The Blue State

Bush: If they were to say 'leave', we would leave (Loophole. 'They')

In a press conference on 5/24/07 Bush was questioned "if asked, would weleave Iraq", Bush replied "If they were to say 'leave', we wouldleave."

Washington - US President George WBush, who has warned that a hasty USpullout from Iraq would be catastrophic, said on Thursday that US forces wouldleave if the fledgling Baghdad government asked them to.

"We are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. This is asovereign nation," he said at a White House press conference.

"If they were to say 'leave', we would leave."

I say"Bull Hockey"! First of all, who are "they"? As far back as2004 only a third of the Iraqi theys thought were were doing more goodthan harm.

BAGHDAD — Only a third of the Iraqi people now believe that theAmerican-led occupation of their country is doing more good than harm, and asolid majority support an immediate military pullout even though they fear thatcould put them in greater danger, according to a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.(Graphic: Iraqissurveyed)

The nationwide survey, the most comprehensive look at Iraqi attitudes towardthe occupation, was conducted in late March and early April. It reached nearly3,500 Iraqis of every religious and ethnic group

The poll shows that most continue to say the hardships suffered to deposeSaddam Hussein were worth it. Half say they and their families are better offthan they were under Saddam. And a strong majority say they are more free toworship and to speak. (Related item: Keyfindings)

But while they acknowledge benefits from dumping Saddam a yearago, Iraqis no longer see the presence of the American-led military as a plus.Asked whether they view the U.S.-led coalition as "liberators" or"occupiers," 71% of all respondents say "occupiers." Readon...

Key findings 2005: Nationwidesurvey of 3,500 Iraqis. Key to symbols:
   - = 0 or no answer
   * = less than 1%
Poll was conducted in late March and early April; clickhere for details on methodology.

With all the lies that have come out of this man'smouth (Bush), I felt it was important to give a little history regarding"them" wanting us out. The information I provided is older materialwhen the ball of "we want them out" started rolling and has onlygained momentum. It will be intersting when the hammer finally falls and how hewill spin his own words. He may simply say "well Simondidn't say" (then we'll send some more troops to find Simon?)

Just for the record; The American people are NOT "They"

Q: What Do You Call a Song Titled 'Let's Impeach The President'? A: A Good Start

I feel compelled to find and post the truth every time I hear Our GreatPresident open his mouth which has become synonymous with lying.Thanks again to "granny" for sending us the link for the video.

It didn't take the liberal bloggers and general long public to react and speak outagainst the dems for caving in on the funding bill. And it seems that theybetter grow a set quickly before we start shopping around. Think about this fora moment, you tell your spouse or significant other you are going shopping, butinstead go to a friends house...simple right? umm, NO!, you are confronted bythem and are told you lied. Maybe that's a simple minded analogy, but comparethat to The President of the United States lying on an ongoing basis, changingthe story and then his supporters actually lie further to support him. Wrong,just plain old everyday kindergartenly,  fundamentally, unacceptably wrong.

Well lets start this thing....

'Let's Impeach The President' Song by Neil Youg. Check out Neils page of Song Videos HERE.(check out the hompage)The Lyrics are HERE.

I do not like Andy Dick in just about everything I have ever seen himin...except this video

'Bush Idiot Speech'

Here is a huge list of anti-warsongs worth a peak. Listof Bush lies.

There is just so much more content which could be added to this post, but Ineed to move on from this "consumption" of me.

The ISG Report: Bush Was Against it before He Was for it.

When does it stop? When do people start being honest and stop protecting Bushand making crap up as they go? In the last few days there have been TONS ofDemocrat bashing by us libs because they foldedon the war funding bill. But what about when Bush double talks and is blatantly full of crap? FOX to the rescue, and Brit Hume gave us an outstanding displayon Fox News Sunday. Bush is now OK with the ISGreport, and when Juan Williams calls it like it is "historicalrevisionism", Hume wanted to know "who opposed it"...watchthe video then I'll tell you WHO opposed it.

 

I guess you want to know who opposed it? Bush did...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 — PresidentBush moved quickly on Thursday to distance himself from the centralrecommendations of the bipartisan IraqStudy Group: pulling back all combat brigades over the next 15 months and directtalks with Iran and Syria.

His administration did...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 — Administrationofficials say their preliminary review of the bipartisan IraqStudy Group’s recommendations has concluded that many of its key proposals areimpractical or unrealistic, and a small group inside the NationalSecurity Council is now racing to come up with alternatives to the panel’sideas.

as did the Conservative media tools!...

Summary:Conservative media figures, including Bill Kristol, Rush Limbaugh, and GlennBeck, have attacked both the members of the Iraq Study Group and its report:Kristol has called the report "an evasion" and "not a seriousdocument"; Limbaugh asserted that ISG members are "doing everythingthey can to unite the American people" in "defeat" and"surrender"; while Beck has called the ISG report "OperationWhite Flag."

Bumper Sticker campaign: 'Brit is Fullof Sh*t' or 'Humes is Full of Fumes'.

Even though I believe thatWallace has become a "little" more fair lately (maybe Daddyschooled him), Hume and Kristol against Williams isn't even a good start to fairand balanced.

Military.com: Army Taking Dragon Skin to Hill

Most of us are familiar with the latest controversy regarding the BodyArmor the military currently issues to our troops, and the rejection to useanother available vest that may be "better" called DragonSkin. MSNBC did an investigativestory on this controversy, and in this interview the developer of thevest  (Ret. Marine Lt. Colonel Jim Magee) currently being used said "DragonSkin is the best out there, hands down. It's better than the Interceptor. It isstate of the art. In some cases, it’s two steps ahead of anything I’ve everseen."

Magee, who has no financial stake whatsoever in Dragon Skin, told us, “Ifyou would ask me today, ‘Jim we’re sending you to Iraq tomorrow. What wouldyou wear?’ I would buy Dragon Skin and I would wear it.”

I don't know why it took so long for this issue to make its way to the Hill,but wouldn't we love to know?

"Since the report, we have gotten a flurry of interest" fromCapitol Hill, Brown said at a May 21 Pentagon briefing. "We're planning ongoing over to the Hill ... for discussions with key members."

Military.comis reporting the Army is planning "another" test to make anattempt to clear their name. I hope they have cameras and a few honest witnessesthere.

The Army plans to brief Congressabout test failures of Dragon Skin body armor after recent news reports toutingthe vest's capabilities prompted calls from lawmakers for an officialexplanation.

The service's top soldier equipment buyer, Brig. Gen. Mark Brown, said heplans to meet with lawmakers and staff this week after NBC News broadcast aninvestigative report Sunday claiming Dragon Skin - which uses a series ofinterlocking ceramic disks to stop armor-piercing bullets - outperformed armorcurrently issued by the Army.

Thetesting is quite convincing (until you get to the biased militarytesting). You can contact your public officials Hereabout this issue, I expect a fair test and a QUICK one!

Army officials saythey want to field a system similar to Dragon Skin, whose interlocking ceramicdisks provide more protective coverage and more flexibility thancurrently-issued armor. But at nearly 20-pounds heavier than the Army's vest,Dragon Skin technology isn't there yet.

I think the military ismaking the "20-pounds heavier" part up. According to the specsheet, its a total weight of  17.2 pounds.

The SOV-3000â„¢ Level IV,with our large standard tactical front and back panel configuration weighsapproximately 17.2 lbs. and varies depending on the level of coverage needed.The SOV-3000â„¢ is manufactured with a ceramic composite.

Videosof the testing can be found here.From the information I have read and videos I watched, Dragon Skin looks prettygood.

History Channel's 'Mail Call' (More videos here)

Bill Moyers Essay: The Cost of War

In a comment left by The Blue State's newest contributor Alex, he posts alink of a video essay by Bill Moyers 'TheCost of War' which aired last night. I'd like to thank Alex for thiscontribution, as well as welcome him to the team.

In the video Bill gives some statistics that are staggering to say the least.3372 soldier death toll; over 25,000 wounded; over 1500 lost limbs, either lostdue to an explosion or amputation, and over 5000 head and brain injuries. Whatis just as disturbing (if not more) than these statistics, is the government notacknowledging  these soldiers in a way deserving of their service. What wedo hear is how the democrats want to cut off the funding for our brave soldiers,or if you disagree with the war you don't support the troops. Well for starters,that is utter BS, the congress is making sure the soldiers get what they need.As far as anti-war Americans not supporting the troops, just go to VoteVets and point out all the anti-war Americans  that don'tsupport the troops.

In my opinion its the people that support the war (at this point) whilesitting safely in their homes, never watching or reading any anti-warinformation or watching anti-war documentary's and videos, ya see, because thatwould be unpatriotic.

The administration can take their "New way forward" and "allthe successes that aren't being told and shown" (umm, because there aren'tany) and stick them, along with their approval ratings. And as far as theconservative commentators that consider anyone against the president and the war"far left wing bias", they should just stay out of the medicinecabinet.

 

The Cost of War

Bush: 'Condi Wont be Rude'

What is wrong with this guy and his administration of jackasses? In referenceto Rice bumping into the foreign minister of Iran, Bush actually had totell us she wouldn't berude, and will be firm about policy. Why would he feelthe need to tell us that? Oh, maybe because he thinks she's incompetenttoo.

"Should the foreign minister of Iran bump into Condi Rice, Condi won'tbe rude; she's not a rude person. I'm sure she'll be polite," Bush said ata news conference after meeting with European Union leaders.

"She'll also be firm in reminding the representative of the Iraniangovernment that there's a better way forward for the Iranian people thanisolation," Bush said.

 

Lies and Corruption and We're Paying for it

A year after the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (Gen.Stuart Bowen Jr.) reporteda $186 million construction project was a failure, where 150 health carecenters were supposed to be completed and only 6 had been, and the exposure thatKBR(Kellog, Brown & Root) wascharging $28 per empty Styrofoam dining plate for our troops, now more ofour taxmoney is being thrown away?

A severe lack of maintenance appears to be threatening the future usefulness ofsome of the facilities renovated during the effort to rebuild Iraq, says a newreport from the U.S. inspector general monitoring reconstruction.

Inspectors from the Office of the Special Inspector General for IraqReconstruction, which is charged with reviewing Iraqi reconstruction projectsthat are financed by the U.S., visited eight facilities throughout the country,to determine whether the buildings were operating at full capacity.

What the inspectors discovered is that, even though those facilities had beencompleted and declared to be successes, and subsequently met the stated"objectives" of reconstruction, they were not functioning properly.

Sites suffered from deterioration, poor or no maintenance, or were not evenbeing used by the people for whom they were built, at a cost to U.S. taxpayersof approximately $150 million.

And these were sites that the United States had previously declared to besigns of Iraq's rebirth: police stations, a military base, a maternityhospital, a recruiting center.

I was wondering what "successes" LauraBush was talking about in an interview Dec. 2006,  (with video)

It is not encouraging coverage for sure. There’s no doubt about it. But I doknow that there are a lot of good things that are happening that aren’tcovered. And I think that the drum beat in the country from the media, from theonly way people know what is happening unless they happened to have a loved onedeployed there, is discouraging.

And this was at the same timethe ISG (Iraq Study Group) Report stated the Bush administration is "significantlyunderreporting the violence in Iraq."  And now theadministration isn't including the deathsthat result from car bombings.

This always brings me back to the White House's FactSheet: Rebuilding Iraq, and the NationalStrategy for Victory in Iraq.

Victory in Iraq is Defined in Stages 

          Short term, Iraq is making steady progress in fighting terrorists, meeting political milestones, building democratic institutions, and standing up security forces.

Medium term, Iraq is in the lead defeating terrorists and providing its own security, with a fully constitutional government in place, and on its way to achieving its economic potential.

Longer term, Iraq is peaceful, united, stable, and secure, well integrated into the international community, and a full partner in the global war on terrorism.

I don't understand the reasoning behind the continued support for this war bythe few "holdouts"

Post Bonus: Listof Bush Lies, and Top 1020 Bush Lies.

Walter Reed Surprised Admin., but it Wasn't a Suprise (what a suprise!)

Everyone seemedso surprised when the Walter Reed scandal broke. Then Everyone saidthey will get to the bottom of the issue. Well it seems that Everyoneknew about the neglect of the soldiers in 2004 . The administration justbullshitted us again and simply neglected to prepare for the woundedsoldiers.

April 25, 2007 | WASHINGTON -- When the Walter Reed scandal exploded in themedia in February, bringing wide attention to inadequate care for veterans atthe Army's flagship hospital, Defense Department officials expressed shock andclaimed ignorance. Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., the assistant defense secretarywho oversees military medicine, declared at a press conference on Feb. 21:"This news caught me -- as it did many other people -- completely bysurprise."

But Salon has learned that the Defense Department had been conducting monthlyfocus group discussions with soldiers treated at Walter Reed since before thewars in Afghanistanand Iraq had evenbegun, and that it continued to do so as wounded veterans of those conflictsarrived at the facility. The interviews with outpatients were set up to monitorArmy healthcare and provide military officials with direct information about it.

"They were trying to find out the good and the bad and theugly," said a former Defense Department official familiar with the DoDfocus groups. "That is the good-news story. The bad-news story is they didnot do anything about it."

Until last week, the leaders of the Force Health Protection and Readinessoffice, which ran the interviews, reported to Winkenwerder. During his Feb. 21press conference, Winkenwerder suggested that money was not the source of theproblems at Walter Reed. "Let me just say, this is not a resourceissue," he told reporters. The next day, the White House announced thatWinkenwerder would be leaving his post. (His replacement, Dr. S. WardCasscells, a vice president of biotechnology at the University of Texas HealthScience Center, took over last week.)

Read the complete story at TheSalon.: "The Pentagon's Chronic Neglect of Iraq Vets"

So, if you don't agree with the war, you don't support the troops, but if yousupport the war you DO support the troops, just not the injured ones becausethey don't count? This would be a good question to ask the decider, because hecan straighten anything out!

 

 

What's 12 ft High and 3 Miles Long in Baghdad? Within a month, a Wall

There's nothing like a nice cozywall to keep you safe and warm. This could make it just as lucrative to be aMason/brick layer/wall builder as it would be a fencebuilder these days.

Think Progress : Iraqis fear U.S. wall will turn then into ‘caged animals.’

 

The wall has already drawn intense criticism from residents of the  neighborhood, who say that it will increase sectarian tensions and that it is  part of a plan by the Shiite-led Iraqi government to box in the minority Sunnis.

A doctor in Adhamiya, Abu Hassan, said the wall would transform the  residents into caged animals.

  “It’s unbelievable that they treat us in such an inhumane manner,” he  said in a telephone interview. “They’re trying to isolate us from other  parts of Baghdad. The hatred will be much greater between the two sects.”

Wellwhy not? If they can't get along, separate them. I don't know why this wasn'tthought of thousands of years ago when they started the shenanigans.

NYT's : U.S.Erects Baghdad Wall to Keep Sects Apart

BAGHDAD, April 20 — Americanmilitary commanders in Baghdad are trying a radical new strategy to quell thewidening sectarian violence by building a 12-foot-high, three-mile-long wallseparating a historic Sunni enclave from Shiite neighborhoods. 

Soldiers in the Adhamiya district of northern Baghdad, a Sunni Arab  stronghold, began construction of the wall last week and expect to  finish it within a month. Iraqi Army soldiers would then control movement  through a few checkpoints. The wall has already drawn intense criticism from  residents of the neighborhood, who say that it will increase sectarian  tensions and that it is part of a plan by the Shiite-led Iraqi government to  box in the minority Sunnis.

Funny how we didn't hear Bush speak about this wonderful wall.He must have been saving it for another "MissionAccomplished" moment, that would surely give the GOP a boost for'o8. (Damn media)

Today's News Catch-Up

The Blue State's Live Blogging on the Alberto Gonzales hearing today put us a little behindwith the "other" news. This post is a quick catch-up. We should beback to normal tomorrow.

Today Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid toldBush the war is lost

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saidon Thursday he told President George W. Bush the Iraq war was lost and therecent U.S. troop increase had accomplished nothing.

Rep JohnDoolittle gaveup his seat on the House Appropriations Committee today. Thiscame a day after The Washington Post reported the FBIraided the Doolittle home.

WASHINGTON Apr19, 2007 (AP)— Rep. John Doolittle, whose house was searchedby the FBI in an influence-peddling investigation, said Thursday he will stepdown temporarily from the House Appropriations Committee.

The Independent - "DeathSquads End Truce to Seek Revenge"

Death squads are returning to the streets of Baghdad despite the securityplan for the capital launched with great fanfare by the US two months ago.

As Iraqis bury the 230 people killed or found dead on Wednesday, ominoussigns are appearing that the Shia militias have resumed their tit-for-tatkillings. There is a sharp increase in the number of dead bodies found bearingsigns of torture, with 67 corpses discovered dumped in Baghdad in the firstthree days of the week.