There are a couple things to remember when reading anything about the Iraq War.

The first is that the Bush Administration does not and never has had any intention of leaving Iraq. Bush has said this publicly. Unsurprisingly it wasn't much noted or commented on beyond its news cycle.

The second is that the Iraq War is being fought, and has been fought since 1991, against the Iraqi people, not Saddam, not the insurgency. No one in the "mainstream" says this publicly. Among the many good articles detailing this ongoing atrocity, this one is only one of the more recent.

Given this a few things follow:

Any talk of "withdrawal" by anyone in a position of power (politicians, pundits) is political theater. Such talk by the man in the street is evidence of a combination of indoctrination and ignorance. This "discussion" has exactly the same value as the pre-war "discussion" about whether and if we were going to war. Its a sham that only creates the appearance of democratic process.

Talk of the welfare of the Iraqi people also falls into this category.

This is axiomatic for people who are not lying to themselves.

It has also been common to criticise the opposition party for not having a plan to "win" the war. However, on the rare occasion when he is asked, Bush also never proffers a plan. No one seems to mind this, and after a while, people have stopped asking about Bush's plans.

Bush doesn't talk about his plan for the simple reason that his plan is monstrous and no one would support it. Originally, by most accounts, the plan was to sweep out the old regime, install a new one, secure the necessary basing agreements, and build a permanent American military presence. Then the focus could turn to Iran.

Since American forces and the puppet government have been met with heavy resistance the plan has had to be revised. Of course no one asks about the new plan. However, it can be inferred from recent events.

Talk Left links to an Independent UK story that ethnic cleansing is well underway in Iraq.

Across central Iraq, there is an exodus of people fleeing for their lives as sectarian assassins and death squads hunt them down. At ground level, Iraq is disintegrating as ethnic cleansing takes hold on a massive scale.

One commenter points out that the US has been running guns into Iraq:

According to a report by Amnesty International, which investigated the sales, the US government arranged for the delivery of at least 200,000 Kalashnikov machine guns from Bosnia to Iraq in 2004-05. But though the weaponry was said to be for arming the fledgling Iraqi military, there is no evidence of the guns reaching their recipient.

Senior western officials in the Balkans fear that some of the guns may have fallen into the wrong hands.

The last sentence is emblembatic of the endemic self-delusion. Replace the word "fear" with the word "know" and the word "wrong" with the word "right" and you've got something closer to the truth. The guns are falling into the hands they are supposed to fall into.

Another commenter notes that Rumsfeld has said elsewhere of the Iraqis that, "eventually they will tire of being killed". When he said this he was referring to Iraqis being killed by US forces, but the logic applies equally in this case. Rumsfeld sees fatigue as the usual result of mass slaughter.

So this is the new plan:

Give Iraqi's the means to kill each other until they are exhausted and when the smoke clears take control. The US press can be depended upon to underreport it as long as US casualties stay within certain limits, so keep those soldiers garrisoned as much as possible. In the meantime, distract the US citizenry with the brown menace to the south.

The act of "deliberately inflicting on a group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part" has a name: Genocide.

Bush has fulfilled conditions that would secure an indictment on all the counts that the defendants at Nuremberg were charged with:

1. Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against peace
2. Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crime against peace
3. War crimes
4. Crimes against humanity

So the next time you hear that Bush really can't be compared to Hitler remember that at this point its only a matter of scale.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- [Mentally ill] Sen. John McCain was booed and heckled as he delivered the commencement address at The New School on Friday in New York.

The protesting students pointed to the Arizona Republican's [nutty] speech last week at the conservative Liberty University run by the Rev. Jerry Falwell as proof that McCain clashed with the school's liberal ideals.

"McCain does not speak for me," read orange signs held by dozens in the audience, while dozens more turned their backs for the duration of McCain's speech. (Watch as students turn their backs on McCain -- 2:01)

Some students had petitioned New School President -- and former Democratic senator -- [and asshole--] Bob Kerrey to withdraw [the evidently troubled] McCain's invitation to speak, saying they didn't want the [formerly caged and tortured-unto-insanity] Arizonan to use their graduation ceremony as a platform for a potential run for president in 2008.

One student speaker, Jean Sara Rohe, tossed her prepared remarks to inject her own political beliefs.

"I do know that pre-emptive war is dangerous and wrong, and I know that George Bush's agenda in Iraq is not worth the many lives lost," she said to cheers.

For his part, McCain [, grinning dementedly,] stuck to his script, which was basically the same speech he delivered at Liberty University to a warm reception. In Manhattan, however, he was jeered when he told the 2,700 graduates and others in the audience that he "supported the decision to go to war in Iraq.

"Many [sic] Americans did not," he said. "My patriotism and my conscience [and my dangerous psychological imbalance] required me to support it and to engage in the debate [which never occurred] over whether [sic] and how [haha] to fight it."

McCain, who was both cheered [sic] and booed at the end of his remarks, did not address the hecklers, but Kerrey did.

"You heard and saw two acts of bravery," the former senator [and current asshole] said after the speeches of McCain and Rohe. "There will come a time when you will have to answer the question -- will you stand -- not heckling from an audience where no bravery is required -- but will you stand and say what you believe when you know that heckling and laughter and boos will arise?"

Q: When will there "come a time"?

Stewart eviscerates Ponnuru.

FAIR elegantly disembowels Friedman.

Colbert takes John Gibson apart twice.

Al Gore absolves us of our sins for a few minutes.

For what its worth, Gore's timing and delivery is pretty good. I doubt Oprah could pull that off.

Following Blicero's recent coinage of "Slothrop's Syndrome". I'd like to add a few to the lexicon:

emboldened - a lack of proper servility.

Example:

"Because of Bush, illegal invaders are emboldened, demanding that which they have no legal right to obtain."

brief etymology and usage guide: In the past Islamic extremists have shown that they were 'emboldened' by Clinton's inaction and thus attacked the World Trade Centers. As it turns out, flying jet planes into skyscrapers was a mincing display of criminal timorousness. There is still a higher level of boldness to be achieved. Thus no effort must be spared to prevent further emboldening.

Islamic extremism having become passe, Mexican immigrants are the new group whose emboldening must not occur. Upon turning out in the streets in record numbers it became clear that they were teetering on the precipice of being emboldened.

Therfore we can conclude that: once one has done something bold one has not evidenced boldness, but rather a capacity for being emboldened.

Generally in common speech the degree to which it is imperative that the emboldening of a group be stopped is directly proportional to the lack of boldness of those advocating the stoppage.

When using the word "emboldened" it is critical to remember that the degree of the boldness of underlings is solely a function of one's own actions. Those being bold or being emboldened are not capable of agency.

Therefore, in order to stave off further emboldening always keep in mind that it is you who are doing the emboldening! Remembering this will embolden you.

Incorrect usage: If he faces no consequences for his crimes, the President will be emboldened to further abuse his power.





implacable -

1) The incapacity for being even minimally understood or effectively remedied.

Example: Militant Islam is an implacable foe of the United States.

2) A quality which, when possessed, justifies anything done in the name of hurting its possesor.

Example: Militant Islam is an implacable foe of the United States.

It was a Republican state party boss, Senator Boies Penrose of Pennsylvania, who early this century stated with notable candor the basic principle and purpose of present-day party politics. In the face of a powerful state and national resurgence of reform and the sentiments of the majority of the Republican rank and file, Penrose put up a losing slate of stand-pat party hacks. When a fellow Republican accused him of ruining the party, Penrose replied, "Yes, but I'll preside over the ruins."

- Walter Karp, Indispensable Enemies

We have our nominee, friends. It's Pit-Pat. Pit-Pat is gender-free, pansexual, and very, very strong on national security.