Are We at War With Syria?
Are We at War With Syria?
Today, Secretary Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the United States would not rule out the use of military force with Syria. “I’m not going to get into what the president’s options might be,” Rice said. “I don’t think the president ever takes any of his options off the table concerning anything to do with military force.”
But this weekend, the New York Times reported that U.S. forces are already engaged in a “shadow struggle†with Syria:
A series of clashes in the last year between American and Syrian troops, including a prolonged firefight this summer that killed several Syrians, has raised the prospect that cross-border military operations may become a dangerous new front in the Iraq war, according to current and former military and government officials. …
…other [Bush administration] officials, who say they got their information in the field or by talking to Special Operations commanders, say that as American efforts to cut off the flow of fighters have intensified, the operations have spilled over the [Iraq-Syria] border – sometimes by accident, sometimes by design.
Some current and former officials add that the United States military is considering plans to conduct special operations inside Syria, using small covert teams for cross-border intelligence gathering.
…
Increasingly, officials say, Syria is to the Iraq war what Cambodia was in the Vietnam War: a sanctuary for fighters, money and supplies to flow over the border and, ultimately, a place for a shadow struggle.
Looks like the military option isn’t so much of an “option†anymore.
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It looks like the British may be doing the same thing on Iranian border. These guys know how to start wars, but they just ain’t that good at finishing them.
October 19th, 2005 at 4:25 pmPayson -
You mangled that first sentence, I think I know what you intended to say but it could be tidied up.
October 19th, 2005 at 4:25 pmThanks Ugh!
October 19th, 2005 at 4:32 pmWe’re at war with Syria and Iran. Apparently there were several explosions this week in Iran, and they’re blaming the coalition for bombing them.
We all knew the NeoCon freaks would destabalize the region – it’s just a matter of time till they turn the entire place into a bloodbath, and not just Iraq! Ineptitude at it’s finest!
October 19th, 2005 at 4:33 pmLet the diversions begin!
October 19th, 2005 at 4:34 pmNo problem but you still need an “of” between “use” and “military.”
October 19th, 2005 at 4:36 pmTHEY WOULDN’T REALLY DO THIS START ANOTHER WAR WITH SYRIA AND IRAN. I THOUGHT CONGRESS WOULD HAVE TO VOTE ON THIS. I WOULD NOT PUT ANYTHING PASS THIS ADMINISTRATION.
October 19th, 2005 at 4:40 pmEventually all these war plans and acts of aggression are going to backfire on the US. It may go over well for the domestic nightly newscast, but the rest of the world doesn’t agree with any of it. The payback is going to be extraordinary and will even knock the Congress to it’s knees.
http://www.editorialpaintings.com
October 19th, 2005 at 4:46 pmSounds kinda like Vietnam / Cambodia all over again, doesn’t it? Bush looks more like Nixon every day. What’s that they say about people who don’t learn from history?
October 19th, 2005 at 4:46 pmEventually all these war plans and acts of aggression are going to backfire on the US. It may go over well for the domestic nightly newscast, but the rest of the world doesn’t agree with any of it. The payback is going to be extraordinary and will even knock the Congress to its knees.
http://www.editorialpaintings.com
October 19th, 2005 at 4:47 pmyeah, we need this… who is going to fight Syria, and with what equipment? Bush had better think again… the only draft I’ll tolerate is Guinness..
October 19th, 2005 at 4:48 pmAnd all those who predicted total chaos in the middle east are now wishing they had been wrong.
He really is trying to end the world!
October 19th, 2005 at 4:50 pmThis has been hinted at for a long time by people within the administration. Recent news stories have indicated that certain events have occurred that may be the beginning of another predetermined war as decreed by King George of America.
October 19th, 2005 at 4:52 pmCuriously, when Democrats claim that the war in Iraq is quite similar to the debacle of Viet Nam they are roundly criticized, but we are now hearing the comparison between Cambodia and Syria, and their relationship to Viet Nam and Iraq respectively, coming from the officials. I guess when they make the comparisons, it’s different somehow.
It is my hope that the American people, as well as the rest of the world, will not be duped again by this warmonger.
Frontline explained the ‘War Powers Act’, bush is holding a loaded gun.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:02 pmFrontline was great last night. Scary but true and informative!
October 19th, 2005 at 5:04 pmCome on, if the President were bombing Cambodia, I’m sure he would have told us about it.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:08 pmTo be fair, Bush can’t be expected to know anything about Vietnam. He avoided having to go there by getting his dad to pull some strings.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:16 pmAndrew – unlike Kerry who used Vietnam to launch his political career. At least Bush can always say he never slandered the troops in front of the world. Can Kerry?
October 19th, 2005 at 5:21 pmHey troll,
Who cares about Kerry? So last year.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:26 pmHow about today’s news:
1) Warrant issued for DeLay
2) Another “flipper” in Plamegate
3) Bush “knew”
NED, you are 100% right. Bush can also boast that he is directly to blame for nearly 2000 US troop deaths in an unjust war that his administration waged. So he trumps Kerry there as well.
Do you think history will be kind to your fearless leader?
October 19th, 2005 at 5:27 pm#19 – and what can you do about it IF any of it is true? NOTHING.
DeLay is innocent – it is just a matter of time before Earle is exposed the lying partisan that he is. That movie should help Delay. AND no one knows what Bush knows about the leak. The Daily News is a rag…
October 19th, 2005 at 5:28 pm#20 – I certainly do. History will be UNKIND to people like you. Of course, once democracy is thriving in the Middle East, Democrats will then act like they were on the right side. Just like when Kerry invoked Reagan and tried to cover up his testimony before Congress.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:30 pmNed, According to you questioning the troops is slandering them.
“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”
-Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)
That was George slandering Clinton and the troops.
You’re such a lying hypocrite!
And how is that a draft dodger who doesn’t do his duty ISN’T slandering everything the military stands for by attacking a soldier who has done his duty? You know, idiots like you that criticize those that criticize slander all soldiers who every fought for that rights! You are a shameful bitch who is treasonous to all things american!
October 19th, 2005 at 5:34 pmKeep repeating the spin troll.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:34 pmIt seems to really be working. NOT.
Crooked Crony Conservatives must go!
NED is grasping at straws here folks. It’s harder and harder for people who believe as he does to continue to fool themselves.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:34 pm“Raped, pillaged… reminiscent of Genghis Khan…”
-John Kerry, 1971 when describing what he saw American soldiers do in Vietnam. Charges he later backed off of…
October 19th, 2005 at 5:35 pm“History will be UNKIND to people like you. NEDeficient”
Only if you win. History is written by the victors – or didn’t anyone inform you of that?
Would that be anything like the history that points out WMDs were sold to Iraq by Rumsfeld? Or Plutonium producing power stations were sold to Iran by Cheney? Or that Rumsfeld RECRUITED, TRAINED AND FUNDED AlQueda?
You better hope that history is inaccurate for your sake, because at this point republicans look like incompetent bumbling fools – especially their pathetic defenders like you MissMoron!
October 19th, 2005 at 5:36 pmTrue Marie,
They must have to yell “LA LA LA” with their
October 19th, 2005 at 5:36 pmhands over their ears when they leave the
Fox/Rush winger womb for fear of hearing
the “reality based” news.
Marie – what are talking about? You people are writing up articles of impeachment and we don’t even have indictments yet.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:36 pmRyan – it must suck being you. ARE you short? Trying to overcompensate for that? That’s sad, but to be expected.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:38 pm““Raped, pillaged… reminiscent of Genghis Khan…â€
-John Kerry, 1971 when describing what he saw American soldiers do in Vietnam. Charges he later backed off of…
Comment by The Northeast Dilemma ”
Lie, and Lie. Wow, you must get those republican flyers which spread propaganda.
You excerpted a testimony that John Kerry gave, not on what HE SAW, but on what he was told by other soldiers. It’s called the Winter Soldier gathering. He was a WITNESS TO THE TESTIMONY OF OTHERS. He clearly stated he had not seen this himself.
Not only are you a bad propagandist, you’re a terrible liar! But then again, you’re a republican, we shouldn’t expect competence from you!
October 19th, 2005 at 5:38 pmPeople, people. Stop letting freeper trolls bait you into rediculous non-argument arguments. these people are brain-dead syncophants, if they really wanted to have a intelligent debate about the post, they would mention something more relevant than two-year-old Fox News anti-Kerry smears.
Ignore them and they will go away.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:38 pmAre you projecting your fears again troll?
October 19th, 2005 at 5:38 pmRyan – thank you for proving my point. Why didn’t John Kerry let his book get re-released last year? Here’s a hint – Americans hate treasonous pigs!!
October 19th, 2005 at 5:40 pmNED feels he must slander a decorated soldier by lying – an act of desperation and hypocrisy! Shame Shame miss lying idiot!
“I would like to talk, representing all those veterans, and say that several months ago in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged and many very highly decorated veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command.
It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit, the emotions in the room, the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam, but they did. They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do.
They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the country side of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.
We call this investigation the “Winter Soldier Investigation.” The term “Winter Soldier” is a play on words of Thomas Paine in 1776 when he spoke of the Sunshine Patriot and summertime soldiers who deserted at Valley Forge because the going was rough.
We who have come here to Washington have come here because we feel we have to be winter soldiers now. We could come back to this country; we could be quiet; we could hold our silence; we could not tell what went on in Vietnam, but we feel because of what threatens this country, the fact that the crimes threaten it, no reds, and not redcoats but the crimes which we are committing that threaten it, that we have to speak out. “
October 19th, 2005 at 5:41 pm“Ryan – thank you for proving my point. Why didn’t John Kerry let his book get re-released last year? Here’s a hint – Americans hate treasonous pigs!!
Comment by The Northeast Dilemma”
Actually I disproved your point, and your claim that I proved your point is just delusional whackery – all you’re capable of. You’re a lying and immoral propagandist! SHAME SHAME!
October 19th, 2005 at 5:42 pmNED,
You do realize that atrocities HAVE been proven in Vietnam by our own government don’t you? Heard of the Mai Lai massacre? Or do you prefer to allow atrocities and war crimes lay low as long as they’re committed in your name? Supporting the military does not mean you support it committing war crimes – unless you’re a fascist or a totalitarian regime. But then again, you clearly would be more comfortable in that setting!
October 19th, 2005 at 5:45 pmRyan – and the MSM covered up this little tidbit with the help of the Kerry campaign last year because they know exposing this and that book (the one with the flag turned upside down on the cover) would have ended the presidential race the second it came out.
Americans might hate lying war criminal Presidents as you like to say. But, they hate traitors even more.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:46 pmNEW SOLDIER – that’s it!!! I have a PDF right here.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:47 pmTroll,
You mean a traitor like Rove?
October 19th, 2005 at 5:48 pmNot sure who you are talking about since
there seem to be so many traitors in the
Cheney administration.
“Ryan – and the MSM covered up this little tidbit with the help of the Kerry campaign last year because they know exposing this and that book (the one with the flag turned upside down on the cover) would have ended the presidential race the second it came out.”
What delusional whackery are you talking about?
“Americans might hate lying war criminal Presidents as you like to say. But, they hate traitors even more.”
That’s true, that’s why the majority of americans disagree with the policies of this president and congress. You betray america’s values! And the majority of americans believe that if/since bush lied about the war, he should be impeached.
But then again, you’re a traitor, as you just lied about a quote and attributed it to being something that Kerry said HE saw. I copied the ACTUAL TRANSCRIPT from the winter soldier congressional hearings.
Clearly you lied! So wait a second. Wasn’t that the claim you made about kerry – that he lied? Hypocrite!
October 19th, 2005 at 5:50 pmAn upside down flag means someone’s a traitor? You’re a MORON YOU STUPID BITCH!
October 19th, 2005 at 5:50 pmRyan, calm yourself. It is obvious to all that NED is misguided, uneducated and in some ways delusional. People like that only hurt their own party. NED is good for a laugh, not a rise in blood pressure!
October 19th, 2005 at 5:55 pmMy blood pressure is working cool. I’m just stating the obvious that NED is a lunatic. People like NED don’t get a rise out of me, they’re like buzzing gnats. They just get a good swack as is appropriate :)
October 19th, 2005 at 5:59 pmahhhh…I love a good debate!!!..freedom of speech lives. Pass me some more popcorn. oh sorry, please continue NED and Ryan Neat..
October 19th, 2005 at 5:59 pmoh Jim come one, I made it past 10th grade… which is more than about 35% of Democrats can say you elitist hypocrite. Why don’t you clean up your own base before trashing the left.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:59 pmRyan – I have to disagree. I think I get under your skin. You’re too easy, buddy….
October 19th, 2005 at 6:00 pmNED,
Why the lie?
You claimed Kerry said he SAW those things. The actual congressional testimony that you selectively quoted out of context and attributed to being a kerry eyewitness account was clearly a fabrication.
Why are so desperate to lie about a war hero that you would fabricate evidence? Do you have so little REAL evidence, that you need to construct a fabricated event that never happened? Of course youare!
October 19th, 2005 at 6:01 pm“I support the military we have.”- NeD the ChickenHawk
Maybe you can kick off YOUR political career by joining the NY National Guard…..unless you’re a keyboard coward…
I think we all know the answer, because you don’t even have the courage to explain WHY you refuse to join.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:02 pmNED: Perfect post, thanks- you really showed me!
October 19th, 2005 at 6:02 pmRyan – Kerry should have never testified if he didn’t actually see those things. That’s #1. He later backed off those statements – that’s #2. AND #3 – if he did see them, that doesn’t mean you tell the world about them when our boys are still in danger and could have that used against them.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:03 pmChickenhawk
October 19th, 2005 at 6:04 pmWhatever Jim. The knowledge canyon in the Democratic Party is the cause of poverty. You mock conservatives as dumb. At least we know how to vote. We don’t have rely on people like you (or that nimrod President) to feed us.
Look at your party before you start calling Republicans stupid. At least we can care for ourselves.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:05 pmJoin up, Punk.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:05 pmThat’s just stupid troll.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:06 pmYou really don’t make sense.
You should just admit you lied and be done
with it. Say you stole it from “powerlie”
or some nutjob site. Jeeze man, you are so
caught.
CLuck Cluck. Let’s see your enlistment papers, Keyboard Coward.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:06 pmWhy are you guys talking about Kerry? He isn’t the one starting wars somewhere so oil companies could get rich… Oh wait, I guess distraction is where it’s at. Well, I’ll just wait for Bush to save the poor people from Wilma then…
October 19th, 2005 at 6:07 pmBut JParker if I join up and support the President, you’ll call me a Bush-bot. I can’t win to you people.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:08 pm“Ryan – Kerry should have never testified if he didn’t actually see those things. That’s #1. He later backed off those statements – that’s #2. AND #3 – if he did see them, that doesn’t mean you tell the world about them when our boys are still in danger and could have that used against them.
Comment by The Northeast Dilemma”
You just lied again, and you misrepresented the circumstances as any propagandists would.
1) No he didn’t back off of those statements. Where did you hear that nonsense.
2) He was a WITNESS, witnesses tell others what they see.
You’re a LYING IDIOT.
So I re-ask the question. WHY DID YOU LIE? Kerry NEVER said he saw those things – YOU ARE A LIAR!
October 19th, 2005 at 6:09 pm#57 – Kerry’s wife has alot invested in oil companies. Oh – I forgot that doesn’t matter. Liberals are hypocrites uninterested in all the facts.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:09 pmNeD? You there buddy? Boot Camp shouldn’t be that hard for a brave patriot like yourself. C’mon- show us that you have the steel to support you Prez by taking a couple of tours in Iraq- maybe YOU can get a Syria assignment….
October 19th, 2005 at 6:10 pmSo now we’re talking about Kerry’s wife? Wow I can’t keep it straight. So who are we talking about again?
October 19th, 2005 at 6:10 pmHonestly ne dementia is only good at wearing out my scroll button. I read his utter crap intermittently and ALWAYS wonder why I bother.
ned you tool. You have no idea what happened during Vietnam & you foolishly try to tell those of us who lived throught that era things that are patently false. Who is the jerk in that scenerio? Duh!
btw – Kerry served 2 hitches in Vietnam. It was his scond hitch that he captianed the delta boat.
gwb has yet to prove that he completed his hitch in the Texas Air National Guard. Asshole!
October 19th, 2005 at 6:12 pmNo, I will stop calling you out if you actually take ACTION to prove what you believe. I would have a lot more respect for you if you actually out your life on the line for what you believe. But you won’t do that, will you? Just a few kesystrokes a day for Loyalty, but it doesn’t equal courage.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:12 pm“Whatever Jim. The knowledge canyon in the Democratic Party is the cause of poverty. ”
Republicans are the cause of poverty. Every time a republican gets into the whitehouse poverty increases. Every time a democrat gets into office, poverty decreases. Republicans ARE the cause of poverty based on that correlation.
“You mock conservatives as dumb.”
Stop saying stupid things, and we’ll stop mocking you for being stupid.
” At least we know how to vote. ”
Bahaha, actually diebold knows how to vote FOR you is a more accurate description.
“We don’t have rely on people like you (or that nimrod President) to feed us.”
Really? Is that why you copied and pasted the LIES you were fed from the free republic? You are relying on others daily to feed your delusion…
“Look at your party before you start calling Republicans stupid. At least we can care for ourselves.”
Bahaha, yeah by No Bid contracts, and Corporate welfare, and frankly MANY republicans are the poor these days thanks to your abusive economic policies. The Aristocracy of england could feed itself to, it taxed the poor and rode off with the wealth – and it caused an american revolution. Wait, isn’t that what you’re doing? Of course it is you retarded goat!
“Comment by The Northeast Dilemma”
LYING PROPAGANDIST!
October 19th, 2005 at 6:13 pm“#57 – Kerry’s wife has alot invested in oil companies. Oh – I forgot that doesn’t matter. Liberals are hypocrites uninterested in all the facts.
Comment by The Northeast Dilemma ”
Last I checked they had a prenup – guess reality never makes it into the delusional republican frame does it? Of course it doesn’t!
October 19th, 2005 at 6:14 pmNED,
Why do you hate america’s military so much that you have to lie about it’s war heroes? Why do you post fabricated Evidence! You should really stop slandering america’s soldiers that way – it’s treasonous and unamerican by your own standards!
October 19th, 2005 at 6:15 pmNED: “Whatever Jim.” What wit! Told me again!
Out of curiosity, do you have any facts to back up for claim that 35% of the Democratic Party did not complete the 11th grade? Or that your claimed “knowledge canyon in the Democratic Party is the cause of poverty”? You also know nothing about my beliefs about the Republican Party. However, since you seem to enjoy making up facts to support your ideas, I’ll let you believe what you like.
Also, people do rely on people like me to feed them. I volunteer at my local food bank every thursday evening. Poverty affects both liberals and conservatives.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:16 pmJustin – you brought up oil companies. They fund John Kerry’s lifestyle too, buddy. Hell, even the Saudis gave money to your favorite boy Billy….
October 19th, 2005 at 6:16 pm“I support the military we have.â€- NeD the ChickenHawk, explaining why he doesn’t need to fight for his President.
Tell us WHY YOU WON’T JOIN?
October 19th, 2005 at 6:18 pmOk, but I never saw Kerry start a war… and last I checked his wife was a seperate entity… so really… bring some evidence or go home.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:18 pmThe answer we’re looking for is WHY, NeD.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:18 pm“Justin – you brought up oil companies. They fund John Kerry’s lifestyle too, buddy. Hell, even the Saudis gave money to your favorite boy Billy….
Comment by The Northeast Dilemma”
Actually Ketchup funds Kerry’s lifestyle – but then again, you’ve never been one for accuracy. The Heinz fortune is based on ketchup and soup – not oil. Once again you are a fraud and a liar!
October 19th, 2005 at 6:19 pmNED,
Admit you LIED about the Kerry Quote. I printed the OFFICIAL transcript that showed you lied. Why did you LIE?
October 19th, 2005 at 6:20 pmNED, you are always wrong…let’s review:
Steely Dan is not a person,
We get fringe benefits, not french benefits,
James Dean was an actor, Jimmy Dean makes sausage,
and NED, it’s not the leaning tower of peetzah!
(I won’t post this again, but I couldn’t resist this time)
October 19th, 2005 at 6:25 pmI have to go to a meeting, NeD, but be sure to let us know why you don’t have the stones to fight for what you so fervently believe.
Or, grow a pair and troll on TP from Baghdad. If you do that, I won’t say another ill word about you. Until then, you’re probably the most cowardly conservative I can think of.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:26 pmNED,
You clearly have no excuse for your LIE so I take your silence as admission of your guilt, and a sign of your general weakness and inability to accept personal responsibility for your failure. You are truly the daughter of GeezAssW – the most irresponsible man in america!
October 19th, 2005 at 6:36 pmthis thread is not about JOHN KERRY. It’s about DoD fighting Syrians without approval from Congress and without any public discourse. Let’s focus people.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:42 pmAndrew,
Unfortunate they’re all related. Just like the republicans lied and smeared john kerry, they now lie to us about Syria and Iraq as they are issuing an ILLEGAL war, not approved by Congress! This DICTATOR is a TRAITOR to the constitution – and unworthy to be an american, let alone pretend to be a president! It’s like living in Bolivia!
October 19th, 2005 at 6:50 pmI JUST HEARD RICE SAY WE MIGHT BE IN IRAQ FOR TEN YEARS. I HOPE THIS IS NOT TRUE. THERE ARE ALOT OF BASES THAT ARE BEING BUILD OVER IN IRAQ. WE NEED TO TAKE OUR AMERICA BACK NEXT YEAR IN 2006. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON. THIS ADMIN TELLS LIES LIES AND MORE LIES.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:59 pmMary,
They need bases in Iraq so they can attack Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Otherwise they won’t be able to deliver the corporate crony capitalism they promised to their oil patrons.
October 19th, 2005 at 7:02 pmNED has done a good job of deflecting you, me, us, from the obvious. Bushco was elected for a second term because Roverboy and Uncle Dick heard that no sitting President was VOTED out of office during wartime. Hence, the Iraq war. I will give my usual odds ($20.00 to a glass of warm pee) that IF Bush is not impeached before he can accomplish it the US will be at war with Syria and Iran before November 2006. The Repubs will use this to claim that they should not lose power or Bush won’t be able to win the war. The bet also includes the supposition that if the Repugs retain the House and Senate in 2006 that before January 2008 (or maybe as late as May) some fool will introduce a bill in congress that will void the third term limitation so DUHbya won’t be booted out during war time.
I’ll even cover Troll bets but I promise not to collect.
October 19th, 2005 at 7:08 pm#82 CLYDE PLEASE, THE REPUBS CANN’T DO THIS CAN THEY? I COULD NOT TAKE ANOTHER 4 YEARS OF OLD BUSHIE. HE NEEDS TO BE IMPEACHED ALONG WITH HIS ADMIN.
October 19th, 2005 at 7:14 pmMary,
They could unfortunately try. It might require a filibuster to stop in reality.
October 19th, 2005 at 7:16 pmRYAN THANK FOR THE INFORMATION.
October 19th, 2005 at 7:18 pmkill em all, let god sort em out.. OUR god, of course, eh george? seriously, kissinger had them keep a close eye on nixon and the ‘football’ so he wouldn’t nuke some random country in his administration’s death throes – but what do we do when our WHOLE government is even MORE batshit than even kissinger?
October 19th, 2005 at 7:28 pmIt is almost impossible to develop a meaningful thread without having to deal with the trolls and the backflushes. But I guess that is the price we must pay for the priviledge of spreading our own stuff. Mary, my little scenario probably has very litle chance of becoming reality simply because it is so transparent. The bushies figure they are the only one’s smart enough to plan something that sinister, but by putting the idea out front the secrecy needed to make the whole thing work is destroyed. I will also give the same odds that the ranking members of the current administration will not be at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the White House. It is too much to hope that they will be in Kansas so soon but the lot of them will be packing their bags.
Fitz is on a roll!
October 19th, 2005 at 7:34 pmClyde,
You know the saddest part? NED the Delusional anti-liberal has to come HERE to spread his smack, because if he did post dissent on the Freeper and other collections of the insane – they’d boot him! You’d think a sane person would realize they belong to a lunatic fringe at that point – but clearly she isn’t sane!
What’s really sad is when reichwing morons claim dissent is anti-american. I guess they never studied the boston tea party on civics class. But then again, civics doesn’t even exist in most classrooms anymore! No wonder a generation of fascists and retards are getting raised up in the the red state wastelands!
October 19th, 2005 at 7:48 pmBack on track – the pattern we are seeing here mirrors the pattern we dimly heard about in the summer of 2002 when attacks from US_UK planes on Iraqi targets in the no-fly zones were stepped up well before any move to the UN or Congress for military action. The Iraq war started in July 2002 not March 2003.
Syria’s economy is a mess, they are another Iraq in waiting (but without the oil). But the one that I would be very careful with is Iran. Trouble there could have a capital T. Imagine 100,000s of Revolutionary Guard pouring over the Tigris into Basra?
October 19th, 2005 at 8:06 pmGetting back on track here, maybe you people dont know this, but Syria is the Cambodia of the middle east.
There are excursions into the country of Syria on a DAILY basis, amurkans engage, amurkans kill, and amurkans bury them in the sand dunes.
It will all come out some day. These excursions are meant to upset Syria so she will make a move and give the shrub an excuse for another war that will be left undone.
October 19th, 2005 at 8:07 pmRyan and Mary,
We can continue our track some other time. We obviously got out of our lane and disturbed others moreso than NED.
October 19th, 2005 at 8:26 pmRyan, No matter how hard you try in numerous attempts to clarify the matter, people like NED have closed their minds to what the facts are because in their minds, what they perceived is the actual truth.
October 19th, 2005 at 8:43 pmThose of us who read know what Kerry said and what he reported, and in the end he was proven accurate, regrettably, and validated by the military accounts. Some of us remember the Mai Lai massacre all too well – that – and other disturbing events occurring during that mistaken war — which partially accounts for some of us being horrified in early 2003 that we were entering a similar war in Iraq.
Back to the topic — I think Pablo has the track. These “excursions” by special ops into Syria are simply the Bushies kicking up the pebbles in the sandbox of Syria in order to provoke them. Georgie is being a brat again — and remember what the brat got us into two years ago! It’s still not over, no end in sight and few soldiers left to fight a new battle.
Which reminds me — speaking of soldiers. Recall a few months ago the military offered sign-up bonuses of up to $15,000 for a second national guard term in Iraq. Well, after months now, the Pentagon said they spoke too soon, there will be no bonuses. Sorry guys.
October 19th, 2005 at 8:55 pmWhy does anyone in the military and the veterans groups support this guy and his Pentagon?
Why would anyone in their right mind want to sign up to go to a Iraq or a war in Syria.
October 19th, 2005 at 9:00 pmMarie, off track I know, but My Lai was not the only one (search Toledo Blade and Tiger Force) – arguable one of the under reported stories of 2004. Also check out Colin Powell’s emergence as go to man of choice when you want to bury a nasty story like My Lai.
October 19th, 2005 at 9:55 pm#95, There’s a lot to read there. Thanks for the tip.
October 19th, 2005 at 10:53 pmI don’t think John Kerry was ever forgiven for pointing out that even Americans can be war criminals. It does not jive with American’s view of their exceptionalism. Exactly the same reaction to Abu Ghraib.
October 19th, 2005 at 11:00 pmApparently theirs quite a Few that will sign up, Mercenaries that is.
Blackwater USA , which owns the largest privately-owned firearms training facility in the nation has grown 300 percent over each of the past three years.
During the first Gulf War, one out of every 50 soldiers on the battlefield was a mercenary. The number had climbed up to one in ten during the Bosnian conflict. Currently there are thousands of Bosnian, Filipino and American soldiers under contract with private companies serving in Iraq.
Blackwater’s success in procuring federal contracts can explained by major-league contributions and family connections to the GOP. According to election records, Blackwater’s CEO and co-founder, billionaire Erik Prince, has given tens of thousands to Republicans, including more than $80,000 to the Republican National Committee the month before Bush’s victory in 2000. He gave $2,100 to Senator Rick Santorum’s re-election campaign. He has also given to House majority leader Tom DeLay and a slew of other Republican candidates, including Bush/Cheney in 2004.
Prince interned with President George H.W. Bush, though he complained at the time that he “saw a lot of things I didn’t agree with–homosexual groups being invited in, the budget agreement, the Clean Air Act, those kind of bills.
Prince, a staunch right-wing Christian, from a powerful Michigan Republican family, and his father, Edgar, was a close friend of former Republican presidential candidate and antichoice leader Gary Bauer. In 1988 the elder Prince helped Bauer start the Family Research Council.
Erik Prince’s sister, Betsy, chaired the Michigan Republican Party and is married to Dick DeVos, whose father, billionaire Richard DeVos, is co-founder of the major Republican benefactor Amway. Dick DeVos is also a big-time contributor to the Republican Party and will likely be the GOP candidate for Michigan governor in 2006.
Another Blackwater founder, president Gary Jackson, is also a major contributor to Republican campaigns.
After the killing of four Blackwater mercenaries in Falluja in March 2004, Erik Prince hired the Alexander Strategy Group, a PR firm with close ties to GOPers like DeLay. By mid-November the company was reporting 600 percent growth.
In February 2005 the company hired Ambassador Cofer Black, former coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department and former director of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, as vice chairman.
Blackwater’s parent company, the Prince Group, named Joseph Schmitz, who had just resigned as the Pentagon’s Inspector General, as the group’s chief operating officer and general counsel.
While juicing up the firm’s political connections, Prince has been advocating greater use of private security in international operations, arguing at a symposium at the National Defense Industrial Association earlier this year that firms like his are more efficient than the military.
In May Blackwater’s Jackson testified before Congress in an effort to gain lucrative Homeland Security contracts to train 2,000 new Border Patrol agents, saying Blackwater understands “the value to the government of one-stop shopping.”
With President Bush using the Katrina disaster to try to repeal Posse Comitatus (the ban on using US troops in domestic law enforcement) and Blackwater and other security firms clearly initiating a push to install their paramilitaries on US soil, the war is coming home in yet another ominous way.
As one Blackwater mercenary said, “This is a trend. You’re going to see a lot more guys like us in these situations.”
October 19th, 2005 at 11:16 pmHi guys. I want your opinion on something. I’ve been playing this song around San Francisco for a while, and a lot of people told me I need to record it and put it out on the web to protest the Iraq war. Without getting into too much detail, it’s a famous Vietnam-era protest song, and I found that changing just a few words can turn it into an eerily accurate Iraq War protest song. I want the opinion of folks here. Check out the explanation, the lyrics, and listen to the song. If a lot of people like it, I’ll try and get a better quality recording.
It’s called, “Feels Like I’m Gonna Die (In Iraq) Rag”
http://www.tomunplugged.com/pages/6/index.htm
October 19th, 2005 at 11:43 pmBut JParker if I join up and support the President, you’ll call me a Bush-bot. I can’t win to you people.
Comment by The Northeast Dilemma
NED, I wouldn’t call you a bush-bot. However, I will call you’re a coward who doesn’t have the courage of his own convictions. If you join, then you’re no longer a coward. Until then, you are nothing more than a spineless wimp who hides behind his keyboard. Bush needs cannon fodder! http://www.goarmy.com
October 20th, 2005 at 12:24 amBut JParker if I join up and support the President, you’ll call me a Bush-bot. I can’t win to you people.
Comment by The Northeast Dilemma
Don’t let that stop you.
You already are a bushbot, you moron!
October 20th, 2005 at 1:18 amGo to The Bullshit Report – a new progressive blog. http://www.thebsreport.com
October 20th, 2005 at 6:22 amI’m sure its been brought up before, but do you think that we are doing this in a way to provoke Syria to do an action to justify a war? It seems crazy at first, but then you remember those illegal bombing runs against Iraq and you get the pants scared off of you!
October 20th, 2005 at 8:52 amNED, Kerry was quoting other people when he spoke at Winter Soldier, not recounting his own experiences… this is something that the documentaries about him, and the neocon networks that aired them, consistently fail to mention… (much like they fail to mention Earle’s history of prosecuting Dems)
October 20th, 2005 at 9:19 amWe’ve always been at war with Eastasia.
October 20th, 2005 at 1:30 pmWhen will people realize that W freely won the presidency and this time by the majority of America?
October 21st, 2005 at 4:26 pmIt doens’t make you right, just because you have a different point of view.
America can not afford to have oil traded in Euros.
Isn’t it time that America put 200 BILLION dollars into research of a new technology to fuel our society rather than invade countries to control an old, dwindling one? (if this is our purpose, as you say, Mr. Sid Evans?) This is something we surely can afford to do. (Well, maybe…NOWADAYS…we can’t) haha
October 23rd, 2005 at 8:23 pmI can not wait until the comming NEW civil war. I want so bad to start executing you freaks. I cant wait……………..
October 26th, 2005 at 8:55 pm[...] Via Think Progress, “Are We at War With Syria?“: [...]
October 28th, 2005 at 5:30 pmApparently some poeple think America is all evil but if they do their research and not listen to the new media, they will learn something. Syria and Iran are two very dangerous countries with a history of terror. Iran believes in Allah which means if you don’t, you die! Syria also believes in Allah but they are more into torturing and terrorist than Iran but both hate us because of our support for Israel and our freedom of life. Let just put it this way, if Syria and Iran had the power America have, do you think you would be free and not forced to worship something you don’t believe in? I think you know the answer. So America is bad, but if it wasn’t the world would be a lot worst. Only a fool believes Evil Regimes like Syria and Iran will become better over time. Just look at the history of the world, evil must be confronted, it’s not going away by itself otherwise Germany would be the superpower now and I wouldn’t be here because of my race. I know power is used in this country the wrong way but I’m concerned about the greater evil that lurks in the shadows. Now this is coming from a man whose ancestor were slaves in this country.
November 7th, 2005 at 5:47 amBob,
February 9th, 2006 at 12:52 pmwow I am impressed with you comment it is insightful and moreover true. I find it refreshing to know there are still people with a good head on thier shoulders, I am a soldier and when I am sent into battle it will be the 5th time now and the 3rd country. I sometimes have to find a silver lining in the goverment cloud for why we are there. As far as Iraq goes, well we are there and we need to finish the job I don’t think Iraq will ever embrace true freedom, I find this disturbing , but I do beliee we have weekened an evel power and I do believe we are doing something woth wild. some of those in iraq are exstatic about there new found freedoms and some can and will never see beyond thier religion. I fight for those who long to be free…..
Sorry about the typos and grammer I am in a hurry.
February 9th, 2006 at 12:54 pmI’m writing a paper on the next war. I believe that the US will inject forces into Syria. The comments have been helpful. What are the main two reasons for the next battle in Syria during the “Long War”? I have a long list to include: Security for Iraq, Somewhat easy to do based on geography and to avoid war with Iran…for the time being.
February 20th, 2006 at 9:31 pmJames
Democrat/Republican We all need to come together or We are screwed
August 7th, 2006 at 2:42 am