Slightly off topic, if the Pentagon were ordered to close, i.e., if it were decommissioned, I’m certain the military would turn on Americans with the same ferocity it unleashes on civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq and in eastern Europe back during the Clinton Junta. The military is just as out of control as the White House.

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I forgot Lindsey Graham:

Graham: We’re ‘Kicking Ass’ In Iraq, Political Reconciliation Likely ‘Within Weeks’
from Think Progress by Satyam

Yesterday, prominent Iraq war proponents were featured at a panel at the American Enterprise Institute, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a vocal supporter of President Bush’s escalation.

Graham cheerfully explained that in his eight visits to Iraq, he has never come back as optimistic as after his most recent one. Graham claimed political reconciliation is on the horizon and is now “all over the country.”

Within the next weeks, not months, there will be a major breakthrough on the benchmarks regarding political reconciliation. And after the last two weeks of being a reservist, you could see Sunnis and Shia and Kurds taking a second look at Iraq.

Watch a compilation of Graham’s remarks:
Screenshot

Using lofty phrases like “the surge has worked” and “the people are war weary,” Graham conveniently dodged empirical evidence to back up his assertion of reconciliation at “breakneck speed.”

Graham has placed himself at odds with every observer — including the Bush administration — of the Iraq war, all of whom see little to no political progress in Iraq:

Gen. Petraeus: “[T]angible political progress…has not worked out as we had hoped.” [9/7/07]

White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten: “[D]isappointment is the right word for…the Iraqi federal government.” [9/5/07]

Government Accountability Office: Iraqi government “has met only one of eight political benchmarks.” [9/4/07]

Congressional Research Service: “[T]he Iraqi government is in essential collapse.” [9/6/07]

National Intelligence Estimate: The government “will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months.” [8/23/07]

With Shi’as composing 75 percent of Baghdad today and 85 percent of the Iraqi national police, there is no near prospect for political reconciliation.

Despite these realities, Graham concluded his remarks at AEI — to loud applause — proclaiming that the United States is “kicking their ass,” a statement sure to make Bush proud.

He and Bush need a good swift kick in their asses. But not being the violent type I would settle for impeachment.

Oklahoma kiddo @ 67

I want George W. Bush held accountable for his horrendous war crimes. You cannot hide Mr. Bush. You will be hunted down as the Jews did with the Teutonic monsters of World War II in South America.

that’s just what i was thinking

The only guy they got was Eichmann

Klaus Barbie was allowed to remain in Bolivia as head of its security services, working hand in hand in creating Operation CONDOR with Pinochet until the mid-80s. It was in spite of the US that he was extradicted to France.

There are still plenty of Nazis left in Paraguay, Argentina, Ecuador, and Brazil in addition to Germany.

The idea that the Nazis were hunted down after WWII is a myth. Some of them were tried at Nuremberg, a lot of them came here to work on our space program with SS Colonel Werner von Braun.

I want George W. Bush held accountable for his horrendous war crimes. You cannot hide Mr. Bush. You will be hunted down as the Jews did with the Teutonic monsters of World War II in South America.

that’s just what i was thinking

COLUMBUS, Ohio – U.S. Rep. Paul Gillmor, who was found dead in his apartment in suburban Washington earlier this week, died of blunt head and neck trauma consistent with a fall down stairs, according to a medical examiner’s report released Friday.

MSNBC

I have a sense of deja vu.

Born in 1945.

Went to college in the 1960s.

War protests today.

So pale in comparison. Yet some similarities.

I was at Ohio State in the early 60s when we rioted because our Board (or Trustees, not sure) turned down an invitation to (I think) the Rose Bowl.

Since I’m not a football fan, the details are hazy, but I was struck not too many years later by the substantive issues we should have been rioting about, and how silly we seemed in hindsight.

Although I read recently that OSU’s former President categorized OSU as a rioting school. But it sure isn’t over a war.

The Iraqi delegates taking part in the talks agreed on the need to get American forces out of the country as quickly as possible and they have set a “realistic timetable” for the withdrawal, Padraig O’Malley told “Helsingin Sanomat.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…..45,00.html

Link thanks to a DailyKos diary by ‘what if’:

In secret talks in Helsinki, Finland last weekend, influential Sunni and Shia leaders from Iraq agreed to a set of principles reminiscent of those which set in motion the road to the historic Good Friday Agreement (”GFA” aka “Belfast Agreement”) of 1998. The “Helsinki Agreement” is far shorter and much less detailed than the GFA, but it is an important beginning in which opposing leaders recognize that further peaceful discussions must take place in order to bring an end to the conflict.

Co-chaired by Ireland’s Martin McGuinness and South Africa’s Roelf Meyer, these initial discussions did not include any direct participants from either the occupying powers or the insurgents in Iraq. However, it is hoped that follow-up meetings will include participation by representatives of insurgent groups.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..73216/4829