ENOUGH!

July 16th, 2007

I’m pensive today — American politics in 2007 seem so pointless; a farce in too many acts, the audience no longer amused and beyond hostile, verging on rage. And still, Bush and Cheney play out their roles as superficial dolts, unable to muster any emotion except defensiveness and hubris; no compassion from these two, no sophistication of thought, no tenderness — no love of the common good. What empty, pathetic men lead our nation — what cold, transparent ambitions drive their desperation.

Over the weekend it became clear to everyone, even those who won’t admit it, that Bush is crazed and clearly unable to catch reality with either hand. His whine that those we fight in Iraq are the same that we fought on 9/11 made the world catch its breath. Cheney’s plan for Iran came clear with a number of “news reports” of Iranian influence in Baghdad and the Air Force is finally being reported as a major player in this theatre; that’s been going on a long while, but we’ve become aware now that what we can’t contain we bomb to hell.

In Bush’s delusion, all that fight our troops in Iraq are al Queda — when the statistics prove that well under 10% … more like 4 or 5 … have any affiliation with that group [it's become the generic catch-all ... no doubt in Bush's brain they're all just One Big Jihadist.] The howl about Iran’s influence was dampened down with reports that Saudi Arabia is sending in recruits and weapons as well.

The “surge” is in tatters, the death rate up substantially. The Iraqi government is determined to take August as vacation — leaving our own to do the dirty work in 135 degree heat. While Dub did manage to put off a final assessment until September, no one with a brain can fail to note that ultimately last weeks interim report will stand for all the progress that is to be made.

The Maliki government is stringing Bush along, waiting to break with him — they’re throwing hints. The Shiia want the country built along traditional Theocratic design, the Sunni will continue to kick back and there will most certainly be a genocide of sorts, a blood bath, that will further destabilize the Islamic world — it’s happening now, only slowed by our presence. Saudi Arabia will take an even more aggressive stance to protect their sect — unhappy with Bush now and his failed occupation in Iraq, you have to wonder how they will deal with a White House less cozy to their desires. The Middle East will continue to split itself between the sons of the Prophet and we will be caught in the cross hairs, paying the price for the outrageous arrogance of thinking we could control any of it.

Here’s a collection of the day — I could continue to gather examples, but I’m very aware when “enough is enough” — and that’s the larger context on just about everything today.

Note the last article, words of wisdom from Ron Paul and especially potent considering this quote from the Guardian piece:

A well-placed source in Washington said: “Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo.”

Continue to visualize impediments in their way, that no matter what they turn their hand to, it will fail … and continue to demand accountability from your public servants and sanity from your government.

Jude

PM: Iraqis Can Keep Peace Without U.S.
BUSHRA JUHI, Raw Story
Jul 14

BAGHDAD (AP) - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi army and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops leave “any time they want,” though he acknowledged the forces need further weapons and training.

The embattled prime minister sought to show confidence at a time when pressure in the U.S. Congress is growing for a withdrawal and the Bush administration reported little progress had been made on the most vital of a series of political reforms it wants al-Maliki to carry out.

Moreover, the Pentagon on Friday conceded that the Iraqi army has become more reliant on the U.S. military. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, said the number of Iraqi battalions able to operate on their own without U.S. support has dropped in recent months from 10 to six, though he said the fall was in part due to attrition from stepped-up offensives.

In new violence in Baghdad on Saturday, a car bomb leveled a two-story apartment building, and a suicide bomber plowed his explosives-packed vehicle into a line of cars at a gas station in new attacks in Baghdad that killed at least eight people.

Al-Maliki made his first public comments on Thursday’s White House report on the reforms, saying his government needed time to enact the political benchmarks that Washington seeks. He insisted it was “fairly natural” that progress would be difficult considering the violence in Iraq and the deep divisions among its leaders.

“We need time and effort, particularly since the political process is facing security, economic and services pressures, as well as regional and international interference,” he told reporters at a Baghdad news conference, without giving a timeframe.

“These difficulties can be read as a big success, not negative points, when they are viewed under the shadow of the big challenges. That is what should be understood in the White House report,” al-Maliki said.

The report fueled calls among congressional critics of the Iraqi policy for a change in strategy, including a withdrawal of American forces. The White House insists it is too early to call its strategy a failure.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari warned earlier this week of the collapse of the government if the Americans leave. But al-Maliki told reporters Saturday, “We say in full confidence that we are able, God willing, to take the responsibility completely in running the security file if the international forces withdraw at any time they want.”

But he added that Iraqi forces are “still in need of more weapons and rehabilitation” to be ready in the case of a withdrawal.

In the White House strategy, beefed-up American forces have been waging intensified security crackdowns in Baghdad and areas to the north and south for nearly a month. The goal is to bring quiet to the capital while al-Maliki enacts the political reforms, intended to give Sunni Arabs a greater role in the government and political process, lessening support for the insurgency.

But the benchmarks have been blocked by divisions among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds within al-Maliki’s Cabinet. In August, the parliament is taking a one month vacation - a shorter break than the usual two months, but still enough to anger some in Congress who say lawmakers should push through reforms.

The divisions within al-Maliki’s coalition are not only over the substance of the reforms, but also over separate disputes that have stalled even debate over such legislation as a draft bill to fairly distribute control over and profits from the vital oil sector.

Al-Maliki said some members of his coalition have not formed a “positive partnership” with the others. Al-Maliki has been talking for months of a Cabinet reshuffle that would shed Sunni and Shiite parties seen as obstructionist to form a “coalition of moderates” - though there’s been no sign a change was imminent.

Also Saturday, the U.S. military said it captured an alleged high-level al-Qaida in Iraq cell leader at Baghdad’s international airport. The suspect, believed to have organized mortar and roadside bomb attacks in the capital and nearby area, surrendered “without a struggle,” the military said in a statement.

It did not give details on the suspect or say whether he was traveling in or out of the country when seized.

In the latest violence, a suicide bomber hit cars lined up at a gas station in the southeastern district of Rashin Camp around 11:30 a.m., setting seven vehicles on fire and damaging nearby shops, a police official said. The blast killed seven civilians and wounded 15 others, the official said.

Shortages force Iraqis to stay in line for hours to fill their vehicles or buy fuel for generators they rely on for power amid the capital’s frequent electricity outages.

Hours earlier, a parked car bomb detonated in the western neighborhood of Amil, reducing one apartment building to rubble and heavily damaging a second, another police official said. The 7:30 a.m. blast killed at least one person and wounded five others, and authorities were searching the wreckage for more victims, the official said.

After the blast, several nearby cars were left damaged, and a metal crutch lay in the street next to a pool of blood, according to AP Television news footage of the scene.
Both police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorize to release details of the attacks.

Am adviser to al-Maliki said a fierce gunbattle on Friday between U.S. troops and Iraqi police that killed six policemen was the result of a misunderstanding. U.S. troops had seized a police lieutenant accused of links to Iranian-backed Shiite militants when it came under fire.

Hassan al-Suneid, a legislator close to the prime minister, said American troops did not know a police checkpoint was nearby and “thought they were terrorists.” He said Iraqi soldiers with the Americans also fired on the police.

The U.S. military said Friday that it was the police at the checkpoint who opened fire on the Americans first, along with gunmen on nearby rooftops and at a church. U.S. troops called in warplanes for ground strikes, and six policemen and seven gunmen were killed.

The raid captured the lieutenant, who the military said was helping Iran organize Shiite militants and led a cell involved in bomb and mortar attacks on U.S. and Iraqi troops. The military did not specify that the police who fired on the Americans were linked to militias as well but said the police maintained “heavy and accurate fire” on the U.S. troops.

The battle underscored the deep infiltration of Shiite militiamen in the police force. Purging the force is one of the benchmarks, and Thursday’s report acknowledged progress in it has been “unsatisfactory.”

Maliki Lets Us Glimpse The Truth About Iraq
Thomas de Zengotita, HuffPo
July 15, 2007

Here is an important insight into the nature of the mountain of bloody bullshit that is the Iraq war. Prime Minister Al-Maliki (and other highly placed Iraqi officials) are inviting the US to leave. They say they are ready to take over security.

You bet they are. They’ve been positioning themselves all along for the inevitable US pull back. Iranian backed Shia forces are indeed ready to take over security — which means ready to hold on to their own. Ditto the Kurds. That’s the real reason Iraqi factions haven’t come to significant political and economic settlements. They don’t want a unified and moderate Iraq and never did.

But what was interesting in this outburst is the tone. There’s palpable resentment and contempt. It’s the benchmarks thing. It’s US officials giving them grades and then posturing in front of US citizens, threatening Iraqis with consequences as if they were a bunch of schoolchildren. From their point of view, the condescension involved in this process is enormous — and it adds insult to injury.

Because, from their point of view, the world’s great Superpower launched this invasion entirely for reasons of its own and then proceeded to neglect everything it didn’t actually destroy. And then, after what has been, from their point of view, a negligible investment of time and blood, that Superpower decides it’s had enough because this nonexistent nation another Western Superpower invented and called Iraq hasn’t got its act together in accordance with some Green Zone mission statement.

What Iraqis have noticed is how US opponents of the war built public support with one simple message: we’ve done our share, it’s time for the Iraqis to step up. And they’ve noticed that as prominent supporters of the war, from Bill O’Reilly to Senator Warner, slowly reverse themselves they pivot on this message: we’ve done our share, it’s time for the Iraqis to step up. From the Iraqi point of view, their original suspicions are thus confirmed in spades. From my point of view — I’m embarrassed everytime I hear a Democrat blame Iraqis for their failure. Even though I know it’s a tactical necessity, it’s embarrassing.

This war has been a massive exercise in national narcissism from the beginning. How fitting that efforts to bring it an end must feed the same appetite.

GOP senator to Rove: Bush legacy on the line in Iraq
Ed Henry and Dana Bash, CNN
July 16, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A Republican senator says he warned top White House aide Karl Rove that President Bush quickly needs to craft a workable plan to withdraw U.S. troops fom Iraq in order to salvage his legacy.

White House spokesman Tony Snow insisted last week that Bush’s GOP allies in Congress are not breaking with Bush over the war. But Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, told CNN that he warned Rove last week that “The president is a young man and should think about his legacy.”

He should know history will not be kind unless he can come up with a plan that protects the troops and stabilizes the region,” Voinovich said he told Karl Rove, whom Bush dubbed “the architect” of his 2004 re-election.

Voinovich added that other Republicans are close to speaking out against the President’s current strategy.

“I won’t mention anyone’s name. But I have every reason to believe that the fur is going to start to fly, perhaps sooner than what they may have wanted.”

In private, Voinovich is more blunt, using a profanity to describe the White House’s handling of Iraq by charging the administration “f—ed up” the war.

Voinovich stressed he expressed his views to Rove as a positive “opportunity” for the president to come together with Democrats and Republicans on an exit strategy that will be good for the country.

A White House spokeswoman confirmed to CNN that Rove, who speaks with Voinovich frequently, had the phone conversation with the senator last week and they did discuss the President’s legacy. But the spokeswoman declined to provide further details, citing Rove’s desire to keep phone conversations with senators private.

“I got into this to get them to move, and they’re moving,” said Voinovich, who is pushing for the president to put together a workable plan for withdrawing U.S. troops that will be ready in time for a September progress report on the military surge from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

“I really think that they understand,” said Voinovich. “We’ll see by September what they put together. But the main thing is were running out of time — we should take advantage of this time.”

And while Voinovich is giving the White House some breathing space until September to receive the progress report from Gen. Petraeus, the senator is privately warning if there’s not a dramatic new strategy ready to be unveiled in the fall, he will endorse a Democratic plan mandating a timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days.

In June, Voinovich urged Bush to take a new tack in Iraq — one he dubbed “Plan E,” for exit. Voinovich called for a decrease in U.S. military engagement, coupled with a “surge” in diplomatic engagement.

His break with the White House came one day after another senior Republican, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, delivered a dramatic Senate floor speech declaring the president’s current strategy was not working.

Since then, Voinovich said he has spoken to both Rove and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and is expressing some satisfaction that in the short term, the White House has heard his concerns.

Air Force adds planes, bomb runs to aid Iraq surge
B1-B bombers, A-10 `Warthog’ attack aircraft join arsenal; reconnaissance operations increase
Charles J. Hanley, Associated Press
Sun, Jul. 15, 2007

BALAD AIR BASE, IRAQ - Away from the headlines and debate over the “surge” in U.S. ground troops, the Air Force has quietly built up its hardware in Iraq, sharply stepped up bombing and laid a foundation for a sustained air campaign in support of American and Iraqi forces.

Squadrons of attack planes have been added to the in-country fleet. The air reconnaissance arm has almost doubled since last year. The powerful B1-B bomber has been recalled to action over Iraq.

The escalation causes some to worry about an increase in “collateral damage” — casualties among Iraqi civilians. Air Force generals worry about wear and tear on aging aircraft. But ground commanders clearly like what they see.

“Night before last we had 14 strikes from B-1 bombers. Last night we had 18 strikes by B-1 bombers,” Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said approvingly of air support his 3rd Infantry Division received in a recent offensive south of Baghdad.

Statistics tell the story: Air Force and Navy aircraft dropped 437 bombs and missiles in Iraq in the first six months of 2007, a fivefold increase over the 86 used in the first half of 2006, and three times more than in the second half of 2006, according to Air Force data. In June, bombs dropped at a rate of more than five a day.

In a spacious new air traffic control center at Balad, a huge Air Force hub 50 miles north of Baghdad, the expanded commitment can be seen on the central display screen: Small points of light represent more than 100 aircraft crisscrossing Iraqi air space at a time.

Cargo operation grows

The increased air activity has paralleled the reinforcement of U.S. ground troops, beginning in February, to try to suppress the insurgency and sectarian violence in the Baghdad region. Keeping those 30,000 additional troops supplied has added to demands on the Air Force.

“We’re the busiest aerial port” in the Department of Defense, said Col. Dave Reynolds, a mission support commander at Balad. Working 12-hour shifts, his cargo handlers are expected to move 140,000 tons this year, one-third more than in 2006, he said.

The greatest impact of the “air surge” has come in close air support for Army and Marine operations.

Early this year, with little fanfare, the Air Force sent a squadron of A-10 “Warthog” attack planes — a dozen or more aircraft — to be based at Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq. At the same time, it added a squadron of F-16C Fighting Falcons at Balad. Although some had flown missions over Iraq from elsewhere in the region, the additions doubled to 50 or more the number of workhorse fighter-bomber jets available at bases in the country, closer to the action.

Advanced F-16Cs used

The air reinforcement involved more than numbers. The new F-16Cs were the first of the advanced “Block 50” version to fly in Iraq, an aircraft whose technology includes a cockpit helmet that enables the pilot to aim his weapons at a target simply by turning his head and looking at it.

The Navy has contributed by stationing a second aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, and the reintroduction of B1-Bs has added a close-at-hand “platform” capable of carrying 24 tons of bombs.

Iraq Body Count, a British research group that monitors war deaths, says the step-up in air attacks appears to have been accompanied by an increase in Iraqi civilian casualties from airstrikes. Based on media reports, it counts a recent average of 50 such deaths per month.

The Air Force does not maintain such data.

Cheney pushes Bush to act on Iran
· Military solution back in favour as Rice loses out
· President ‘not prepared to leave conflict unresolved’
Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Julian Borger, The Guardian UK
Monday July 16, 2007

The balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back in favour of military action before President George Bush leaves office in 18 months, the Guardian has learned.

The shift follows an internal review involving the White House, the Pentagon and the state department over the last month. Although the Bush administration is in deep trouble over Iraq, it remains focused on Iran. A well-placed source in Washington said: “Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo.”

The White House claims that Iran, whose influence in the Middle East has increased significantly over the last six years, is intent on building a nuclear weapon and is arming insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The vice-president, Dick Cheney, has long favoured upping the threat of military action against Iran. He is being resisted by the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the defence secretary, Robert Gates.

Last year Mr Bush came down in favour of Ms Rice, who along with Britain, France and Germany has been putting a diplomatic squeeze on Iran. But at a meeting of the White House, Pentagon and state department last month, Mr Cheney expressed frustration at the lack of progress and Mr Bush sided with him. “The balance has tilted. There is cause for concern,” the source said this week.

Nick Burns, the undersecretary of state responsible for Iran and a career diplomat who is one of the main advocates of negotiation, told the meeting it was likely that diplomatic manoeuvring would still be continuing in January 2009. That assessment went down badly with Mr Cheney and Mr Bush.

“Cheney has limited capital left, but if he wanted to use all his capital on this one issue, he could still have an impact,” said Patrick Cronin, the director of studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The Washington source said Mr Bush and Mr Cheney did not trust any potential successors in the White House, Republican or Democratic, to deal with Iran decisively. They are also reluctant for Israel to carry out any strikes because the US would get the blame in the region anyway.

“The red line is not in Iran. The red line is in Israel. If Israel is adamant it will attack, the US will have to take decisive action,” Mr Cronin said. “The choices are: tell Israel no, let Israel do the job, or do the job yourself.”

Almost half of the US’s 277 warships are stationed close to Iran, including two aircraft carrier groups. The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise left Virginia last week for the Gulf. A Pentagon spokesman said it was to replace the USS Nimitz and there would be no overlap that would mean three carriers in Gulf at the same time.

No decision on military action is expected until next year. In the meantime, the state department will continue to pursue the diplomatic route.

Sporadic talks are under way between the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, on the possibility of a freeze in Iran’s uranium enrichment programme. Tehran has so far refused to contemplate a freeze, but has provisionally agreed to another round of talks at the end of the month.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, has said that there are signs of Iran slowing down work on the enrichment plant it is building in Natanz. Negotiations took place in Tehran last week between Iranian officials and the IAEA, which is seeking a full accounting of Iran’s nuclear activities before Tehran disclosed its enrichment programme in 2003. The agency’s deputy director general, Olli Heinonen, said two days of talks had produced “good results” and would continue.

At the UN, the US, Britain and France are trying to secure agreement from other security council members for a new round of sanctions against Iran. The US is pushing for economic sanctions that would include a freeze on the international dealings of another Iranian bank and a mega-engineering firm owned by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Russia and China are resisting tougher measures.

Paper: Cheney pushes for military action in Iran
Raw Story
Monday July 16, 2007

A British newspaper alleges that “the balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back in favour [sic] of military action” before President George W. Bush leaves office.

The Manchester Guardian’s “Washington source” said neither Bush or Vice President Cheney trust any future president — Republican or Democrat — to deal with Iran “decisively.” They’re also anxious about an Israeli attack, the paper reports.

Inside the Administration, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have come out against a military strike on Iran. Vice President Cheney, however, continues to push for military action, both according to the paper and previous reports by RAW STORY.

Last year, Bush came down in favor of Rice. Last month in a meeting with Pentagon and State Department officials, according to the Guardian, he favored Cheney — who cites little progress in an ongoing standoff.

“The balance has tilted,” the paper’s source said. “There is cause for concern.”

Cheney ‘warned’ Iran in a speech on an aircraft carrier off Iran’s coast in May.

“With two carrier strike groups in the Gulf, we’re sending clear messages to friends and adversaries alike,” he said, according to remarks given to reporters. “We’ll keep the sea lanes open. We’ll stand with our friends in opposing extremism and strategic threats. We’ll disrupt attacks on our own forces. We’ll continue bringing relief to those who suffer, and delivering justice to the enemies of freedom. And we’ll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region.”

“Almost half of the US’s 277 warships are stationed close to Iran, including two aircraft carrier groups,” the Guardian adds. “The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise left Virginia last week for the Gulf. A Pentagon spokesman said it was to replace the USS Nimitz and there would be no overlap that would mean three carriers in Gulf at the same time.

“No decision on military action is expected until next year,” the paper adds. “In the meantime, the state department will continue to pursue the diplomatic route.”

Cheney has at least one two allies in the Senate — Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), a strong supporter of Israel, and Sen. Sam Brownback.

Asked last week whether he supported a pre-emptive strike, Brownback said, “Yes, I am, and I think we have to be… If we’re going to be serious about this fight, and we’re in this fight, and probably for a generation. We’re probably in this fight for a generation.”

CNN’s Ware: ‘Lieberman Has Taken An Excursion Into Fantasy’
Think Progress

After returning from a recent visit to Iraq, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has embarked on a campaign to give cheery reports about the Iraq war. His latest line: “We are winning.”

Yesterday, Lieberman alleged that U.S. troops had successfully “chased out” the “enemy”:
[W]e’ve got the enemy, Al Qaeda, on the run. We’ve chased them out of Anbar province, where they were going to create the capital for the Islamist Republic of Iraq. We’ve chased them now to Diyala. All of this is possible because of the surge.

Last night, CNN Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware, who has been in Iraq for four years, mocked Lieberman’s claims, emphasizing that the U.S. now faces “a whole multitude” of threats that are becoming stronger:

COOPER: Is the enemy on the run in Iraq, Michael?

WARE: No, certainly not. And I think we need to be aware that it’s enemies. I mean, America doesn’t face just one opponent in this country, but a whole multitude, many of whom are becoming stronger the longer the U.S. occupation here, or presence here, in Iraq continues. So, unfortunately, I’m afraid that Senator Lieberman has taken an excursion into fantasy.

[Open the link to watch the video.]

Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) said yesterday: “I don’t know where Lieberman gets his opinions” on Iraq. Last weekend, violence around the country claimed 220 lives. Yesterday, the formerly secure Green Zone saw its “most intense mortar attack to date,” according to a statement from the U.S. embassy.

Transcript:

COOPER: Michael, I want to play something that Senator Lieberman said about the war in Iraq. Let’s — let’s listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMAN: The war is not lost in Iraq. In fact, now American Iraqi security forces are winning. The enemy is on the run in Iraq. But, here in — in Congress, in Washington, we seem to be, or some — some members seem to be on the run, chased, I fear, by public opinion polls.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Is the enemy on the run in Iraq, Michael?

WARE: No, certainly not. And I think we need to be aware that it’s enemies. I mean, America doesn’t face just one opponent in this country, but a whole multitude, many of whom are becoming stronger, the longer the U.S. occupation here, or presence here, in Iraq continues. So, unfortunately, I’m afraid that Senator Lieberman has taken an excursion into fantasy.

Now, I know, elsewhere, that Senator Lieberman told the Senate or reminded the Senate of its greater responsibility to rise above its frustrations and the opinion polls. Now, never a truer word has been said. That’s, indeed, what America needs right now, some political maturity.

But — but that message was diluted by this fantastic notion…

COOPER: Michael Ware…

WARE: … that America is winning.

COOPER: Michael Ware, appreciate the reporting in Baghdad.

Ron Paul warns of staged terror attack
Politico
July 13, 2007

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, said the country is in “great danger” of the U.S. government staging a terrorist attack or a Gulf of Tonkin style provocation, as the war in Iraq continues to deteriorate.

The Texas congressman offered no specifics nor mentioned President Bush by name, but he clearly insinuated that the administration would not be above staging an incident to revive flagging support.

“We’re in danger in many ways,” Paul said on the Alex Jones radio show. “The attack on our civil liberties here at home, the foreign policy that’s in shambles and our obligations overseas and commitment which endangers our troops and our national defense.”

Paul was asked to respond to comments by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan that the U.S. is in danger of a staged terror attack or a provocation of an enemy similar to the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964 before the Vietnam War.

During the radio interview, Paul said the government was conducting “an orchestrated effort to blame the Iranians for everything that has gone wrong in Iraq.”

The comments come as several prominent terrorism experts have warned the U.S. is facing an increased risk of attack this summer. Earlier this week, in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he had a “gut feeling” the U.S. would be attacked again.

The remark angered some Democrats, who criticized Chertoff for being too vague. And some pundits seized on his remarks, saying the vague warnings were meant only to revive flagging support for the war in Iraq and Bush’s larger war against terrorism.

“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.”
~ Molly Ivins, 1944 - 2007

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