“SAMARRA, Iraq Jan. 14 U.S. forces moved a step closer to the most wanted man in Saddam Hussein’s regime Wednesday, detaining his four nephews in a pre-dawn raid and capturing another top fugitive thought to be a paymaster in the anti-U.S. insurgency. “
Colorado Conservative ha a great one, that bears repeating:
(REVISED AS OF 10/05/98 — Passed House, amended)
Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 – Declares that it should be the policy of the United States to seek to remove the Saddam Hussein regime from power in Iraq and to replace it with a democratic government.
As you can see above, the Amendment passed. And why was this Act created? Well lets look at the findings listed.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) On September 22, 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, starting an 8 year war in which Iraq employed chemical weapons against Iranian troops and ballistic missiles against Iranian cities.
(2) In February 1988, Iraq forcibly relocated Kurdish civilians from their home villages in the Anfal campaign, killing an estimated 50,000 to 180,000 Kurds.
(3) On March 16, 1988, Iraq used chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurdish civilian opponents in the town of Halabja, killing an estimated 5,000 Kurds and causing numerous birth defects that affect the town today.
(4) On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded and began a 7 month occupation of Kuwait, killing and committing numerous abuses against Kuwaiti civilians, and setting Kuwait’s oil wells ablaze upon retreat.
(5) Hostilities in Operation Desert Storm ended on February 28, 1991, and Iraq subsequently accepted the ceasefire conditions specified in United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 (April 3, 1991) requiring Iraq, among other things, to disclose fully and permit the dismantlement of its weapons of mass destruction programs and submit to long-term monitoring and verification of such dismantlement.
(6) In April 1993, Iraq orchestrated a failed plot to assassinate former President George Bush during his April 14-16, 1993, visit to Kuwait.
(7) In October 1994, Iraq moved 80,000 troops to areas near the border with Kuwait, posing an imminent threat of a renewed invasion of or attack against Kuwait.
(8) On August 31, 1996, Iraq suppressed many of its opponents by helping one Kurdish faction capture Irbil, the seat of the Kurdish regional government.
(9) Since March 1996, Iraq has systematically sought to deny weapons inspectors from the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) access to key facilities and documents, has on several occasions endangered the safe operation of UNSCOM helicopters transporting UNSCOM personnel in Iraq, and has persisted in a pattern of deception and concealment regarding the history of its weapons of mass destruction programs.
(10) On August 5, 1998, Iraq ceased all cooperation with UNSCOM, and subsequently threatened to end long-term monitoring activities by the International Atomic Energy Agency and UNSCOM.
(11) On August 14, 1998, President Clinton signed Public Law 105-235, which declared that `the Government of Iraq is in material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations’ and urged the President `to take appropriate action, in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws of the United States, to bring Iraq into compliance with its international obligations.’.
(12) On May 1, 1998, President Clinton signed Public Law 105-174, which made $5,000,000 available for assistance to the Iraqi democratic opposition for such activities as organization, training, communication and dissemination of information, developing and implementing agreements among opposition groups, compiling information to support the indictment of Iraqi officials for war crimes, and for related purposes.
Hmmmmm. Boy that Bush is SOOOOO Evil that he was able to enact regime change in Iraq TWO YEARS BEFORE HE WAS ELECTED. FOUR YEARS BEFORE THE ACTUAL WAR
But only Bush lied.
Not the Congress, who voted for this on October 5, 1998 by a vote of 360 – 38 . Not the Senate, who voted for this UNANIMOUSLY on October 7, 1998. And certainly not President Clinton who signed the bill into law number No: 105-338 on October 31, 1998.
So in short; You can be against the war, but you can’t say Bush misled you. You can be against the War in Iraq, but you can’t say Bush “made up” WMD claims. You can be against the War, but you can’t say it was Bush’s Idea to start regime change.
If you DO insist it’s Bush’s fault. The evidence shows that YOU are the Liar, not Bush.
Murad Kalam wrtes an article worth reading:
“I fled home the next week, leaving all my illusions of the Arab world in my Cairo flat. I couldn’t wait to be in America again. On the long flight home, I promised myself I would never accept anything less than full democracy for my fellow Muslims in the Arab world or apologize for the tyranny that now masquerades as Islam.”
Tip of Bit’s cap to Glenn
For all the speculation about what Mr Bush’s space plans are, includinga nice chat going on over at Dan Drezner’s, for example, nobody really has a firm handle on what he’s got in mind. Until today, that is. Chatter is, he’s going to replace those initial plans today.
DRUDGE REPORT 2004? headline: “RAW RAGE AT BUSH DURING MOVEON.ORG AWARDS; TRANSCRIPT REVEALED”
Example:
“Americanization is like McDonaldization”
Read it and see what America is up against.
Make no mistake; I make no question about denying their right to speak this trash. But I do insist on my right, and yours, to react to it.
‘Nuff said.
A Reuters News Article has the Peanut Farmer, the Miserable Failure, endorsing Dean:
“BURLINGTON, Vt. (Reuters) – Former President Jimmy Carter will offer support for Democratic White House hopeful Howard Dean in a joint appearance in Georgia on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, campaign aides said on Tuesday.
Carter was expected to remain officially neutral, but words of praise could help boost the former Vermont governor’s chances when the race turns to the South on Feb. 3.”
Doesn’t that just say it all?
O’Neill Denies Charge Over Book Documents provides some snippets…
“Asked if he plans to vote for Bush in November’s presidential election, O’Neill said he ‘probably’ would. ‘I don’t see anyone who is better prepared or more capable,’ he told NBC.”
Asked if he thought the internal Treasury probe was a get-even move by the administration, O’Neill replied, “I don’t think so. If I were secretary of the treasury and these circumstances occurred, I would have asked the inspector general to look into it.”
I’m starting to think, for several reasons, I’ve under-estimated the amount of manipulation that the press has been exerting on him, here. It’s clear to me now the press has been trying to twist this into something to use against Mr. Bush. I have a great deal in the way of notes and links backing this premise, and I’ll be writing a BIT on all this, this weekend.
Watch for it.
The Washington Times is reporting:
” Mexican President Vicente Fox yesterday said he favors open borders across North America, not amnesty for his countrymen illegally residing in the United States. “
well, duh…
He wants all the benefits of the American workplace and none of the poblems involved. Means a real boost to his country’s economy…. and a drag on ours. Which, as I recall, was one reason we actually HAVE a border. One-worldism in the guise of ‘compasion for the poor downtrodden Mexican worker’.
In any event, his desires take a backseat to the security needs of a nation still dealing with an enemy looking for an easy way into the country.
Sorry, Vince. On several levels, that’s a “No Sale’.
AFP on YAHOO is reporting a large protest in support of a BBC personality charged with making anti-Arab remarks. It would appear the BBC has under-estimated the anger they’ve been tirring up with hteir anti-western attitude. Big Quote from the story:
“‘People are getting sick of debate being stifled while at the same time you have (Islamic) militants on the streets of London shouting ‘Kill the infidel!””
“NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks ended higher on Monday, with technology shares posting a fresh 2 1/2-year high, as investors bet that the impending flood of earnings reports will reinforce expectations that corporate profits are improving.”
In a possibly related story, the Democrat attendees of the ‘Black and Brown” debate in Des Moines were strangely silent, today, apparently unaware that the economy they’ve been complaing about is growing far faster than it ever has under Democrats….
“LAS VEGAS — French figure skating champion Surya Bonaly has become a US citizen during a ceremony Friday in Las Vegas.”
Hmmm. Why, I wonder?
Clearly she thought being a US citizen, as opposed to being a French citizen, was in her best interest.
Useless Toady was apparently forced to report today that Mr. Dean is dead wrong about us being safer since Saddam’s capture. Says the report:
“Attacks against coalition forces in Iraq have dropped 22% in the four weeks since Saddam Hussein capture, military records show.”
Funny how that didn’t show up until AFTER the debate over the weekend, huh?
Lots of stories out there today. This link here happened to be handy.
Let’s call this what it is; A bitter old man.. bitter he got canned.
It’s a bit more complex than this, of course, but that’s really the bottom line.
Of COURSE O’Neill never saw any evidence… he was being kept out of the loop as a known idiot, and a loose cannon.
It amazes me… the short memory that the left has. It was just two short years ago that he was the brunt of jokes form the left. Even the leftist BBC is forced to remark this morning:
“Billed as a “steady hand” by Mr Bush, Mr O’Neill in fact proved surprisingly wobbly.
Lacking urgent projects to keep him busy (the US economy was still in pretty swell shape in 2001), he demonstrated a habit of shooting his mouth off to the nearest available microphone.
He called the US tax code “9,500 pages of gibberish”, fretted publicly that Brazilians would embezzle international aid, and sent the currency plunging by appearing to deny the US strong-dollar policy.
He told financial-market traders that he could learn their job “in about a couple of weeks”, castigated Argentina for “continuing to consume the money of plumbers and carpenters in the US”, and insisted that the safety record of the nuclear industry was impeccable – “except for Three Mile Island and Chernobyl”.
“If people don’t like what I’m doing,” he said, “I don’t give a damn.”
This sort of behaviour made Mr O’Neill a figure of fun on the liberal left, the most prominent klutz in a notoriously tongue-tied cabinet.”……
…..In fact, Mr O’Neill was not a particularly good Treasury Secretary for far more fundamental reasons.
For the most part, his failing was remaining too much of a businessman to appreciate the subtleties of political issues.
“The crises that erupted during his tenure – first Enron, then the broader economic and market meltdown that followed – demanded someone with a deeper knowledge of international finance, not someone from the “shoot-first” school of corporate management. ”
The BBC also demonstrates they understand what’s behind this:
“But Mr O’Neill’s new guise as a crusader for truth should be treated with care, too.
He has a book – ironically titled The Price Of Loyalty – to promote, something this weekend’s news will have achieved handsomely. “
Looks like, barring unforseens, I have next week’s column half written, already.
Dean Defends Record on Race in Debate:
“DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Under fire in a campaign debate, Howard Dean conceded grudgingly Sunday night that he never named a black or Latino to his cabinet during nearly 12 years as governor of Vermont.”
OK, up front: Dean is the worst possible person to hold ANY office, much less that of President. I think the guy is scum of the earth.
That said, it should be pointed out that Vermont is a state that according to the census, is over 98% white. That fact should explain the whole deal, except to say that Dean and the Democrats are falling victim to what the race warlord Sharpton does best: Racial pandering.
That Dean is the target? (snicker) Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
Update: An interesting side note on this story, comes from Donna Brazile , who usually plays the race card. She now says Dean’s record is fair play for rivals who are mad about his rise, but she thinks Sharpton’s attacks caught him off guard.
“But I also think that was a low blow to attack him on his Cabinet, the people he chose to put around him versus his policies,” she said.
So, now we’re concerned not over their skin color, but about the job they do? An interesting position for a far-leftist quota queen to take, isn’t it, Donna?
LA SHAWN BARBER in Today’s Washington Times:
“Blacks have been lied to about the history of the Republican Party and civil rights. Historically, blacks voted for Republicans because Democrats were blatantly anti-civil rights (and in some ways still are). For example, ‘radical’ Republicans of the 1860s supported slavery’s end in America, the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1964 were opposed by Democrats (Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia participated in a filibuster of the latter) and Jim Crow was a creation of Democrats. “……….
…….Once blacks are fed up with liberal lies, fear, resentment and mistrust (and being passed over for leadership positions), perhaps they’ll return to the party that set them free. And once they get a taste of real freedom, Democrats will be in trouble. Deep trouble.
