Here are a few things you’ll take away after watching part 2 of Bush’s War:

• The military planning of the Iraq invasion never seriously took into account the amount of civilian unrest that would follow the ousting of Saddam. 
• Our government actually thought our military would be withdrawn from Iraq by December 2003.  That’s eight months after the initial invasion.
• We put all our eggs in the “weapons of mass destruction basket” and our strategy was shattered when they never materialized.

The series ends at the beginning of the 2006 troop surge. 

Absent from Frontline’s analysis of the Iraq invasion is Gen. Petraeus who spearheaded the new surge plan that helped reinforce our “clear, hold, and build” strategy.  Absent also is the cost of the war in American and international deaths and in economic strain.

The final words are a grim reminder of where we are today after five years of an American presence in Iraq and seven years in Afghanistan.  Are the narrators words a bit too liberal?  Should we be thinking with more optimism?  Watch and read for yourself.

NARRATOR:

Violence is down in Iraq. They are cautiously calling clear, hold and build a success. But at a cost. The troops and reserves are stretched dangerously thin. The military worries how long the surge can be sustained. In his last State of the Union address, George W. Bush made a final plea to history …

PRESIDENT BUSH:

“The mission in Iraq has been difficult and trying for our nation. But it is in the vital interest of the United States that we succeed. We must do the difficult work today so that years form now, people will look back and say that this generation rose to the moment, prevailed in a tough fight, and left behind a more hopeful region and a safer America.”

NARRATOR:

Soon Bush’s war will be handed to someone new.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Could this race be any more maddening??

Obama and Clinton have AMAZINGLY been neck and neck for months now. The most recent polls say that same thing; the voters aren’t budging. I don’t know about you, but I need a margarita.

We now return you to tonights feature show, “Bush’s War“, part 2, on PBS.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Frontline ”Bush’s War” part 1 on PBS: 

After watching a majority of the two and a half hour first installment of “Bush’s War” on PBS last night, I asked myself, “Where’s Bush?”. 

He was a mysteriously absent character in the march our nation took towards war with Iraq.  For a series that had devoted itself with great detail and accuracy to document one of our nations biggest blunders, I’m a little disturbed at how blind sided I feel that I’ve misplaced blame.

It’s been easy pointing a finger at Bush all these years.  He’s essentially an educated yokel.  Blunders seem like they come naturally to a character who spoke of the internet in the plural form and confused Austria with Australia.

The truth of the situation (as Frontline reported it) showed Vice President Dick Cheney and (then) Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld throwing their weight around the White House with vicious tenacity.  

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that Bush is blameless.  He still signed his name on documents that (some would argue) illegally gave him power to make decisions that superceed the votes of Congress, the House of Representatives, and ultimately the American public (see: Patriot Act and torture bill of 2006). 

But part one of the series essentially outlined a war that was orchestrated and devised by a close knit group of high powered officials who whispered opinions into the ear of our President.  I suppose this shouldn’t be a surprise.  Bush has long been called a puppet.

Part one left us a week before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.  Up to this point the focus was Afghanistan.  It was clearly determined the attacks of 9/11 were directly linked with Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda.  Not Iraq. 

Do you hear that people?  9/11 was never directly linked to Iraq.  I’m glad we’ve gotten the air cleared on that one.  I’m tired of arguing otherwise with the less informed.

Tonight we’ll dive right into the invasion of Iraq and the massive bumbles that will ensue.  If you missed part one (or can’t be home to watch part two tonight), PBS is airing the complete 4 1/2 hour series online at PBS.com. If you can only watch one program about the Iraq and Afghanistan war, this would be the one to catch.

Popularity: 3% [?]

I thought it would be beneficial to let everyone know about a two part television special called “Bush’s War” airing on PBS next week.

I’m happy to hear it’s being produced and broadcasted by PBS. They adhere to the highest standards of journalistic integrity, guidelines, and practices. This translates to a program that you can feel confident knowing the information presented is truthful.

Check out their guideline on journalistic standards and practices here.

The show will air Monday, March 24, 2008, from 9 to 11:30 P.M. and Tuesday, March 25, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS.

Combined with fresh reporting and new interviews, Bush’s War will be the definitive documentary analysis of one of the most challenging periods in the nation’s history.

“Parts of this history have been told before,” Kirk says. “But no one has laid out the entire narrative to reveal in one epic story the scope and detail of how this war began and how it has been fought, both on the ground and deep inside the government.”

Be prepared for many more shows and movies focusing on the last eight years of the Bush reign. By the end of the year, Olivier Stone will be producing a full length feature movie about how President Bush came to power.

I’ll be tuned in Monday and Tuesday night to see if PBS will truely stick to the facts as we know them to be today. Or, if we’ll find the episodes fueled by the national rage over the Iraq & Afghanistan wars.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Yee haw!!! I’m gonna get me some economic stimulus!

Watch your mail boxes. Those $600 checks (for singles) are en route. Before you receive your checks, you’ll get a payment notice in the mail heralding it’s arrival.

It’ll say something like:

Knock knock.
Who’s there?
Stimulus.
Stimulus who?
Oh, just spend the damn money when it shows up.

The PDF version of the letter is here.

EDIT Sunday, 3/16/08 at 6:15 PM

The notices being mailed to tax payers advising them of a pending stimulus check has cost $42 million. That amount doesn’t include the next wave of letters that’ll be sent to those who still haven’t filed their taxes yet.

Dear sweet baby Jesus. Waste of time/waste of money anyone??

Here are the top questions asked:

1. When will I get my check?

The exact system and timetable has not been worked out, but it likely will be based on Social Security numbers and geography, not on the order tax returns were filled or alphabetically.

UPDATE: March 17th, 2008: IRS press release details payment time table here!

2. What are the requirements to get my check?

You must have filed a 2007 tax return and reported at least $3,000 but not more than $75,000 ($150,000 joint income). Plus if you have dependent children, expect to cash in an additional $300 each. (Toys-R-Us here we come!)

3. Why is the government doing this?

Because the economy is shit and our government has devised this quick fix to try and entice us into buying that sofa, Dior sweater, or make a decent payment on our credit cards. The theory being that by pumping this collective clump of money back into our economy, we will boost (or stimulate?) our economy that isn’t floundering (says Dubya).

The birth of this decision as reported on Patriot Missive is here which includes my (not so) veiled opinion on the matter.

Alright people, be sure to spend it all in one place!

Soure: Linda Stiff, acting IRS commissioner.
(Perhaps it’s just me but isn’t it amusing the IRS commissioner’s last name is “stiff”? Just sayin’.)

Still haven’t received your stimulus payment!? Look here!

Popularity: 100% [?]

The Gingerbread House Continues to Crumble

The United States Central Command has one less Admiral in its ranks. William Fallon has stepped down from what many believe to be “Presidential pressures”. Of course the official reason behind his retirement is so politically obnoxious it makes me wanna puke:

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the decision to take early retirement was entirely Adm Fallon’s, added that he agreed it was the right thing to do.

“I have approved Admiral Fallon’s request to retire with reluctance and regret,” he told reporters at the Pentagon, adding that he would be sorely missed.

Why is there suspicion that Admiral Fallon was pushed out of the ranks by the Bush camp?

Esquire (yeah, the men’s magazine) printed a wonderful article about the dance between Fallon and the White House.

Just as Fallon took over Centcom last spring, the White House was putting itself on a war footing with Iran. Almost instantly, Fallon began to calmly push back against what he saw as an ill-advised action. Over the course of 2007, Fallon’s statements in the press grew increasingly dismissive of the possibility of war, creating serious friction with the White House.

Fallon told Arabic television Al Jazeera last fall that, “This constant drumbeat of conflict . . . is not helpful and not useful. I expect that there will be no war, and that is what we ought to be working for. We ought to try to do our utmost to create different conditions.”

To you or me it seems like a fairly logical statement. Our nation’s military is stretched beyond its ability and our economy is sinking faster than a dead body in the Hudson River. This isn’t much of a secret to the rest of the world.

But to the White House, Fallon’s statement isn’t logical… it’s a threat to their policy. If you aren’t with the Bush administration’s policies then you must be against it. And apparently, Fallon is against it.

War with Iran is an empty threat by the Bush administration. You know that. I know know that. And Fallon knows that. There’s no question that our military will crumble under the stress of “occupying” a third Middle Eastern country (Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran). It would be disasterous to start war with Iran. Financially. Militarily. Our nation would spiral even further into the abyss we’ve been catapulted in by the current administration. It isn’t logical to continue an aggressive stance when we’re still trying to repair the damage the last 5 years has brought on the American image.

In the mean time, Fallon has “voluntarily retired”, the White House continues its machismo against the rest of the world, and we can all count our pennies as the markets crash and the world loses its faith in America.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Welcome to America, Mr. Blair.

Bush’s only steadfast ally in the invasion of Iraq will be lecturing at one of the most esteemed American educational institution, Yale.

He’ll be lecturing on faith and globalization.

Yale President Richard Levin explains that, “ As the world continues to become increasingly interdependent, it is essential that we explore how religious values can be channeled toward reconciliation rather than polarization“.

hmmm… is that sorta like how the (ah hem… Christian) coalition of countries spearheaded by Bush and Blair invaded Iraq and essentially created a polarization between Muslims and Christians?

He most certainly seems qualified to discuss this particular topic.

Popularity: 4% [?]

The Navy might try to shoot down a spy satelite the size of a small bus today or tomorrow.

The Pentagon expects to announce the missile firing publicly within an hour of the event. But Morrell said it could take a day or more to determine whether the missile successfully destroys the satellite’s fuel tank, which contains the chemical hydrazine.

The Pentagon revealed last week that President George W. Bush decided to have the Navy try to shoot down the satellite because of the danger that its fuel tank could leak deadly toxic gas if it enters the atmosphere and reaches Earth.

The satellite would be unlikely to strike a populated area but the craft’s hydrazine fuel could pose a threat to life if it did, officials said.

The Navy hopes to strike the missile with a nonexplosive “kinetic kill vehicle” just before the satellite reaches the atmosphere and drive it into ocean waters, about 150 miles (240 km) above the Earth’s surface.

The satellite has been out of touch since shortly after reaching its low-Earth orbit.

Speaking of spying- the Supreme Court brushed aside an appeal from the ACLU that would allow it to pursue a lawsuit against the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program.

RESPONSE: “It’s very disturbing that the president’s actions will go unremarked upon by the court,” said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU’s national security project.

THE CASE: The court’s action underscored the difficulty of mounting a challenge to the eavesdropping, which remains classified and was confirmed by President Bush only after a newspaper article revealed its existence. The ACLU sued on behalf of itself, other lawyers, reporters and scholars, arguing that the program was illegal.

But it’s all okay, because despite it all- Cindy McCain (wife of Presidential hopeful Republican John McCain) is proud of the U.S.

“I’m proud of my country, I don’t know about you, if you heard those words earlier. I’m very proud of my country. I’m proud to be a person who voted in elections and I hope that all of you will do so today,” Cindy McCain said at a Wisconsin rally.

She appeared to be referring to a remark that the wife of Democratic candidate Barack Obama made Monday in Milwaukee.

“Let me tell you, for the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country. Not just because Barack is doing well, but I think people are hungry for change,” Michelle Obama said.

Asked by reporters if Mrs. McCain was referring to the remark by the Illinois Democrat’s wife, McCain said: “I don’t think we have any comment on that.” Then he turned to his wife and asked her if she’d like to respond.

“I just wanted to make the statement that I have, and always will be, proud of my country,” Mrs. McCain said

Well… isn’t that heartwarming. But hey, it can’t all be bad news can it? For example- a corrupt war profiteer who milked the gov’t for $90 million in contract work is going to jail for 12 years.

(Brent R.) Wilkes, 53, was convicted in November of 13 felony crimes including bribery, conspiracy and fraud for giving the gifts to former representative Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.), who is serving an eight-year prison term for accepting millions in bribes from Wilkes and others.

“Wilkes coldly and successfully exploited the simplemindedness of one of this country’s war heroes, now a tortured shadow of his former self,” prosecutors wrote. “Wilkes stands now revealed as a war profiteer, a thug, a bully, a lecherous old man who preyed on his young female staffers and hired prostitutes.”

Wilkes’s attorney, Mark Geragos, did not respond to a telephone message requesting comment yesterday.

Wilkes is a Republican Party “Pioneer” who raised more than $100,000 for President Bush’s reelection in 2004 and donated — in concert with his business colleagues — $656,396 to 64 other Republican lawmakers and the national Republican Party committees in Washington from 1995 through the third quarter of 2005, according to campaign finance records.

Ah the company we keep… doesn’t it usually say something about us? Can we send the whole lot of them to prison? That would be super… just a thought.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I was expecting this sort of thing to keep under wraps until the day after Bush’s reign expires.  And especially not while the war is still raging.

Can you imagine all of his “hush hush” conversations being packaged into a handy book seller cassette format? I suspect there’s a library full of taped Bush conversations somewhere. Hello Nixon!

Revealed: Saddam ‘ready to walk away for $1bn’

A transcript of an eve-of-war conversation between President George Bush and former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has revealed a previously undisclosed initiative to avert war in Iraq by spiriting Saddam Hussein out of the country.

But Mr Bush seems to shrug off the idea, saying “it’s also possible he could be assassinated”, and he makes made clear that the US would in any case give “no guarantee” for Hussein. “He’s a thief, a terrorist and a war criminal. Compared to Saddam, Milosevic would be a Mother Teresa.”

The most interesting thing is that at the time this conversation was documented, Bush and Blair still promoted their willingness to a diplomatic resolution. But this conversation shows that peace was never an option.

“We have to get rid of Saddam. There are two weeks left. In two weeks we’ll be ready militarily,” Mr Bush told Mr Aznar.

And that’s history, folks.

Popularity: 3% [?]