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December 29, 2005
Friday, April 08, 2005
Friday's Links
Activism
Did you know that we've already spent at least $200 billion on Iraq? Now, Congress has been asked for $82 billion more. Where is this money going? How much more are we going to appropriate? MoveOn has started an excellent petition that demands Congress be presented with an exit strategy before appropriating this money. Go here to sign MoveOn's petition. If no timetable is set, we can see Congress continue to dole out more money for a long time to come, and that's not at all fair to the American taxpayers OR the Armed Forces.
News
16,723. In case you were curious, in addition to the 1,500 American armed forces casualties and the estimated 100,000 Iraqi casualties, 16,723 American Army soldiers have been evacuated from Iraq due to injury and disease. It's gotten so bad that there's even talk of reinstating the draft for health care workers. In fact, given last week's attack on Abu Ghraib prison by insurgents led by Abu Musab Zarqawi (in which 44 Americans were wounded), it's safe to say that we're no closer to a stable, safe system than we were before the election. We might even be worse off. Remember Moqtada Sadr? The influential cleric who led a major faction of insurgents against American forces in 2003? Don't blink, but he's back, and he wants "the occupiers" out. At least there is some good news as of late: We seem to be starting to transfer responsibility to Iraqi forces, although some officers feel like they're being pushed to transfer power before the Iraqis are ready to handle it. Additionally, Iraqis have chosen their new president. The appointment of Shiite leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari to the post of president ends months of political squabbling, and gets us one step closer to a truly independent Iraq. Of course, thanks to Donald Rumsfeld, that destination is hard to see, because, as he said, "You start predicting that this is a turning point; the next thing you find is the turning point back the other way. It is not a straight path." No kidding, Mr. Secretary.
Editorials
Pinkertons at the CPA. Matthew Harwood has a column up at Common Dreams that discusses Iraq's labor unions. Harwood explains that these unions could have been used to rebuild and repair Iraq had the U.S. chosen to use them. Instead, organized labor in Iraq has been mostly ignored, and American defense contractors have been brought in. We're certainly not surprised by this - the Bush administration does have a soft spot in its heart for defense contractors, after all. It's just maddening.
Karen Hughes Sells Brand America. Fred Kaplan on why Karen Hughes's new job is going to be harder than anyone anticipates. Kaplan speculates that, as with the last two people to hold the job, Hughes's nomination makes sense because "a clever ad can sell America in pretty much the same way that a clever ad can sell Coca-Cola, Nike, or Britney Spears," and Hughes can handle that. Excepting, of course, the fact that this "clever ad" will never work. Wouldn't a better nomination for this position have been someone...oh, we don't know...Muslim?
Who Are These Insurgents? Phebe Marr, over at Nieman Watchdog, breaks down the "Who/What/Where/When/Why/How" of insurgents. Here's why you should read this column: "Understanding the attitude of the Iraqi populace toward the insurgency is critical, because the insurgency will last as long as it gets support -- tacit and active -- from within Iraqi society. Unless the government comes up with a viable strategy for dealing with it that includes political, as well as military, measures, the insurgency will continue." She's 100% correct here, and it's a shame that no one in the Administration has nearly as much insight as she does. Of course, she works at the "U.S. Institute of Peace", whereas the office of the President these days is clearly the "U.S. Institute of War".
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December 29, 2005
Friday, April 08, 2005
Friday's Links
Activism
Did you know that we've already spent at least $200 billion on Iraq? Now, Congress has been asked for $82 billion more. Where is this money going? How much more are we going to appropriate? MoveOn has started an excellent petition that demands Congress be presented with an exit strategy before appropriating this money. Go here to sign MoveOn's petition. If no timetable is set, we can see Congress continue to dole out more money for a long time to come, and that's not at all fair to the American taxpayers OR the Armed Forces.
News
16,723. In case you were curious, in addition to the 1,500 American armed forces casualties and the estimated 100,000 Iraqi casualties, 16,723 American Army soldiers have been evacuated from Iraq due to injury and disease. It's gotten so bad that there's even talk of reinstating the draft for health care workers. In fact, given last week's attack on Abu Ghraib prison by insurgents led by Abu Musab Zarqawi (in which 44 Americans were wounded), it's safe to say that we're no closer to a stable, safe system than we were before the election. We might even be worse off. Remember Moqtada Sadr? The influential cleric who led a major faction of insurgents against American forces in 2003? Don't blink, but he's back, and he wants "the occupiers" out. At least there is some good news as of late: We seem to be starting to transfer responsibility to Iraqi forces, although some officers feel like they're being pushed to transfer power before the Iraqis are ready to handle it. Additionally, Iraqis have chosen their new president. The appointment of Shiite leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari to the post of president ends months of political squabbling, and gets us one step closer to a truly independent Iraq. Of course, thanks to Donald Rumsfeld, that destination is hard to see, because, as he said, "You start predicting that this is a turning point; the next thing you find is the turning point back the other way. It is not a straight path." No kidding, Mr. Secretary.
Editorials
Pinkertons at the CPA. Matthew Harwood has a column up at Common Dreams that discusses Iraq's labor unions. Harwood explains that these unions could have been used to rebuild and repair Iraq had the U.S. chosen to use them. Instead, organized labor in Iraq has been mostly ignored, and American defense contractors have been brought in. We're certainly not surprised by this - the Bush administration does have a soft spot in its heart for defense contractors, after all. It's just maddening.
Karen Hughes Sells Brand America. Fred Kaplan on why Karen Hughes's new job is going to be harder than anyone anticipates. Kaplan speculates that, as with the last two people to hold the job, Hughes's nomination makes sense because "a clever ad can sell America in pretty much the same way that a clever ad can sell Coca-Cola, Nike, or Britney Spears," and Hughes can handle that. Excepting, of course, the fact that this "clever ad" will never work. Wouldn't a better nomination for this position have been someone...oh, we don't know...Muslim?
Who Are These Insurgents? Phebe Marr, over at Nieman Watchdog, breaks down the "Who/What/Where/When/Why/How" of insurgents. Here's why you should read this column: "Understanding the attitude of the Iraqi populace toward the insurgency is critical, because the insurgency will last as long as it gets support -- tacit and active -- from within Iraqi society. Unless the government comes up with a viable strategy for dealing with it that includes political, as well as military, measures, the insurgency will continue." She's 100% correct here, and it's a shame that no one in the Administration has nearly as much insight as she does. Of course, she works at the "U.S. Institute of Peace", whereas the office of the President these days is clearly the "U.S. Institute of War".
|
December 29, 2005
Did you know that we've already spent at least $200 billion on Iraq? Now, Congress has been asked for $82 billion more. Where is this money going? How much more are we going to appropriate? MoveOn has started an excellent petition that demands Congress be presented with an exit strategy before appropriating this money. Go here to sign MoveOn's petition. If no timetable is set, we can see Congress continue to dole out more money for a long time to come, and that's not at all fair to the American taxpayers OR the Armed Forces.
News
16,723. In case you were curious, in addition to the 1,500 American armed forces casualties and the estimated 100,000 Iraqi casualties, 16,723 American Army soldiers have been evacuated from Iraq due to injury and disease. It's gotten so bad that there's even talk of reinstating the draft for health care workers. In fact, given last week's attack on Abu Ghraib prison by insurgents led by Abu Musab Zarqawi (in which 44 Americans were wounded), it's safe to say that we're no closer to a stable, safe system than we were before the election. We might even be worse off. Remember Moqtada Sadr? The influential cleric who led a major faction of insurgents against American forces in 2003? Don't blink, but he's back, and he wants "the occupiers" out. At least there is some good news as of late: We seem to be starting to transfer responsibility to Iraqi forces, although some officers feel like they're being pushed to transfer power before the Iraqis are ready to handle it. Additionally, Iraqis have chosen their new president. The appointment of Shiite leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari to the post of president ends months of political squabbling, and gets us one step closer to a truly independent Iraq. Of course, thanks to Donald Rumsfeld, that destination is hard to see, because, as he said, "You start predicting that this is a turning point; the next thing you find is the turning point back the other way. It is not a straight path." No kidding, Mr. Secretary.
Editorials
Pinkertons at the CPA. Matthew Harwood has a column up at Common Dreams that discusses Iraq's labor unions. Harwood explains that these unions could have been used to rebuild and repair Iraq had the U.S. chosen to use them. Instead, organized labor in Iraq has been mostly ignored, and American defense contractors have been brought in. We're certainly not surprised by this - the Bush administration does have a soft spot in its heart for defense contractors, after all. It's just maddening.
Karen Hughes Sells Brand America. Fred Kaplan on why Karen Hughes's new job is going to be harder than anyone anticipates. Kaplan speculates that, as with the last two people to hold the job, Hughes's nomination makes sense because "a clever ad can sell America in pretty much the same way that a clever ad can sell Coca-Cola, Nike, or Britney Spears," and Hughes can handle that. Excepting, of course, the fact that this "clever ad" will never work. Wouldn't a better nomination for this position have been someone...oh, we don't know...Muslim?
Who Are These Insurgents? Phebe Marr, over at Nieman Watchdog, breaks down the "Who/What/Where/When/Why/How" of insurgents. Here's why you should read this column: "Understanding the attitude of the Iraqi populace toward the insurgency is critical, because the insurgency will last as long as it gets support -- tacit and active -- from within Iraqi society. Unless the government comes up with a viable strategy for dealing with it that includes political, as well as military, measures, the insurgency will continue." She's 100% correct here, and it's a shame that no one in the Administration has nearly as much insight as she does. Of course, she works at the "U.S. Institute of Peace", whereas the office of the President these days is clearly the "U.S. Institute of War".
