With the fighting in Afghanistan intensifying we’ve begun to lose more troops. Listening to news reports, one of the missions we have undertaken was to deny transit routes to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. I think there are some fundamental problems that unnecessarily expose our troops to hostiles and renders them much more vulnerable. While stationed in Germany I noticed the castles along the Rhine, used to control that route of travel where usually built high in the hills. Why is it that at Wanat and in the more recent incident where we lost more than just a few personnel we were at the bottom of the valley exposed not only on four sides but also from above?

I saw this on Twitter and I may be paraphrasing this a bit but thought it was a true reflection of things. The source was either JeremyScahill or Timothy S.

Republicans complaining about government spending when they are not the party in power is like a hooker advocating abstinence between tricks.

From Thinkprogress,

Verification measures aren’t always effective either. A House Oversight Committee investigation “reviewed six state Medicaid programs in 2007 and concluded that verification rules had cost the federal government an additional $8.3 million. They caught exactly eight illegal immigrants.” The Government Accountability Office has found that such requirements caused eligible U.S. citizens to lose Medicaid coverage.

Why was it necessary for Barack Obama to say that the United States does not torture when George Bush has already said the very same thing? And why is it that at least for now people are willing to trust what Obama says?

You know it is bad when Ted Stevens wont even vote for himself this election.

Although he can still run for the Senate, as a convicted felon he can’t vote.

One of the most certain things in the upcoming election is that Roy Blunt will be re-elected. That comes as no surprise to anyone who lives in this corner of Missouri. Down home here Blunt certainly is preaching to the choir with his election adds. He tells us he is for a living wage. I guess he is as long as that living wage is $5.15 per hour or less because he sure as hell did not support increasing the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour. Five dollars and 15 cents per hour. Now that is a living wage.

Once again we are in the height of the election season. If Pinocheo were around he would never be able to get out of the door because his nose would be so much longer than his arms. But there is one character who I like to remember because he was the source for the meme that President Bill Clinton refused to arrest Osama bin Laden and as a result OBL lived to wreak havoc on the World Trade Center. Those of us on the left could provide all the evidence we wanted that the story was untrue, those on the right just would not let that go. Quite probably today many on the right probably still hold that Bill Clinton just sold us out.

Ijaz became an instant celebrity on the right, he even got a gig on Fox News with Sean Hannity. Then Ijaz took a step too far and accused one of the right’s own. 

IANS[ SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2003 06:49:05 PM ]

LONDON: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has struck a deal with the US not to capture Osama Bin Laden, fearing this could lead to unrest in Pakistan, according to a special investigation by The Guardian.

The paper reported Saturday that Bin Laden was being protected by three elaborate security rings manned by tribesmen stretching 192 kms in diameter in northern Pakistan.

The paper’s information is based on comments made by Mansoor Ijaz, an American of Pakistan origin who, the paper said, knows al-Qaeda better than most people and had close contacts in Pakistan’s intelligence agencies.
Ijaz believed an agreement was reached between Musharraf and US authorities shortly after Bin Laden’s flight from his stronghold Tora Bora in Afghanistan in December 2001. 

 Needless to say Ijaz lost his position with Fox and not too much has been heard of him as an authority on the Middle East since. But he did serve his purpose as a useful idiot for a while and helped advance the right wing’s impression of President Clinton as a traitor of our country. That’s what useful idots are for.

Even after 4 years it seems the Bush Administration has not been able to think themselves out of this most simple of conundrums.

A federal judge ordered the Bush administration Tuesday to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay into the United States, rebuking the government in a landmark decision that could set the stage for the release of dozens other prisoners in Cuba.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina said it would be wrong for the government to continue holding the detainees, known as Uighurs (WEE’-gurz), who have been jailed for nearly seven years, since they are no longer considered enemy combatants. Over the objections of government lawyers who called them a security risk, Urbina ordered their release in Washington D.C. by Friday.
“Because the Constitution prohibits indefinite detentions without cause, the continued detention is unlawful,” Urbina said in a ruling that brought cheers and applause from a standing-room only courtroom filled with dozens of Uighurs and human rights activists.

If your day needs a lift here is a series of pictures that will do it for you: