Kill 3,000 people, win a new computer

Damn, I was hoping to win the Jeffrey Dahmer iPod. Read the rest of this post...

Katrina's Emotional Scars

We're seeing the pictures on TV reminding us of the physical devastation caused by Katrina. Let's also remember the less visible emotional scars. From USA Today:

A year after Hurricane Katrina scoured the Gulf Coast, the storm still rages in the minds of survivors, who now suffer twice as much severe mental illness as existed in the region before landfall, researchers reported Monday.

Katrina forced 500,000 people to evacuate and carved its initials in a swath of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The first major attempt to probe survivors' mental status found that about 15% of residents of the counties and parishes struck by the storm, or 200,000 people, have depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other forms of mental illness, twice as many as before.

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Katrina Anniversary open thread

A year ago, Hurricane Katrina was devastating the Gulf Coast. Our government failed to meet its most vital mandate: to provide for the welfare of its people.

Today, the long-term survival of New Orleans, one of America's great cities, is in serious doubt. If it does survive, it will be because of hard working locals, committed charities, and instances of individual courage and effort, and in spite of -- rather than thanks to -- our federal government.

One despairs . . . but one also remembers. Read the rest of this post...

Frist may have lied to continue reign as Video Doctor

Oh what they'll do to keep that prestigious "MD" outside the Senate office door.

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist acknowledged Tuesday that he may not have met all the requirements needed to keep his medical license active — even though he gave paperwork to Tennessee officials indicating that he had.

The state of Tennessee requires its licensed physicians to complete 40 hours of continuing medical education every two years. Frist, a heart-lung surgeon who is considering a 2008 presidential run, submitted a license renewal with the Tennessee Health Department stating he has fulfilled that requirement.

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Bombings in Turkey will add to difficulties in Iraq

Two consecutive days of deadly bombings in Turkey are a tragedy for a nation that is desperately trying to be accepted into the Western world. Turkey is fighting institutional racism and economic protectionism in its attempt to join the EU, and it has been a vital U.S. ally for decades -- a NATO member since 1952 and a crucial partner during the Cold War. Its geography has huge strategic importance, including shared borders with Syria, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, and Bulgaria, as well as control of the straits that connect the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, through which Russian oil passes. Turkey has a modern democracy, economy, and culture, and demonstrates that an overwhelmingly Muslim state can embrace liberalism. It has its flaws, of course, but it really is a great (and very beautiful) country and a solid ally.

It also has a problem, though, with its restive Kurdish minority, which mostly resides in the East, near the border with Iran, Iraq, and Syria. There are roughly 15 million Kurds in Turkey, representing about 20% of its population and over 50% of all Kurds in the Middle East. Many Kurds in Turkey, like their brethren in Iraq, want their own state, and Kurdish militant organizations have attacked both military and civilian targets in the past. In particular, the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party, also known as Kongra-Gel), is a terrorist group committed to establishing a Kurdish state that would include territory from Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, and has terrorized Turkey for years in pursuit of this goal. The PKK isn't especially popular among most Kurds, but even with relatively few members, it's a brutal and deadly bunch of thugs. It's a good bet that they're behind these latest bombings as well.

Turkey is convinced, and probably not wrongly, that the PKK is using northern Iraq as a base for terrorist operations, which have increased since the war began. While Kurds are sensitive to Turkish influence in the north, and also in Baghdad, it's unlikely that they'll seriously crack down on the PKK in the near future. This is Turkey's number one international priority, and Turkish officials are constantly pressing Iraqis on it, including just over a week ago when Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan (pronounced "Erdowan") met with Iraqi Deputy President Hashimi.

Erdogan and Hashimi also discussed presence of PKK in the north of Iraq. Hashimi said that Iraq will not allow acts that will cause uneasiness in Turkey regarding this issue. Hashimi committed to exert every type of effort to prevent such acts. Regarding Kirkuk issue, Erdogan said, "Kirkuk should have a special status. This is important for Iraq's unity."

Turkey understands that Kurdish territory has to be given special status so Kurds won't (immediately) move towards an independent state, which would create huge problems for Turkey in terms of politics and security. These latest bombings, however, will force a Turkish response that is likely to extend into northern Iraq. There are already many reports that Turkey is operating in Kurdistan, and any augmentation of that effort will worsen an already-sensitive situation in Kurdistan.

I know this is slightly below the first-tier attention (and interest) of many observers, but these kinds of under-the-radar developments have a huge impact in the daily events in Iraq, and this is another worrisome sign. Read the rest of this post...

Donald Rumsfeld and Pedophilia

Donald Rumsfeld, our Secretary of Defense who oversaw the worst US military defeat in 100 years, and personally sentenced nearly 3,000 US soldiers to death in a war based on a lie, is now just making stuff up rather than addressing the real problem America faces in Iraq.

According to Rumsfeld, the problem in Iraq isn't that we're losing. It's that "some" unnamed Americans (who don't exist) want our country to "appease" the terrorist in an effort to make them like us, so they'll bring us lemonade, or something.

Of course, Rumsfeld has entered crazy land here, just like Dick Cheney did yesterday. No one I can think of has ever talked about the need to appease the terrorists. But in George Bush's America, when you kill 3,000 US troops for a big mistake and then aren't man enough to admit it, you have to come up with something to sleep at night - or to win re-election. So the Republicans are now trying to create an enemy within our own ranks that is to blame for their own loss in Iraq.

The big question is whether the media will have the balls to demand Rumsfeld and Cheney list, with quotes, the major American politicians who have called for us to "appease the terrorists." And if they can't, they should resign. Read the rest of this post...

Noon open thread

Chris and I had breakfast with Cyrille, the French blogger who runs Bonjour America! (you may recall I posted one of his videos yesterday, explaining French cheese to Americans).

Anyway, he posted a comment on the blog, I sent him an email, and this morning we were sharing croissants and strong coffee at a corner cafe. He's a very interesting guy - comedian, of course - but has an excellent marketing mind (I'd almost say political mind). And the accent is for real. He put me in touch with some other French political bloggers, which is great, since I've been wanting to establish more ties with other bloggie types around the world.

Oh, and he really wants to meet Jon Stewart, who he watches religiously over here (uh, legally I'm sure), and Clint Eastwood (seriously). So if anybody can help... Read the rest of this post...

Gonzales in Iraq to promote rule of law

And to think that some find the administration arrogant, clueless and hypocritical. Maybe one of these days the rule of law might once again return to the US.

Gonzales told reporters after the meeting with Saleh that his visit was aimed at providing "what we can ... to help promote the rule of law and also help promote security in this country."

He reiterated the "commitment of the United States government and helping you with the dreams of your government."

Gonzales planned to meet with Justice Department officials working in Iraq before he returned to Washington.

The attorney general has been criticized for his position on the treatment of non-American prisoners held outside the United States.

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Dear Media, ask Dick Cheney WHO suggested we should appease the terrorists?

I'd like to know who Dick Cheney was talking about when he said yesterday that "some" Americans say we should appease the terrorists so they don't hit us again. I've never heard any American suggest any such thing, and certainly no Democrat. (Was Cheney talking about a Republican, perhaps even someone in the White House?)

So please, dear media, just like you pestered John Kerry incessantly about who those supposed "world leaders" were who didn't want Bush to win re-election, please demand that the vice president name names and provide us with quotes. The American people deserve to know who among us has outright said that we should "appease the terrorists" in the hope that if we make them happy they won't hit us again.

Because if he can't prove what he's saying, then that means Dick Cheney is lying to the American people about the war on terror in an effort to sway the election. And that, if true, is big news and a serious offense. Read the rest of this post...

Rumsfeld now says US troops DIDN'T kill civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan

I thought about not posting such graphic photos on the blog, but since we know now, via Rumsfeld, that none of these photos are of real dead people or real US troops, I guess it's okay.



You see, you've heard about the death at the hands of US troops in Haditha, at Abu Ghraib, the guy the US troops ran over in Afghanistan, but it's all a lie. And an al Qaeda lie at that. And America's media has bought into it 100%, being the terrorist sympathizers that they are.

Here Rumsfeld outright lies about the findings made by his very own Defense Department:

"What bothers me the most is how clever the enemy is," he continued, launching an extensive broadside at Islamic extremist groups which he said are trying to undermine Western support for the war on terror.

"They are actively manipulating the media in this country" by, for example, falsely blaming U.S. troops for civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

"They can lie with impunity," he said, while U.S. troops are held to a high standard of conduct.

Yes, it is the mark of a totally corrupt man to lie with impunity. It's also a mark of an ailing democracy.

PS I'm just assuming the other abuses at Abu Ghraib never happened:



And oh yeah, we never had that US military photos-of-dead-Iraqis-traded-for-porn scandal, so ignore this picture:

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US appeases al-Sadr again

It's Neville Chamberlain all over again. Appease, appease, appease. How many free passes is the Bush administration planning to dish out to al-Sadr? Wasn't this what was talked about the first and second time Bush had the troops pull back from conflict with the al-Sadr militia? Maybe this is why the administration is trying again to bring up the Democrats-are-appeasing-the-terrorists routine so they hope people miss that it's Bush that is the appeaser. Read the rest of this post...

Investor optimism plummets 40 points in 2006

Wow. What's not to love about this "golden era" where profits remain in the hands of the select few? Who cares if most wages are on the decline as long as we continue to have retirement packages for the ruling elite while most Americans no longer have company sponsored retirement programs and perks? Funny how America "won" the Cold War courtesy of competition, free enterprise and money in the pockets of working families but those values seem so far away these days in the GOP-run United States. Go figure why investors are no longer very confident in the economy, but then again, Wall Street prefers Democrats in the White House anyway. Read the rest of this post...

Some say...

"Some say it's patriotic to be cavalier about the deaths of nearly three thousand of our young brave troops, lying about the reasons for going to war with Iraq and then running the war incompetently, rather than concentrating on the real 'war on terror' and capturing Osama bin Laden.

"And some say they'd rather see a quagmire in Iraq, and put our troops in the middle of a civil war in order to protect their sensitive, overblown egos, than admit they've orchestrated the biggest American military defeat in 100 years."

- AMERICAblog reader "cowboyNEOK" (with a little poetic license from me)

Read the rest of this post...