Category: War

The Pope Bitch Slaps Condi Rice

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OK, my opinion of Benedict has improved a bit, though he is still a reactionary idiot.

The title is not mine though, I whole heatedly approve the hed, and will defend it, but that bon mot is not mine, so I cannot take credit for it.

It appears that Pope Benedict XVI has refused an audience for Condolleza Rice.

She had requested an audience in August (you know, in order to play politics with the conventions and the November election).

The pope has denied this request, ostensibly since it was his August holiday, but really for two reasons:

  • Bush and His Evil Minions™ in general, and Condoleeza Rice in particular, were hostile and rude to John Paul II when he sent emissaries out to attempt to prevent the war.
  • Because the US has steadfastly rebuffed requests from the “Holy See” to prevent the ethnic cleansing to of the Christian minority in Iraq.

Condoleeza Rice should not be too upset by this, “Instead of meeting the Pope, Ms Rice had to make do with a telephone conversation with the Vatican’s number two, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was visiting the US during August on other business.”

So, he won’t talk to her, but his number two will talk to her on the phone.

Girlfriend, maybe he just ain’t into you…You know.

Judith Miller in Drag

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Well, it looks like Judith Miller style neocon warmongering is not dead at the New York Times. Yes, we now have new members of the Leonard Pinth-Garnell school of journalism, William Broad and David Sanger.

Short version of the story, is that the NIE saying that Iran had halted nuke weapons work is bunk, and they may have a nuke by next year.

This, along with Fallon’s firing, is a pretty good indicator that Bush and His Evil Minions™ want to bomb Iran before Jan 21 2009.

This is why the two Democratic nominees need to say specifically that any order to attack Iran in the absence of a congressional authorization would be an illegal order, and that, if elected, they would prosecute soldiers who obey illegal orders.

Those nuclear warheads that were “misplaced” a few months back were not “misplaced” it was an attempt to stage them for a nuclear first strike.

Thanks to Digby for the catch.

We Are Going to Bomb Iran

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Admiral William J. Fallon, the head of Centcom, has been forced out by the Bush and His Evil Minions&trade.

This means we will be seeing air strikes on Iran. My guess would be in September, so as to influence the elections. Wag the dog, baby.

My suggestion for the Democratic candidates, they should make it clear that the AUMF against Iraq does not cover Iran, and as such any order to attack Iran is illegal, even if the order comes from the President.

Furthermore, it should be made clear that there would be courts martial if those illegal orders were executed.

Nobel Prize Winner Stiglitz Fingers War as Cause of Slowdown

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It’s an interesting theory. Basically, he believes that in order to cope with the financial drain from the war, the Fed was forced to slash interest rates, leading to a speculative bubble, higher energy prices, and reckless lending.

While I agree as to the consequences of the the Fed’s (really Alan “Bubbles” Greenspan’s) policies, I do not think that the ultra low interest rates were from the war.

They were a function of Greenspan wanting to remain Fed chair when dealing with a president who had publicly stated his dislike of him during the campaign in 2000.

Bush blamed Greenspan for his dad loosing in 2002, you may recall McCain joking about doing the “Weekend at Bernies” thing if “Bubbles” died, and so when Bush came in, he whored himself to Bush and His Evil Minions™.

The Fed was slashing rates before 911, and even more between 911 and the Iraq invasion.

Welfare for American Arms Manufacturer

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The US Army is now planning to replace the Iraqi Army’s AK-47s M-16s, claiming, among other things, that the M-16 is more reliable.

Yeah, right.

While the M-16 is unquestionably more accurate, reliability and cost are on the AK’s side. Additionally, this will require significant retraining.

This is just a way to get the M-16 into service so that Colt (or maybe FN, when I last checked they made weapons in South Carolina under license) make lots of money.