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POPSIraqi shoe thrower to be released early Thousands demonstrated for al-Zeidi's release and hailed his gesture, which came in the waning days of the Bush administration. The incident also embarrassed al-Maliki, who was standing next to Bush at the time. Neither leader was injured, but Bush was forced to duck for cover as the journalist shouted in Arabic: "This is your farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."
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POPS4,000 GI's Dead - I Ain't No Senators Son, Son Some folks are born made to wave the flag, Ooh, theyre red, white and blue. And when the band plays hail to the chief, Ooh, they point the cannon at you, lord, It aint me, it aint me, I aint no senators son, son. It aint me, it aint me; I aint no fortunate one, no, Yeah! Some folks are born silver spoon in hand, Lord, dont they help themselves, oh. But when the taxman comes to the door, Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes, It aint me, it aint me, I aint no millionaires son, no. It aint me, it aint me; I aint no fortunate one, no. Some folks inherit star spangled eyes, Ooh, they send you down to war, lord, And when you ask them, how much should we give? Ooh, they only answer more! more! more! yoh, It aint me, it aint me, I aint no military son, son. It aint me, it aint me; I aint no fortunate one, one. It aint me, it aint me, I aint no fortunate one, no no no, It aint me, it aint me, I aint no fortunate son, no no no,
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POPSOklahoma Republican admits, "Iraq Probably a Mistake" More: Coburn at one point in the campaign reportedly said the war in Iraq was "absolutely not" a mistake. Vice President Dick Cheney, a vocal defender of the war, came to Tulsa to cam paign and raise money for Coburn. During that visit, Cheney criticized Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry for flip-flopping on the war by voting in the Senate to go to war but voting against adequate funding for the troops. Still, his comments at the town hall meeting may be the first time he has ever suggested the war was a mistake. Coburn's comment came less than a week after he returned from his second trip to Iraq since entering the Senate.
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POPSGOP Senator Chafee: New Book is tough on Pro-War Democrats, Bush, and Republicans More: The most startling revelation: Chafee must be the only senator in U.S. political history who says his defeat was the result of voters acting logically. “The system works best when power remains in the hands of the voters,” writes Chafee. “I was a casualty of the system working in 2006, and while defeat is never easy, I give the voters credit: They made the connection between electing even popular Republicans at the cost of leaving the Senate in the hands of a leadership they had learned to mistrust.” “I find it surprising now, in 2008, how many Democrats are running for president after shirking their constitutional duty to check and balance this president,” writes Chafee. “They argue that the president duped them into war, but getting duped does not exactly recommend their leadership. Helping a rogue president start an unnecessary war should be a career-ending lapse of judgment.”
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POPSRomney's: 5 Strapping Sons - None in Iraq! Hypocrisy More: Of more interest to his combat readiness, David was arrested in April of 2007 for trying to board a plane in Little Rock with a loaded Glock pistol in his carry on bag. So we know that the boy can shoot. Why isn't he on the front lines of the war his father so ardently supports in the name of Christ? (By the way, the reaction of Dad Huckabee to David's gun arrest is notable. "It's one of those stupid things," Mike Huckabee said. "He knows better." Ah, yes, nothing like a forgiving preacher. Do you feel safer now knowing that a gun toting animal abuser's father might be president? Clear the squirrels from the White House lawn now.) Huckabee says the war in Iraq is part of a "World War III' against Islamic fascism
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POPSFormer CIA: Evidence Abounds for Impeachment of Bush & Cheney
The recent report detailing Iran's stopping its nuclear weapons program four years ago, is an example of how the administration knows it can no longer hide such "incontrovertible evidence" from the American people in the fallout from the misinformation they received on the Iraq War, McGovern said. He added that he had almost given up believing their were people still working at the top with a conscious and enough people at the top willing to let analysts do their job and accept independent analysis. McGovern also addressed the reasoning he believes is behind the threat of war with Iran. He believes Israel thinks they have a pledge from the White House to deal with Iran before Bush leaves office and relayed the story of the U.S.S. Liberty, which was attacked by the Israelis in 1967 and covered up by the U.S. Thirty-four U.S soldiers were killed and about 170 were seriously injured. "On June 8, 1967 Israel realized it could literally get away with murder," McGovern said.
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POPSGood News! All Iraqi Groups Blame the U.S. Invasion for the Civil War in Iraq More: Dated December 2007, the report notes "the Iraqi government has still made no significant progress toward its fundamental goal of national reconciliation." Asked to describe "the current situation in Iraq to a foreign visitor," some groups focused on positive aspects of the recent security improvements. But "most would describe the negative elements of life in Iraq beginning with the 'U.S. occupation' in March 2003," the report says. Few mentioned Saddam Hussein as a cause of their problems, which the report described as an important finding implying that "the current strife in Iraq seems to have totally eclipsed any agonies or grievances many Iraqis would have incurred from the past regime, lasting nearly four decades -- as opposed to the current conflict, lasting five years." Overall, "these findings may be expected to conclude that national reconciliation is neither anticipated nor possible. In reality, this survey provides very strong evidence that the opposite is tru
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POPSBritish Tout Their Iraq Exit Model More: Arguing that Basra can serve as a model, British officials have begun to make their case with more intensity as their withdrawal has gained speed. "Can the U.S. draw some lessons from what we've done?" asked the British military official. "If we allow the Iraqis to . . . take a little risk and we have levels of violence they can control, maybe we don't need to hold on quite so long." But a person should take notice that the British aren't building permanent bases in Iraq so their intent has always been to give Iraq back to the Iraqis. The U.S. on the other hand..........
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POPSBaghdad Bonanza - The Iraq sinkhole for U.S. Taxpayer Dollars More: Nearly a third of the companies and joint ventures on the Top 100 are based outside the United States. These foreign contractors, along with the $20 billion in contracts awarded to the unidentified companies, account for about 45 percent of all funds obligated to the Top 100. According to David Walker, the comptroller general of the United States, the outsourcing of government has escalated across the board over the past five years, although oversight of the process has shrunk during this same period. In an interview with the Center for Public Integrity, Walker noted particular problems with military contracting. "We have identified about 15 systemic, longstanding acquisition and contracting problems that exist within the Defense Department—which is the single biggest contractor within the U.S. government—that we are still not making enough progress on," said Walker, who heads the Government Accountability Office. "I mean, this stuff isn't rocket science."
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POPSWhen will Bush invade Saudi Arabia and Libya? NOT! If you've got oil and you've been in bed with the Bush's for decades you can send all the fighters you want to Iraq to kill U.S. soldiers. Is this treason? There have been 700 Al Qaeda soldiers enter Iraq since August 2006 and Al Qaeda is to blame for all the violence in Iraq? It should be obvious to anyone with half a brain that Al Qaeda and foreign fighters were always a minor player in the violence and chaos released by Bush and the neocons in Iraq.
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POPSU.S./Bush ignoring crisis of displaced Iraqis More: The report is critical of the U.S. inability to make good on its promises. Despite talk of allowing 7,000 Iraqi refugees into the U.S. this year, only 1,608 had been admitted by the end of September, 450 entered in October. By comparison, the U.S. government has resettled nearly three times that many Iranians this year — 5,481 With one Cairo-based coordinator handling cases for 15 countries, the U.S. lacks the human resources to keep up with thousands of referrals that continue to pile up from the United Nations' refugee agency, according to Refugees International. Officials at the Arab League, representing 22 nations, said Americans had never approached them about Iraqi refugees. Countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt — all American allies — receive little or no assistance from the U.S. and have begun refusing to admit Iraqis Meanwhile, the report continues, the U.S. is reluctant to recognize that its longtime foe Syria stands alone in its open-door policy for I
2
POPSUS General & Envoy: Bush unwittingly driving Turkey and Iran together. More: The White House and the U.S. military have appeared leery about opening a new front in the war in Iraq — particularly in generally stable northern Iraq — by launching assaults against the PKK. Neither the U.S.-backed Iraqi government nor the semiautonomous Kurdish Regional Government has shown any inclination to go after the group. The officer who commands U.S. forces in northern Iraq, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Nixon, last week said he planned to do "absolutely nothing" to curb PKK activities. Ralston, a vice chairman of the Washington-based Cohen Group, a consulting firm, said the statement was "directly opposite" promises Bush has made to Turkey. Asked whether the Turkish military would invade northern Iraq, which PKK fighters use to launch attacks into Turkey, Ralston said: "They're going to have to, in the absence of the U.S. doing anything."
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POPSWill the U.S. let Turkey go it alone against PKK or join assault on rebels? More: With 100,000 Turkish troops now said to be massed on the border with Iraq, Turkish officials and experts anticipate an operation against Kurds in as little as a week Some see this as a choice between keeping Turkey as an ally and appeasing northern Iraq," said Faruk Logoglu, a longtime foreign policy adviser and currently the president of the Center for Eurasian Strategic Studies. "It's more than that. The U.S. is now choosing between a united and divided Iraq A German Marshall Fund poll found that only 7 percent of Turks now think that the U.S. should play a strong role in international affairs and only 2 percent approve of U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. used to be very popular in Turkey. Standing in a street plastered with Turkish flags, Cengiz Atalay, 30, of Ankara said: "We are ready for war." Across town, student Samet Meydan, 21, noted, "What's now clear is that the United States is no longer a friend to Turkey." Erdogan said this week, "Americans should be w
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POPSIRAQ: Reduction in Violence = Ethnically Cleansed Neighborhoods More: Christoff’s conclusions echo that of ret. Gen. James Jones last month, who observed “progress” in a Shi’a-led ethnic cleansing campaign. Also in attendance at the hearing was Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Stuart Bowen. In his quarterly report to Congress released today, Bowen acknowledged the reduction in violence but stated that it has not been accompanied by tangible political reconciliation, a finding that was neglected by the traditional media in its reporting today. In Baghdad, for example, Provincial Reconstruction Team officials note: Despite reduced violence, officials are pessimistic that lasting reconciliation is occurring. … In Diyala, there is a desire to work toward reconciliation, but it will take years to overcome ill-will between tribes. Earlier this month, Gen. David Petraeus confidently declared, “There’s a local reconciliation” in Diyala province.
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POPSBaghdad Children "armed" to teeth More: Trade Minister Abed Falah al-Sudani considered banning the toys because they look so realistic. However, given the seeming impossibility of the task, he shelved the idea 10-year-old Haider, has another reason to play with his toy gun "I love it. I like holding it and going outside to kill evildoers. I like to go outside at night like my uncle (a member of the Mahdi Army)," said the boy wearing a ragged T-shirt. In Sadr City, in the vast ghetto where Sadr is considered a hero and his militia calls the shots, children in their war games reflect the bitter sectarian divides -- one side gets to be Shiite militiamen, the other Sunni insurgents. In other neighbourhoods, it's police versus "terrorists", or army versus Al-Qaeda, according to local news Another vendor, Hassan, 27, runs a stall in Bab al-Sharji in the centre of Baghdad. He confirmed that guns are the all-time favourites with children, male or female. "Children prefer guns to trains, balls or radios," he
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POPSIraq Self Reliance Years Away (How many more Billions?) More: The PRT program itself has been plagued by problems. Previous reports have found it was difficult to find people with the correct skills to do the work — particularly civilians. There also has been a shortage of Arabic speakers and understanding of Iraq's culture and history as well as a lack of organization within the U.S. government to carry out the program, according to those past reports
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POPSU.S. Mercenaries deported from Namibia: "We settle our disputes by peaceful means" More: SOC-SMG is looking to hire role players for their 'security guard' training. Which role will you get to play? A disarmed U.S. soldier? A poor Iraqi child looking for scrap metal to sell? Helpful Hint: Read the fine print of your health insurance policy (if you have one) before applying 3. We are also looking for Role Players on a part-time basis to augment our staff supporting scenario role-playing for our clients (military, law enforcement, government agencies). Please indicate "HDSOC Role Player Position" in the subject line. Some Role Player positions require a Secret clearance and can last for a month duration. You must be willing to undergo a criminal background check and be a U.S. citizen to be eligible.
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POPSBlackwater draws guns on U.S. Soldiers More: Testifying before Congress last week, 38-year-old Blackwater chief Erik Prince vigorously defended his company's "dedicated security professionals" In deflecting questions about a drunken Blackwater operative who allegedly shot and killed a bodyguard for Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi in the Green Zone on Christmas Eve last year, Prince said that the employee, later identified as Andrew Moonen, had been fined and fired. But on Friday House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. Henry Waxman released a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recounting evidence that Moonen was able to return to Iraq and worked there for another company.
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POPSIraq: Another Dirty Secret - South African Mercenaries, former White Apartheid era Veterans More: The root of that distrust dates to the mid-1990s, when thousands of white officers left South Africa's security agencies during the transition from apartheid to majority black rule. Unemployed soldiers and police joined private security companies that got embroiled in African wars from Angola to Sierra Leone. A wheelchair-bound man who owns an SUV with vanity plates that proclaim "Baghdad," Brink lost a leg and fingers in 2005 to a mine that exploded under his armored vehicle in Baqouba, a hotbed of the Iraqi insurgency. Since returning to South Africa, he has been encouraging wounded colleagues to apply for U.S. worker's compensation under the U.S. Defense Base Act, which applies to all workers, American or foreign, who are subcontracted in war zones by Washington Brink was advising them on how to file for U.S. worker's compensation. I'll buy a farm if I can collect on my claim, said Gouws, 45, But I don't recommend this method of getting a farm to anyone else
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POPS729 Days in Iraq: Thanks, See Ya, Wouldn't Want To Be Ya More: "I would assume, and I would hope, that when I get back from a deployment of 22 months, my senior leadership in Washington, the leadership that extended us in the first place, would take care of us once we got home," Hobot said. Both Hobot and Anderson believe the Pentagon deliberately wrote orders for 729 days instead of 730.
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POPSRevealed: W knew Saddam was Willing to Bargain for Exile W is suppose to be our first MBA President but he can not even conduct a cost benefit analysis. Cost: Whatever minuscule amount compared to what we have spent that Saddam would settle for; and any bogus information his generals had convinced him existed. Benefits: 28,000 soldiers not wounded; 3800 soldiers not killed; 600,000 to 1,000,000 Iraqis not killed; $600 Billion to $1 Trillion dollars not wasted; standing and trust within the world community preserved. Ultimate cost to Bush: not looking tough; not having Iraqi oil under the control of US oil producers.
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POPSCouric, CBS Anchorwoman: "Iraq A Mistake" The problem with Couric? - I’d feel totally comfortable saying any of that at some point, IF REQUIRED, on television. If you aren't going to work to put the brakes on this,......who will? Newsanchors = Teleprompter readers Bring back Walter Cronkite!
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POPSSCOOP: Bush Promises Iraq Invasion Congress should never subjugate themselves to the ambitions of one individual ever again. The Founding Fathers foresaw this and wrote the Constitution with checks and balances giving Congress the responsibility of making declarations of war. Anybody, (1) who knew George Bush, (2) witnessed his pathetic address to the UN that showed it was a cursory walk-through before launching the invasion, knew he was lying all the time. I expect to hear the rightwing lunatic mythology that there was widespread support for this war but in fact the US was for the war only if Bush would secure a UN resolution and obtain a strong coalition mimicking the coalition in Kuwait in 1991. The Founding Fathers didn't want us to be ruled by Kings and Bush and Cheney are no exception. IMPEACH!
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POPSKucinich: Bush Cronies and privitization of Iraqi Oil More: The connections between Hunt Oil Company and the Bush Administration are numerous: * Mr. Ray Hunt, CEO of Hunt Oil, acted as the finance chairman of the Republican National Committee for President George W. Bush in 2002, led the Republican National Committee's Victory Fund for President George W. Bush and personally donated $20,000 to the Committee. * Mr. Hunt contributed $100,000 toward inaugural festivities for President George W. Bush in 2001, while Hunt Consolidated contributed $250,000 toward the 2005 Bush presidential inaugural gala. * Mr. Hunt has also given generously toward construction of the Bush library by securing $35 million in additional property for the endeavor. * President George W. Bush has twice appointed Mr. Hunt to a seat on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), which is said to have access to intelligence that experts acknowledge is advantageous to the international energy interest of the Hunt Oil Company.
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POPSIraq Criminal Investigation: $6 Billion Pentagon Contracts More: Representative John Kline, a Minnesota Republican and retired Marine colonel, said he was “doubly, triply, quadruply appalled” at the “clear breakdown in leadership” that allowed some Army contracting officers to corrupt the procurement system. He said it was inexcusable that it took so long for the Army to put adequate checks in place.
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