Shlonkom Bakazay?

Update: Now that I think of it, in the last 60 years (and you could say more) governments of the US (Britain, and France for that matter) didn't really pursue stability by essentially appointing dictators in the region. American governments pursued compliance. American governments pursued obediance. American governments pursued oppression of the masses for the sake of American interests. If this is considered pursuing stability, it's a crock of shizzle. Anyway, I am still surprised she said this. Now, I want action.

"For 60 years, my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region, here in the Middle East, and we achieved neither."

Anaconda grew some brass balls or was this a long time coming?

You decide.

I wonder how this statement folds into the context of the speech. My curiousity has been piqued.

But as always, talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words, the proof is in the pudding, and whatever other cliche you'd like to add to the bin of BS. And that is what this administration's calls for "democracy" are at this point, parroted cliches that mean very little because they've been repeated over and over again. And there's nothing worse than a tired old cliche, besides perhaps the penultimate gasp of air one takes in the lungs waiting for the last gasp which leads to the path of the darkness of death. If these words are said and not followed through by stopping both direct and indirect support of dictatorships, it would have been better if she didn't say it.

I'm waiting with bated bollocks to see the proof behind these words. And so are 300 million people who have been subjugated by US foreign policy.

If you don't like the effects, don't produce the cause. Meaning, if you don't like it when dictators stray away from the script and get out of hand, stop supporting dictators and let the people decide what kind of government they want. And you are complicit in the jailing of dissidents and squashing of freedom and liberty if you continue to offer limitless military aid and cash flow to these mini-Stalins. You produce the causes by continuing to support the likes of Saddam Mubarak, Saddam Fahd/Abdullah, Saddam Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein, Saddam Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the Saddam formerly known as Sodom. (I could go deeper into the list, but that should do for now.)

Cause in the end, we're all getting sodomized by US foreign policy. And I mean all of us. The US reflexively sodomizes through the implementation of such insane and assymetric acts of physical aggression. So I wonder when Americans will wake up to the fact that the Cheney administration is ruining America. Bolton is like the penny Cheney tosses into the fountain as he wishes for world dominance. A tool for the impossible neocon vision of the world. Watch the Emperor appoint the bastard without consulting the Senate. And this is only one of the many abuses of power.

RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Tackling Another Major Challenge in Iraq: Unemployment

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Turning the heat up; more memos from Downing Street flood the internet.

AP's Thomas Wagner: Memos Show British Fretting Over Iraq War & the almost identical AP story via Newsday (for shits and giggles): Memos show U.S. push for war

Why the different headlines? We may deduce these memos are finally making their presence felt in the US.

And they beg so many old and new questions, while helping connect dots that were unconnected before their release.

What do Powell/Bolton/PlameBeingOuted-WilsonBeingPunished-for BlowingWhistleOnForgedNigerDocs/DSM/ElBaradai have in common? It's worth a long hard thought and several official investigations. Check Hunter's recent diary for starters.

Bonus link: Army recruiter (and you know I love this topic) helps a kid pass his piss-test, recommends him to use a forged high school diploma, and urges him to move to a nearby town to help process his background check faster. Investigative reporting at its finest.

You'll want to read this.

reBloggin' to get my juices flowing...

I'm not sure if it's working. So...How bout them scopitone gals? Britain seems pretty leaky these days. It's not just about the DSM either. I wonder if widdle Blairy is wary angry because he's getting his own and the collective UK salad tossed on some trade-off guarantees made by ol' Georgy Porgy in exchange for letting the whole war thing slide. I get the feeling this is the case. But what do I know?

DAMNNNN, so CLOSE!!! I almost faked it there. Could you tell? That was pretty damn good, but I can't fake my outrage. I'm generally numb right now. And believe me, it's not just because Iraq is a mess. Of course such constant stress of mass death and destruction of loved ones has particularly worn on me lately, but I've got a whole lotta other kibbeh nayya on my plate still. And you know I like it raw. (I am secretly fantisizing about putting a picture of Ol' Dirty Bastard in the place of the ancient and exquisite minaret in Samarra that was torn up by foolish people. Don't ask. For a dash of dystopia perhaps...)

Truth is when it comes to anything to do with computers lately, I'm a bum in the sun. Computers provide rare recourse for me these days. Sitting in front of the screen, bah...where has my electronic joy gone? A couple months ago I had to stop blogging for a while...had no choice in the matter. But now, I have a fast connection and everything...I just can't. What's the deal? (This is meant to serve as a blanket alibi for losing touch with most people I know in the past 3-4 months.)

I will tell you, since my parents are reading, I'm a bit upset I've been left out of a family trip. I've got a lot on my plate now, sure. But when do opportunities like this come up? So many of us in one place at the same time. And it could have been done if planned properly. You can't imagine how disappointed I feel about this right now. It makes me want to punch a hole in the wall. (Inside joke)

Anyway, waa waa, boo hoo...where was I? Being a bit random, I know, but I gotta get some words down. Oh yea, I can't use computers well lately. I'll try and shake a tail feather on it again tomorrow and see what I come up with.

You say leaks?
I say, open the flood-gates!

The Observer | International | New US move to spoil climate accord
The Observer | International | UK had advance alert of jail abuse
US lied to Britain over use of napalm in Iraq war

The scopitone was the fore-mother of the music video. Click pic for sample of "I've got the world on a string". And here's a great one two and three (awesome!) en Francais.

Yay bedazzled.

"Two children are held by G.I.'s after their parents were killed when soldiers fired on the family's car near Tal Afar, Iraq, on Jan. 18."

Grazie Diana.

Further into the details...

Extremists target Al Jazeera.

Shukran Cieciel!

And read this.

Update: Check out the Downing Street Memo visibility stats! June 1: 1504 Blog Postings, 254 News Articles...then June 19: 6885 Blog Postings, 1800 News Articles. I have the feeling it's much more than this, though.


*****


And believe me, I'm much obliged to throw some links at the world. It's the least I could do. Really.

I shall include links galore
about a certain Downing Street whore
so terribly easily bought for war.

And you tell me, what for?

To make some friends some monies.
To eff the world to the degree of a million bunnies times three?
To force democracy
onto a people from hypocracy's throne
to reap null?

And how many people
need to be killed
for morbid insanity to really feel thrilled?

Thrilled are we?

What are you thrilled for?
For more people to be killed more?

My brain feels sore.
And what a torturous bore is war when so far.
But what a torturous chore for my family who I adore.
Yes, my brain's sore for sure.

What's the score, you silly whores that want the wars?

How many more shall you plan, how many more?

Reference:

• DowningStreetMemo.Com
• AfterDowningStreet.Org
• Wikipedia Page on the DSM

More specific items:

• Video of the meeting concerning the DSM in the Capitol building a couple days ago.
• Walter Pincus' buried (as in A18) May 13 Article in the Washington Post.
• Walter Pincus' front page story June 12, Wapo again
• Michael Smith tipping his hat to bloggers in his June 12 article in the London Times.
• BBC tipping its hat to bloggers for reviving the Downing Street Memo in the American press.
• Is 'Downing Street Memo' a smoking gun? CSM, June 17
• British documents portray determined U.S. march to war
• Downing Street Memo gains traction in the U.S. Press

The original memo published in the times gave intent away. The several other secret documents that were leaked afterward provide the memo's context. This goes a long way to prove intelligence was fixed. Along with the fact that the existance of these documents have not been denied by either Bush or Blair. Bush should be impeached. Simple as that. The press briefing on November 12, 2002 where the White House gave assurances of "war as a last resort" were lies. Also, I think it's most interesting how the saga of Joe Wilson and Valarie Plame is rearing its head once more. The fact that the Niger documents were forgeries begs the question: Was it merely a piece in the puzzle to frighten America and the world into war?

Obviously, yes without a doubt.

Jack Straw to Tony Blair, Memo [scanned pdf, text] dated 25 March 2002 [via AP]:

``If 11 September had not happened, it is doubtful that the U.S. would now be considering military action against Iraq,'' Straw wrote. ``In addition, there has been no credible evidence to link Iraq with OBL (Osama bin Laden) and al-Qaida.''

He also questioned stability in a post-Saddam Iraq: ``We have also to answer the big question - what will this action achieve? There seems to be a larger hole in this than on anything.'

"There seems to be a larger hole in this than on anything" ??? WTF?! ...you incompetent imbeciles! So it basically goes like this: "September 11th, September 11th, we have the right to destroy all brown people now, September 11th. Did I say, "destroy brown people?" ehm, I mean we bring good tidings and democracy with our precision-guided armaments." It brings to mind what Richard Clarke said Rummy's rag-tag crew had specifically pressed him for after the 911 attacks: To search for any links to tie Iraq to the 911 attack. But boy did they ever drop the ball. In fact, the entire Richard Clarke episode smacks of the two sentences in the Downing Street Memo, "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." Clark was not compliant to neocon desires to fix facts, so character assassination ensued as he highlighted exactly HOW they dropped the ball both before and after September 11.

And of course, I must add...

Will it all have been worth it in the end? All the lies, all the deceit? As of now, it doesn't appear worth it. Will it be in 10-20 years? Who knows! The fact that the world is up in arms about the Downing Street Memo doesn't mean much to the average Iraqi. But if we'd like some real reconciliation, clearing up the DSM and making sure all parties involved are held to standards of international law (especially the Blair government since they are a signatory party to the ICC and other international treaties).

I'd say a series of embarrassing lawsuits against the Blair government uncovering more lies is in order.

Oh, and impeachment for Bush would be fitting and, might I say, marvelous.

Baheyya ventures far in describing the situation and offering her feedback on America's "Arab Democracy" with flying-dagger style precision. Ahso... Incredible writing!!! (hat tip to Abu Aardvark for making me aware of this piece.)

A taster:

This is a debate about what sort of “doctrine” American policy should adopt in its management of the Arab world. It is a debate in which Arabs are objects, problems, threats, inscrutable masses, sometimes self-appointed advisers and confidants, but never political agents with their own political projects and visions, projects that might include—horrors!—an end to American meddling in Arab affairs. Arabs are either dangerous terrorists, or intransigent ruling elites, or destabilising demagogues, or foaming-at-the-mouth nationalists, or power-hungry Islamists, or ambitious counter-elites, or submissive women, or wily women, or desperate immigrants, or hyperbolic alJazeera newscasters, or uppity intellectuals. Each requires a discrete and smart strategy of neutralisation, containment, or mobilisation, as the case may be. Arabs, it must be said, are still not allowed to have their own experiences, make their own choices, learn from their mistakes, and develop their own political institutions. Powerful foreign governments and their local subsidiaries are ever at the ready, making sure Arab citizens are bound in a straitjacket of tutelage.

And I can't help it, but post another:

Real democracy means all political forces subject themselves to the unforgiving and decisive game of electoral politics. Real democracy means non-interference by the American government and its client Arab regimes, under whatever guise or guile. Real democracy means no one gets excluded or defined out of the political game, and real democracy is when the outcome of electoral contests is never preordained. Real democracy means the end of the tutelage of any one social force over the others, and the beginning of a genuine, undoctored, organised, and periodically repeated process of public choice-making that goes by the name of elections. Election rules are to be decided through public debate, not behind closed doors by ruling parties who then trumpet them as “incentives for competition.” Everyone must be put to the test of elections, no excuses, ifs, ands, buts, or maybes. And let the people be the judge.

Arab regimes have long made clear that they will stop at nothing to make sure this does not happen, and therefore they are the single biggest obstacles to democratic development. If the U.S. government can stand not to set any preconditions and instead accepts the fundamental uncertainty of Arab electoral processes, then it will gain maximum credibility and respect as a promoter of democracy, because it will have respected the choices of Arab electorates, no matter how unpalatable to the American government. But if it stipulates preconditions, intervenes to shore up its supporters and marginalise its challengers, and continues to engage in age-old realpolitik while claiming the mantle of democracy promotion, then its already dangerously depleted credibility will plunge to sub-zero depths, if it hasn’t already got there.

Yow'zaaaa! Every word of it is worth a close read, though.

Explain this to me.

An hour before dawn, the sky still clouded by a dust storm, the soldiers of the Iraqi army's Charlie Company began their mission with a ballad to ousted president
Saddam Hussein. "We have lived in humiliation since you left," one sang in Arabic, out of earshot of his U.S. counterparts. "We had hoped to spend our life with you."

"We can't tell these guys about a lot of this stuff, because we're not really sure who's good and who isn't," said Rick McGovern, a tough-talking 37-year-old platoon sergeant from Hershey, Pa., who heads the military training for Charlie Company.

Um yea, well, no kidding.

Do you see how bad it's getting?

Hellllllllllloooooooooo? Helllllllooooooooooooooooo?

I learned something from President Bush finally.

Mubarak is a dictator. Mubarak is a dictator. Mubarak is a dictator. Mubarak is a dictator. Mubarak is a dictator. Mubarak is a dictator. Mubarak is a dictator. Mubarak is a dictator. Mubarak is a dictator.
Mubarak is a dictator.
Mubarak is a dictator.
Mubarak is a dictator.
Mubarak is a dictator.
Mubarak is a dictator.
Mubarak is a dictator.
Mubarak is a dictator.
Mubarak is a dictator.

Who believes me now?

Also, the NY Times picked up the story weeks after the incident happened, which perhaps means a sea change has taken place within the administration. The story has been resuscitated. That hardly ever happens. And to my knowledge such a thing has not happened in a long time with something like this. I mean, don't expect anybody in the current administration to admit they need to press Mubarak more, but...yea. We know how that goes. (Billmon describes the dynamic of this sort of thing in one of his latest posts.) I am heartened by this development nonetheless.

So, everybody now! CATAPULT THE PROPAGANDA!

Pff.

Lim.

Two sentences written by the ever so romantic-sounding head of the [British intelligence agency] MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove in July 2002 when he returned from Washington are telling. They are telling me lies were told. It is most famously known (in Britain alone) as the leaked Downing Street Memo (full version). You know, the one the American press has been ignoring since May 1st.

Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.

Lies. Lies. Lies have been told. Now everything is a mess. And nobody is facing the truth. This is not only dangerous for Iraq. It is dangerous for America and the world if this continues.

Of course, the immediate attack on those who were against the war by those on the right is, "You would rather Saddam still be in power, wouldn't you?"

That's not the point. And NO, I wouldn't rather him to still be in power. But again, this is NOT the point.

The point is this Administration LIED to the American people and the world. And they FIXED the INTELLIGENCE. That is worthy enough of a crime for impeachment.

Perjury, or lying under oath, is a crime that puts people behind bars for years sometimes. Now, who bets nobody accepts responsibility for these lies and nobody serves any time in jail for them?

Those people who lied are apparently the most free Americans out there. Because they are above the law and free to do whatever they please.

In the land between two rivers, there is a blossoming theocracy thanks to the effects of American foreign policy. Today Barry Posen, professor of political science at MIT, pours cold water onto people concerning the insurgency in Iraq via the NY Times. I suggest you read this article. He has some keen observations.

SOME hold out hope that Iraqi police and soldiers can take on this task [of quelling the insurgency], but this too is improbable. Even if all 160,000 members of these forces were sent to known areas of insurgent activity - which cannot be done, since many are local police officers and militia members from other parts of Iraq - the total would be insufficient. Besides, relatively few Sunni Arabs have enlisted, so these predominantly Shiite and Kurdish security forces are as likely as the Americans to antagonize the populations of the restive areas.

And in the land between two oceans there is a blossoming theocracy thanks to religion's influence in politics. Andrew Buncombe with the London Independent writes about one of my greatest concerns in his article, In God we Trust: America's rising religious zealotry.

Despite the separation of church and state being enshrined in the US constitution, more than 40 per cent of US citizens said religious leaders should use their influence to try to sway policy-makers. In France, by contrast, 85 per cent of people said they opposed such "activism" by the clergy.

"These numbers are not surprising," Daniel Conkle, who teaches law and religion at Indiana University, told The Independent. "The US, in separating church and state, has not followed with the notion that it includes a separation of religion and politics."

...

Gregg Easterbrook, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank, said: "By a lot of measures, the US is the most religious of the industrialised nations."

...

[T]he US appears to be exceptional among industrialised nations because of the numbers who believe religion should influence policy-makers.

I wish America could learn from the French people. But alas, NO! Too busy ridiculing them for not supporting the war and too concerned about changing the name of fries, breakfast food, and salad dressing French people don't eat. The irony of such stupidity...And doesn't the separation of church and state mean there should be a separation of religion and policy-making? Again, the rule of American unreality prevails.

Moving on, are you sick of incessantly whining Iraqi bloggers like yours truly? Well fine then. Listen to Mr al-Mufti, Omar Abdulkader, Dr Faisal Haba, Maysoon al-Damluji, Um Mustafa, Sa'ad al-Izzi, Saad Yousif, Yasmin, Dr Essam al Rawi via Real Audio and read numerous other opinions from other Iraqis thanks to a special day BBC News had on 7 June called "One Day in Iraq." They interviewed people about their daily lives, which of course includes thoughts about current conditions in Iraq. It's well worth your time to visit this page of audio and written interviews especially to get a better idea of what life is like for Iraqis living inside Iraq. Click here to go directly to a list of interviews conducted in the convenient BBC News Player. Also visit here to read and hear a larger variety of opinions of people inside Iraq. Here is the day in pictures as well. I was impressed with the breadth of this special day the BBC reported Iraq, so I hope you take some time to peruse these links.

I'll include more interesting things you may find on the internets a bit later. Same bat place.

At least that's where my dream took me last night and this morning. Wow...

Incredible. That's what being away from the internet will do. My dreams become so much more vivid. I'm sure of this now. I wish I could describe all the sights I witnessed.

I recalled how unbelievably symmetrical the stars were in brightness and size. It was stupendously surreal. And I was in Egypt of all places. And there was snow...everywhere! I'm not even sure if there are mountains in Egypt.

Anyway...

Kudos to taking breaks from computers,
lim.

Pro-Bush Iraqis that act like Abu Ghraib never happened make my blood curdle.


Call me a discriminating prick if you like, but they usually have no family in Iraq when they whisper the words. "Rumsfeld is my master." So, they're opinions are redundant because they can yap all they want while they live in the west.

Pro-Bush Iraqis that are inside Iraq...

...well, they just crazy...

...or living in the Green Zone, or a member of the government...

...or all of the above. I don't mind them as much as Iraqis that would give their first-born to John Bolton and their second to his moustache. And ain't that a creepy thought.

It's the hypocrites that continue saying things are getting better while not having any real information or without qualifying their undying praise for the dark side that swallow the cake for me.

Any critical thinking Iraqi that has any politics would be my friend. If you think things happen in a vacuum and live in a fantasy world that has crowned King Bush the wonderful liberator of Iraq, I would rather talk about the European championship or how you like your eggs or something.

Neocon Iraqis are a scary thing indeed.

The mother of all updates: Wear black on 1 June. Support Egyptian women. AA lets us know more about it. And previously on Abu Aardvark...more on anti-democratic Egyptian tactics.

In an indication of further democratic reforms in the dictatorship of Egypt, Saddam Mubarak hired people to beat the living shit out of opposition members on the eve of a vote on election reform. And it's important to point out these supposed reforms are nothing more than a smokescreen that will serve as pretending real reform was actually taking place...as a sort of proxy-alibi for Bush's support. Together they form a dynamic duo denying reality. Bush and Co. says to Saddam Mubarak, "If you look like you're reforming, we'll say you are and then continue propping you up with billions of dollars."

Meanwhile, Saddam Mubarak says, "what better way to show you're reforming than to beat some women and tear their clothes off."

Women protesters in particular seemed to be targeted for beatings by both plainclothes state security agents and pro-Mubarak supporters, according to a report on Associated Press.

One woman was seen being punched and having her clothes torn off by Mubarak loyalists in Cairo, AP reported.

Here's Alaa's first-hand account of the terrifying incident. Saddam Mubarak pulled no punches on members of the opposition. In fact, he threw them in droves with the police standing idle and watching it all happen. Abu Aardvark sheds more light on the targeting of women in these attacks by the NDP. This is infuriating me. This is American tax payer money at use.


If you're waiting for democracy in Egypt. Please don't hold your breath. These beatings of protestors and arrests of opposition members are common in dictatorships. But at least Saddam Mubarak has a peace treaty with Israel. And for all those beatings and arrests, dawg'onit he's our sonofabitch dictator...and he's worth every penny of the billions American taxpayers pay to prop up his unlawful and undemocratic regime each and every year for the past couple of decades.

Americans like their dictators marinated in the blood of their people. See Uzbekistan and the Egyptian examples. Putting window-dressing on it all and trying to pass off weak criticisms like those given by the Bush administration as affecting actual reality on the ground only insults the intelligence of the victimized. The fact that Laura Bush was praising Saddam Mubarak for his supposed step toward reform borders the absurd. Oh, and don't forget the countless other dictators and ruthless autocrats the US has supported. Even OG Saddam was America's sonofabitch all buddy buddy while being lubricated by WMD courtesy of his man Rummy back in the day. Shall we have an American Dictator Count? A little "our sonofabitches" refresher perhaps?

Maybe the cob-webs can be cleared away with such introspection.


Updating the updates : Alaa has mentioned in comments below that the server was on over-load and Egyptian authorities never did block the site. That's good news, I think.

Update: The first-hand account has been blocked by America's darling dictator, Saddam Mubarak . Let's see if the words will come back or not. Oh, and Billmon nails it as usual.

Update II: Alaa's first-hand account is there again...with photos. Let freedom reign. /sarcasm

Peace in Iraq 'will take at least five years to impose'

David Bowie, Five Years

Pushing thru the market square, so many mothers sighing
News had just come over, we had five years left to cry in
News guy wept and told us, earth was really dying
Cried so much his face was wet, then I knew he was not lying
I heard telephones, opera house, favourite melodies
I saw boys, toys electric irons and t.v.’s
My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare
I had to cram so many things to store everything in there
And all the fat-skinny people, and all the tall-short people
And all the nobody people, and all the somebody people
I never thought I’d need so many people

A girl my age went off her head, hit some tiny children
If the black hadn’t a-pulled her off, I think she would have killed them
A soldier with a broken arm, fixed his stare to the wheels of a cadillac
A cop knelt and kissed the feet of a priest, and a queer threw up at the sight of that

I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlour, drinking milk shakes cold and long
Smiling and waving and looking so fine, don’t think
You knew you were in this song
And it was cold and it rained so I felt like an actor
And I thought of ma and I wanted to get back there
Your face, your race, the way that you talk
I kiss you, you’re beautiful, I want you to walk

We’ve got five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We’ve got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that’s all we’ve got
We’ve got five years, what a surprise
Five years, stuck on my eyes
We’ve got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that’s all we’ve got
We’ve got five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We’ve got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that’s all we’ve got
We’ve got five years, what a surprise
We’ve got five years, stuck on my eyes
We’ve got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that’s all we’ve got
Five years
Five years
Five years
Five years