Aloha, Siun!

Hey CT - time to hit the phones!

Btw, Siun, when will they ever STFU…

Restoring the Balance
A Middle East Strategy for the Next President

The Evolution of Iraq Strategy
Stephen Biddle • Michael E. O’Hanlon • Kenneth M. Pollack

Recent trends suggest that the United States may be able to reduce significantly its forces in Iraq fairly soon, premised not on the certainty of defeat, but on the likelihood of some measure of success. The past eighteen to twenty four months have seen a remarkable series of positive developments in Iraq that offer hope that the United States may be able to ensure stability in Iraq while redeploying—gradually—large numbers of American forces sooner rather than later.

Haven’t they been fully discredited enough…? WTF?

tweety also described bush as ‘laughing it off’. well, if that’s his reaction, then perhaps he should call for the release of mr al-zaidi. but, then, it just occurred to me that bush’s laughter was because he knew exactly what mr al-zaidi was being subjected to right now….

They can’t help themselves - and being idjits in public is all they know how to do.

You don’t think he knew he was going to get the shit kicked out of him? Come on.

Of course he knew - that does not make it ok to torture him, does it?

Nope

Pollack was on WJ a couple of weeks ago. I sent an email enquiring why they would want to have a guest who had been consistently wrong.

Digg

And that makes it less heroic…? Or alright that he has… “broken ribs and signs of tortures on his thighs. Also he can not move his right arm.” Did I lose something in the translation…?

He knew the guy would be tortured.. and it would probably happen in one of our facilities..

That’s why he was smiling.

Digg

Did they respond…? ;-)

One of the reports I read said that there was a blood trail when they dragged him out of the room where the press conference was held. The abuse started immediately.

Of course not.

So I had this conversation with my fiancee last night. So he threw his shoes at Bush, big deal. I said yeah it is a big deal because he is probably being tortured right now.

I hate being right sometimes.

Torture. It’s The American Way!

this all kind of reminds me of Ben Hur and the occupying Roman legions. what should be the penalty of assaulting your erstwhile occupying king?

I had the same thought. I wouldn’t be a bit suprised if Zaida was disappeared. They can’t afford to have him come back in the public eye & tell how he was tortured.

The reaction in the room is, I think, somewhat understandable. When someone starts shouting and throwing multiple things in the direction of not one but two heads of state, people are going to tackle the guy. Forcefully.

If his hand was broken while in jail, on the other hand, that’s a very different matter.

Andrew Jackson would’ve shot Bush dead in a duel. After all, one refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the other had shoes thrown at him and then laughed it off without realizing what a grave insult that is in the Arab world.

In addition to or instead of wasting lots of shoes by sending them to the White House, shouldn’t we also find a way to send lots of good shoes to Iraqi children who need them?

I should note - and I really thank markfromireland for this info - that Al Sharqiya, the source of the torture report, is very familiar with what happens to reporters in Iraq who raise embarrassing questions. Four of their reporters were abducted and killed quite conveniently after they uncovered and reported on torture in Iraqi prisons.

It, the torture should be considered another war crime if it happened in one of our facilities… with so much as knowledge of or tacit approval from us.

interestingly, the boys over at Redstate were actually complaining that the secret service did not act assertively enough. I think we should offer to team with them over a jointly sponsored write-in campaign to assure that this al Zaida’s human rights are respected. I mean, even they don’t advocate the torture of people who insult to their Dear Leader’s patrimony do they? ;-P

Their facilities? In my opinion, Iraq’s an occupied country governed by a puppet government, and by all reports, virtually all of their detention facilities have American personnel present. As far as I’m concerned, it’s our fault no matter whose facility the torture happens in.

This is proof that the Saddam Hussein regime has been relegated to the past. Instead of summary execution, the perp is “taught a lesson”.

The only good outcome here would be public opinion forcing the Bush Administration to force the Iraqi Government to produce the shoe thrower to disprove allegations of torture.

This roundabout version of habeus corpus might prevent further torture or even save the life of this man.

I said “our facilities” and I agree with the rest of your point. *g*

W has moved on. Bet he doesn’t even remember it happened.

Besides, he would like to do away with habeus corpus in the U.S. so why would you think he’d care about it in Iraq?

Just a reminder to folks - please make those calls!

Per the report of the UN Mission in Iraq, it looks like torture and ill-treatment pretty much routinely follows arrest in ‘Liberated Iraq’ (TM), so unless they’re taking extra good care of this guy, its a good guess that he’s being mistreated.

http://www.google.com/hostedne.....wD94QJSJO0

http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-.....e-20081127

Hi Siun.

This just makes me sick. What was dubya doing there anyway?! The idio.. numbsk..resident should STAY HOME WITH BARNEY, and STAY AWAY FROM ALL BREAKABLES for the rest of his term.

Please! Has he not done enough? Was this stupid trip someone’s idea of saving his legacy? Congrats. He can duck and dive. We knew that.

Yeah. I bet we all were guilty of chuckling at the “shoe incident”: poetic justice and all that. We still don’t think ahead quite enough, do we…..

Deer Jordge. This is a real world, with real-world consequences.

Yes. Sad to say, Jordge, you undoubtedly broke a number of international rules and families and everything in between during your terrah reign. Please just stop. Go finish your life in whatever way makes you happy, just so long as you stop hurting everything you touch. Please be mindful of that one thing, and I will try to do my part to help repair the damage of the last 8 years.

Just a WAG, but I’d say that the calls to the Embassy are probably going to be more effective. The Ambassador is not a lame duck, after all . . .

Azzaman has a great story up…

Bush is stupid, dumb and ignorant

…Zaidi perhaps thought he could do something. No wonder to see him already turned into a hero in the eyes not only of Iraqis but Arabs and Muslims almost every where.

In the past weeks Bush has been exhibiting an apologetic face. He agrees now his intelligence about weapons of mass destruction was wrong and has apologized for several things but has done nothing to correct his mistakes.

He wants others to bear the responsibility for his blunders.

But there is no way for Iraqis to forgive him although he is still seen as ‘innocent’ under U.S. laws.

Bush wants us, the Iraqis, to believe that Iraqi troops were on their way to occupy California before he decided to send his own death squads to rape Iraqi cities one by one.

Bush wants to persuade Iraqis that the security agreement he signed in Baghdad is for peaceful purposes.

Bush wants Iraqis to believe him that the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed since his invasion are ‘a good price’ to pay for the ‘democracy’ he has established in Iraq.

Bush may not even understand why Zaidi hurled his shoes at him.

come on folks the US doesn’t torture people
we contract out for that kind of work!!

more likely, per shrubco logic and current Iraqi police practice, it would be al Zaida’s burden of responsibility to prove, whilst being kicked and punched, that he is not, in fact, a terrorist.

Excellent idea, Peterr! Thank you.

CT - that’s superb. by Fatih perhaps?

OT, cnn.com

Barack Obama will announce Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado as his pick for interior secretary, two transition officials say.

OK, Mountain West, I get that. hardly a sop to the left…

The Embassy is closed for the night but you can leave messages for the Ambassador if you press one then wait for that option. I have a call in to their press office and will see what we can find out in the morning.

But of course! It’s that obvious…? *g*

Bush may not care about his press these days, but the Ambassador of Iraq probably does — perhaps even moreso than in the past, in that he’ll be working with a new administration come January 20th.

Does Colo. have a Dem Guv…? Why are they pillaging the Senate…?

Dem Bill Ritter is the governor.

CO’s governor is Bill Ritter, a Dem.

sorry Petterr.. simultaneity.

Appears to be just another DINO.

Forgive me, but true or not, that’s almost beside the point in this case (albeit critically important for our current and future attention).

Triggering same in another culture and country is just plain stupid and, in this case, totally unnecessary bordering on obscene albeit almost totally predictable from the participants.

I’ve learned the hard way never to underestimate the current administration’s tone-deaf approach to the world beyond their gilded cocoons.

Returning to your original point, once regime change takes place in our own country, I will hope and push for a prompt reversal of a whole array of hideous policies, just as fast as they can be found and stopped COLD!

I’d like to hope that process is taking shape as we speak…

Thank you Siun!

Btw, speaking of unexpected choices…

Obama may make Powell Mideast envoy

Sources in Washington tell Ynet appointment of Republican statesman as special envoy to Middle East is ‘a serious option’. Former chief negotiator Dennis Ross, ex-Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer nominated for role as well

I am just a major Fatih fan …

OT, although on the general subject of human rights and tortured. These practices aren’t so far removed removed from our country, domestically:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....hool-grave

Florida’s Crist orders a mass grave of child prison torture victims to be dug up….

NO MORE! Hopefully no more…..

Sorry for the length of this piece from wiki:

In 2004, Salazar declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Salazar considers himself a moderate and has at times taken positions that are in disagreement with the base of his party — for a number of years he opposed gay adoption. Salazar lost to Mike Miles at the State nominating convention. In spite of this loss, the national Democratic Party backed Salazar with contributions from the DSCC and promotion of Salazar as the only primary candidate. Salazar came back to defeat Miles in the Democratic primary,and he narrowly defeated beer executive Pete Coors of the Coors Brewing Company to win. His elder brother John also had an electoral victory in 2004, winning a race for the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado’s third congressional district.

He took office on January 4, 2005. Salazar and his wife Esperanza “Hope” have two daughters, Melinda (20)& Andrea (19). They also have one grand daughter named Mireya.

Soon after arriving in the Senate, Salazar generated controversy within his party by introducing Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales and sitting by his side during Gonzales’ confirmation hearings.

On May 23, 2005, Salazar among the Gang of 14 moderate senators to forge a compromise on the Democrats’ use of the filibuster against judicial appointments, thus blocking the Republican leadership’s attempt to implement the so-called “nuclear option”. Under the agreement, the Democrats would retain the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee only in an “extraordinary circumstance”, and the three most conservative Bush appellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate. Salazar has skirmished with Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based conservative religious group of national stature, over his stance on judicial nominees.

In August 2006, Ken Salazar supported fellow Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman in his primary race against Ned Lamont in Connecticut. Ned Lamont, running primarily as an anti-war candidate, won the primary. Salazar’s continued support of Lieberman, who successfully ran as an independent against Lamont, has rankled the anti-war wing of the Democratic party.

PS - don’t miss Lisa’s Movie Salon on now!

That occurred last week. Old time “reform school” from the 50s. Some former “students” have made some statements. FL justice didn’t do this for Martin Lee Anderson, a victim of our infamous boot camp system. Back in the day Crist was known as “Chain Gang” Charlie.

nice…

Silly response #37 1/2 from me.

Some of these currently somewhat tainted folks may react very differently under a new administration such as the one I plan to celebrate on Jan. 10.

I can and do dream. That’s not necessarily ill-advised, eh?

The Iraqi reporter was yelling about one of his hands when he was tackled in the press room after throwing his shoes at Bush.

Hell, they were torturing him while he was on the floor; I could hear him screaming on that tape. I’m sure they are torturing him.

dang! we’re multi-tasking here….

JAN. 20TH!!!

Please any praying people, pray. I started the minute I heard about the shoe-throw yesterday, it was my first reaction. I knew what was coming. It doesn’t have to be.

Idiotic side-thought here, with apologies:

In another time and another world, with his incredible arm and aim, that poor guy could have filled out a baseball roster as a relief pitcher immune to distractions and utterly fearless…

Instead, he got caught in dubya’s draft… *sigh*

Shoeless Joe Jackson?

No, it’s the Republican way!

Thank you Kassie.
I always appreciate your thoughtful and well-informed insight.

Please forgive me for nit-picking a bit. I would have to disagree a little. Under the circumstances of the moment, security might very well have no idea what such a person was throwing or apt to do next. They simply had to stop him, according to their training, duty and principles.

But that traces back to my earlier question: WHY would dubya just HAVE to have been there? What is wrong with these people in the present administration that they seem to consider no factors other than a politician’s legacy.

Bush Jr. needs to accept the fact that he failed miserably in Iraq and elsewhere. He and his family need to accept and live with the unalterable fact that the failure is real, enduring, and has been injurious to people all around the world.

Nice legacy, dubya and handlers.

Now: go away. Have a nice comfy life. just leave the rest of us alone… Yes. We’ll pick up the toys, mend the broken parts that are salvageable, and never quit until we simply must step down and pass the torch. Sadly, this mending thing may take more than one or 2 generations.

He was also yelling “Baby Killer” as they took him down.

Watching his giggly, inane comments, it is clearly apparent that the man does not have a clue or a conscience. Both tragic and sad that he has been able to impose awesome power for the last 8 years; we can never expect that he “gets it.”

Hell, they won’t even make space for the Pres. Elect in Blair House that would probably be the safest place in DC and easiest for the Secret Service. SO?

Thanks much for the background info.

I’ve finally accepted the fact that I can’t be everywhere alldedamtime.
FDL Dawgs of your caliber help immeasurably to save what’s left of my presumed former sanity. ;->

Thank you for posting the video. It helped me understand the act, even after (especially after) watching hours of the coverage on msnbc late afternoon and evening.

All that noticed and agreed, even tho we’re somewhat sheltered from news lately.

Given your description of dubya’s reaction (which we missed), thank heaven for small favors(!) Still, I could have guessed. He’s so clueless, he reacted on the spot as if it were a game; I swear some one with stop-action could catch a playful half-smile as he ducked. Well…. Bar must be so proud…

Our shelter from others’ reality: our holiday present of note, the new knee, is coming along nicely, thank you. He’ll be up to snuff and activist in his own style before long. ;->

P. E. A. C. E.

Don’t get me started on that….

Crude, nastymean, sophmoric, cruel, unfeeling, unthinking, selfish, wicked, petty, mean, just awful……

dubya and the missus’ legacy.

Didn’t this whole “Operation Daddy Revenge” get started when poppy had to go over to Kuwaitt { after Operation Desert Freedom }, and a dude tried to frag him? You’d think 43 would of stayed out of south-west asia if he was ever really reading all those books with his buddy Karl. What did Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur say about a land war in asia? And that was when we had a draft without all these six-pence soldiers, including these tax payer funded merc’s spending our dimes for private war monger crimes. Forget the U. S. nashing its teeth on a corporate welfare controlled dollar, George the III was screwing all of occidental man over for the rest of the 21st Century this last weekend, instead of helping fix his country’s problems at home with the economy.

Great vid. Now, if only some bright enterprising person would hack into one of the network’s signals and broadcast it during, oh, say, Katie Couric’s Playhouse, …

Mosaic is an incredible resource since they provide a great selection of news daily from across the Middle East including for example both Israeli and Arabic stations - it’s very helpful for getting a completely different view.

oooo, thanks for that info. I hadn’t heard about Mosaic. Just what I need. One more…

Thank you for this, Siun.

Interesting, that the CBS evening news mentioned the thousands of protesters in the streets clamoring for Al Zaida’s release - and of course had the obligatory, Republican-placating “that awful man violated Iraqi hospitality” person in the street - but failed to mention anything about what is being done to this journalist.

Anybody remember “The Year of Living Dangerously”? Flying a protest banner got the photographer killed on the spot. It would be nice to get out of this still able to believe that we are better than that.

It is important that we demand to know where Montather al Zaidi is NOW. I was worried this would happen to him.

America’s own infamous “Shoe bomber” never had the creativity to think of tossing his shoe bomb.

Maxwell Smart could have used a shoe bomb more than his shoe phone.!

Gazans are celebrating al Zaidi, he has become a local hero. This will be more motivation for the government to keep him quiet, I’m sure: http://www.acouplethings.com/b.....-tortured/