October 20, 2006
Onward, Christian soldiers
(AFP) - The top US general defended the leadership of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying it is inspired by God.
“He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country,” said Marine General Peter Pace, chair-
man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Rumsfeld is “a man whose patriotism focus, energy, drive, is exceeded by no one else I know ... quite simply, he works harder than anybody else in our building,” Pace said at a ceremony at the Southern Command (Southcom) in Miami.
Rumsfeld has faced a storm of criticism and calls for his resignation, largely over his handling of the Iraq war.
But he got a strong show of support from the military establishment at Thursday’s ceremony, where Navy Admiral James Stavridis took over Southcom’s command from General Bantz Craddock.
“He comes to work everyday with a single-minded focus to make this country safe,” said Stavridis who was a senior aide to Rumsfeld before taking on the Southcom job.
“We’re lucky as a nation that he continues to serve with such passion and such integrity and such determination and such brilliance,” said Stavridis, 51.
Strange, then, that there’s still no sign of triumph, and that Satan’s host doth not flee.
Must be God’s fault.
Posted by Stephen at 12:01 AM in Politics | Religion + cults | Terrorism | War | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
September 2, 2006
George and the dragon
The Bush administration, your friendly local global drug pusher:
Afghanistan’s world-leading opium cultivation rose a “staggering” 60 percent this year, the U.N. anti-drugs chief announced Saturday in urging the government to crack down on big traffickers and remove corrupt officials and police.
The record crop yielded 6,100 tons of opium, or enough to make 610 tons of heroin — outstripping the demand of the world’s heroin users by a third, according to U.N. figures.
Officials warned that the illicit trade is undermining the Afghan government, which is under attack by Islamic militants that a U.S.-led offensive helped drive from power in late 2001 for harboring Osama
bin Laden and al-Qaida bases.
… With the economy struggling, there are not enough jobs and many Afghans say they have to grow opium poppies to feed their families. The trade accounts for at least 35 percent of Afghanistan’s economy, financing warlords and insurgents.
… The top U.S. narcotics official here said the opium trade is a threat to the country’s fledgling democracy.
“This country could be taken down by this whole drugs problem,” Doug Wankel told reporters. “We have seen what can come from Afghanistan, if you go back to 9/11. Obviously the U.S. does not want to see that again.”
Even though it helped cause the problem in the first place.
The bulk of the opium increase was in lawless Helmand province, where cultivation rose 162 percent and accounted for 42 percent of the Afghan crop. The province has been wracked by the surge in attacks by Taliban-led militants that has produced the worst fighting in five years.
Opium-growing increased despite the injection of hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid to fight the drug over the past two years. [Antonio Maria Costa, chief of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime,] criticized the international effort and said foreign aid was “plagued by huge overhead costs” in its administration.
… “It’s going to take possibly 20 years to get rid of the problem,” he said, citing the experience of former opium producers like Thailand, Turkey and Pakistan.
And let’s not forget one other little side-effect of Bush’s Afghanistan adventure:
A Western counternarcotics official […] said the Taliban — which managed to nearly eradicate Afghanistan’s poppy crop in 2001, just before their ouster for giving refuge to Osama bin Laden — now profit from the trade.
Next, a makeover for Iran.
Posted by Stephen at 6:46 PM in Drugs | Politics | Terrorism | War | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
February 28, 2006
Why George ♥ Osama
Bush will clearly take his support wherever he can find it—no matter how many Americans have to die:
WASHINGTON - President Bush said he believes his 2004 re-election victory over Sen. John Kerry was inadvertently aided by Osama bin Laden, who issued a taped diatribe against him the Friday before Americans went to the polls, The Examiner newspaper reported on Tuesday.
… Bush’s comments in the Washington newspaper were excerpts from the new book “Strategery” by Bill Sammon, a long-time White House correspondent.
“What does it mean? Is it going to help? Is it going to hurt?” Bush told Sammon of the bin Laden tapes. “Anything that drops in at the end of a campaign that is not already decided creates all kinds of anxieties, because you’re not sure of the effect.
“I thought it was going to help,” Bush said. “I thought it would help remind people that if bin Laden doesn’t want Bush to be the president, something must be right with Bush.”
Truly amazing.
Posted by Stephen at 12:11 PM in Politics | Terrorism | War | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
February 8, 2006
Clear and present danger
It’s good to see that my previous warning is being taken seriously:
WHILE ATTORNEY GENERAL Alberto Gonzalez assures the U.S. Senate that the Bush Administration’s domestic eavesdropping program is a vital “early warning system” for terrorists, another homeland security measure strikes at a local elementary school.
The kindergarten class at Lakewood’s Taft Elementary was planning a field trip to NASA Glenn Research Center. It’s a popular trip because it’s free, because the NASA staff already has age-appropriate tours that fit well with school curriculum, and, well, it’s outer space, for pete’s sake. They’ve got rocket ships.
And NASA works the education angle hard. According to the agency, “A major part of the NASA mission is ‘To inspire the next generation of explorers . . . as only NASA can.’” And of course they talk about math and science. NASA says about 400 school groups took tours last year.
But school principal Margaret Seibel says this year’s trip for Taft kindergarteners — we’re talking 6-year-olds here — had to be canceled due to homeland security concerns.
Since new security regulations went into effect in May 1, 2005, access to the Visitor Center is restricted to United State citizens. All others might be terrorists.
… Because two kids in the kindergarten class are not U.S. citizens, the teacher had to cancel the trip.
Because we all know that all foreigners are terrorists—especially the six-year-olds.
Posted by Stephen at 7:09 PM in Education | Terrorism | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
January 21, 2006
Straw man
The government had “found no evidence” of detainees being “rendered” through Britain since September 11, the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, told MPs yesterday in an effort to quell the storm over the US practice of secretly transporting suspects to places where they may be tortured.
Last I heard, Scotland was still part of Britain:
The SNP [Scottish National Party] has published a report on suspected US intelligence flights through Scottish airports.
… The report lists 10 firms which allegedly operate as CIA shell companies and details the plane types, registration numbers and dates which they landed at Prestwick, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports. Among the planes was a Gulfstream jet (Registration number N379P/N8068V) nicknamed the “Guantanamo Bay Express” and was reportedly used to transport suspects to the US prison on Cuba. That plane is listed in the report as having landed five times at Glasgow and Prestwick airports between 2002 and the end of 2004.
The report also lists details about a DC 9 airliner (Registration number N822US) which has been the subject of diplomatic inquiries by the Norwegian government and debate in the Canadian Parliament. The plane is listed in the report as having landed at both Glasgow and Prestwick airports in 2002 and 2003.
You can read or download the full (PDF) report here.
Posted by Stephen at 4:54 PM in Politics | Terrorism | War | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
