President Obama wrote a book, it sold a bunch of copies, you might’ve heard of it- “Dreams From My Father”, anyway… in it there’s a bit about someone he knew growing up who had a bit of a colorful manner of speaking.  Well Obama himself did the audiobook version, and so there’s tracks out there of the Prez spouting some interesting phrases.  It was only a matter of time before someone made a remix of them.  So now for your listening pleasure- our President cussing, the dance mix.

Now, I post this here because I find the whole thing rather comical, but there are some out there who are actually trying to use this audio in criticism of him.  Some people will grab on to anything, no matter how ridiculous.  Ah well.

Tammy Duckworth, the Illinois Veteran’s Affairs Chief, has been named by Prez Obama to join the U.S. VA as an assistant secretary.  Duckworth is herself a Vet who suffered major injuries in Iraq that cost her both legs and damaged her right arm.  She ran for Congress in ‘06, but lost to Peter Roskam, after which she announced she would not run again as she wanted to focus on her VA duties.  More info on Duckworth can be found here.

We wanted to bring democracy to Iraq and we’ve done so.  Sadly, we’ve brought much of our own democratic failings as a society of voters with us.

Just over half of Iraq’s 15 million registered voters cast ballots in weekend provincial elections, with turnout as low as 40% in at least one province, but Iraqi and international officials insisted Sunday that they were satisfied with the participation.

U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker characterized the turnout as “large” and Iraq’s top election official called it “the most important election to take place since the fall” of Saddam Hussein. However, turnout failed to reach the 73% predicted by a recent government poll of 4,570 Iraqis.

What accounts for the low turn out?

• Distrust of the Candidates
• Confusion over redistricting
• Lack of feeling that each vote really counts

Sound familiar?  It should, it’s the reason our country usually gives for low voter turn out.  So, I guess we’ve done well in bringing some of our values over to Iraq.  But that’s alright, on the plus side, it was viewed as a safe and secure day of voting, not to mention that there were very few complaints of fraud committed during the voting process.

So it’s not all bad news.  If anything, it’s more like indifferent news.  So, yay for that.

Dear Mr. (soon-to-be) President,

You don’t know me, and technically I’m not an expert in anything- I have no formal schooling much beyond the high school level, have held no civilian career outside of basic retail services, and while I am an OIF vet and current member of the U.S. Military… my role in it has been rather small and low profile thus far. 

That being said, I still want to express my sympathies for the role you are about to assume in the world you have inherited.  Let’s be honest, it’s a nightmare out there.  The economy, heh, well we all know how THAT’s going.  But while we focus strongly on fixing the American economy, there are global matters we must keep a close watch on, because whether we like it or not, since throwing ourselves headlong into the “War On Terror” we are now deeply involved in most every conflict that could even possibly take place in arguably the most destabilized region of the world. 

First, Israel and the Gaza Strip conflict.  I understand where both sides are coming from here.  Hamas and the Palestinians are mad that there isn’t a Palestine anymore, and are bitter with the Israelis who now live in that region because they want their land back.  Israel wants Hamas to stop firing rockets into their country.  I know that’s over-simplified, but there is simply too much here to possibly get into without writing a text book.  Thus far you’ve been standing kind’ve in the background when it comes to this conflict, relying on statements such as “There’s only one President at a time”, when both you and I know that you have been working with great zeal on other aspects of what you’ll be doing as President.  It almost seems like a cop out to wait and see what happens.  One largely quoted reason that the assault on Gaza took place when it did is there was only a short period of time between the end of the ceasefire, and the beginning of your term in office, and while Israel knew Bush would totally be behind blowing things up in a major way, how you would feel was under dispute.  But here we are sir, and you’ll have to decide how America continues in response to their entire debacle. 

I’m not saying Israel is wrong to attack here, however their methods of doing so are mighty questionable, and our silent approval is turning many who were starting to maybe give us the benefit of the doubt with you coming into office against us.  Protests and flag burnings are being held not only in Arab states, but also throughout Europe.  Israel is our ally, however, we’re still looking at at least 1,200 Palestinians dead, near half of that have been children, and that’s not counting the many thousands injured.  Israel has lost 10 soldiers, and 3 civilians since this all began.  This starts to look less like a war, and more like a slaughter, especially when you consider that aid and escape for the Palestinian civilians has been rendered impossible, the only people escaping are the members of Hamas who thought ahead to use their smuggling tunnels and other means to get away as the assault began.  And before anyone accuses me of admonishing one group while ignoring the violence perpetrated by another (the U.S. tends to have pretty staggering numbers differences in our wars as well) I will gladly say that I’m against the death of any civilian, regardless of who causes it and why. 

Anyway, we need to work towards a ceasefire and some semblance of a resolution.  And we can not completely back Israel without backing their methods, and I believe we as a nation would be poorly served to do so.  Not only on moral grounds, but also out of, sadly, some amount of self-interest.  The Arab world was already weary of us after our lack of focus on Afghanistan, and our sudden needless at the time involvement in Iraq. 

Now after making progress in Iraq, and trying to refocus on Afghanistan, here we are again looking at a conflict that will quickly turn to blanket Us vs Them unless we work to mediate all sides.  Egypt and Afghanistan are calling for a stop to the assault and rendering of aid and reconstruction to the region, and usual pot-stirrers Iran, Syria, and others are calling for retribution in the name of the Arab community against Israel.  Violent times are pending with a finger on the trigger if we allow the conflict to continue for much longer.  It won’t matter what nations we bring Democracy to, if in their bitterness and anger they elect violent extremists to office.  If all Israel’s neighbors turn against it in full scale warring, we will have to come to their aid, and that is a battle we can not afford at this time, if ever. 

I don’t have an end resolution, I wouldn’t even begin to know where to look for one because as long as one group loses here, either the Palestinians or the Israelis, that group will be unhappy and looking to continue the fight, but we can’t completely remove one side from the table, that would be genocide, and while there are genocides or near-genocides that we have largely ignored (Armenians in Turkey, Burma, Darfur) we are better than that, and if we aren’t, then we should be. 

I know I’ll be unpopular for speaking against Israel here, even with just the members of this site, and I’m not excusing the actions of Hamas, their actions are criminal and the members of Hamas themselves should pay for them, but there is too much destruction here with the potential for more with no end in sight, so Mr. President, I ask you to prepare, because the moment you assume office, you will be looked towards to see how America will respond to the current state of things in the Gaza conflict, and what you say will have repercussions that will last us many many years, likely beyond your own Presidency, and I’m sure you know all about coming into the job with a lot already on your plate to be cleaned up.

A side note, but somewhat related- India and Pakistan… They are not currently at war with each other, and war is highly unlikely all things considered.  However, they are not truly at peace either, and possibly never will be.  That said, any escalation on either side of their border will only bode poorly for the world.  Pakistan has a direct link to our fight in Afghanistan for starters, and beyond that both are nuclear armed nations, and that last thing the world needs is a close quarters “Cold War” between the two.  Pakistan is a tenuous ally at best, between the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and the continued conflict along their border with Afghanistan in which they strongly demand that we steer clear of their side even when we know for a fact that the extremist factions we are fighting are staged there, we must be very weary of how we tread, we can not afford our fight to suddenly carry across into the two neighboring countries, especially when a 3rd (India) is poised for action even if they don’t desire it.

On the plus side, it does appear that the major conflict in Iraq is over, now we must simply continue to allow the Iraqi people to keep increasing their governing of their own country, and our drawing back and out of their way, after all… that was our end goal all along, right?

You have a lot to handle, and I’ve not even looked at employment, health care, the economy, or anything else that plagues our country.  So I want you to know that if everything is not 100% better in 4 years, I understand.  Progress is all I ask, just make progress.  The more the better. 

Best of luck to you,

~Skitz M. Jones

That’s right readers, I’m getting ready to head off for another training school, so with that in mind, I figured I’d leave one last little collections of links and snipes before I depart.

First off, Army… Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?  Over. Wow, you know, it was bad enough a few years ago when you sent a few calls to duty to the homes of soldiers who had already died overseas, now here we have yet another whoops moment in the military sending letters of condolenses to families of fallen soldiers.  Sounds like a reasonable thing to do, but addressing each and every letter with “Dear John Doe”… dude.  Weak.  To make up for it Army Chief of Staff General George W. Casey Jr. is sending a personal apology letter to the 7,000 family members.  Well, while their heart was in the right place, gang, something to learn here, sometimes you need to put a personal touch to these things, blanket statements wind up seeming a little hollow even when you don’t fuck them up like this.

In other news, Pakistan’s National Security Advisor was fired after announcing to the Indian media that the last surviving terrorist from the attacks on Mumbai is in fact a Pakistani.  Well, looks the the Pakistan gov’t really didn’t want that being talked about, eh?  Hmm… I wonder why that could be.

Well, I suppose I’ll go ahead and end on a fun note, and what’s more fun than porn?  Yup, you heard me right.  Porn.  Have I got your attention?  It appears that the Big 3, and the lending firms aren’t the only people who need a bailout these days.  Larry Flint and the douche… ahem… sorry, Joe Francis… are both claiming that tough times in today’s economy are sinking the porn industry, and they should get help from the government too.  Wow… ok.  Now at this point I have to ask myself whether I’m the better man who wouldn’t make a greatly inappropriate comment here, or… ah screw it…  I guess business everywhere is kind’ve like a porn star, it blows.  Sorry, it’s all I had.

Ok, so… I guess that’s it.  Hopefully I’ll catch you all again soon.  Take care all.

~Skitz

I almost hate writing anything focused entirely on our outgoing Prez, mostly because I was always told you should never kick a man when he’s down… but seriously- fuck this guy.

Dubbya is trying his damnedest to look good and do good things in his last few days in office to try and maybe sway a few more in the “time will tell how good/bad a President he was” argument.  My opinion is that it’s simply too little too late for you my friend.  I don’t care if you suddenly learn how to cure cancer and give it to the world free of charge, you’ve been a reckless douche for 8 years and caused impossible amounts of harm to our country as well as others.

Anyway, his latest “hey look how good I am” stunt is the setting up of three new national monuments set off in the Pacific Ocean.

Bush’s decision to safeguard far-flung areas totaling 195,280 square miles, which comes just two weeks before he leaves office, underscores his contradictory environmental record. While he has resisted imposing mandatory curbs on greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change and has opened large areas of the nation to drilling, mining and other use of resources, by the end of his term he will have protected more ocean than any person in history.

Invoking powers of the Antiquities Act of 1906 that are used to protect statues and cultural sites, Bush will sharply restrict oil and gas exploration and commercial fishing around numerous remote islands in the central and western Pacific that have long been U.S. possessions. Scientists identified them as biologically and geologically rich areas. The monuments, which together are equal in size to Spain, include regions teeming with sharks and other top marine predators, along with vibrant coral and hydrothermal vents.

James L. Connaughton, who chairs the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the new designations, coupled with Bush’s 2006 decision to create the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and a handful of smaller designations, mean that Bush has matched the record of some of the nation’s most conservation-minded presidents.

Did you catch that bit in bold there.  Bush, the great guy that he is, has managed to keep up with the biggest ecologically minded Presidents we’ve ever had.  Bush.  The guy who:

• pretty much pretended Global Climate Change (for those who fear the words Global Warming) isn’t happening
• lifted the moratorium on off shore drilling that had been in place for 27 years
• basically doing anything he can to support big oil, and lets be honest, he’s done all he can for them

Now suddenly with one move, he’s done something that some conservationalists are calling his greatest legacy, (because obviously he can’t claim peace in the Middle East as he’d wanted, or a thriving economy, or an upholding of American institutions like… oh… say the Constitution on which this country was founded!) well good for him.  I hope he enjoys the moment, because soon people will get over the shock of the suddenly green move and remember how outstandingly fucked we are right now as a nation and get right back to counting down the moments til the p.o.s. is replaced.

It used to be that we thought of Pakistan as a relatively good ‘Stan.  Afghanistan was the more difficult ‘Stan, though once they were our buddies too, of course, we were busy with them “damned commies” at the time…  Enemy of my enemy and all that you know.  Anyway, India is saying that Pakistan is trying to hype everyone up for war following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Last November’s Mumbai attack must have had support from some official agencies in Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said.

Mr Singh also accused Pakistan of “whipping up the war hysteria”.

On Monday, India said it had handed to Islamabad evidence that linked the attacks to “elements” in Pakistan.

(T)he Pakistani government have denied any involvement.

Relations between India and Pakistan have plummeted to a new low since the attacks with an escalating war of words between the two neighbours.

There have been reports that Pakistan has moved troops from its western border – where the military is involved in action against the Taleban and al-Qaeda militants – to the eastern border with India.

“Today even as Pakistan engages in whipping up war hysteria, our nation remains steadfastly united and if anything the process of national consolidation is becoming stronger,” Mr Singh told a meeting of state chief ministers in capital Delhi.

“There is enough evidence to show that given the sophistication and military precision of the attack it must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan,” Mr Singh added.

The evidence was given to Pakistan’s gov’twho are currently reviewing it, but so far seem to be saying they see nothing conclusive and are not making any actions.  As long as Pakistan is moving it’s troops towards India, that now opens up more potential for trouble on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Already a trouble spot given that many of the terrorists we’ve been fighting in Afghanistan have been hiding out in the hills just over the border.  Of course, the Afghans have a little something on their minds other than dealing with us and/or the Taliban and/or Al Qaeda.  They’re showing their strong support of the Palestinians who are caught up in the battle between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The modest white Miladul Nabi mosque is almost hidden beneath a massive poster that depicts a red fist raised to the heavens surrounded by slogans expressing sympathy for the Palestinian people, support for what it calls their jihad against Israel and hatred of the “blood-sucking” American government.

Last weekend, the mosque sponsored a protest rally against the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. On Monday, half a dozen young men with cellphones worked in its library, organizing a drive to collect money, blood plasma and volunteers to fight alongside the Palestinians. Sitting among them was the mosque’s imam, Ehsan Habibullah.

“Afghanistan is the land of holy warriors. We feel the pain of the innocent Palestinians, and we will stand with them to the end,” Habibullah said. “Israel is a terrorist state, and the Americans are supporting it, so how can they claim to be against terrorism? In Afghanistan, they are bombing civilians and setting dogs against women and children. They are not killing al-Qaeda — they are killing us.”

Well, you know how we were looking like we were going to have a groundswell of Muslim support around the world once Obama, who is known for showing a more open mind than our current Prez when it comes to world relations, takes office?  Yeah, forget about that, as Obama stands pretty much silent behind Bush and Co’s very wide open show of support for Israel saying little more than “There’s only one President at a time”, the world’s Muslims who feel the pain of Palestine view that as little other than a silent endorsement, even while most suspect that the reason for Israel initiating their attacks at this time is because they were not as certain that Obama would support them, but knew that Bush was all about blowing shit up, regardless of who it is.  So disregarding the question as to whether or not the Israelis are right in their current bombardment of the Gaza Strip, it’s still gonna wind up likely fucking us in the end as we’re having enough troubles in Afghanistan, and this is not going to win us any favor in the general public.  So whoo hoo for that.

Why are the ‘Stans so angry? Because it’s pretty much in their countries natures to be angry.  These are countries that have been warring with someone here, there, or elsewhere for more years than we’ve even given thought to them.

Over the past two years, the Afghan populace’s initially welcoming attitude toward U.S. troops has soured, in part because the international coalition forces here have failed to quell rising criminal and insurgent violence and in part because of civilian casualties during bombing raids and alleged violations of Afghan traditions by U.S. ground troops in conflict zones.

Now, the Israeli attack on Gaza, widely seen here as an act of aggression enabled by the United States, has become conflated in the minds of some Afghans with U.S. motives and actions in Afghanistan. Taliban propaganda and sermons by conservative clerics have contributed to a notion of the United States as an occupying power that seeks to subjugate the Muslim world.

“We have cable TV, and we know what the Americans are doing,” said Mehrabuddin Ali, a baker in a working-class Kabul district. “First they attacked Iraq. They didn’t find any nuclear weapons, but they killed a lot of Muslims. Now they are supporting Israel in killing innocent Palestinians. If they have come here to help us, we will welcome them. But if they come to destroy us, we will drive them out like we drove out the Russians. Real Muslims only need the protection of God.”

Well isn’t that cheery?  Boy I can only hope that all our various countries’ leaders and top military minds really know what they’re doing, because we’re aiming for a massive conflagration of animosity and violence the likes of which I don’t even want to think about.

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Baghdad – Just inside the gateway of the new United States Embassy in Baghdad, a US Army lieutenant colonel acted as the diplomatic equivalent of a Wal-Mart greeter, welcoming guests Monday afternoon to the dedication ceremony for the largest – and most expensive – American mission in the world.

But even if visitors missed the significance of such a high-ranking doorman, more than 300 feet of red carpet and several hundred Iraqi, American, and other international guests hammered home just how significant this ribbon-cutting ceremony is to the long-term American vision for Iraq.

The $592 million, 104-acre compound that will house at least 1,200 US government employees from 14 federal agencies is brick-and-mortar proof of the value American politicians place on their relationship with this Middle Eastern nation still in the throes of war.

An “embassy compound” might sound uninviting, especially considering that the US Embassy just moved to its new location from Saddam Hussein’s Republican Palace. But the design is anything but. It’s made up of beige buildings constructed of stone and draped with giant sunscreens, giving it the appearance of a college campus in the American southwest rather than making it feel like a military installation.

Well, in a time when our economy is collapsing, it’s good to see that we’re sticking with the roughly half decade long trend of spending fuck-tons of money in Iraq.  $592 Million.  Well, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  But hey, good for the Government and People of Iraq, I’m glad we’re showing our overwhelming commitment to their country.  Really, really happy about that.  Ah well, at least it’s another step in us handing over the country, so I guess that’s good.  Still though.  $592 Million?!?

Still-President George W. Bush is readying himself for Soon-to-be-President Barack Obama’s taking over of the office, and one of the things he’s looking to accomplish before it’s out of his hands is finding somewhere to put all those pesky detainees in Guantanamo Bay, given that Obama has said time and again that he will close down the prison.

Unfortunately finding somewhere to put all the folks who have been held there once Gitmo is closed down is proving difficult as the top place on Bush’s list of options has turned him down not once- but twice.

Julia Gillard said U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration was told Friday that a second request made in early December to resettle an unspecified number of detainees had been rejected.

“We advised the United States government that we would not be agreeing to those resettlement requests,” said Gillard, who is filling in for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd while he is on vacation.

“Assessing those requests from a case-by-case basis, they had not met our stringent national security and immigration criteria and have been rejected,” she told reporters in the southern city of Melbourne.

She said the government had similarly rejected a resettlement request from the Bush administration in early 2008.

The Bush administration made the latest request after U.S. President-elect Barack Obama promised to close the controversial prison.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called for proposals for transferring the remaining 250 or so detainees — amid concerns that some could be persecuted if sent back to their home nations.

Not that Australia doesn’t have a history of being a dumping ground for inmates (silly British), but everything may work out even if they don’t wind up “down under” as there are plenty of countries out there that would love to take the soon-to-be-former prisoners and likely rub our noses in it (that’s right France, I’m looking at you!).

So for the time being, there is no plan in place for the redistribution of all the Gitmo residents once the place is closed but there’s probably time. After all, Obama’s going to have a lot of issues to be dealing with the moment he officially takes offic.  I’m sure someone will manage to work something out by the time it’s all ready to go down.

As we look into the next year, here’s a few topics to kick off the new year here, and around the world…

As Israel continues it’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the succeed in the taking out of one of the only high level members of Hamas to not flee to the underground.  Nizar Rayan and 11 others, 6 of whom were family members died in the bombing of a 4 story building in which his apartment was located.  It’s the first high level target to be hit during the 6 day assault.

Cuba is celebrating it’s 50 year anniversary of the revolution that placed Communist leader Fidel Castro in charge of the country.  Raul Castro became President in February after his brother fell ill and it is hoped that as the new year progresses President Elect Barack Obama and Castro will be able to open talks to continue to improve relations with the country, and end many of the restrictions on travel and trade currently in place.

The UK has handed over the Basra Airport to the country of Iraq in a continuing of the drawing down of international forces and increased control over the country being placed in the hands of it’s own government and public.  It is said that the UK will have all troops withdrawn from the country by July of this year.

At the same time Iraq is taking control of the Green Zone as U.S. forces continue handing over the of the country to local police and military.  Soldiers will remain in place to continue assisting with security patrols in the area for at least the next 90 days at which point the next step will be decided by leaders of U.S. and Iraqi security forces.

So there you have it, just a small portion of the happenings in our world as we kick off 2009.  Here’s to it being better than 2008!