Court Tells U.S. to Reveal Data on Detainees at Guantánamo

A federal appeals court ordered the government yesterday to turn over virtually all its information on Guantánamo detainees who are challenging their detention, rejecting an effort by the Justice Department to limit disclosures and setting the stage for new legal battles over the government’s reasons for holding the men indefinitely.

The ruling, which came in one of the main court cases dealing with the fate of the detainees, effectively set the ground rules for scores of cases by detainees challenging the actions of Pentagon tribunals that decide whether terror suspects should be held as enemy combatants.

It was the latest of a series of stinging legal challenges to the administration’s detention policies that have amplified pressure on the Bush administration to find some alternative to Guantánamo, where about 360 men are now being held.

A three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Washington unanimously rejected a government effort to limit the information it must turn over to the court and lawyers for the detainees.

I don't believe that any American would be against us holding these people if it could be proven that they are indeed terrorists. The problem I have is when the government refuses to provide any evidence to support the claims that they are making. The first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 resulted in the criminal prosecution of those involved. If they have the proof why are they so hesitant to display it? With a government as distrusted as the Bush administration, we need as much information as we can get to determine if we are holding the right people.

I heard someone say "If the government has nothing to hide then why are they hiding everything". Truer words could not have been spoken about the Bush administration.

Broader Privilege Claimed In Firings

Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege.

The position presents serious legal and political obstacles for congressional Democrats, who have begun laying the groundwork for contempt proceedings against current and former White House officials in order to pry loose information about the dismissals.

What this order is saying is that the President by just exerting executive privilege can stop any official from testifying and the Congress will have no legal recourse.

We have officially entered the reign of King George. It is time for the impeachment and removal of this very dangerous man from the Presidency. He believes he and his cronies are above the law. When will the American people finally udnerstand exactly what is happening and march in the streets for the removal of this cancer on the Presidency?

It is Not Their Fault

Watch this special comment from Keith Olbermann. He seems to be the only one in our media who is telling it like it is.

General Pleads For Time To Secure Iraq

Do you remember when they said that by September we would know if the surge was working. We needed to be patient and give the surge the summer to succeed. Now comes this.

If the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq is reversed before the summer of 2008, the military will risk giving up the security gains it has achieved at a cost of hundreds of American lives over the past six months, the commander of U.S. forces south of Baghdad said Friday.

What guarantee do we have that an extended say will accomplish the stated goal? The Iraqi government is not up to the task and the country is in a civil war. How will more time change that? Aren't we just prolonging the inevitable?

How many more of our soldiers will need to die for this endless quagmire? Unfortunately I don't believe there is anything that can be done to stop the slaughter of innocent Iraqis that will occur no matter when we leave. How does anyone in this administration sleep at night? The amount of needless death and destruction wrought upon Iraq in pursuit of their oil is criminal. Increasing the death toll with no real hope of a secure Iraq only compounds the situation.

I have to wonder how many of the Republicans who continue to stop any meaningful plan for withdrawal actually believe what they are doing is morally correct. My guess is not many but that political considerations far outweigh moral considerations. This is Bush's war and no matter how long they stall the inevitable, that fact will never change.

Bush To Undergo Colonoscopy

In a last ditch attempt to find either a heart or brain President Bush will undergo a colonoscopy on Saturday and yield power to Vice President Cheney. Press secretary Tony Snow told reporters Friday that Bush will have the procedure done at his Camp David, Md., mountaintop retreat.

Two polyps were discovered during examinations in 1998 and 1999 while Bush was governor of Texas. That made Bush a prime candidate for regular examinations.

Are they sure it was actually polyps and not his very tiny brain? That would explain what seems like a drain of any intellect since he bacame President. The funny thing is that they keep saying he will hand over power to Cheney like he ever had the power in the first place.

I would imagine it will be necessary for Cheney to take his hand out of Bush's ass or it will be quite difficult to perform the colonoscopy.

Pakistan Suicide Bombings Kill 36

I have been writing about Pakistan nearly daily as I see it to be the most dangerous nation on earth. This article does nothing to change that opinion.

Suicide bombers hit a convoy of Chinese workers in southern Pakistan and a police academy in the north, killing 36 people and wounding 54 in the latest violence in the week since the army stormed a mosque held by Islamic extremists.

Suicide attacks, bombings and shootings blamed on Islamic extremists and a bloody army siege of radicals in Islamabad's Red Mosque have killed about 270 people in Pakistan so far this month, stirring doubts about the country's stability.

The instability in Pakistan can be directly attributed to the resurgence of al-Qaeda. Why was al-Qaeda allowed to strengthen? The answer is simple. Pakistan is yet another casualty of the War in Iraq. Should Pakistan fall to the terrorists, which becomes ever more likely with each additional bombing, the world will need to act. Iraq will look like a day at Disney World if the worst case scenario comes true. Everyone needs to remember that had the Bush administration kept up its fight against al-Qaeda instead of starting the Iraq War this situation may very well not have happened. The Pakistani security forces are known to sympathize with radical Islam and Pakistan was the only governemnt that officaly ackknowleged the Taliban. When your friends tell you how we are safer now than we were before please explain to them about Pakistan.

Blogosphere Day

Today is the third anniversary of Blogosphere Day. On July 19, 2004 the blogosphere came together in support of a candidate Ginny Schrader. That day they showed the power of the progressive netroots and it is on this day yearly that we celebrate the start of something very important in the preservation of our democracy.

The blogosphere continues to be the best defense against the corporate interests which dominate our media. Without the blogosphere it is almost certain that the information you would receive would be incomplete at best and lies at worst.

Show your support for the blogosphere by donating to Act Blue.

Lessons of the Day

Today I hope most Americans finally realized that this war will never end as long as the Republicans can continue to stop the vote. Today we learned that an up or down vote on confirming conservative hacks for the Supreme Court is necessary but that doing everything humanly possible to avoid an up or down vote on ending this war is just another day at work for these freaks.

As more and more of our brave soldiers are killed in the endless quagmire called Iraq please remember that these Republicans and Joe Lieberman (just switch parties already Holy Joe and make it official)have the blood of every single additional soldier lost on their hands. Had they just followed their own stated principles of an up or down vote the end of the war could have been in sight. Instead more will die, our deficit will grow and we will be considered pariahs in the international community.

2008 can not get here soon enough.

Chickenhawks Exposed

Watch this video and you will see the next generation of the Republican party. It is amazingly easy for them to support the war but they will never fight in it. They are also homophobic and I must say a bit intellectually challenged.



Untitled from huffpost and Vimeo.

Subprime Woes Will Get Worse

The pain and suffering felt by homeowners and communities from foreclosures and delinquencies will "likely get worse before they get better," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday, but the problems in the subprime mortgage market haven't caused a systemwide credit crunch.

Bernanke, under fire from lawmakers for the Fed's failure to step in earlier to prevent massive mortgage fraud and lending abuse that helped fuel the nation's housing bubble, said the Fed and other regulators will issue stronger rules soon to protect consumers.

In testimony on Capitol Hill, Bernanke pinned much of the blame for the recent economic slowdown on the "ongoing adjustment in the housing sector."

I have been saying for some time that this situation will almost surely have a negative impact on the economy as a whole as people will have less money to spend as a result of the subprime mortgage disaster.

Yesterday I was speaking with a friend who is a mortgage underwriter and she told me that her office has slowed to a crawl and that many branches of her firm may close as a result of the subprime mortgage disaster.

The problem is that stricter underwriting guidelines that are being imposed, to stop this from happening again, has ruled out many from the housing market. In order for the market to recover it will take a price correction that will allow people to actually qualify under the new stricter guidelines.

I predicted a recession for the end of this year or early in 2008. If that happens the Republican party will pay dearly for a complete lack of oversight that has allowed the big money interests to prosper at the expense of the American middle class.

Defense Authorization Bill Pulled

Finally the Democrats are showing some balls. It is being reported that Harry Reid has pulled the defense authirozation bill until the Republicans allow a vote on the Reed-Levin bill. I will post more details as they become available. Finally someone is following the will of the American people.

16 Pakistani Soldiers Killed in Attack

Militants attacked security forces Wednesday in northwest Pakistan, killing 16 soldiers and wounding up to 21 others in two separate strikes against military convoys, officials said.

The escalating violence follows the scrapping by militant leaders of a 10-month-old peace accord with the government in the Afghan frontier region of North Waziristan.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said he would not declare a state of emergency in face of the mounting bloodshed and claimed that al-Qaida in Pakistan was on the run, his spokesman told The Associated Press.

"Al-Qaida has weakened because of the actions taken by Pakistani forces," Musharraf was quoted by spokesman Rashid Quereshi as telling newspaper editors.

The president said elections scheduled for later this year would be held on time.

Adding to Musharraf's woes was a suicide bombing Tuesday night in Islamabad before a rally to support the country's chief justice in his face-off with the president. Supporters of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry accused the government of being behind the attack, which killed 16 people. Musharaff tried to fire the independent-minded Chaudhry, sparking a popular backlash.

The meltdown in Pakistan continues. Pervez Musharraf is hanging onto power by a thread and if he is toppled we will be faced with one of the most dangerous situations the world has ever known. Where will we get the military resources to stop a nuclear armed, terrorist controlled Pakistan? Now can you finally understand why the war in Iraq has been an even bigger disaster than previously thought? The problems in Pakistan are a direct result of our decision to invade Iraq instead of continuing the fight against al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

Senate To Vote at 11:00 AM on Cloture

The Senate will vote at 11:00 AM To end debate on the Reed-Levin Bill that would require troop withdrawal within 120 days.

Sixty votes are required to end the Republican filibuster against the amendment sponsored by Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Democrats are expected to fall short.

At most, Democrats are likely to muster about 52 votes with the help of three Republicans, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Gordon Smith of Oregon.

This filibuster to stop a vote on ending the war is being conducted by the same people who insisted and got an up or down vote on two Supreme Court nominees. The Republicans have one set of rules for themselves and a completely different set for everyone else.

The facts is that this war in Iraq is not winnable because no one knows what winning is. The Bush administration is responsible for the worst foreign policy disaster in our history. The effects of this war on the region will be felt for a generation long after this fool has left office to go back to doing what he is most qualified to do - nothing.

In 2008 we must all make our voices heard and hold to account those lawmakers who put party over country and special interests over the public interest. Only when lawmakers realize that we are paying attention and will hold them to account will the political situation in this country improve. There are no good options left in Iraq which is the result of a bad policy coming home to roost. The violence will increase no matter when we leave. The question is how many of our troops will die needlessly trying to prevent the inevitable.

The people of Iraq deserved better than a policy based on revenge. Saddam Hussein is dead as George W. Bush wanted but the people of his country will suffer for a generation. His people and our troops are now being used as pawns in a deadly game of chess where there can be no winner.

Senate To Pull An All Nighter

The Senate has rolled in cots and will stay in session until they get a vote on a proposal to get our troops out of Iraq.

Republican leaders are using procedural tactics to block the measure from moving forward on the Senate floor.

Senators are debating a plan, proposed as an amendment to a defense bill, that calls for a U.S. troop pullout from Iraq to begin within 120 days and completed by next April.

Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, is a key sponsor.

"The Bush administration's current policy is straining our military, inhibiting our ability to fight the war on terrorism, diminishing our standing in the international community, and rapidly losing the support of the American public," he said. "In sum, it is a policy that cannot be sustained."

This will most likely not accomplish its stated goal but it will highlight for the American people the intractable Republican position. Hopefully people will finally relaize that this war can not end until there are 60 votes to get any proposal to the Senate floor and 2/3 of each house to override a sure presidential veto.

The republicans will use the argument that they need to stay to fight Al-Qaeda in Iraq. We must continually remind them that this terrorist group did not exist prior to our invasion of Iraq. The basis for the war was all lies and the execution of the war a complete disaster. How many more must die before the Republicans will do the right thing and end this disastrous war.

Al-Qaeda Re-Emerging in Pakistan

I have been writing for some time on my belief that Pakistan is the most dangerous country on earth. This report confirms what I have been saying.

The al-Qaeda terrorist network has been regenerating its ability to carry out attacks on US soil by finding refuge in a remote region of Pakistan, a US intelligence report released Tuesday said.

Al-Qaeda's top operatives and leadership have found safe-haven in Pakistan's frontier areas near the border with Afghanistan, a region referred to as the Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where the government exercises little control, the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) said.

Am I the only one that remembers when President Bush said any country that harbors terrorists will be dealt with by the United States? Instead he attacked Iraq, a country that did not harbor terrorists. You will hear people point to Saddam Hussein's payments to the families of suicide bombers as proof of his involvement with terrorists. The goverment of Saudi Arabia does exactly the same thing and 14 of the 19 hijackers of 9/11 were Saudi yet no military action was taken on the Saudi government. This is exactly the same thing that is happening with Pakistan while we continue the drumbeat for war with Iran.

When will the American people finally realize that our citizens are being used as pawns in a very dangerous game. If premptive war is fine for Iraq then why haven't they used the military to attack the training camps now flourishing in Pakistan? Possibly no money can be made by attacking Pakistan since they are not known for their oil reserves and Saudi Arabian military purchases are already enriching American firms with ties to the Bush administration. The empty rhetoric of the Bush administration has left America more vulnerable to terrorism but has enriched his cronies. That simple fact alone should be grounds for impeachment.

Editorial That Tells It Like It Is

From the Albuquerque Journal:

It's hard to know what to think these days about U.S. security, what with attempted car bombings at Britain's airports, terrorist threat assessments rising in the United States, nonspecific warnings of a possible terrorist attack this summer and President Bush finally facing a serious policy showdown on Iraq.

Americans should be miffed when U.S. counterterrorism officials say al-Qaida is revived and reinvigorated and Iraq has made little to no progress toward its own independence and security - and when Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says he has "a gut feeling" that the U.S. will be attacked this summer. Nothing specific, nothing factual, nothing credible, mind you, Chertoff says. Just his uneasy gut.

Attentive Americans have figured out since Sept. 11, 2001, and the Homeland Security Advisory System of colors was introduced that it always seemed the threat level was raised whenever some otherwise unfavorable administration news was occurring. What color is gut?

Is it coincidence that with Republican senators jumping off Bush's floundering Iraq ship - like bullfrogs off a hot tin roof - the specter of a bigger, meaner al-Qaida is being raised and terrorist-attack guts are being checked? Perhaps.

But maybe from the people's perspective - those 70 percent or so of Americans who now want the United States out of Iraq - the timing is the perfect storm. The convergence is amazing for those who want to spin the news right back at an administration that:

Has obsessed over Iraq, which posed no threat to the United States when it was invaded.

Has ignored al-Qaida's growth and resurgence in Pakistan and, perhaps, parts of Afghanistan.

Hasn't a clue where Osama bin Laden is.

Continues to represent the civil war in Iraq as a terrorist threat to the United States.

Insists in the face of the brutal realities on the ground, and in its own reports and assessments, that the United States and/or the Iraqis are making progress.

One of the blunt realities of this week's al-Qaida threat assessment, which found the terrorist group "considerably operationally stronger" and "regrouped to an extend not seen since 2001," should be that Bush's policies not only permitted this to happen by waging an unnecessary and all-consumptive war in Iraq, but it also created a grand opportunity for al-Qaida to do battlefield training during our four-year occupation of Iraq.

Given that U.S. forces have been largely pinned down in the bloody Iraq occupation and civil war for the past four years, should it surprise anyone in Washington, Peoria or Albuquerque that al-Qaida has regrouped and grown stronger in its historic stomping grounds of Pakistan and Afghanistan?

Is it also coincidence that almost nobody is talking about persistent homeland vulnerabilities here, including U.S. ports, power plants, refineries, depots and other vital elements of infrastructure?

Would it really shock any American if Chertoff's gut proved right? After four years in Iraq, does it appear we have terrorism on the ropes? How many Americans believe Bush when he says, for what must be the hundredth time, that we are making progress in Iraq and we can "win." And would we know it if it happened?

Do Americans feel any safer approaching the sixth anniversary of 9/11, given the dismal performance of Homeland Security during and after Hurricane Katrina? Not to mention, of course, that two years after that gruesome tragedy, the inexcusable reality remains that much of New Orleans and the Katrina-afflicted Gulf Coast look like they belong in Iraq, not the American South.

And what of the governors who say our National Guard and Reserve units are understaffed and ill-equipped and, worse, not here to respond to domestic emergencies or natural disasters?

Americans deserve honest assessments of terrorist threats, as well as our vulnerabilities to them, and Congress must evaluate them honestly and stringently.

But more importantly, Americans deserve action from a government that has failed to focus its power, resources and precious people on the real security problems at home and abroad.

This administration's policies have completely missed the mark on all fronts.

The Senate, including the Republican minority, should be leading this nation, in the gross absence of sensible leadership from a president and commander-in-chief who continues to fail us miserably.

It is not about accepting failure in Iraq anymore. It is about recognizing and changing the policies that have utterly failed our soldiers, failed the people of Iraq and continue to fail the American people.

Dow Jones, Murdoch Reach a Deal

This is not good news as more of our media is put in the hands of the owner of Fox News.

Executives from Dow Jones have agreed to the major terms of a deal to sell the company to News Corp., a move that would give Rupert Murdoch long-sought control of the Wall Street Journal, the nation's preeminent financial newspaper, according to a source familiar with the talks.

The Dow Jones board will meet as early as this afternoon to formally consider Murdoch's unsolicited $5 billion bid, made in April, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are ongoing.

The consolidation of our media into just a few hands is dangerous for our Democracy and must be resisted. The fourth estate, as the media is often called, should be neutral. Is there anyone that thinks the common good is being served by our current media?

What they will do next is try to bring the last bastion of media freedom, the internet under the control of these same firms. This must be resisted at all costs. One of the major reasons that the American public is so uninformed on the issues of the day is the sad state of our media.

One only has to look at the run up to the Iraq War to understand how our media has let us down. Instead of being a place that would examine all aspects of the proposed war they simply reported what was being sold by the Bush administration. That has led us to where we are today. This latest power grab by News Corp is very troubling. We must go back to the time when media ownership was limited. Without that you can kiss this democracy goodbye.

Hypocrisy Republican Style

With the recent revelations that pro family, anti-gay Senator Vitter from Louisiana likes to frequent prostitutes where is the outrage among the Conservatives? Am I the only one who finds it hypocritical that a man, who believes my relationships are worthless because I am Gay, has engaged in an illegal activity and violated the vows he swore to uphold?

I would like to tell Mr. Vitter a few things:

1) I have never cheated on anyone I was in a committed relationship with
2) I have never illegally paid for sex.

You said during the Clinton impeachment that he should be judged on the moral issues, I ask that you do the same for yourself. Is it moral to frequent prostitutes in violation of the law while satisfying your sexual fantasies? I have no problem with your diaper fetish as I believe what two people do behind closed doors is their business it is you who feels the government belongs in my bedroom. If you follow your own words you will resign immediately.

The Conservatives ridiculed Hillary Clinton for staying with her husband. Where is the same ridicule for your wife? The Conservative movement has nothing to do with morality and everything to do with gaining power. The Conservative motto should be "Do as I say not as I do". I believe America is finally waking up and realizing the most immoral among us are those that scream out for morality the loudest.

It is time for your resignation Senator Vitter. Pack up your diapers and head back to Louisiana.

Pakistan Tries To Salvage Militant Truce

The government sent tribal elders to meet with militant leaders in Pakistan's lawless northwest frontier Monday in an attempt to salvage a cease-fire renounced amid a series of suicide attacks and bombings, officials said.

Islamic militants at the weekend disavowed the 10-month-old agreement in North Waziristan and launched attacks that killed 73 people — most of them soldiers and police recruits.

The truce had reduced violence in the region, but critics like the United States argued it only allowed extremists to grow stronger in the Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold — and plan more attacks on U.S. and NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Akram Khan Durrani, the top elected official of North West Province, said that failure of the peace deal would have "dangerous consequences."

Without a truce it becomes more likely that the current government will fall to militants. The United States, while being critical of the truce, should understand that the alternative could be a Taliban like government with nuclear capabilities.

I have written extensively about Pakistan and my feeling that it is the most dangerous nation on earth. Unfortunately it is not on every nightly newscast. The American people need to understand that while our government makes a case to attack Iran, the situation in Pakistan grows ever more bleak.

We are witnessing the total collapse of an intelligent American foreign policy under this administration. The so called neocons of this administration are not looking at Pakistan but Iran as their next great heist. Maybe we should try to convince them that Pakistan is loaded with oil. I am sure that would get their attention. Don't say I didn't warn you when you wake up and hear the news that the government of Pakistan has fallen. If you think we have trouble now just think of the possibilities of a nuclear Pakistan under a rogue Taliban supporting government. Iraq will look like a day at Disney in comparison.

Insurgent Bombers Kill 74 In Iraq

Insurgents killed at least 74 people in four separate bombing attacks Monday in Baghdad and the northern city of Kirkuk.

In the predominantly Kurdish city of Kirkuk, a bomb-laden truck blew up in a busy commercial part of the city, killing 65 people and injuring 170 others, CNN quoted police as saying.

So you completely understand what is happening in Iraq I want you to follow along in this little experiment. Close your eyes and ask yourself what you see? Nothing correct!! That is the number of car bombs that were in Iraq prior to the United States invasion.

We pushed this country into civil war and are responsible for the death and destruction that has resulted. It is exactly the same as if we threw gasoline on the floor and then lit a match. Do you still think they hate us for our freedom? We have wrought more death and destruction onto a people who we supposedly wanted to liberate than any one thought possible.

Bush On Saddam: ‘That Motherf*cker Tried To Take Out My Dad’

From Think Progress:

President Bush attempted to convince the nation that Saddam Hussein had WMD as justification for invading Iraq in 2003. In Oct. 2002, for example, he stated, “If we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today — and we do — does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him as he grows even stronger and develops even more dangerous weapons?”

But today on the progressive radio program The Cappy McGarr Show, host Cappy McGarr reveals through a conversation with former Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle that in private, Bush’s real motivation was a personal vendetta:

Of all the reasons used to justify this awful war, the one that stunned me the most…and will shock you…was the one I heard from a close friend of mine former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Senator Daschle was Majority Leader at the time.

The Senate and The House Leadership were meeting with President Bush for a weekly breakfast back then, and as our country was leading up to the Iraq war. … Bush got to talking about why we needed this war, and here’s what he said to Senator Daschle “We need to get Saddam Hussein…that Mother _______ tried to take out my Dad.”

People have been saying that this was the reason for the war for some time. I could not believe that his advisers would allow our country to be taken into a war to satisfy a personal vendetta. Then all you need to do is remember that the Project For a New American Century wanted this war back in the 90's during the Clinton Administration. President Clinton had the good sense to reject this policy. When George W. Bush was elected they realized that they had someone of limited intellect that could be persuaded to start this war. They knew just what buttons to push. The result is a Middle East in turmoil, staggering loss of life and a generation of debt. Electing a fool has consequences.

British Very Worried About Pakistan

As a complement to what I recently posted about Pakistan comes this report from a British newspaper.

Britain's most senior generals have issued a blunt warning to Downing Street that the military campaign in Afghanistan is facing a catastrophic failure, a development that could lead to an Islamist government seizing power in neighbouring Pakistan.
Amid fears that London and Washington are taking their eye off Afghanistan as they grapple with Iraq, the generals have told Number 10 that the collapse of the government in Afghanistan, headed by Hamid Karzai, would present a grave threat to the security of Britain.

It is good to see a newspaper reporting what I have been saying since I started this site. This is due to a colossal failure of the Bush administration when they decided to participate in the biggest heist of natural resources in world history instead of actually destroying the real enemy.

When your Republican friends tell you that they feel safer now than before 9/11 please have them read this. I doubt it will do any good but you can try. They seem to live in a fantasy world of good and evil where good always triumphs. In the real world evil in the form of terrorism is evident but evil in the form of foreign policy is debated as people around the world die. I beleive that terrorism in any form is evil and that includes what we did to the people of Iraq. Is there anyone who still belives that our reason for the invasion of Iraq was actually nuclear weapons when Pakistan has always been a country that harbored terrorists and has had nuclear capabilities for some time? You can dress a pig up but its still a pig. That is our policy in Iraq and the consequences are being felt all the way to Pakistan.

Militants Kill 38 in Northwest Pakistan

Suicide attackers struck a police headquarters and a military convoy on Sunday in Pakistan's northwest, killing as many as 38 people in an intensifying anti-government campaign in an area long known as a haven for the Taliban and al-Qaida.

Militants in the Afghan border region disavowed a 10-month old truce with the government that critics said gave them a safe haven from which to launch attacks on Afghan, U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

I have been writing extensively on Pakistan. I believe it to be the most dangerous nation on earth. When we invaded Iraq and took the troops out of Afghanistan we in effect destabilized Pakistan. Now the results of that destabilization are being felt. If Pakistan falls to the terrorists it will almost surely lead to some sort of nuclear conflict. Pakistan is a nuclear country and if their government falls we could be looking at a terrorist controlled country with a military and nuclear capabilities.

My question is why no one seems to be talking about this in these terms. Are they afraid of giving the American people the truth or are they just afraid that the American people will finally figure out that the Bush administration has been responsible for creating an ever more dangerous world.

Obama: Shift troops to fight al-Qaida

The U.S. should shift troops from Iraq to pursue al-Qaida along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Saturday.

He said President Bush's war-fighting policies have left the United States at greater risk from terrorists. The first-term Illinois senator said decisions by the Republican president had allowed Osama bin Laden and his deputies to elude capture.

"We cannot win a war against the terrorists if we're on the wrong battlefield," Obama said. "America must urgently begin deploying from Iraq and take the fight more effectively to the enemy's home by destroying al-Qaida's leadership along the Afghan-Pakistan border, eliminating their command and control networks and disrupting their funding."

This is what all the Democratic candidates need to be saying. The fact is that the war in Iraq has diverted us from the real enemy while creating hundreds of thousands more. Nothing makes me want to scream more than those who keep talking about terrorists now in Iraq. They always forget to mention that they were not there until we invaded. Our Middle East policies are the reason for their intense hatred for us. If you believe that they simply hate us for our freedom then you are simply unable to understand the world around us. Unfortunately people in that category include this dim witted President.