The Surge against Bush: Chavez in Russia for Arms talks, then on to Iran

Whoa. News most Americans don't know about, don't care about, yet may change life as we know it.....Two of Bush's arch enemies, Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin (don't kid yourself, he hates Bush), met today in Russia to talk about arms. Yikes. That can't have a good outcome, especially since Chavez has been saber rattling lately about the Diablo (Devil), Bush, again. And THEN, Chavez goes to Iran....hmmmm.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has arrived in Russia, where he will meet his counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for talks on military co-operation.

Mr Chavez is expected to visit a helicopter factory and discuss the possible purchase of diesel submarines. This is Mr Chavez's second visit in under a year to Russia, which he has designated as a "strategic partner". At an international level, he wants to minimise Washington's influence in the world, especially in Latin America...But perhaps the symbolism of what follows Mr Chavez's visit is what matters most. After leaving Russia, he will travel to Belarus and Iran.

Committee on Present Danger

Terrific. Just what we need - the same brainacs who keep getting us into trouble, and who are carrying water for the Likud party - are revivving the Committee on Present Danger (CPD). We encourage you to click on the CPD link and read the mission and vision of this fear mongering, propoganda machine.

Good read here:

A bipartisan group of 41 mainly neoconservative foreign-policy hawks has launched the third Committee on the Present Danger (CPD) whose previous two incarnations mobilized public support for rolling back Soviet-led communism but whose new enemy will be "global terrorism."

The new group, announced at a Capitol Hill press conference Tuesday, said its "single mission" will be to "advocate policies intended to win the war on global terrorism – terrorism carried out by radical Islamists opposed to freedom and democracy."

"The committee intends to remain active until the present danger is no longer a threat, however long that takes," said CPD chairman R. James Woolsey, who served briefly as former President Bill Clinton's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director and has often referred to the battle against radical Islam as "World War IV."

You bastard, Bill Kristol

Shaming Republicans into supporting your ill fated Neo-Conartist, wingnut Likud agenda that most Americans don't even understand. Stupid ideas, like turning the entire middle east into chaos to further your wacko Straussian-Likud madness.

You're DYING to go into Iran, both as an exit strategy for Iraq, and to continue the battle against the Arabs (oops, Iranians are PERSIAN - not Arabs. But you know that and you're counting on dumb and dumber Americans to get too confused about that fact as they look for a parking spot at the mall).

You were able to strong arm GWB (maybe because he really does believe in the Rapture, tho we doubt it); you stacked the deck in terms of Neo-Conartists on the cabinet and in the administration (Cheney, Rumsfield, Wolfowitz, Perle, ad nauseum...), and you said on FNC recently that 2007 is going to be a "bloody" year.

Shame on you, Bill Kristol. And shame on anyone who listens to you and goes to sleep with blood on their hands. You are a coward with a brain....a dangerous combination. We wish there was a rehab you could go to, because you need help to remember democracy and what it is about and who founded it and why we fight for it.

WS John Warner of Virginia, Gordon Smith of Oregon, and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine are the four Republican senators (in addition to Nebraska's Chuck Hagel) currently signed on to the Democrats' anti-surge, anti-Petraeus, anti-troops, and anti-victory resolution. (I give Hagel a pass--perhaps undeserved--in my roster of ignominy, since he has been a harsh critic of the war for quite some time.)...In any case, Republican senators up for reelection in 2008 might remember this: The American political system has primaries as well as general elections. In 1978 and 1980, as Reagan conservatives took over the party from détente-establishment types, Reaganite challengers ousted incumbent GOP senators in New Jersey and New York. Surely there are victory-oriented Republicans who might step forward today in Nebraska, Virginia, Oregon, and Maine--and, if necessary, in Tennessee, Minnesota, and New Hampshire--to seek to vindicate the honor, and brighten the future, of the party of Reagan.

Secret war in Iran and Syria

Get a clue.

Last night's speech was all about Iran, not Iraq. The pedal is on the medal. Bush is on the march. The positioning of troops in Iraq is readiness to attack Iran and Syria. Has Bush already declared his "secret war"? His "Laos?" to use a Lyndon Johnson-Nixon-Vietnam analogy.

TW The bare outlines of that order may have appeared in President Bush's Address to the Nation last night outlining his new course on Iraq:

Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We'll interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.

We're also taking other steps to bolster the security of Iraq and protect American interests in the Middle East. I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region. We will expand intelligence-sharing and deploy Patriot air defense systems to reassure our friends and allies. We will work with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to help them resolve problems along their border. And we will work with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating the region.

Adding fuel to the speculation is that U.S. forces today raided an Iranian Consulate in Arbil, Iraq and detained five Iranian staff members. Given that Iran showed little deference to the political sanctity of the US Embassy in Tehran 29 years ago, it would be ironic for Iran to hyperventilate much about the raid.

Attacking Iran from Azerbaijan

Where the fu*k is Azerbaijan, most Americans ask?

Get a clue. The troop surge is an escalation. The escalation is to protect and secure the oil. The exit strategy from Iraq is Iran.

Somone asked this Israeli General how he REALLY feels about Bush, Iran, etc. Here's the response: In a stark statement published on Saturday Brigadier General Oded Tira observed, "President Bush lacks the political power to attack Iran. As an American strike in Iran is essential for our existence, we must help him pave the way by lobbying the Democratic Party (which is conducting itself foolishly) and US newspaper editors. We need to do this in order to turn the Iranian issue to a bipartisan one and unrelated to the Iraq failure."

Neo-Cons hate America

Or the Neo-Con-Artists, as we like to call them. Are they more dangerous than ever because of their stupid, ill-thought-out, clumsy, deadly blunder in Iraq? Remember, their agenda is in line with the extreme rightwing Likud party in Israel (notice, their agenda is NOT about America...).

Dear God, let's hope their war drum beat for invading Iran is drowned out by reason....or we're in for a dark period ahead....

AJ ...As Iran makes a "final step" in its nuclear program, senior government officials have stated that pre-emptive strikes may be on the table. The Iranians have repeatedly claimed that they are being threatened with force by Israel, while the Israeli ambassador has said that "US President George W. Bush will not hesitate to use force against Iran in order to halt its nuclear program,"....

As point two of James Baker's Iraq strategy will look to diplomatic cooperation with Iraq's neighbours, should Iran be seen as refusing to cooperate with the strategy, this may be used as a final excuse to impose isolation and a blockade on Iran, possibly leading to conflict.
Leading Neocons such as Richard Perle and Michael Ledeen, extremely disgruntled with the fierce criticism they have recently received over the Iraq war, are now calling for swift and decisive action.

It certainly seems that now, more than ever, we should be on guard against a wounded and dangerous Neocon leadership. The American people have shown that they do not trust them and they want rid of them. In this sense, and with "impeachment off the table", the Bush cabal has nothing left to lose.

The GOP struggles to find talking points that anyone cares about

Who's Sorry Now?

All those GOP-clones...the talk show hosts, the so-called pundits (Melanie Morgan? puhleeezze), cable news hosts (all of FNC can't seem to get over the fact that the GOP is OUT).

Pretty funny. They are leader-less and don't know what to do. Nancy Pelosi's earmarks? Nah. Murtha's 26 year old Abscam charge? Did you see Charlie Rengel on Tucker answer this? He literally "killed Tucker with kindness". Fear mongering Drudge on Iran? Nope. Not gonna bite. Oh, and Giuliani for Prez? G'head, have at it.

No. It's 1-800-WHO CARES for these guys. It's going to take them some time to get the memo - their Majority days are so over and it may be awhile before they're back.

Neo-Con-Artist's at it again - target: Iran

Who's Sorry Now?

All Americans, if ANYBODY listens to the idiot NCA on Iran. Let's all remember the lame duck Congress has two months in which to start another ill-fated military advance. They must be stopped.

Can you believe the same folks who brought you "a cakewalk" in Iraq are now touting a "walk in the park" in Iran?

Good thing the Sun Myung Moon-owned newspaper conservative Washington Times is showing these shysters for what they are....especially Richard Perle.

WT...Leading neocon Richard Perle, who led the intellectual charge for the ill-fated invasion of Iraq, believes two B-2 bombers, each with 16 independently targeted weapons systems, could punch out Iran's nuclear lights. No Air Force expert we could find agreed. But the Pentagon's Air Force generals believe it can be done -- and successfully -- with a much larger operation, including five nights of bombing, some 400 aim points, 75 requiring deep penetration ordnance. Time magazine estimates 1,500 such aim points, or "viable targets," related to Iran's widely scattered nuclear development complex. The Navy, with its carrier task forces and ship-launched cruise missiles, does not share the same degree of certainty. ...

Israel to strike Iran?

Oh jeez. It's true - Bush has his rubber stamp congress for 2 months...what kind of shenanigans will he be up to? This could be a peek:

TLO Washington, D.C.,: “ My brother-in-law is a professional military officer, stationed in the Washington area and from him I learned over lunch today that Israel has finally determined to launch what they consider to be a preemptive military strike against Iran’s capacity to manufacture and, most especially, to deliver an atomic weapon against Israel.

I was told that Israel is desolated by the neutering of Bush’s ability to support this attack.

al-Maliki: NOT America's Man in Iraq

Hmmmmm. Is there a teeny little rift between the Iraqi PM and the Americans?

Is this dumb policy on the American's part....to be banking on an Iranian-backed Shiite as Prime Minister?

You might be worried that the whole thing is going to "go Iranian" at some point....so when did they say is Sadr taking over? Be careful, George. You don't want to lose access to all that oil now, do you?

LAT "...I'm a friend to the United States, but not America's man in Iraq," Maliki told Khalilzad, according to Hassan Senaid, one of the prime minister's closest advisors....The U.S. government, undertaking a massive nation-building project while fighting off a ferocious insurgency, has little choice but to back Maliki's Iranian-influenced Shiite government. Any U.S. move against Maliki could spark greater violence and anti-American animosity.

Maliki has demanded that Americans let him try to politically co-opt Sadr, who has gone from a rabble-rousing street firebrand in the early days after the U.S.-led invasion to one of the most powerful figures in the country who controls 30 seats in parliament and several key ministries.There have been numerous signs that Sadr has tired of the most troublesome of his loyalists. During prayers Friday in the southern city of Kufa, Sadr's principal pulpit, his deputy denounced recent violence in Iraq caused by "people who violated and stood against the wise and honorable leadership" of the cleric.

10 Things You Didn't Know About Kim Jong Il

Who's as weird as can be now?

"Yura" wears Platform shoes? What is it with dictators, anyway? They're always so strange, and not in a good way. The nutbag in Iran wears "Members only" jackets, Putin kissed some kid's stomach, yuck! Here's 10 things you didn't know about Kim Jong Il and don't really want to know now:

USNews:
Most people say he was born in Siberia in 1941, when his father, Kim Il Sung, was in exile. The "official" account states that he was born in 1942 in a log cabin on a mountain, and there was a double rainbow to mark the occasion. His name as a child was "Yura."

2. His younger brother drowned in a pond in 1948; his mother died a year later.

3. He rode a motorcycle to high school.

4. He graduated from Kim Il Sung University in 1964 with a degree in political economy.

5. He has allegedly written over 1,000 books and six operas and designed a tower to commemorate his father.

6. He did not allow his voice to be broadcast until 1992.

7. He has at least six children by three different mothers and perhaps more.

8. He sleeps only four hours per day.

9. He wears platform shoes to mask his short stature.

10. He likes movies. A lot. He is said to own over 20,000 and claims to have watched every Oscar winner.

Project Censored's Top 10 stories for the past year

Censored Stories

The 10 stories the nation's mainstream news media ignored, neglected or missed last year

Since 1993, Project Censored has been running not only the stories that didn't get adequate coverage, but the "junk-food news"--the stories that were way, way overblown and filed precious pages and airtime that could have been used for real news.

Attack Iran - the REAL October Surprise

This is a doomsday worldveiw, but not one that Karl Rove and the Neo-conartists wouldn't just LOVE to implement. Be concerned, be very concerned. This is the REAL October surprise. Especially as the drumbeat increases on the Foley scandal, etc. Attack on Iran is moving to the front burner.

Here "If the fallout from the Foley scandal makes it appear inevitable that the Democrats will take the House, the Iran card may be the surest one, and perhaps the only one, that the Bush administration has left to play. I am certain that the sons of bitches who call the shots in the administration have no intention of letting some annoying, whining pipsqueaks (as they undoubtedly view them) peer over their shoulders during the last two years of their reign, as they attempt to ensure American and Republican domination of this country and the world for the foreseeable future.In the hysteria that would follow an attack on Iran, and in the ensuing, spreading carnage, enough people may well rally to the support of the administration to prevent the Democrats from making the required gains."