NBC: US pushed Brits to act faster -- attack "not imminent"

Surprise, surprise. According to NBC, the plan wasn't as "imminent" as first reported. And the U.S. pushed the Brits to act faster. Found this over at TPM Muckraker:

A senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.

In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.

Many questions here. The first being: Why the rush? And which "American officials" applied the pressure? Did Bush call Blair? A White House staffer denies this happened, but when was the last time anyone in this White House told the truth?

It's obvious that Team Bush is using this recent plot for their political agenda. They are not beyond forsaking national security for partisan politics -- something that reporters who cover Bush know is true since they've played a role in that. So, is this another case of Bush thinking about politics first? Read the rest of this post...

Is England the next "central front in the war on terror"?

The Washington Post takes an in-depth look at what's going on in Tony Blair's country:

The answer is that Britain has become an incubator for violent Islamic extremism, fueled by disenchantment at home and growing rage about events abroad, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Four bombers killed themselves and 52 others in attacks on the London public transit system on July 7, 2005 , followed by an almost identical but failed attack two weeks later. Last month Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair said that at least three "serious conspiracies" had been disrupted in the previous 12 months. Then this week, police said they thwarted a plot to blow up as many as 10 airliners flying from Britain to the United States that could have killed thousands.

In one of Europe's largest Muslim communities, young men face a lack of jobs, poor educational achievement and discrimination in a highly class-oriented culture. Prime Minister Tony Blair is the most outspoken ally of President Bush, and their policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are seen by many Muslims as aimed at Islam.

Read the rest of this post...

Meanwhile, there's nothing approaching a ceasefire in Iraq

Carnage continues:

Police found a dozen bodies trapped in a grate in the Tigris River, and a roadside bomb killed two U.S. soldiers on a foot patrol south of Baghdad Saturday as nearly 50 violent deaths were reported across Iraq.

No wonder Bush wants to change the subject or still pretend Iraq is related to the war on terror.

According to the latest Newsweek poll, Iraq is the dominant issue -- and it's bad for Bush and the GOP:

Clearly, Iraq remains a drag on the president and his party; 58 percent of Americans say the United States is losing ground in its efforts to establish stability and democracy there, up from 49 percent last September. (Only 31 percent believes the United States is making progress, down from 40 percent last year.) Fifty-four percent of Americans say they are "not too confident" (24 percent) or "not at all confident" (30 percent) that the United States will establish a democratic form of government in Iraq "over the long term." Only 11 percent are "very confident" and 32 percent are "somewhat confident."

When it comes to the issues that will impact their vote for Congress on Nov. 7, 22 percent of registered voters put Iraq first, 18 percent say the economy and 15 percent say terrorism, followed by health care (14 percent), gas and oil prices (12 percent) and immigration (9 percent).

Read the rest of this post...

Mid-east Cease-fire will start Monday

The latest development:

The U.N.-brokered cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel will begin at 8 a.m. (1 a.m. ET) Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a taped statement Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora agreed on the time, Annan said. But he urged both sides to stop fighting immediately.

Read the rest of this post...

Lieberman unhinged

Markos reports. You decide. We decided he is unhinged. Joe can't accept the fact that he's a loser. A three-time loser: VP in 2000; Pres. in 2004; and Senate in 2006.

(Note from John: I just have to weigh in. Lieberman AGAIN repeats GOP talking points about how too many people don't think terrorists are bad people. Uh, name one person who doesn't think the terrorists are bad people who need to be stopped, Joe? Those kind of comments are flat out untrue, and as Markos notes, so out of touch to the point of delusional. We know why the Republicans say these things - to slander Dems with lies. Why do you say them, Mr. Lieberman?) Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

It's a perfect day in DC, rare for August. But I have a stupid summer cold, so I started reading "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq" by Thomas Ricks. Fascinating. The first line:

President George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003 ultimately may come to be seen as one of the most profligate actions in the history of American foreign policy.

That's quite a start....I'm really getting in to it. And, I am finally accepting the realization that I need reading glasses. Read the rest of this post...

GOP's only hope for '06: save the marriage of Iraq/terror

Bush is a failed president, the GOP are failed leaders. They've got nothing to run on. They're in trouble and are really hoping that they can exploit the latest terror incident (which was so terrible that Bush stayed on vacation).

But times have changed. This year, the Dems. are fighting back hard on the terror issue. All the Republicans have is their worn out talking point from '02 and '04, that 9/11 = terror = Iraq war.:

The strategist, who is involved in GOP efforts to capitalize on the issue of national security, said one of the big challenges in the months ahead will be "making sure the terrorism issue sticks to Iraq." With some GOP candidates distancing themselves from Bush's Iraq policy, the strategist said, it has been difficult marrying the issues of terrorism and Iraq. This is disturbing to top GOP officials because support for the war is low, and dropping, and Iraq is a bigger issue in many of the campaigns than the less-defined effort against terrorism, the strategist said.

It probably doesn't help the GOP strategy when GOP candidates keep distancing themselves. Just yesterday, Representative Joan Davis called for Rumsfeld's resignation questioning his judgments on Iraq:

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis has joined the growing chorus of those who believe Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should be out of a job.

"I told my husband that when (Sen.) Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) came out and said he should resign, it's probably the only thing in my life I've ever agreed with Hillary Clinton about," said Davis, R-Gloucester.

Iraq's a disaster. It didn't help the war on terror. It made it worse and we're not safer. This year, a lot of Americans understand that...and it's freaking out the GOP. Read the rest of this post...

After September 11, we did get hit again

It was called Anthrax. And Bush still hasn't caught the killer. So next time Bush/Cheney claim we haven't been hit again, ask them what happened to the Anthrax killer.

Then ask them where Osama is. Read the rest of this post...

Religious right wants activist judges to help it cheat in marriage debate

I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning. They don't like the rules the state legislature established so they want a federal court to overturn it. Nice. Every bigot loves a fascist. Read the rest of this post...

Don't forget: Bush stayed on vacation in August 2001

The August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing warned Bush that "Bin Ladin (sic) was determined to attack in the U.S." Bush stayed on vacation. Just like he did during Katrina. Just like he did this week.

36 days after Bush got the warning, Bin Laden did attack in the U.S. Read the rest of this post...

Viciously funny

Read the rest of this post...

More on Bush's secret effort to steal money away from airplane bomb detection just last month

Clinton, blow job.

Bush, blow up planes.

You decide. Read the rest of this post...

Here are your stupid cats

Today's guest cat blogger. I was walking by this house, saw the cat and snapped a quick one.



Nasdaq does his best Picasso on top of my suitcase, which I've now put a towel on since the cats sleep there every night (they're even now fighting over it).



Nasdaq unknotted. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Fur balls. Never saw a cat hack before. It was just like Shrek. Read the rest of this post...

How can they give the confiscated airport items to the homeless if they don't know if they're explosives or not?

I'm talking about the new things they're confiscating at the airport. They say the products are unopened, but they're giving them to the homeless in Phoenix. Okay, then how do you know they're not explosives that you're handing to the homeless, since you haven't opened them? Apparently, the airport people, in Phoenix at least, know quite well that the stuff they took off of the passengers in line were not explosives. So why did they take it in the first place?

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport planned to give 11 boxes of surrendered items to the city's human services department, which will give the unopened bottles of shampoo, toothpaste and other items to homeless shelters, airport spokeswoman Lexie Van Haren said.

Same thing in Pennsylvania - seems YOU can't take it on the plane because it might be a bomb, but THEY can sell it on eBay without knowing if it's a bomb, or they're sure it's not a bomb, so then why did they take it in the first place?:

In Pennsylvania, state officials were considering pulling some discarded items for a state program that resells on eBay any items of value relinquished at airport security checkpoints, said Edward Myslewicz, spokesman for the General Services Department.

It's duct tape all over again. Read the rest of this post...