Bush has been talking about progress in Iraq for over four years. Only the Hill Republicans believe him.

This ad, from Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, starts running in Kentucky tomorrow -- that would be the home state of the leader of the GOP filibuster strategy, Mitch McConnell. It's good:
Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Back by popular demand; haven't had one since wake-up time.

Also, to be a real news source we apparently must announce this shocking, breaking news from today: in New Jersey, there is a young woman who likes to have fun with her friends and take goofy pictures. I see this is THE SCANDAL!!!! of the day. I heartily encourage the non-discussion of this subject.

Chat away. Read the rest of this post...

U.S. House passes Iraq withdrawal bill

The Skelton bill just passed by a 223 - 201 margin. Those Republicans are sticking with Bush's delusional "stay the course" strategy:
Read the rest of this post...

Military spokesman absolutely wrong about al Qaeda in Iraq

[NOTE FROM JOHN: AJ is a former Department of Defense civilian Intelligence Officer who was decorated for his recent civilian service in Iraq.]

The Post reports that the chief spokesman for the U.S. military yesterday called al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) "the principal threat" to Iraqis.

This is, quite simply, completely and totally false.

Anyone who claims that the so-called al Qaeda in Iraq group is the "principal threat" to anything in that nation -- whether its citizens, the government, the political process, or any specific ethnic or sectarian group -- is either grossly ignorant of the realities of the Iraq war or blatantly lying. I honestly have no idea which it is in this case, though it's worth noting that the chief U.S. military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, was employed as a Special Assistant to the President prior to his current appointment.

Most reliable estimates put the fundamentalist/jihadist/al Qaeda actors in Iraq at around 3-5% of the total insurgency, with virtually no approximations exceeding 10%. I really cannot overstate how misleading it is to focus on al Qaeda when the driving forces of the conflict are average, native, very pissed-off -- but not religious fundamentalist -- Iraqis. The vast majority of the Sunni population is relatively secular (more secular, in fact, than Iraqi Shia), and even tacit support of jihadists is founded in anti-American sentiment. Even the sectarian violence is fueled more by localized conflicts between Sunni and Shia families, tribes, and militias than by al Qaeda.

It is true that AQI groups commit the most spectacular attacks, including the vast majority of suicide bombings, but if the underlying problems were solved, or even addressed (including, but not limited to, oil revenue sharing, federalism, de-Ba'athification, provincial elections, etc.), AQI would lose most of its ability to operate because it would have no support on the ground.

It's deja vu: To make the case for war in Iraq, the Bush administration misled the public about the relationship of Iraq to terrorism. Now, in an effort to bolster support for continuing the war, it is trying to link staying in Iraq with our efforts against global terrorist groups (which are, incidentally the strongest they have been since 9/11, largely because this administration put our intelligence and military resources into Iraq).

The Post, to its credit, does spend considerable article space describing opposing view of "analysts," and those anonymous voices are absolutely right. Again, these latest statements are either shockingly misinformed or shockingly mendacious. Either way, shameful. Read the rest of this post...

Religious right protesters disrupt religious prayer in US Senate

(Photo courtesy of TPMCafe)

There is only one God, THEIR God. Not my God, not your God, THEIR God. And the Republican party is owned by these people. We wrote about these bigots yesterday. And today they're disrupting religious prayer services that don't conform to Southern Baptist teachings. Remember, the religious right also thinks Catholics aren't even Christians, because the Pope is a representative of Satan (they say). These are the "Christian" voices of the Republican party.

More from TPMCafe.

CNN has video of the disruption. Read the rest of this post...

The next 9/11 is Bush's fault

Bush officials are now warning that they think we're going to get hit again this summer. In the meantime, all of our intelligence assets - the folks meant to prevent the attack - are focused on Iraq. Most of our National Guard units - the folks meant to help us after an attack - are in Iraq. If we get hit again, it is going to be the fault of George Bush and everyone who continued to support this wasteful war while ignoring the Al Qaeda threat at home and abroad. Al Qaeda had nothing to do with Iraq before we invaded. George Bush chose to ignore Al Qaeda and go after Saddam. If Al Qaeda hits again, it's the fault of our idiot commander in chief and everyone who supported him.

America cannot afford to have a blithering idiot running our country in a time of war. Read the rest of this post...

Failing to show up at hearing, Harriet Miers now facing contempt of Congress

Harriet is contemptible, as is her former boss. Now, she's facing contempt of Congress charges:

A House panel has cleared the way for contempt proceedings against former White House counsel Harriet Miers.

Miers today obeyed an order from President Bush and did not appear at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing. Miers had been subpoenaed to testify about the firing of 8 federal prosecutors.

Addressing the empty chair, the panel's chair, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, ruled that White House claims of executive privilege were out of order. Current White House counsel Fred Fielding has asserted that executive privilege gives Miers "absolute" immunity.

The subcommittee voted 7 to 5 to sustain Sanchez's ruling.

Remember when she was going to be a Supreme Court Justice? Those were the days for ole Harriet. Read the rest of this post...

Bush trying to spin Iraq progress again at 10:30 a.m. press conference

Over the past couple months, we've witnessed several attempts at interventions with George Bush over Iraq. The release of the Iraq Study Group report was one of those efforts. You may recall that every major network covered the press conference by James Baker and Lee Hamilton. Bush was told he had a major problem in Iraq and provided a way out. But, Bush remained in denial and started the escalation one month later.

Lately, several Republican Senators, Dick Lugar, George Voinovich, Pete Domenici, John Warner among them, have been trying to send Bush the message that he has a problem. Again, he's in denial.

We'll witness again the full breadth of Bush's state of denial at his news conference starting at 10:30 EST. We'll live blog the "highlights." Bush is in spin mode. That's all he does. When Karl Rove is in the room directing the Iraq response, we can expect nothing but political machinations.

George Bush needs an intervention that will hold because he is doing serious damage to the United States...and causing the deaths of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi citizens.

From the press conference:

Bush seems especially petulant and annoyed today. Lots of smirks.

Okay, one of the biggest lies yet was his response to Helen Thomas, "Actually, um, I was hoping to solve the Iraqi issue diplomatically." That's a whopper.

The psychologist-in-chief has diagnosed the American people with "war fatigue" that's "affecting our psychology." Actually, we have Bush fatigue, too. And, since he's into psychological diagnoses, perhaps he can do a little self-examination about his state of denial.

"Hard work." "It's hard work." Didn't we hear that before?

Bush loves talking about Al Qaeda. Heres' an idea. He should read the new report the from National Counterterrorism Center. It's called is "Al-Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West." Now, you'd think that would capture his attention, but you'd probably be wrong.

Okay, that was incredibly painful. Lies, spin, denial. Read the rest of this post...

Under Bush's leadership, the Al Qaeda network has actually been getting stronger

Vanquishing terror was supposed to be the hallmark of George Bush's presidency. How many times has he invoked "September the 11th" and Al Qaeda for political reasons? Yet, not only has he not defeated the enemy who attacked us, that enemy is getting stronger:

Six years after the Bush administration declared war on al-Qaeda, the terrorist network is gaining strength and has established a safe haven in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan for training and planning attacks, according to a new Bush administration intelligence report to be discussed today at a White House meeting.

The report, a five-page threat assessment compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center, is titled "Al-Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West," intelligence officials said. It concludes that the group has significantly rebuilt itself despite concerted U.S. attempts to smash the network.

Bush is a complete failure. In 2007, we should be talking about Al Qaeda in the past tense. Instead, we're now dealing with a reconstituted and stronger terror network.

That title sounds remarkably like the August 6, 2001, Presidential Daily Briefing "Bin Ladin determined to Strike in U.S." We know how that went. Bush ignored it and stayed on vacation. Read the rest of this post...

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Yesterday, we saw the Senate Republicans vote against the troops. The House GOPers will get their chance today. There will be a vote later today on the Rep. Ike Skelton's to begin the withdrawal of troops from Iraq within 120 days -- to be completed by April 1, 2008. For all their bluster, most Republicans are sticking with Bush and his failed policies.

So, it'll be another day focused on ending the war. And, at the end of the day, George Bush still won't admit he has a problem.

Get moving. Read the rest of this post...

Security still suspect with military, government and business

It doesn't matter if we are talking about business or government, this issue won't go away. While I understand that it's not an easy issue and every other company and consultant out there has a different spin on what works best but these regular stories are ridiculously common and yet there is never any action. Of course it's an expensive problem to fix but the costs of foot dragging and providing such easy access for secret or private data comes with a cost as well. In the case of the military they are offering easy access to military secrets and in business, easy access for criminals who are abusing both individuals as well as the commerce system.

In a survey of servers run by agencies or companies involved with the military and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, The Associated Press found dozens of documents that officials refused to release when asked directly, citing troop security.

Such material goes online all the time, posted most often by mistake. It's not in plain sight, unlike the plans for the new American embassy in Baghdad that appeared recently on the Web site of an architectural firm. But it is almost as easy to find.

And experts said foreign intelligence agencies and terrorists working with al-Qaida likely know where to look.

As long as there is more incentive to do nothing instead of taking action, expect more problems. They're likely to be much more costly over time, but that looks like what we are going to get. It also shows just how little the Bush administration cares about real security since these problems have been ongoing for some time. Read the rest of this post...

92% of Americans want "country of origin" food labels

Considering the countless food safety issues - from China as well as the US - it's amazing to see this issue still dragging in Congress. Maybe they're waiting for the numbers to hit 100% but it's time this one is tackled. Enough of this "let industry self regulate" garbage, we've tried that Republican plan and like so many of their other plans it has been a miserable failure and other people die for their little experiments.

Meatpackers and grocers as well as some farm groups say the labeling law will create an expensive record-keeping headache to track each piece of meat from the slaughter plant to grocery shelf. Other farm groups side with consumer groups in saying shoppers deserve to know if meat is imported or U.S.-grown.

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards released on Tuesday a package of safety proposals for imported foods, including making country-of-origin labeling mandatory.

“It’s time to stop the delays and stop giving in to big agribusiness and food importers,” said Edwards.

Precisely. Quit caving to the special interests who will whine about everything but will somehow stay quiet when consumers of their products die. If the business interests want to talk about the "cost" of labeling, let's also talk about the cost of death because someone consumed their product. Read the rest of this post...

Nov. 13, 2006, CIA Director Hayden: "The inability of the [Iraqi] government to govern seems irreversible."

They knew this six months ago, and still let our troops continue to die. America cannot afford 18 months more of this administration. Read the rest of this post...