Here He Goes, Again!!!

Earlier tonight, I read in a posting on radiofarda.com that John Bolton is advocating a military strike on Iran. Will this man ever learn? Isn't the mess he helped create in Iraq enough for a generation? Now, The Foreign Minister of Iraq is joining the chorus of building up the case for attack on Iran.

The Government of Iran is not the issue. The issue is whether such an attack will further destablize the region. My problem is that John Bolton and his crowd just don't understand that Iran is not Iraq. I don't think they understood Iraq, anyway. These guys listened to a bunch of self-centered charlatans who ended up creating the biggest foreign policy blunder this country has ever witnessed. One recent impact of this misadventure is Burma. Because of this blunder, a whole generation of Burmese will have to potentially live with a brutal, corrupt military dictatorship because our moral legitimacy has suffered greatly as a result of the misadventures at hand.

We left another interesting week behind. The implosion in Palestine continues. The only folks who are suffering are the ordinary folks. Some have called Gaza the world's largest prison. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail.

Another alternative view of US Policy in the Middle East has also made the headlines. The UN Special Envoy's report chronicles how the Adminstration's mistakes has been so detrimental to the common man in the street. The actual report has been leaked and is available at the Guardian's Website. Here is the link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2101676,00.html.

The on-going struggle continues.

Iran, A Nuclear Middle East & The Future

The psychological build-up against Iran continues. We have John McCain trying to make a joke to bomb Iran, we have US Generals stating that Iran is arming Sunnis, the Taliban and so on. The comment on the Taliban is attributed to General Pace. General Pace seems to convienently forget that Iran almost went to war with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Apparently, this Adminstration does not want to learn anything from the debacle in Iraq.

The concerns about Iran are justified. But, The Iraq disaster has allowed everyone in the Middle East to talk about the unthinkable: having the Middle East go nuclear. Iran will be one of the first countries who has to truly start thinking about life beyond oil. Iran has not had wise rulers such as the rulers of the United Arab Emirates who have already planned for life beyond oil The present government in Iran has been irresponsible, to say the least. It has squandered its' oil windfall and it is now being forced to import Gasoline. Furthermore, the government will be beginning a rationing program starting next month. If we talked to North Korea, it seems that we can start a dialogue with Iran. If the dialogue failed and the Adminstration had to make some decisions, then the moral justification will be there. I doubt that discussions will happen during the Bush Adminstration.

Iraq...The Nightmare Goes On.....

The Congress has finally begun to live up to what the Constitution envisioned it to do. We in the United States do not have Kings. We settled this issue over 200 years ago. Mr. Bush seems to have forgotten that. The President has promised a veto and a compromise will eventually have to be reached. But, at least the President is being reminded that he has to listen.

What bothers me is the the fact that John McCain and Joe Lieberman are taking to the Airways (and say on the floor of the Senate) that the Plan is starting to work. I don't doubt their patriotism or their committment to this country. But, I don't know what planet they're living in. If the "surge" is working, why is it that the Government has ordered all US Personnel to wear protective armor. Juan Cole, in his blog today, reports on a very disturbing development:

(Source: http://www.juancole.com, retrieved March 30, 2007)
"The US embassy in Baghdad circulated a memo to all Americans working for the US government in the Green Zone. It ordered them to wear protective gear whenever they were outside in the Green Zone, including just moving from one building to another. Guerrillas have managed to lob a number of rockets into the area in recent days, and killed one US GI on Tuesday.

The Green Zone is therefore actually the Red Zone. I.e., it is no longer an area of good security contrasting to what is around it. Senator McCain was more wrong than can easily be imagined. Not only can American officials not just stroll through Baghdad districts unarmed and unprotected by armor, but they can't even move that way from one building to the next inside the Green Zone..."

When will we see an end to this nightmare? What is worst that Iran is being targeted especially with what Chris Dodd and Tom Lantos have apparently just introduced. It seems to me that talking will achieve a hell of a lot more. But, the folks in Washington seem not to want to buy into it.

Pat Tillman

Today was another sad day. The hyprociy and the lies once again exposed how the Bush Adminstration has misled us for so long. From what I was able to gather, Pat Tillman was killed by Friendly Fire and at least Four Generals knew about it. When I heard Pat Tillman's Mother earlier, I wondered how far this cover-up went. I did not doubt for a minute that the Adminstration was anxious to move the spotlight away from Abu Gharib. It needed a Hero...just like it built up Jessica Lynch. The worst thing I heard was that A grieving mother was told by Defense Department Officials that she was rude. As a parent, I would want to know the truth. I know that I would not be nice and would be fighting for the truth. I would not care who got offended in the process. Pat Tillman was indeed an example for us all. He gave up a life of privilege to serve. He must always be remembered for that. How this ultimate sacrifice was manipulated should never be tolerated.