Man who killed his estranged wife is now toast, the 1000th piece of toast.Am I wrong in viewing the Death Penalty not as a deterrent but as a punishment in and of itself? We jail people all the time for theft but that doesn't stop it. I'm waiting for some Human Rights group to allege that China, not Eastern Europe is where the U.S. really has it's "secret prisons." Enema of the State: Christian "peacemakers" kidnapped by jihadists. Who's fault is it? All together now...The United States and The United Kingdom. Quote of the Day, The Christian Peacemaker Team:
"We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the US and UK governments due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people."
So. The people of Iraq were free under Saddam? Should we reinstall him so they can have their freedom back? That would be awesome. Then, Iraqis could go back to having elections to determine the self determination of Saddam rather than the self determination of themselves. Idiots.
Pandora's Box has been opened in Iraq. What does it mean for the people of the Middle East?:
ON BOTH SIDES of the Atlantic, the Stop The War cries are deafening now. Fold the tents; cut the losses; bring them home.
Some of the pleading comes from people whose motives are purely mischievous. These are the critics who opposed the war in the first place and would like nothing more than to see it end in a humiliating climbdown for its authors. Their concern for the Iraqi people or the lives of British and American troops flows in rivers of crocodile tears; their true emotions will be realised in the warm thrill of self-vindication at the spectacle of coalition tank columns rolling, turrets forlornly down, out of Mesopotamia.
You know exactly what these people would say in the unlikely event they got their way. They wouldn’t hail the US and British decision to leave Iraq as the long-delayed but correct decision. It would instead be used as an opportunity to pour scorn on the whole project, to chortle at the hopeless vanity of the Bush and Blair crowd.
But there are many more good, honourable people who have come to the same conclusion not out of a desire for self-justification but because, whether they supported the war in the first place or not, they have come to see it as unwinnable, or at least they believe the situation so dire that the price — in further blood and treasure — is simply not worth paying. For them the genuine humiliation of retreat is worth suffering if it spares us all greater losses by staying.
This is a wholly understandable reaction. We’re overwhelmed every day with the hard statistics of loss: Britain may soon endure its 100th death of a serviceman in Iraq; America has just passed the 2,000 mark; tens of thousands of Iraqis have perished. We have spent billions of dollars, not always efficiently. These are tangible, measurable losses; hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, billions.
Success is less tangible. It is articulated not in the indicative but in the subjunctive: potential threats removed; future wars that don’t have to be fought. It is numbered in the unenumerable: the slow awakening of human freedom; the steady, incremental spread of dignity it brings to people cowed and trampled for decades.
And yet it leaves its mark in tangible ways, even in the turmoil of Iraq. In a couple of weeks, Iraqis will go to the polls in their millions for the third time this year (the exercise of democracy can be habit-forming, can’t it?). This time they will choose a government that will have real power over the direction of the country. It will be a genuine first in the history of a region where medievalist tyranny has enjoyed five centuries of extra time....
Contraception for Architecture:Now towering edifices can engage in safe sex!
Tax cuts work/ Roaring economy: If this were happening under the Clinton Adminstration we'd never hear the end of it.
Bad news and good news for Halliburton Shareholder Michael Moore:
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Suicide bombings fell in November to their lowest level in seven months, the American military said Thursday, citing the success of U.S.-Iraqi military operations against insurgent and foreign fighter sanctuaries near the Syrian border. But the trend in Iraq has not resulted in less bloodshed: 85 U.S. troops died during the month, one of the highest tolls since the invasion.
Good News/Bad News for Halliburton "W" McBushitler: Poll:6 in 10 Americans do not want to withdraw from Iraq until certain goals are met, but most also believe that Bush has no plan for victory. Guess which poll question was used as the headline? If he has no plan for victory then why keep the troops there?
"We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the US and UK governments due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people."
So. The people of Iraq were free under Saddam? Should we reinstall him so they can have their freedom back? That would be awesome. Then, Iraqis could go back to having elections to determine the self determination of Saddam rather than the self determination of themselves. Idiots.
Pandora's Box has been opened in Iraq. What does it mean for the people of the Middle East?:
ON BOTH SIDES of the Atlantic, the Stop The War cries are deafening now. Fold the tents; cut the losses; bring them home.
Some of the pleading comes from people whose motives are purely mischievous. These are the critics who opposed the war in the first place and would like nothing more than to see it end in a humiliating climbdown for its authors. Their concern for the Iraqi people or the lives of British and American troops flows in rivers of crocodile tears; their true emotions will be realised in the warm thrill of self-vindication at the spectacle of coalition tank columns rolling, turrets forlornly down, out of Mesopotamia.
You know exactly what these people would say in the unlikely event they got their way. They wouldn’t hail the US and British decision to leave Iraq as the long-delayed but correct decision. It would instead be used as an opportunity to pour scorn on the whole project, to chortle at the hopeless vanity of the Bush and Blair crowd.
But there are many more good, honourable people who have come to the same conclusion not out of a desire for self-justification but because, whether they supported the war in the first place or not, they have come to see it as unwinnable, or at least they believe the situation so dire that the price — in further blood and treasure — is simply not worth paying. For them the genuine humiliation of retreat is worth suffering if it spares us all greater losses by staying.
This is a wholly understandable reaction. We’re overwhelmed every day with the hard statistics of loss: Britain may soon endure its 100th death of a serviceman in Iraq; America has just passed the 2,000 mark; tens of thousands of Iraqis have perished. We have spent billions of dollars, not always efficiently. These are tangible, measurable losses; hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, billions.
Success is less tangible. It is articulated not in the indicative but in the subjunctive: potential threats removed; future wars that don’t have to be fought. It is numbered in the unenumerable: the slow awakening of human freedom; the steady, incremental spread of dignity it brings to people cowed and trampled for decades.
And yet it leaves its mark in tangible ways, even in the turmoil of Iraq. In a couple of weeks, Iraqis will go to the polls in their millions for the third time this year (the exercise of democracy can be habit-forming, can’t it?). This time they will choose a government that will have real power over the direction of the country. It will be a genuine first in the history of a region where medievalist tyranny has enjoyed five centuries of extra time....
Contraception for Architecture:Now towering edifices can engage in safe sex!
Tax cuts work/ Roaring economy: If this were happening under the Clinton Adminstration we'd never hear the end of it.
Bad news and good news for Halliburton Shareholder Michael Moore:
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Suicide bombings fell in November to their lowest level in seven months, the American military said Thursday, citing the success of U.S.-Iraqi military operations against insurgent and foreign fighter sanctuaries near the Syrian border. But the trend in Iraq has not resulted in less bloodshed: 85 U.S. troops died during the month, one of the highest tolls since the invasion.
Good News/Bad News for Halliburton "W" McBushitler: Poll:6 in 10 Americans do not want to withdraw from Iraq until certain goals are met, but most also believe that Bush has no plan for victory. Guess which poll question was used as the headline? If he has no plan for victory then why keep the troops there?