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POPSCan We Leave Now? When a girl gets educated here and then becomes a mother, she will be much less likely to let her son become a militant or insurgent,” he added. “And she will have fewer children. When a girl learns how to read and write, one of the first things she does is teach her own mother. The girls will bring home meat and veggies, wrapped in newspapers, and the mother will ask the girl to read the newspaper to her and the mothers will learn about politics and about women who are exploited. It is no accident, Mortenson noted, that since 2007, the Taliban and its allies have bombed, burned or shut down more than 640 schools in Afghanistan and 350 schools in Pakistan, of which about 80 percent are schools for girls."
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POPSThe Banality Of Bush White House Evil "Five years after the Abu Ghraib revelations, we must acknowledge that our government methodically authorized torture and lied about it. But we also must contemplate the possibility that it did so not just out of a sincere, if criminally misguided, desire to “protect” us but also to promote an unnecessary and catastrophic war. Instead of saving us from “another 9/11,” torture was a tool in the campaign to falsify and exploit 9/11 so that fearful Americans would be bamboozled into a mission that had nothing to do with Al Qaeda. The lying about Iraq remains the original sin from which flows much of the Bush White House’s illegality."
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POPSfor Debbyski--War On Drugs ideas--video This is a great interview from the archives of the Pinky Show, which I highly recommend. Pinky has a wonderful way of cutting to the core of an issue without pushing an agenda too aggressively. She seems to say 'This is common sense, people, read the writing on the wall.'
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POPSStill No Exit "Mr. Obama has offered a sensible blueprint for quickly drawing down American troops in Iraq and bolstering the fight in Afghanistan. After a befuddling silence, Mr. McCain on Tuesday finally agreed that more troops are needed in Afghanistan. What Mr. McCain has yet to explain is where those troops will come from. Mr. Bush’s disastrous war in Iraq has so overtaxed American forces that the math is painfully simple: Until there is a real drawdown from Iraq, there will not be enough troops to win in Afghanistan. "
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POPSRunning Against Themselves "Mr. McCain says he is the candidate who will better protect the country from terrorism. But about all he has to offer is his pledge to continue the war in Iraq. We have yet to hear an explanation for how he plans to do that while also salvaging the war in Afghanistan — the real front line in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban."
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POPSThis War Report Has Been Approved By Your Government "Apparently, in the view of our corporate news editors and managers, it is important for Americans to fully witness the bloody horrors of war when that war is being fought by Russia, but we are to be carefully protected from seeing such things when they are being perpetrated by our own centurions. We aren’t even allowed to see the grievous injuries and death being suffered by our own troops. And, of course, don't feel to good about the quality of the coverage of the Russian/Georgia conflict either. This too is biased. Indeed one reason we are shown all the carnage is that the US government has been backing Georgia, and there is evidence that the US even encouraged the Georgian attacks on ethnic Russians which provoked the invasion. The US also has obligingly airlifted Georgian troops back from Iraq to Georgia. This is not news. This is propaganda, pure and simple. "
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POPSComing Late To The Table "The war in Iraq, which has taken 100,000 or more Iraqi lives, and which will cost the U.S. upwards of $3 trillion, and which continues indefinitely, is a scandal and a crime. Scott McClellan is a little late to be blowing the whistle on this outrage. More important than his belated musings on the war, and his aggrieved take on the leaking of a C.I.A. operative’s identity, is Mr. McClellan’s warning about the “culture of deception” that has poisoned the very atmosphere of national politics and government. Forget that this is supposed to be a government of, by and for the people, and that the truth is supposed to matter. Mr. McClellan is being denounced as a traitor by those who readily accept the culture of deception, and who believe that a government official’s primary loyalty is not to the people, but to power itself — in this case, to the president."
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POPSWhat I Want to Ask Mary Tillman I want to ask her what she thinks of a president who, armed with the facts, would lie over Pat’s dead body. I want to know if she believes George W. Bush belongs in prison. But I also want to ask Mary Tillman about the person her son was, and the person her son was becoming: the Pat Tillman moving against the war in Iraq; the Pat Tillman who was a voracious reader, turning his attention to critics of empire like Noam Chomsky; the Pat Tillman whose journal and personal effects were burned and destroyed immediately following his death. This is a Pat Tillman who deserves to be heard.
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POPS'Bush Is Too Horrendous to Be Forgotten' SPIEGEL talks to American author Philip Roth about growing old, why George W. Bush is the worst American president ever and why he never gives out his cell phone number. Philip Roth, who will be 75 in March, is one of America's most critically acclaimed living writers. His 1969 novel "Portnoy's Complaint" brought him fame, and he went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for 1997's "American Pastoral."
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POPSWhy Congress Didn't Bring The Troops Home I think it would do us all a good service to try to understand why the Dems failed us in ending this horrible war, instead of finger pointing, name calling, and blaming. If we had a Republican Congress we'd be in war with Iran by now too. I think we should try to learn from this failure.
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POPSWar Casualities Not Forgotten "Thousands of crosses and stars cover four tapestry-like "peace panels" across the imposing stone walls in the nave of the church. That location was selected so worshipers would see a constant and powerful reminder of the war's human toll as they leave the sanctuary. We wanted to create a symbol that would help us stay uncomfortable, that would constantly remind us of the daily needs to build peace, to choose peace in everything we do," said psychologist Lo Sprague, a member of the committee."
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POPSWhat Exactly Is Wasteful Spending? I think it would be overcharging the army 6 billion a year for services that made Halliburton rich such as food, laundry, and meals they never served to the troops. Or maybe the bill the republicans voted down for stiffer penalties on contractors who overbill. Or maybe the 1.7 they spent for a new amphibious vehicle that broke down an average of every 4 hours, leaked and veered off course. And for that, the contractor, General Dynamics, received 80 million in bonuses. Instead I believe McCain would like to cut "wasteful" spending on such programs as Medicare and Medicaid, SCHIP, oppose any increase in minimum wage, and cut programs that work such as head start or LIHEAP. Who is being asked to sacrifice? It sure the hell isn't those getting rich off this unjust war.
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POPSThe Cost of the Iraq War: A Pundit's Guilt This is a stark moment of humanity for Christopher Hitchens, who I must admit, is not always a lovable character. He has had to soberly (or, maybe not soberly!) face the consequences of his punditry. Political opinions do not exist in a vacuum. These are not simply ideas we are talking about. This nation is overwhelmed with flippant armchair strategists on both sides who have no real understanding of what is actually going on. The Iraq War isn't a failure of American ideals, it is a disaster of well-meaning ignorance.
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