News-Record.com

Lets see, our government doesn't believe in diplomacy anymore, one party casts the valid criticisms of the other as "defeatocrats" we're running up one hell of a tab, naw, I'd say America's doing splendidly right now. Rummy comparing critics of the war to appeasers of Nazi germany? Is this progress? Here's the headlines from Iraq for this week. I'm not sure I even know who our enemies are or what the plan is.

Friday

Car Bomb and Rockets Kill 43 in Baghdad's Shiite Strongholds
By EDWARD WONG
The attack appeared to be a well-organized strike on areas
controlled by the Mahdi Army, a powerful Shiite militia.

Thursday
Violence Grows, Killing 52 Iraqis, in Face of Security Plan
By DAMIEN CAVE
In the deadliest of several attacks, a bomb inside a
vendor's cart exploded in the Shorja market, the oldest and
largest bazaar in Baghdad, killing at least 24 civilians.

Wednesday
A Flick of a Lighter Kills Scores of Gas-Looting Iraqis
By PAUL von ZIELBAUER
At least 67 people, including dozens of looters siphoning
gasoline from a government pipeline, were killed in an
explosion.

Tuesday
Radical Militia and Iraqi Army in Fierce Battle
By DAMIEN CAVE and EDWARD WONG
Violence that killed at least 28 people amounted to the
most brazen recent clashes between government forces and a
Shiite militia loyal to Moktada al-Sadr, a cleric.

Monday
Bomber Attacks Baghdad Paper on Day When 52 Are Killed
By PAUL von ZIELBAUER
A suicide car bomber attacked Iraq's largest newspaper,
detonating his vehicle inside its fortified compound.

zatoichi, you very clearly point out the problem:
The constant negativity reported by the press in "headlines" versus the truth that bears little relation to those same headlines.
"If it bleeds, it leads" is their cry; damn the truth and the good news.
The media shapes everyone's opinion of what is happening. Unfortunately, you've been duped like many others. No wonder you see everything as doom-n-gloom, you let those controlling the media with a politicial and financial agenda tell you what and how to think.

I'm sure there are newspaper editors in the Arab world, Doug Clark doppelgangers if you will, in the mountains of Yemen or the slums of Islamabad, who are, as we speak, on their respective blogs asking if Americans flying on jets have been unfairly profiled and not treated as "individuals" or fretting over "crisis on conscience". (the reality is there probably are moderate newspaper editors in these countries who are fretting over these things -the only difference is they are now marked for assasination by the crazy people with guns who can seemingly operate with impunity in their countries.)

We are fighting an enemy that has no crisis of conscience or worries about profiling. When you are in any kind of warfare, or any kind of human interaction for that matter, the craziest person in the room ALWAYS dictates the terms of the engagement. Whether you are in a business meeting or on the battlefield, the person who stands up, behaves extremely, ie (has bomb strapped to him, or yells out loud the boss is a flying horse's patootie, dictates the tone of the mtg. This of course, does not mean the crazy person will win the day. That may or may not happen-usually not. (outside of Guilford co at least) but it means they will dictate the terms.

Profiling is going to happen. It always has and it always will. Hopefully our version of profiling results in only inconvienience and not mortal consequences, which seems to be characterictic of the profiling done by our enemies.

Wow Jaycee. I don't know who's misguiding you, but you must be catching your news from Muppet Babies or something.

Blame the "liberal media" for the "resistance" in Iraq. Wake up! We're in year four of war here. Of the five stories I posted, maybe one was the lead on the paper that gets delivered to my e-mail inbox every day. Four of those stories were buried, waaay down.

Buried my man.

I'm tired of this liberal media crap. That's what you Bushies spit out every time you can't come up with a coherent argument for your cause. Slant, Slant Slant. Nobody tells me how to think, I think for myself. You're in denial. I read the same papers everybody else does. And you know what, it's all doom and gloom baby. What's the truth in Iraq, I'd be happy to hear it? That it's not a country on the verge of a civil war?

We're not fighting terrorists. You can't fight an ideology. Terrorism will always exist. You can only hope to create conditions where certain parts of the world don't become a breeding ground for terrorism. Or like the british, cut it off before they get on the planes.

In Iraq, we're not fighting our enemy, we're fighting in the middle of two religious groups that hate each other and are fighting each other, but that both hate us. These guys didn't attack us on September 11. We're not fighting terrorists. We're fighting in the middle of a religious war. We're too stupid to realize we don't have a dog in the fight and that diplomacy ain't a four letter word.

This is our Vietnam. It's a concept you should be able to embrace as a supporter of this war. Love your Vietnam. Love it 20 years from now, I bet you won't.

What does the world think we stand for right now? It ain't good will. They think our government is reckless. We got a president that don't even like to travel. At the dawn of the global economy, a president who'd rather phone it in from the ranch. Isolationist politics. Leadership failures START FROM THE TOP! Look at enron.

zatochi, have you been to Iraq and seen the reality of our efforts and what's really happening over there?
If not, then the information used to form your opinion is fed to you by the largely liberal news media. They have an agenda that is not supportive of our military, our present administration, or fighting terrorism.
I suspect your opinions reflect what you've been told, not the truth.

The balancing act of weighing security against our freedoms is one in which the Bush Administration has leaned heavily against our freedoms. As I see it, the true problem isn't about security vs. freedom, it's about following the law vs. freedom.

Warrantless (Illegal) wiretapping has been the Standard Operating Policy, this from an administration that claimed it would return honor to the executive branch. There is no honor in ignoring the rule of law, whether Democrat or Republican.

While the Republican Congress rubberstamps ever-increasing encroachments on civil liberties, the Bush Administration itself slowly reveals that it will monitor, spy on, eavesdrop, and snoop on emails, phone calls, web traffic, and financial transactions. Those actions are outside of established law that would hold the executive branch's actions to account, and make them based in constitutional law, rather then existing outside of the boundaries of law enacted by congress specifically for situations like those the President claims he is faced with- that he says requires him to not follow the law.

Despite the calls from the right that anyone who opposes the Bush Administration's ever-increasing monarchical tendencies 'hates America' is a 'Defeatocrat', or is 'giving aid and comfort to the enemy', The actual fact is that those who oppose the misguided republicans are trying to hold to original American principles.

We are individually being forced to live transparent lives, wherein the Government can rifle through all our personal communications while the Government is operating in ever-increasing secrecy. This is the very opposite of how a democracy should operate. A transparent government, and privacy rights of citizens was the original aim of our founders- and we have strayed far away from that original ideal.

Yes, in investigations there is a need for secrecy to thwart actions by those who would do us harm. However, there are laws in place that are there specifically for these purposes. So, in essence, either follow the law, or create new ones- BEFORE you decide to act.

Jaycee--

Blah Blah Blah.