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Ah, the latest battles in the never-ending nightmare that is Iraq. The only question ever being, slow disaster or fast disaster?
As we see how this will play out, let me speculate based not on my extensive knowledge of religion, culture, foreign language or history. For I claim expertise over none of these things. But, like most of you, I've lived under seven years, nine weeks and two days of the the George W. Bush Administration and how it spins everything in Iraq. So let me predict the following:
1. Maliki will strut about like Bush on a caffeine bender. An Iraqi general here and there will be fired, as will random police officials.
2. Al Sadr will be as inscrutable as ever, hinting at belligerence while simultaneously extending olive branches (may not be a prediction as it is already happening).
3. Many more will die than initially reported. Not all that many will be from the Mahdi Army -- and those that do will be replaced easily and then some.
4. The Bush Administration will cheer anything that looks like shooting or blowing crap up. Chuckles Krauthammer will cry tears of joy and write it is time to bomb Iran.
5. There will be loud initial claims of victory by the Iraqi government and louder ones by Bush. These proclamations will at least last long enough to take us past the next round of Petraeus' testimony before Congress. After all, any one who dares question our impending awesomest victory over the evilizers ever is a two bit America-hatin',YouTube snippet preachin', hater!
6. Look for Glenn Reynolds to be admitted into Betty Ford after overdosing on too many "hehs" and "indeeds".
7. All the "wise geniuses" who started this mess will toss out compliments on how the Iraqi Army performed and it's all downhill from here as long as we keep 150,000 soldiers in Iraq forever. Look for various Kagans to be strategically deployed at the shows with the best caterering. Look for Michael O'Hanlon to demand a Lombardi Trophy.
8. All politicians will forced by Wolf Blitzer's control-top beard to concede that surely by now the Surge worked and cured everything from Iraq to tooth decay and the issue must be ceded to the all-knowning, John "Kiss the Chef" McCain and his extensive foreign policy experience centered around blowing stuff up.
9. Then within two weeks after the initial headlines and talking points we will find out that all the declarations of victory and chest-thumping were false and the reality far worse than we could have imagined, er, "could have anticipated." No one who matters in the media's eyes will care. Especially Howard Kurtz.
10. Nothing will change, except deaths will accelerate slightly.
11. The press will fixate upon something Obama or Clinton did.
12. John McCain will have the press corps over for fondue. They will enjoy it. Someone will drink Sterno.
Feel free to add your own predictions.
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No More FEAR!!!
morning attaturk. i think you forgot lucky number thirteen. let me help you out…
13. iran.
1,793 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Citizen Attaturk and the Early Mornin’ firepup Freedom Fighters:
We have reached the point in this terrible mess that is beyond anything our country has ever experienced before. Everything is totally out of any of our control…and none of the players on the ground have the ability to bring this terrible, escalating conflagration to a stop. The only way this is gunna end is with the active and coordinated involvement of Syria and Iran and the support of the contiguous Arab nations.
What is far worse than even this ,however, is thw fact that we no longer have ANYone in government, in the CIA, Sate Dept, NSA, the military or ANYwhere who has a handle on what is happening in the region. The purging of the CIA’s operation to monitor proliferation was not the only counterintelligence loss we’ve suffered in the last few years. We are deaf, blind and mute when it comes to any information to make analysis or policy from…even if we had the where with all to do anything…which we don’t.
And of course what I’ve been sayin’ here means that many more thousands and tens of thousands are gunna die before there is quiet in the desert. Is impeachment on the table yet?
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITOON…THERE IS NO COMPROMISIN’ WITH FASCISTS!!
2. Al Sadr will be as inscrutable as ever, hinting at belligerence while simultaneously extending olive branches…
umm, excuse me - didn’t he just lob about 20 shells into the “Green” Zone?
That’s an interesting looking olive branch he’s got there…
i thought iran was responsible for shelling the green zone? /sasrcasm
left you one last one downstairs.
The only way this is gunna end is with the active and coordinated involvement of Syria and Iran and the support of the contiguous Arab nations.
Citizen Norske: (ha! - I couldn’t resist) you’re entirely correct, but there is, currently, no cast in place to even make the pitch for that sale.
Obama says two things:
1) he wants to “reach across the aisle” to get a government which includes Republican support, and
2) he wants to talk to all of the international players involved in the current crisis.
Now, as to #1 above, when he reaches across the aisle, he’s gonna end up getting punched in the mouth, every single time, which - given that I think that he’s a sane man, will lead to a different approach to legislative strategy- for right now, I’m trusting him to man-up, and go a different direction, within a year or so.
AS to #2 above, I see no down-side - or I guess that it’s possible that no one will listen to him until he’s been punched a few times, has basically told the R’s to go to hell, and has taken control of his administration.
That’s how I see it anyway, and I’m willing at this point to take a flyer on it.
1,793 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Firepup Freedom Fighters:
Alert!! All Firepups must go to The Talking Points Memo (Josh Marshall’s operation) and read the first feature on Mrs. Clinton-McCain sittin’ down with Ricard Mellon Scaif…yes that’s right Richard the Nazi Scaif…and his opinion page staff of the Pittsburgh Gazett. She proceeds ta try and keep the Reverand Wright controversy alive and then denies that she did…sayin’ only that she was respondin’ ta questions. If there is a single Clintonista out there who ken still justify Mrs. Clintonm-McCain even bein’ in the Democratic Party after jumpin’ in bed first with Rupert Murdock for a few $million and now with Scaif for nuthin’ but a headline, I want to meet you…there must be a cure for the neurological disorder that allows for such disassociation.
The Democratic Party is gunna be much stronger at the end of this primary because we will no longer have the Clintons to put up with…and the old Clinton-McCain cadre will be replaced by hundreds of thousands of new voters who ain’t goin’ nowhere for the next ten years.
Raise a glass to the end of the DLC and white, “liberal”, middleclass feminism (now there’s a non-sequetor).
KEEP THE FAITH, THERE IS NO PLACE FOR FEAR IN DEMOCRACY!!
Can I come out now?
It’s unclear how much control he has over the entirety of the so-called Mahdi Army.
…it’s also quite clear he doesn’t really mind us not being particularly clear on it.
So how responsible “he” is for those mortars is unknown.
The PBS Frontline documentary, “Bush’s War,” aired last night and ended with a chilling phrase. “Soon, Bush’s war will be handed to someone new.”
After having cited the numerous and continuous f*ckups made in Iraq, the surge is nothing more than an attempt to kick this problem down the road to the next administration.
That’s exactly what’s happening. Like everything else throughout his life, Bush makes a mess and others have to clean it up.
Good morning, pups. MoDo’s all alone today, and her column asks the question “Hillary or Nobody?” She says it’s hard to imagine that after spending her whole life playing second-fiddle to a superstar pol, Hillary Clinton wants to do it again. She’s been vice president.
http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/
The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready, and I’ve got waffles with real maple syrup this morning. Have a good day. Only 300 days to go…
because he announced that “the cease-fire” was over?
because he didn’t say “no”?
Morning, Marion….
1,793 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Citizen hwmnbn:
We have known for some time that this was gunna last until the new administration and it doesn’t matter because even if Iran and Syria have the chops ta sit down and chisel sumpthin out the US must be a party and the UN will hafta have an active roll…that means no Buish fascists.
CITIZEN RAVEN:
Come on out here Brother, there is always room fer one more!
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION THE END WILL BE NUTHIN’ LIKE WE FIGURED!!
watching “Morning Joe (fill-in your-own adjective-here)”.
They’ve got nuthin’. Expect much more of the same until the PA primary creeps up…
Actually this one is pretty good
So that’s why you hate Hillary so much: she’s a “middleclass feminist”, whatever that is. Well, I’m no feminist but I respect women as our equals and I don’t think “middleclass feminism” is going away any time soon, regardless of who wins the nomination.
And BTW I don’t think “non sequitur” means what you think it does. Google it. It will help if you spell it right.
Like everything else throughout his life, Bush makes a mess and others have to clean it up.
And we were supposed to expect….?
whoa boy
well if ya saw the Frontline on Bushs War…ya saw gypsies tramps an dthieves START this war for oil,who will end it is NOT clear,but VERY YOUNG kids are fifgting it
and ColinPowell ,could have just said……………….NO
Good morning Marion. Getting ready to get on a plane for Savannah in a couple of hours. I see the morning temperature is 37. Brrr. But expecting 70s & low 80s for daytimes when we’ll be there, mostly sunny until Sunday. Sounds fine to me. I haven’t been in a temp above 50 degrees for months.
CHIMPS WAR
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/
watch it and cry
One of the worstest spellers we have is Dr. Murphy. . . so?
So that’s why you hate Hillary so much:…
Dude - I think that we are all painfully aware of where your affiliation lies in the D primary race. You know what might help?
Put forward some substantive points for HRC, and quit bitching about the fact that there are in fact, at this point, Obama supporters here.
I think I liked you better when all you ever did was to show show up on Sunday mornings and holler “Turd” when you claimed that most-coveted third spot after the Zed.
How about you think about it, and come back when you have a point to make, as opposed to just bitching?
Good Morning Attaturk!
love your predictions
must bookmark for future reference *s*
and morning pups!
*reaching over to nab a waffle*
The Iraq Oil Plot, a relative; an ancestor of the 1933 Business Plot!
Gross!
fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
How do you feel about Hillary’s latest techniques? Her campaign sending a statement to the American Spectator calling McPeak anti-semitic is gutter politics IMO and it needs to stop. We need to focus our efforts on McCain.
“New Speedway Boogie”
Words by Robert Hunter; music by Jerry Garcia
Copyright Ice Nine Publishing; used by permission
Please don’t dominate the rap Jack
if you got nothing new to say
If you please don’t back up the track
This train got to run today
Spent a little time on the mountain
Spent a little time on the hill
Heard some say better run away
Others say you better stand still
Now I don’t know but I been told
it’s hard to run with the weight of gold
Other hand I heard it said
it’s just as hard with the weight of lead
Who can deny? Who can deny?
it’s not just a change in style
One step done and another begun
in I wonder how many miles?
Spent a little time on the mountain
Spent a little time on the hill
Things went down we don’t understand
but I think in time we will
Now I don’t know but I been told
in the heat of the sun a man died of cold
Do we keep on coming or stand and wait
with the sun so dark and the hour so late?
You can’t overlook the lack Jack
of any other highway to ride
It’s got no signs or dividing lines
and very few rules to guide
Spent a little time on the mountain
Spent a little time on the hill
I saw things getting out of hand
I guess they always will
I don’t know but I been told
if the horse don’t pull you got to carry the load
I don’t know whose back’s that strong
Maybe find out before too long
One way or another
One way or another
One way or another
this darkness got to give
One way or another
One way or another
One way or another
this darkness got to give
Never mind the point right? Good post…….
I didn’t realize you were gay.*g*
Not that there’s anything wrong with it!
Oh stop.
Rumor has it that this current cold snap will end this evening. The forecast is for highs in the low 70s today, and close to 80 tomorrow, so that bodes well. My azaleas are shivering! At any rate, do make sure to be prepared for chilly evenings. Of course, the temps that we’re all bitching about will seem positively balmy to you!
must see TV!
only 55 out of 100? I was under the impressions that pretty much anybody who can read English can do that, so long as the first letter and last letter were true…
Nope not a damn thing. But it is a bloody shame that middleclass feminists have moral objections to gayness.
That is pretty impressive righting
Marion, We had flurries in Atlanta on Monday.
I love that! It is amazing that you can look at alphabet soup like that and actually understand what it’s saying…
am I missing something here?
huh?
hahahahaha,not mine ,but the point was well taken”g”
Yes, just checked nighttime lows which look to be in the high 50s. Last few days in the mid-Hudson have be 20 at night an 40 during the day, so Savannah will be a heat wave.
i could hardly stomach it…it was a big game to some of them
safe journey!
Probably two commenters with weird minds.
because we TRY….”g”
I will never stop it, never, for the truth, never………
Today show leads with Hillary. What a surprise.
lol!
then that explains it.
…….like drunks in denial??????
are we still talking about the war? im confused
One can only hope that they can swim
Hey Raven,
What was minimum wage and the price of a gallon of gas when you earned your privilege to drive and responsibilities?
okay im going to make pankakkkkkkkes
I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I guess if I object to all the Hillary bashing it’s “just bitching”. It must be very distressing to you Obama supporters that there are still a few of us who don’t go along with the crowd. We should all just fall in line and agree with you.
There was never a time when all I said was “turd”. I stopped those comments because of the whining.
The first time we ever came down here was the first week in December. It had been in the teens in NYC and in the 50s here. We were running around in “spring” clothes and all the natives were bundled up in down! Sort of like when I came back to visit NYC while living in Vermont — wearing just a sweater when it was 34 because it felt so warm after the 20 below!
The battle in Basra is a delayed Shia vs. Shia power struggle (i.e., the Iraqi government vs. the Mahdi army) in the in the wake (power vaccuum) caused by the pullout of the Brits in that area. Here is what Juan Cole has to say about the situation. Reading between the lines and based on faulty memory, it sounds that a coalition of Shiite malitias that includes the Moqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army, took over the Basra area after the Brits left and now the Iraqi government is trying to come in and assert authority. Cole reported yesterday that:
And today Cole reports that
which means that the Iraqi security force that al-Maliki brought in is now somewhat cut off. They can, of coure, fight their way out with support from U.S. air power, but they’ll have a hard time imposing long-term control. The question of the hour is: “Are the surge’s gains coming unraveled.” But, IMHO, they were never “raveled” in the first place. ;-)
TPM even has a picture up of Mrs. McClinton sitting with Dick Melons Chafe.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/185608.php
Bill McClinton goes on Lush Limpballz’s show. Hillary constantly goes on Poz Newz and tried to “egg” Obama into a debate on Pox, which he thankfully refused. Seems to be a trend to go to these places to blow the dog whistles. David Shuster however…bad man!
Swimming drunks drown! Cramps………..
Thanks.
I haven’t finished all of part 2 yet, but there need to be prosecutions.
For starters, Donald Rumsfeld should not be enjoying a quiet retirement.
looks like there’s a true shit-storm about to break out in Basra…
Ya suppose that Al Sadr is gonna jump up and tell everybody to stand down?
I, uhhh, don’t.
Shit’s back on.
oops, sorry wigwam that was supposed to be in reply to sadlyyes at 46
Now there is a job for Delay the pest man he is certainly is well qualified to remove infestations we should send the bastard to Iraq
Wasn’t Basra the city that was first claimed to be a wonderful peaceful place?
Morning all.. re; Basra and the Brits pull back, They didn’t leave, I think they’ve pulled back to protect/keep open the airport…..
Completely OT…
‘A truck contraining explosives was left undetected outside the United States government headquarters for three weeks after police arrested its driver for carrying a loaded shotgun.
Michael Gorbey, 38, was arrested in January for carrying the shotgun and a sword outside the Capitol building in Washington DC.’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....tol126.xml
Wasn’t Basra the city that was first claimed to be a wonderful peaceful place?
Well, ummm, yeah. Before the British left.
No, Pimpster is one of the good guys because he bashed Hillary. If he would have made a nasty comment about the Obama family he would be a bad man because he would have said something mean about the candidate we all love. You’re drifting off message.
and the elite media,gets dressed in silk and satin,and go to the GRIDIRON
soiree and toast the warmongers, how quaint………blech
My biggest concern about Obama is that he doesn’t seem to believe in payback, and I do. Those bastards so need to be locked up. FWIW, the thing that sent me over the edge most recently was the American Statesman’s interview with James Yee: http://www.statesman.com/searc.....23yee.html
Did you all see Siun’s thread on Basra last night?
Basra - Cheney’s Reward to Oil Pal al-Hakim
I got a lot from the discussion, especially from her friends that live there.
So according to NPR, Negroponte & Boucher have showed up in Pakistan before the new government is even installed, and the Paks seem to resent it. Think U.S. may be trying to puppet them again. Why would they ever believe that? /snark
thanks Elliot,i missed it…will read
forgive me……..mebbe Dr.Wright is spot on…it never ends
okay ….need good eats….later
I was there last week. Take your gnat repellant and enjoy the weather.
one saving grace, every once in a while corporate media actually has a democrat to respond to the morons that were the architechs of this unprovoked invasion
WHENEVER that happens, the democrat MUST plain out laugh, laugh at whatever the neo fascist says and just say;
you just continue being wrong, every prediction you claimed was clearly moronic and somehow corporate media still goes to you as if you might be right sooner or later
you, (insert neo con name) have proven time after time you are a military pedestrian and it is inconcievable you are even on the same stage as people like myself who have been right.
you do not disapoint, your position today is as blatently wrong as your predictions have been each and every time in the past”
make it embarrassing for the media to even have these morons on the stage
thanks for the link, I will read that later this morning. I had forgotten about him.
it was Rumsfeld who said being held in an eight foot by eight foot chain link dog run is not torture ’cause Guantanamo’s on a beach in the Carribean
When pigs fly. (No disrespect to Babe or Wilbur.)
my bad, that was for Reizficher
Please don’t dominate the rap Jack
if you got nothing new to say
If you please don’t back up the track
This train got to run today
Hi Elliott. Thanks for that link. Siun’s post filled in a lot of the missing pieces for me.
dear pups - i lay before you a problem i am having with my car in the hopes someone may solve it. Mechanics are baffled.
To Wit: when it is cold/rainy or when i have just filled up the gas tank, the car won’t start. there is a feeble attempt to turn - a noise like ‘rur’ then nothing.
If i try too soon thereafter, only a ‘rur.’ But if i come back in 15 minutes, it starts and dies. “roooooom. nothing.”
if i try again in another 15 minutes, it starts.
anyone solving this gets heaped with blessings.
IN 65, dunno, gas was 35 cents I think.
I predict Attaturk will be right on this! Hysterical post. I also predict Dick Cheney will celebrate an attack on Iran by dragging his ass around the yard like a dog with worms. See?
Fuel injected or carb> What kind of car, year?
fuel injected, i can hear the fuel pump noise after i turn it off. Saturn Ion, 2004. Bless you for even trying!
Bad news indeed. I was flipping the channels trying to find the latest news from Iraq this morn. Haven’t seen it mentioned. MSNBC is a one-trick pony. They can only talk about the presidential race? Went to Fox and guess what they were doing? Trying to raise money for McCain. Honest. Those with TiVo, it was around 7:10. Advertising for him. Some raffle where if you donate $50 you get a chance to ride on the ‘Straight talk Express’. Is this not a new low?
Moisture in the petrol tank and lines would be my guess. Put in drygas and do not let your tank go below half full.
Just a guess….but maybe the fuel injectors are clogged? When we put gas into our cars, it stirs up the sediment that is on the bottom of the tank (that is if your car is old…new cars don’t have this problem right off). Or, it could be your alternator that keeps the battery alive.
I’m not a mechanic but have had enough problems with cars over the years to understand a few things, though, it could be neither one of these reasons and we just wasted one minute of our lives reading this comment. LOL
You seem to be describing 2 separate issues. The rur sounds like a starter or battery problem, that is usually called “turning over”. Once the engine is turning over you then seem to be encountering a fuel problem, maybe filter.
Thank you all very much. i am going out now for the thrid time - brb if car doesnot start!
http://www.aa1car.com/library/saturn04.htm
Good Mornin’ Attaturk and Firedogs,
ya pretty much nailed it Attaturk
Exxon will announce record profits
hundreds of American families will have permanent holes in their hearts and hundreds more will find themselves with a loved one requiring lifetime care with little or no help from their government
good morning cbl.
FDL for Saturn owners
http://www.saturnforum.com/
OT, but are we officially a joke yet!!!
March 22, 2008
LONDON: Immigration officials have denied British author Sebastian Horsley entrance to the US on the grounds of “moral turpitude”, Horsley says.
‘Tired from his return trip to London and eight hours of detention with US Customs officials, the 45-year-old admitted that his flamboyant dress and top hat might have caught the attention of US officials.
“I was wearing my dandy uniform, but the Customs officials were wearing uniforms too and I didn’t object to them,” he said yesterday.’
http://www.theaustralian.news......97,00.html
I’m a Saturn owner too. Mine is a 2002 and it has 145,000 miles on it! Because of the miles I drive, I have to have the oil changed every other month. They’re good little cars and are great on gas which is the only reason why I keep it (plus it’s paid off). I have to say, though, it’s not a man magnet. LOL
I have no children in Iraq (thank you, God) but my sons each have a friend over there. Worrying about them keeps me up at night. Someone needs to end this fucking war right now. Our dems have let us down. Impeach the bastards and bring these kids home.
This WaPo report is from 6:48 EDT:
I’m betting that under pressure from the U.S. to consolidate power in regions crucial to oil production, al-Maliki ended the six-month cease fire with al-Sadr.
One thing to keep in mind is that, according to Linda Bilmes in this weekend’s FDL book salon, Iraqi oil production is back to pre-invasion levels, roughly three-million barrels per day, i.e., roughly 100 billion dollars per year, but nobody is saying where the money is going.
The practicality “Maineiacs.” Love it!
Yup. It’s legible.
I can read shit upside down, too.
Cheney?