEING INVENTED OUT OF THIN AIR .....

BY THE BUSH WHITE HOUSE .....

AND THEN BEING INJECTED ....

BY GEORGE W. BUSH .....

AND DICK CHENEY ...

AND "CON-JOB CONNIE" (KILLER) Rice .....

AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY .....

INTO THE NATIONAL DEBATE ...

FAR MORE QUICKLY THAN THEY COULD BE REBUTTED ...

"Bush says Iraq straining nation's psyche"

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

48 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Monday the Iraq war is "straining the psyche of our country" but leaving now would be a disaster.

Bush served notice at a news conference that he would not change course or flinch from debate about the unpopular war as he campaigns for Republicans in the fall congressional elections.

In fact, he suggested that national security and the economy should be the top political issues, and criticized the Democrats' approach on both.

Many Democrats want to leave Iraq "before the job is done," the president said.

"I can't tell you exactly when it's going to be done," he said, but "if we ever give up the desire to help people who live in freedom, we will have lost our soul as a nation, as far as I'm concerned."

Now in its fourth year, the war has taken a heavy toll — more than 2,600 Americans have died and many more Iraqis have been killed.

Last month alone, about 3,500 Iraqis died violently, the highest monthly civilian toll so far.

Bush's approval rating has slumped to the lowest point of his presidency, and Republicans are concerned that they could lose control of Congress because of voters' unhappiness.

Bush said he was frustrated by the war at times.

"War is not a time of joy," he said.

"These are challenging times, and they're difficult times, and they're straining the psyche of our country."

"I understand that."

"You know, nobody likes to see innocent people die."

"Nobody wants to turn on their TV on a daily basis and see havoc wrought by terrorists."

But Bush said he agreed with Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, that if "we leave before the mission is done, the terrorists will follow us here."

A failed Iraq would provide a safe haven for terrorists and extremists and give them revenue from oil sales, Bush said.

In response, Democrats said it was time for a new direction and Bush should begin redeploying troops this year.

"Our soldiers in Iraq should transition to a more limited mission focused on counterterrorism, force protection of U.S. personnel and training and logistical support of Iraqi security forces," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said, "Far from spreading freedom and democracy in the Middle East, the Bush administration has watched while extremists grow stronger, Iran goes nuclear, Iraq falls into civil war and oil and gas prices skyrocket."

"Simply staying the course is unacceptable."

Bush said differences over Iraq provide "an interesting debate."

"There's a lot of people — good, decent people — saying `withdraw now.'"

"They're absolutely wrong."

"... We're not leaving, so long as I'm the president."

"That would be a huge mistake."

"Leaving before the job is done would be a disaster."

Bush said he would not question the patriotism of someone who disagreed with him — although Vice President Dick Cheney said recently the Democratic primary election victory of anti-war candidate Ned Lamont over incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman, a defender of the war, might encourage "the al-Qaida types."

Bush opened his nearly hour-long news conference by calling for quick deployment of an international force to help uphold the fragile cease-fire in southern Lebanon.

"The need is urgent," Bush said.

He said the United States was increasing humanitarian and reconstruction aid to more than $230 million.

European countries expected to provide the bulk of peacekeepers have delayed committing troops.

France disappointed allies by merely doubling its contingent of 200.

The president also said the United States would seek a new U.N. resolution on disarming Hezbollah in southern Lebanon but he sounded doubtful about achieving results soon on the ground.

"Hopefully, over time, Hezbollah will disarm," the president said.

Bush also urged patience about the rebuilding of New Orleans and other gulf communities ravaged by Hurricane Katrina a year ago.

The federal government has committed $110 billion to help.

"I also want the people down there to understand that it's going to take awhile to recover," the president said.

"This was a huge storm."

He suggested the federal government had done its part and state and local officials should move faster.

On other points, Bush said:

• He talked Monday with Chinese President Hu Jintao about trying to revive six-party negotiations aimed getting North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.

The White House said the two leaders, in a 21-minute call, also discussed economic issues that have caused friction.

• There is no quick fix for soaring gasoline prices.

He said the answer was to diversify away from crude oil.

• A morning-after contraceptive pill, known as Plan B, should require a prescription for minors.

Anti-abortion groups want Bush to withdraw Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, his nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration, because they think he will approve over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill.

Democrats, meanwhile, are upset that the FDA has long delayed settling the debate over whether at least some women could buy the contraceptive without a doctor's note.

end quotes

"If we ever give up the desire to help people who live in freedom, we will have lost our soul as a nation, as far as I'm concerned?"

GENERALLY, GEORGE .....

AS I SEE IT ....

IF PEOPLE ARE ALREADY LIVING IN FREEDOM ...

WELL, GEORGE ...

TO BE POLITE ...

AND RESPECTFUL TO THOSE PEOPLE ....

YOU STAY OUT OF THEIR FACES .....

YOU DON'T INTERFERE WITH THEM ....

YOU DON'T FORCE YOURSELF ...

OR YOUR WAYS ....

ON THEM .....

AS YOU ....

AND DICK CHENEY .....

AND "CON-JOB CONNIE" (KILLER) RICE ....

ARE DOING .....

OVER THERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ....

WHERE YOU WERE THE INVADER, GEORGE ...

THE AGGRESSOR .....

IF YOU WOULD BUT RECALL ....

IF PEOPLE ARE LIVING IN FREEDOM, GEORGE ...

AS WE WERE OVER HERE ...

BEFORE YOU AND YOUR PARANOIA AND SPYING ON US CAME ALONG ....

YOU LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE .....

WHICH IS WHAT PEOPLE LIVING IN FREEDOM .....

IS REALLY ALL ABOUT ......

AND THE REASON ....

AS I SEE IT .....

THAT AMERICA HAS LOST ITS SOUL .....

IS BECAUSE IT IS WITHOUT A REAL LEADER ....

AND IT IS RULED ....

BY A CROWD ...

CALLED THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ...

WHOSE MANTRA .....

IS NOT ABOUT FREEDOM FOR ANYONE ....

BUT IS ALL ABOUT UNBRIDLED GREED .....

AND CORRUPTION .....

FOR THEM ....

AND FOR THESE REPUBLICANS TO FEED THEIR GREED ....

THEY HAVE TO TAKE .....

TAKE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING IN FREEDOM .....

WHICH IS WHY AMERICA HAS LOST ITS SOUL, GEORGE ....

AND AMERICA HAS LOST ITS SOUL, GEORGE ...

BECAUSE YOU HAVE AN ARMY OUT THERE ....

AMONG PEOPLE LIVING IN FREEDOM .......

AND YOU ARE NOT HELPING THOSE PEOPLE, GEORGE ...

WHO SIMPLY WANT YOU AND YOUR ARMY TO GO AWAY ...

SO THAT THEY REALLY CAN LIVE ...

IN THE FREEDOM ...

WHICH YOU AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

ARE DENYING TO THEM ....

WHAT YOU ARE DOING, GEORGE ...

IS UNILATERALLY STRIPPING THOSE PEOPLES' FREEDOM AWAY FROM THEM .....

EACH TIME YOU HAVE ANOTHER ONE OF THEM KILLED ...

IN THE NAME OF OUR AMERICA .....

AND, George ...

But why waste wind ...

We've already been around this block ....

A time or two before .....

AND YOU NEVER LISTEN, GEORGE ....

BECAUSE YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF HEARING .....

THE SCREAMS .....

OF THE WOMEN .....

AND CHILDREN ....

LIVING IN FREEDOM ...

THAT YOU ARE HAVING KILLED ....

And so ...

[jeffmoskin]

AND YOU NEVER LISTEN, GEORGE ....

Ahhh.

But he DOES listen.

To the voice of GOD.

[Livyjr]

August 21, 2006

Op-Ed Contributor

"Killing Won’t Win This War"

By TERENCE J. DALY, San Francisco

THREE years into the Sunni insurgency in Iraq, everyone from slicksleeved privates fighting for survival in Ramadi to the echelons above reality at the Pentagon still believes that eliminating insurgents will eliminate the insurgency.

They are wrong.

There is a difference between killing insurgents and fighting an insurgency.

In three years, the Sunni insurgency has grown from nothing into a force that threatens our national objective of establishing and maintaining a free, independent and united Iraq.

During that time, we have fought insurgents with airstrikes, artillery, the courage and tactical excellence of our forces, and new technology worth billions of dollars.

We are further from our goal than we were when we started.

Counterinsurgency is about gaining control of the population, not killing or detaining enemy fighters.

A properly planned counterinsurgency campaign moves the population, by stages, from reluctant acceptance of the counterinsurgent force to, ideally, full support.

American soldiers deride “winning hearts and minds” as the equivalent of sitting around a campfire singing “Kumbaya.”

But in fact it is a sophisticated, multifaceted, even ruthless struggle to wrest control of a population from cunning and often brutal foes.

The counterinsurgent must be ready and able to kill insurgents — lots of them — but as a means, not an end.

Counterinsurgency is work better suited to a police force than a military one.

Military forces — by tradition, organization, equipment and training — are best at killing people and breaking things.

Police organizations, on the other hand, operate with minimum force.

They know their job can’t be done from miles away by technology.

They are accustomed to face-to-face contact with their adversaries, and they know how to draw street-level information and support from the populace.

The police don’t threaten the governments they work under, because they don’t have the firepower to stage coups.

The United States needs a professional police organization specifically for creating and keeping public order in cooperation with American or foreign troops during international peacekeeping operations.

It must be able to help the military control indigenous populations in failing states like Haiti or during insurgencies like the one in Falluja.

The force should include light armored cavalry and air cavalry paramilitary patrol units to deal with armed guerillas, as well as linguistically trained and culturally attuned experts for developing and running informants.

It should be skilled and professional at screening and debriefing detainees, and at conducting public information and psychological operations.

It must be completely transportable by air and accustomed to working effectively with American and local military forces.

Bureaucratic ownership of this force will doubtless be controversial.

Because the mission of international peacekeeping entails dealing mostly with civilians, the force would ideally be a civilian organization.

But no civilian department is currently structured in a way that seems suitable.

At least initially, the force would most likely fall under the Department of Defense.

The establishing legislation should include a fire wall, however, to guard against the tendency of paramilitary units to evolve into pure warriors with berets, boots and bangles.

Crucial to the success of this force is that the American people thoroughly discuss and understand the organization and its mission.

Only by having this discussion can we avoid the example of the Phoenix Program in Vietnam, which combined the Vietnamese National Police with American advisers to root the Viet Cong shadow government out of rural villages.

The Phoenix Program was highly effective; because it was supposed to be secret, however, the program was not explained to the American people, and it became impossible to refute charges of torture and assassination.

Without the support of the American people, the program lost momentum and died.

The legislation establishing the police force should firmly anchor it in respect for human rights.

Its mission will be to advance American ideals of justice and freedom under the law, and it must do so by example as well as word.

That will be both difficult and critical in a place like Iraq, where it would have to wrest control of the population from insurgents who regard beheading hostages with chain saws as acceptable.

Stringent population control measures like curfews, random searches, mandatory presentation of identity documents, searches of businesses and residences without warrants and preventive detention would be standing operating procedure.

For such measures to be acceptable to the public, they must be based on solid legal ground and enforced fairly, transparently and impartially.

The police are used to functioning within legal restraints.

Our armed forces, however, are used to obeying only the laws of war and the United States Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Soldiers and marines are trained to respond to force with massive force.

To expect them to switch overnight to using force only as permitted by a foreign legal code, enforced and reviewed by foreign magistrates and judges, is quite unrealistic.

It could also threaten their survival the next time they have to fight a conventional enemy.

Forcing the round peg of our military, which has no equal in speed, firepower, maneuver and shock action, into the square hole of international law enforcement and population control isn’t working.

We need a peacekeeping force to complement our war-fighters, and we need to start building it now.

Terence J. Daly is a retired military intelligence officer and counterinsurgency specialist who served in Vietnam as a province-level adviser.

[Livyjr]

Ahhh.

But he DOES listen.

To the voice of GOD.

And there is the problem, jeffmoskin .....

As I see it anyway .....

And it is one of perception .....

I must admit ....

For to me .....

As I see it ...

The "GOD" that George W. Bush listens to .....

Is the DEVIL to me .....

And OUR America ....

Is losing its soul .....

Because George W. Bush ....

Is ready ....

And willing ......

To sell OUR national soul .....

To that DEVIL of his .....

TO GET MORE .....

AND MORE ....

AND YET MORE ....

ON TOP OF THAT ...

To feed ....

THE INSATIABLE GREED ....

OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY .....

WHICH HAS NO SOUL ....

HAVING GIVEN UP ITS VALUES LONG AGO ...

IN THIS PACT WITH GEORGE W. BUSH'S DEVIL .....

WHO HE AND HIS CALL "GOD" .....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And as George W. Bush busily sells OUR America's soul to his GOD ....

"Olmert tries to defuse public anger"

By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer

22 minutes ago

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tried to defuse growing public anger Monday over his handling of the war against Hezbollah, promising to rebuild rocket-scarred border areas but rejecting peace talks with Syria, a key supporter of the Lebanese guerrillas.

With efforts to recruit troops for an international peacekeeping force facing resistance from Europe, the week-old truce appeared increasingly fragile.

The Israeli army, which is waiting for the U.N. force to arrive before fully withdrawing from southern Lebanon, said its soldiers shot two Hezbollah guerrillas who approached in a "threatening manner" late Monday.

A Hezbollah official called the report "untrue and entirely baseless."

Italy has indicated it would be prepared to send 3,000 soldiers and offered Monday to command the enhanced international force.

France, which currently leads the force, has pledged only 400.

If Rome follows through, other European countries might be more willing to commit troops.

But Europe has been hesitant to get involved because of questions about whether the force will be called on to disarm Hezbollah fighters, who have largely melted back into the civilian population.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh have offered front-line troops but Israel does not want them because those Muslim nations have not recognized the Jewish state.

Since the U.N.-brokered cease-fire took effect, ending 34 days of war, the Israeli public's frustration with the performance of the government and the military has grown steadily.

On Monday, hundreds of reservists signed a petition calling for an official inquiry, some marching outside Olmert's office to demand his resignation.

Olmert's government, a coalition headed by his centrist Kadima party and the moderate Labor party, is in no immediate danger of collapse.

It could be brought down only by parliament, which is in recess until October, and it is not clear whether the public storm will last until then.

"I think Olmert will simply allow the anger to pass and get on with his business," said Gadi Wolfsfeld, a professor of political science at Hebrew University.

He said none of the parties in the ruling coalition are eager to hold new elections, and there is no leader in Kadima with the clout to replace him.

The war, launched in response to a Hezbollah raid in which two soldiers were captured and three killed, initially enjoyed broad public support that withered as the fighting dragged on and the Israeli death toll grew.

Critics said Israel's political and military leaders were indecisive, set unrealistic goals and settled for an insufficient truce.

The harshest criticism has come from reserve soldiers, who form an integral part of the military.

Reservists returning from Lebanon complained about poor command and a lack of food, water and equipment.

"No goal was achieved."

"... Nothing was done in this war," Roni Elmakyes, whose son Omri was killed in the fighting, told Israel Radio.

Even the army's leadership began to show signs of dissent.

Brig. Gen. Yossi Hyman, the outgoing head of infantry, said this week that "we all feel a certain sense of failure."

Olmert has said he is ready for an investigation, but did not say what kind.

An independent commission could call for the resignation of government and military officials.

During a tour of the north Monday, Olmert appeared cool toward such an inquiry, saying the second-guessing would undermine the army.

"I won't play this game, the game of beating ourselves up," he said.

The defense ministry has already established a team to look into the war, but the panel of retired generals has been derided as toothless.

Olmert's tour stops included Kiryat Shemona, one of the hardest-hit border towns, and the Arab village of Maghar, which also came under Hezbollah rocket fire during the fighting.

Facing local officials, Olmert pledged speedy reconstruction and defended his government's performance.

He also appeared to pin some of the blame on his predecessors, saying his government had been in power for just two months when the war broke out.

"We knew for years that there was a great danger, but for some reason, we didn't translate that understanding into action, like we just did," he said.

"We knew what Iran was doing, what Syria was doing, arming Hezbollah."

"We acted as if we didn't know."

Olmert also rejected a proposal by some members of his Cabinet to resume peace talks with Syria, a key Hezbollah supporter.

He said talks could resume only if Syria stops supporting militant groups.

"Syria is a committed, aggressive member of the axis of evil, which starts in Iran," Olmert said.

"Before we negotiate with (President) Bashar Assad, let him stop launching missiles, by means of Hezbollah, onto the heads of innocent Israelis."

The three main U.S. allies in the Arab world — Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia — have been pushing for a revival of negotiations between Israel and Syria because they are worried the Lebanon war has given a boost to Iran, an ally of Syria.

In other developments:

• Nearly all of the 180,000 Lebanese who took refuge in Syria during the war had returned by Sunday, leaving only 2,500 to 5,000 refugees there, said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Jack Redden.

• Lebanon needs about $3.5 billion to repair buildings and infrastructure damaged during the war, and the rebuilding effort was being hampered by lack of government leadership, the Lebanese official in charge of reconstruction, Fadel al-Shalaq, told CNN.

• The deputy leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Naim Kassem, said in a television interview that one of his sons was badly wounded during fighting against Israeli troops.

• Israel handed over to U.N. peacekeepers five Lebanese men who were captured during an Israeli commando raid on Aug. 1 in Baalbek.

At least 16 Lebanese were killed in the raid on what authorities in the Bekaa Valley city said was in Iranian-built hospital.

Israel said the building was a Hezbollah base.

end quotes

What Isreal wants .....

Is really immaterial .....

What the people of the world want .....

Is for all that BULL **** over there to finally end ....

As it appeared to be doing some time ago ...

When Sharon came on the throne over there .....

And repudiated all the efforts at peace that had been made up to that time ....

And he got this BULL **** all stoked up again ....

Which brings us to where we are now ....

And one of the best ways to get that peace process going again ......

Is to blocakde Isreal ....

And totally fence it in .....

So it can't keep bothering its neighbors .....

And taking their land .....

Which would mean that they could finally live in freedom ...

And peace ....

Without all that constant agression over there ....

By Isreal ...

And so ...

[Livyjr]

And as the REPUBLICANS up here become more and more desperate ....

To hold on to "HEY, JACKIE BOY, HEY JOHNNIE" Sweeney's congressional seat ...

"'Push poll' calls on voters in 20th District"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, August 18, 2006

Residents in the 20th Congressional District have reported receiving a call early this week that some have described as a "push poll," which included negative, misleading and false information about Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand.

Several call recipients said it started out with fairly innocuous questions about whether the country is headed in the right direction and if President Bush is doing a good job.

Next they were asked about who they planned to vote for: Gillibrand or U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park.

Bob Hudak, a Corinth resident who isn't enrolled in a political party, picked Gillibrand.

He said he was then asked whether his choice would change if he knew she doesn't live in the district, that her law firm represented an Enron crook, or she had used the death of American soldiers in Iraq for political gain.

Gillibrand does now live in the district.

Her firm, Boies Schiller & Flexner, briefly represented former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow, but she was not involved in the case.

She has never, to Inside Politics' knowledge, used soldiers' deaths for political gain.

Last month, an anti-GOP/pro-Democratic Party ad on the Web site of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is backing Gillibrand, featured a brief shot of flag-draped coffins in the back of a plane returning from Iraq.

Hudak said he found the death question so offensive he hung up on the pollster, only to have a different person call back the next night to finish answering the questions.

"I just couldn't believe it," Hudak said.

"I follow politics enough to know there's not anybody out there running for Congress who is using the deaths of soldiers for political gain."

When pushed by respondents to identify who had ordered up the poll, the callers provided a phone number that led to Western Wats, a Utah-based research group that does data collection.

A Western Wats worker said the poll was commissioned by The Tarrance Group, a national Republican polling firm that does a lot of work for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

She would not reveal on whose behalf The Tarrance Group is polling.

So far in this election cycle, the NRCC has paid The Tarrance Group $391,087 for various polls and travel reimbursements.

According to a DCCC source, the NRCC recently paid The Tarrance Group $16,275 to do a poll for Sweeney in the 20th.

Neither the NRCC nor The Tarrance Group returned calls for comment.

Sweeney's campaign insisted it had nothing to do with the poll.

Gillibrand spokeswoman Allison Price refused to accept that.

"Sweeney's record doesn't warrant re-election so he is forced to use dirty push polls to taint the opinion of voters," Price said.

"Sweeney doesn't have to poll on his own record -- it is a rubber stamp for President Bush -- and we all know where Bush's approval ratings stand."

A Zogby International poll released Monday showed Bush's approval rating has dipped two points in the last three weeks to 34 percent, despite the Middle East cease-fire agreement and the foiling of an airline terror plot.

Inside Politics is compiled by staff writer Elizabeth Benjamin. Staff writer Jordan Carelo-Evangelist contributed to this column.

end quotes

IF THERE IS ANYONE UP HERE ....

WHO HAS USED THE DEATHS OF OUR SOLDIERS IN IRAQ .....

OVER ...

AND OVER ....

AND OVER .....

ON AND ON AND ON ....

TO THEIR POLITICAL ADVANTAGE ....

IT IS THESE REPUBLICANS UP HERE ....

INCLUDING "HEY, JACKIE BOY, HEY JOHNNIE" SWEENEY, HIMSELF ....

WHO NEVER SERVED A DAY IN UNIFORM .....

ALTHOUGH HE COULD HAVE ...

AND FOR THEM TO ACCUSE ANYONE ELSE OF DOING THAT...

USING THE DEATHS OF OUR SOLDIERS TO THEIR POLITCAL ADVANTAGE ...

IS A JOKE ...

A MOCKERY ....

OF OUR INTELLIGENCE ....

AND OUR MEMORIES ....

And so ...

[Snuffysmith]

NeoCons Are Busy Covering Their Asse(t)s

By Shelter from the Storm

If the Vice-President's relentless push for a new war against Iran succeeds, and oil prices skyrocket to two or three times the previous record, with a resulting collapse of the dollar, it won't be the Cheneys who suffer.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14644.htm

[Livyjr]

Good to see you back, Snuf .....

And no .....

It won't be the Cheney's who suffer .....

Which is what getting yourself into politics here in OUR America is all about .....

Witness Randy "HEY, BIG DUKE, MY MAN IN THE SLAM" Cunningham ....

You get yourself into politics over here .....

So you can put that suffering .....

Over onto as many other people as you can ...

And then you use their suffering .....

Like Dick Cheney is doing .....

To line your own pocket .....

And so ....

A simple equation, really .....

POLITICS IS GREED PERSONIFIED .....

And real service to the public ....

Is for fools ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And speaking of politics ...

Yesterday ....

According to CLEAR CHANNELS WORLD WIDE ....

Rudolph Giuliani ....

"THE REPUBLICAN MOUTH THAT ROARED" ......

From down in New York City ....

Was up here near my part of the country ....

With "HEY, JACKIE BOY, HEY, JOHNNIE" Sweeney .....

The REPUBLICAN "BUSH CHEERLEADER" Congress Boy ....

Who represents my Congressional District ....

Here in the CORRUPT REPUBLICAN EMPIRE of New York ....

And they were up at Saratoga .....

The horse-racing track .....

Where "HEY, JACKIE BOY, HEY, JOHNNIE" hangs with the "FAST CROWD" ....

And the "PLAYAHS" .....

And "FAST MOVERS" ....

And such like ...

And CLEAR CHANNELS WORLD WIDE interviewed Rudolph .....

And what Rudolph was growling about in that interview .....

Was OUR America ....

PAST ....

And PRESENT .....

According to Rudolph ....

Who is "THE REPUBLICAN MOUTH THAT ROARED" ....

At least here in the CORRUPT REPUBLICAN EMPIRE of New York ....

In the past .....

I.e., before George W. Bush .....

OUR AMERICA HAD A PROBLEM ....

WITH FINISHING WHAT IT STARTED .....

And though he did not elaborate further .....

I presumed he meant Viet Nam .....

BUT NOW THAT GEORGE W. BUSH IS HERE .....

OUR AMERICA DOESN'T HAVE THAT PROBLEM ANY MORE .....

That the DEBACLE .....

The MESS ....

That George W. Bush ....

And the REPUBLICANS .....

Have going on over there in Iraq ....

IS A CENTRAL FRONT .....

ON GEORGE W. BUSH'S REPUBLICAN WAR OF TERROR ....

And George won't cut and run .....

No sir, no way, no how .....

THE REPUBLICAN GEORGE .....

Is going to finish what he started ....

WHATEVER ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH THAT MIGHT BE .....

OTHER THAN ONE GREAT BIG MESS .....

Like you get out in a field .....

Where you have a lot of cows .....

Or pigs .....

Corraled up .....

And confined ....

In a small area ....

And the beauty of being here in OUR America .....

FOR PEOPLE LIKE RUDOLPH GIULIANI ....

Is that people like Rudolph Giuliani ......

Can talk like this ......

TO CLEAR CHANNELS WORLD WIDE .....

Make inane statements ....

Without substance ....

In what are called "SOUND BITES" ....

That will be aired to the whole world, I guess .....

Since CLEAR CHANNELS WORLD WIDE ....

Is world-wide .....

And they can do this .....

Make these inane statements ....

WITHOUT ANY FEAR ....

OR TREPIDATION WHATSOEVER .....

OF BEING CHALLENGED ......

BY CLEAR CHANNELS WORLD WIDE .....

Which is the best PROPAGANDA ORGAN .....

A politician like Rudolph could ever hope for ....

And so .....

God bless America .....

And CLEAR CHANNELS WORLD WIDE, eh, Rudolph?

And so .....

[Livyjr]

And speaking of "HEY, JACKIE, BOY, HEY, JOHNNIE" .....

And Rudolph ....

And the "PLAYAHS" .....

At Saratoga .....

"Sweeney campaign draws Giuliani's support - Former NYC mayor downplays own political aspirations on visit to Saratoga Springs"

By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, August 22, 2006

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, facing the toughest election of his political career, got a boost Monday from former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, whose leadership after 9/11 made him a household name and a presidential contender.

Giuliani endorsed the Clifton Park Republican during a day of campaigning in Saratoga Springs that included a visit to a fire house, a stop at the racetrack and a rally with more than 100 residents.

Giuliani focused on his signature topics since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the twin towers: security and fighting terrorism.

He said he was traveling the country stumping for Republican members of Congress whom Democrats have "singled out" in their quest to win back control of the House.

The man known as "America's Mayor" praised Sweeney for backing the Bush administration's efforts to combat terrorism, which the congressman's Democratic challenger, Kirsten Gillibrand, has tried to use against him as Bush's approval ratings and national support for the Iraq war have dropped.

Giuliani called Sweeney a friend and said the congressman helped him get elected to his first term as mayor of Democrat-dominated New York City in 1993, when Sweeney was executive director of the state Republican Party.

He also touted Sweeney to residents of the 20th Congressional District as "one of you" -- a reference to the Sweeney campaign's efforts to paint Gillibrand as a rich Manhattan carpetbagger.

The former mayor received far more attention than Sweeney.

Cheers of "Rudy! Rudy!" were heard at the track, where he, Sweeney and their wives sat in the New York Racing Association chairman's box.

At the rally, Sweeney introduced Giuliani as the man "who's going to change the landscape of the United States of America."

But Giuliani downplayed his own political aspirations, saying, "We've got to get through 2006 before we get to 2008."

He applauded President Bush's declaration Monday that troops will remain in Iraq to "finish the job," calling him "a determined leader who is absolutely right to say the troops will be there until we achieve our objective."

Sweeney called those seeking an immediate withdrawal from Iraq "obtuse."

He acknowledged "mistakes certainly have happened" in Iraq.

"That doesn't mean, though, that you ought to give up on the commitment to bring stability to the region," he added.

"We cannot have Iraq in a destabilized place that can turn into Afghanistan II," Sweeney said.

Gillibrand spokeswoman Allison Price criticized Sweeney for refusing to debate on Iraq.

Gillibrand has said the country needs to set a deadline of six to 12 months for troop redeployment.

"(Sweeney) has backed Bush 100 percent on Iraq, and once again declines to commit to a solution besides stay-the-course," Price said.

Elizabeth Benjamin can be reached at 454-5081 or by e-mail at ebenjamin@timesunion.com.

end quotes

9-11 ......

9-11 ......

9-11 .......

9-11 .......

If you are a REPUBLICAN ......

Like Rudolph ....

You just got to love that 9-11 .......

It is something that is still politically exploitable .....

And so .....

It is .....

And it is something .....

A testimonial, I guess .....

To the ability ....

Of the REPUBLICANS ....

To take a MAJOR SCREW-UP .....

A MAJOR LAPSE .....

That cost American lives .....

ON THEIR WATCH .....

AND TO TURN THAT MAJOR LAPSE ....

ON THEIR PART ...

INTO SOMETHING .....

THAT THEY CAN KEEP EXPLOITING .....

As Rudolph does .....

OVER ...

AND OVER ...

AND OVER ...

AND OVER ....

FOR POLITICAL GAIN .....

And so ...

[Snuffysmith]

Myths of a 9/11 hero, debunked

Few reporters who covered New York City government during Rudolph
W. Giuliani's reign would dispute that the mayor saw himself as a
powerful leader destined for greatness. After the terrorist
attacks, Mayor Giuliani was the man. Now his leadership comes
under fire in the book "Grand Illusion." By Kit R. Roane.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/e7M...Io30G2B0Hntq0Eo

[Livyjr]

Good to have you back in the saddle again, over here, Snuf .....

And thanks for the heads-up .....

On that book about Rudolph .....

It probably doesn't come across ....

To anyone not from up here ......

But up at Saratoga .....

In the summertime .....

When the running track is open .....

Most of the people in Saratoga .....

And especially the ones Rudolph Giuliani would be hanging with .....

Are from somewhere else .....

And they have the leisure time .....

And the money ....

To hang out at the track .....

With the likes of New York State Attorney General .....

And GUBERNATORIAL HOPEFUL ....

Eliot "Big EL" Spitzer .....

And "HEY, JACKIE BOY, HEY, JOHNNIE" Sweeney .....

And of course .....

Rudolph Giuliani .....

Who himself is a man of leisure these days .....

So when Rudolph Giuliani .....

Is addressing a crowd of people at Saratoga .....

This time of year .....

TO TELL THEM ....

That "HEY, JACKIE BOY, HEY, JOHNNIE" Sweeney .....

IS ONE OF THEM .....

That crowd of people is not people like me .....

Who live here .....

That crowd likely included rich Arab oil sheiks .....

And other assorted rich types .....

From the Carolinas ....

And Canada ....

And South America .....

All of whom are here .....

For the SARATOGA SCENE ....

Which common people like us up here .....

Are not a part of ....

Not being numbered among the idle rich ...

Like Rudolph Giuliani .....

And his fast crowd ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And speaking about the world of politics ....

Here in OUR America ....

And George W. Bush's incredible fiasco ......

In Iraq .....

WHICH IS THE CENTERPIECE .....

OF THE REPUBLICAN WAR OF TERROR .....

We have ....

"McCain faults administration on Iraq"

By JOHN McCARTHY, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:55 p.m., Tuesday, August 22, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Republican Sen. John McCain, a staunch defender of the Iraq war, on Tuesday faulted the Bush administration for misleading Americans into believing the conflict would be "some kind of day at the beach."

The potential 2008 presidential candidate, who a day earlier had rejected calls for withdrawing U.S. forces, said the administration had failed to make clear the challenges facing the military.

"I think one of the biggest mistakes we made was underestimating the size of the task and the sacrifices that would be required," McCain said.

"Stuff happens, mission accomplished, last throes, a few dead-enders."

"I'm just more familiar with those statements than anyone else because it grieves me so much that we had not told the American people how tough and difficult this task would be."

Those phrases are closely associated with top members of the Bush administration, including the president.

Bush stood below a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" on May 1, 2003 after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.

The war has continued since then, with the death of more than 2,600 members of the U.S. military.

Vice President Dick Cheney said last year that the Iraqi insurgency was "in its final throes."

The Arizona senator said that talk "has contributed enormously to the frustration that Americans feel today because they were led to believe this could be some kind of day at the beach, which many of us fully understood from the beginning would be a very, very difficult undertaking."

McCain was campaigning for Republican Sen. Mike DeWine, who faces a tough fight in his re-election bid against Democratic challenger Rep. Sherrod Brown.

Ohio was decisive in the 2004 presidential election, ensuring Bush's win, and is certain to be critical in 2008.

On Monday, McCain said at an appearance in suburban Cleveland that if U.S. troops announce a specific date to leave Iraq, insurgents will bide their time until they have an opportunity to act without interference.

"The chaos that would ensue would have direct implications for our national security," McCain said.

DeWine said Congress would not have had the chance to authorize the war if the intelligence on Iraq's military capability and intentions were accurate.

"It would never have come up for a vote so it would have been an entirely different situation," he said.

------

McCain campaign site: http://www.straighttalkamerica.com/

DeWine campaign site: http://www.mikedewine.com