Did Bush lie about the Fallujah attack to influence the US election?

In an LA Times story that notes that Bush lied when he said down two years ago that he'd closed down the Pentagon disinformation office, there's a very troubling paragraph:

It cited an incident on Oct. 14 when a Marine spokesman announced, via CNN, the start of the Fallujah offensive, which did not actually happen for another three weeks. The idea was to see in advance how the insurgents would respond. The Times referred to this as just one of the “psy-op” episodes so far.

Putting aside the fact that the executive branch is now giving misinformation to the American media, there's a bigger problem here. Bush intentionally used the spooks to convince the American people that he was taking decisive action against the increasing turmoil in Fallujah less than 3 weeks before the US presidential election. Turns out Bush lied. He wasn't taking decisive action in Iraq. But we all thought he was. Was this done to trick the American people right before the election? To make them think Bush was taking care of the Iraq mess? Intent or not, that's clearly the effect the message would have - and even better, Bush's little attack had no casualties, because THERE WAS NO ATTACK. But we didn't know that, so Bush got kudos for no American troops getting killed, again helping him in the polls.

That is incredibly disturbing news.

Here's CNN's reporting on the "fake" attack:

LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, a major military operation in Iraq. The U.S. military and Iraqi forces advancing against insurgents in Fallujah. A ground and air attack is underway at this hour...

DOBBS: Good evening.

Tonight, U.S. Marines have launched a major assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah west of Baghdad. American warplanes and artillery blasting suspected insurgent positions within the city. The attack comes one day after the Iraqi prime minister ordered Fallujah's leaders to hand over foreign fighters or face, as he put it, annihilation.

Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre has our report -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, to put this in perspective, Pentagon officials are telling us that while this is a significant military operation, it is not yet the major offensive that's designed to take back control of Fallujah.

It is part of a stepped-up campaign to battle the insurgents in Fallujah, which included air strikes today against several targets that were believed to be associated with the terrorist network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, including several safe houses, illegal checkpoints and weapon storage areas.

A short time ago, I talked to Marine 1st Lieutenant Lyle Gilbert who described the operations that are going on on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

1ST LT. LYLE GILBERT, U.S. MARINES: We've been working on this every single day, dealing with insurgents and dealing with terrorists and thugs and the anti-Iraqi forces at large.

This particular operation is pretty invasive, and we've got aircraft, helicopters, fixed wing, as well as tanks and Marines, U.S. Army forces as well as Iraqi forces involved in this operation.

So it's a significant effort, and when, all is said and done, there's going to be a lot less of the anti-Iraqi forces than we're dealing with right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Again, those U.S. and Iraqi forces on the ground will be operating, according to the Marines, in and around Fallujah.

But the U.S. military says this is as a result of intelligence that indicated that members of the Zarqawi network and other anti-U.S. forces were planning to step up attacks for Ramadan, which starts tomorrow.

This is an effort to cut them off at the knees essentially, try to undercut their ability to launch those attacks, while the major offensive is still to come in the future -- Lou.

DOBBS: Jamie, thank you.

Jamie McIntyre, our senior Pentagon correspondent.

Later here, I'll be talking with General David Grange about the force size and the strategy behind tonight's assault against Fallujah.

Read the rest of this post...

Fight back against companies that favor Republicans

Way cool database of how much companies give to the Ds and the Rs. Read the rest of this post...

Evening open thread

Talk about anything but Alabama. Read the rest of this post...

Don't worry, be happy

We're going to win the culture war, so says the Democratic Underground. Good article, a bit long, but picks up as you get going. Worth a read. Read the rest of this post...

My neighbors worry about me sometimes

The newest addition to my balcony, just this evening.

I forgot to mention, he's 8 feet tall :-) Read the rest of this post...

George Will forgets to drink the Kool-Aid

George Will defends the Senate right to filibuster, and adds, "Actually, some Republican senators' hearts are about as pure as the driven slush after the treatment they dished out to some of President Clinton's judicial nominees."

I believe he's written about this before, but still, always good to see one of their own fall out of step. Read the rest of this post...

And another thing

From Salon.com:

In November 2000, after a statewide vote in a special election, Alabama became the last state to overturn a law that was an ugly reminder of America's past, a ban on interracial marriage. The one-time home of George Wallace and Martin Luther King Jr. had held onto the provision for 33 years after the Supreme Court declared anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional. Yet as the election revealed -- 40 percent of Alabamans voted to keep the ban -- many people still see the necessity for a law that prohibits blacks and whites from mixing blood.

A few of you have posted responses to my screed below, saying that lots of state have "archaic" laws on the books, and that not all Alabamians and southerners are redneck racists. Well, I get that. But it seems that 51% of you are. Otherwise, the miscegenation laws would have been repealed LONG before the year 2000 (they weren't). Otherwise 51% of you would have voted to repeal the racist laws in your state constitution last month (you didn't). And otherwise you guys wouldn't constantly be bashing gay people and getting away with it.

Let's face it, when it comes to civil rights villains, far too many have a southern accent for it to simply be coincidence.

And as for calling miscegenation laws simply "archaic" - they're downright Nazi era, AND I USE THAT TERM IN THE REAL AND NOT METAPHORICAL SENSE, and 51% of you guys still tolerated them until 4 years ago (when 40% of you STILL wanted them on the books). That makes 40% of you Nazis, again, in the LITERAL sense of the word. Or, if you prefer not to be compared to Nazis, we can stick with the KKK. You can't weasel out of that comparison.

You guys have a problem. It's a racism problem. And a bigotry problem. And while I'm sure there are a number of southerners who are good people, all too often 51% of you get together and support the bigoted proposal or candidate that comes along. That makes this much more than the problem of simply a few wingnuts. Read the rest of this post...

Fuck Alabama

UPDATE: Send a letter to the editor to the Birmingham News about this issue: epage@bhamnews.com Include full name, address and daytime phone (they won't publish your address or phone)

"An Alabama lawmaker who sought to ban gay marriages now wants to ban novels with gay characters from public libraries, including university libraries." - The Birmingham News, 12/1/04

I don't care if any of you are from Alabama and are nice people. I've had it with your backwards, redneck, hate-filled state. Yes, I blame Alabama (and the rest of the south) for slavery. I blame Alabama for the death and violence it vested on African-Americans during the civil rights era. And I blame Alabama today for its hateful, backwards, ignorant, twisted, Talibanesque mindset. It's high time the South grew up and joined the 21st century, let alone the Union. 140 years after the civil war these people are still upset about it? Get over it and grow up already.

I'm sorry, but I am sick of being culturally sensitive to a region of the country that is majorly fucked up when it comes to tolerating other human beings who are different. Not an ounce of federal money or corporate money should go into this state until it renounces segregation, for starters, and stops harassing every other minority it can get its hands on. Let's not forget, Alabama just voted DOWN a referendum that would have removed segregationist language from its state constitution. You read that correctly, Albama voted to keep racist law on the books. No politician or company or organization or private citizen who isn't Alabamian should ever step foot or dollar inside that state until they wake up and join the brotherhood of man.

If this is red state values, you can keep 'em. Speaking of which, I understand the local Christian Coalition in Alabama was AGAINST the repeal of the racist anti-black language in the state constitution. Like I said, southern Christian family values at their best. Bush can keep 'em. Read the rest of this post...

Look who I saw at lunch today

I was attending a UNAIDS event at the National Press Club and Glenn Close was the keynote speaker. Love her. (Yes, it's my pic.) Read the rest of this post...

Same "liberal church" tag from CNN too

Ok, this is beginning to strike as rather bigoted of both AP and CNN. Is the United Church of Christ somehow LESS a church than the Baptists or Catholics because the UCC hates fewer people than many of the other Christian faiths? Is the UCC less a "real" faith? What is this "liberal" crap?

As a professional writer with a rather keen ear, it sounds to me like this is a way to belittle or at least lessen the value or worth of the UCC ("I mean, you know, they're a 'liberal' church (fingers making quote marks in the air)). It dimishes who they are, marks them as "activists" or "political" or as I noted below "people with an agenda" - rather than simple good Christian folk like those humble and lovable Catholics and Baptists.

It's time someone rattled some cages at AP and CNN and reminded them that God isn't just for conservatives, and the only "real" church is one that hates entire classes of citizens. Read the rest of this post...

The "liberal-leaning" United Church of Christ?

Ok, that's interesting. In its story about CBS and NBC refusing to air the United Church of Christ's "inclusiveness" ad, the AP calls the UCC the "liberal-leaning" UCC, which to me implies somehow that the UCC deserved what it got, or at the very least they have "an agenda" (which again implies that somehow their hands are less than clean in this "political" dispute).

In an effort to give the AP a fair shake, I did a quick check on Google and following the following AP references to other churches' views:

1. "Conservative-leaning (or conservative) Catholic church" - Zero.

2. "Conservative-leaning (or conservative) Baptist church." - Zero.

At least at a glance it seems that the only church AP feels the need to qualify (or disqualify) with a political epithet is a church being discriminated against for welcoming all people, a seemingly "liberal" concept. But if you're a conservative bastion like the Catholics or the Baptists, both virulently anti-gay, you don't see AP calling those churches "conservative-leaning" in their stories about gays and those churches.

Just saying. Read the rest of this post...

Best headline of the year

"Germans think they're well-hung - but they're not," Reuters, 12/1/04

Gotta love European news outlets. Read the rest of this post...

World AIDS Day remembrance

We all know today is World AIDS Day. Today I think about the friends and colleagues I've lost to AIDS, and the people I admire who have devoted their lives and careers to fighting the disease.

I guess this is just another opportunity for people to share their experiences, remember friends and family lost, praise the progress that has been made, and talk about how so much more needs to be done.
Read the rest of this post...

Science Under Attack In Bush's America II

As the poll in an earlier posting about people's understanding of evolution shows, basic scientific facts are under attack in Bush's America. USA Today details how the debate over whether religion should be taught in science classes under the guise of "Intelligent Design" (ie. Creationism in a tuxedo) is raging across the country.

Here's one thought: the next time someone tries to shove their religious beliefs into your local public school's science class, make a counter proposal. Demand that the school teach that the pyramids in Egypt were built by aliens. You could quickly print out lists of hundreds -- if not thousands -- of books, movies and TV specials that bolster this claim and prove it's a valid "scientific theory" that your kids should not be denied hearing in the interest of fairness.

Also propose that your kids be taught humans were put on earth by aliens, the truth about UFO abductions, time travel, how we didn't really travel to the moon (it was faked, you know) and you name it. There are plenty of quack "scientists" with actual degrees who will argue for this bunk. Once your school board has to deal with a whole bunch of junk "science," they might be more willing to dismiss it ALL in favor of accepted scientific fact. Point out that not ONE public university teaches Creationism as a valid scientific fact and ask why you want to teach your children something that every reputable college in the country will tell them is idiotic and wrong.

Next week: how to defend your geography class from fundamentalists who insist the world is flat.
Read the rest of this post...

Science Under Attack In Bush's America

In the election year of 2002, Congress promised to invest in America's future by doubling the budget for the National Science Foundation by 2007. Instead, after getting back into office this time, they're cutting back. It's long been considered a given that long-term economic growth is powered in part by basic scientific research, the sort that the federal government is best positioned to support.

"The science foundation helped finance research that led to Web browsers, like Internet Explorer and Netscape, and to search engines like Google. Its research has produced advances in fields from astronomy to zoology, including weather forecasting, nanotechnology, highway safety and climate change," according to the New York Times.

"At the University of Southern California, the foundation is supporting research on an artificial retina, to restore sight to blind people, and on silicon chips that could be implanted in the brain to replace neurons damaged by disease or injury."

But Congress just didn't have any money for it, right? They're just being responsible, right? So what did they manage to fund? The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in Birmingham, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville and bathhouses in Hot Springs, Arkansas (but not New York City, you can be sure). Hundreds if not thousands of similar projects got funded -- all perhaps worthy and all deserving of local support but not in need of federal funding, especially if your top priority can't be met.

Read the rest of this post...

Iraq Going Great...For The Insurgents

Yesterday, the New York Times ran an article about how poorly the training of Iraqi forces is going and how weak their conduct in battle. This isn't an attack on the Iraqi men themselves -- anyone signing up for training as a soldier or cop when insurgents are attacking their families and suicide-bombing lines of workers is brave in my book.

But a number of depressing points popped up: many of them lie to their families about their jobs and not just for security -- some of them are embarrassed. But if Iraqis have to lie about defending their own country from suicide bombers, we are definitely losing the battle for hearts and minds.

One US soldier said a sign of improvement would be if Iraqi soldiers simply showed up for anything other than payday.

But here's the little noted kicker:

"Given the weak performance of Iraqi forces, any major withdrawal of American troops FOR AT LEAST A DECADE would invite chaos, a senior Interior Ministry official, whose name could not be used, said in an interview last week."

Excuse me, but shouldn't that have been the headline? Bush's original plan to pull out most troops after three months has now switched to keeping them there until 2014 -- AT THE EARLIEST. Can you say quagmire?
Read the rest of this post...

No shock, but the Pentagon knew about torture in 2003

Today's Washington Post has obtained a copy of a report describing the torture of prisoners all across Iraq and Guantanamo as "technically illegal." Torture was widespread and often committed against people who weren't even suspected of being insurgents. This effectively puts an end to the "a few bad apples" crap that we suspected was false.

And to the freeper trolls that like to come by and defend this crap, make sure you understand you are defending the use of torture on people who the military admits shouldn't have been in custody in the first place. You are rationalizing and justifying torture against the innocent. And we know that torture is NOT an effective way to get sensitive information.

The strong are torturing the weak and defenseless -- and the INNOCENT. And the Defense Department has known about it for about a year at least. If you don't get as indignant and vocal against this as you do against gay marriage or abortion, you're not a Christian.
Read the rest of this post...

Morning open thread

I can't even believe I'm awake this early. Read the rest of this post...

What do GOP governors in Maryland have in common?

It's now becoming clear why they are so few and far between. Agnew, the last GOP governor in the state of Maryland and now Ehrlich both share an interest in shady land deals. Agnew never thought that he would be caught buying hundreds of acres of land that was to be sold to the state for construction of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (the location for construction was his decision, a decision which made him rich but later made him out of a job) and now current Maryland governor Ehrlich has his fingerprints all over a proposed 836 acre conservation land sale at a sweetheart price to a politically connected construction executive.
Read the rest of this post...

Falluja "a horror" after fighting

Sounds like Hue all over again. Families have lost family members, houses destroyed, aid workers are struggling to help and sporadic fighting continues. Mission Accomplished?
Read the rest of this post...

Fox guarding the henhouse: Builders association wins approval to build on wetlands

Having spent a lot of time around the Chesapeake Bay, I am somewhat familiar with the impact of the wetlands on the bay. To "protect" (whatever that means for this administration) the water only defies all logic and only has minimal impact. This means disrupting the wildlife along the water which is directly related to what is in the water. This also leads to pollution seeping into the water system. And the impact on the houses? Well, start looking for those same people to start crying about flooding every time there is a storm as I used to see quite often over on the Eastern Shore.

Under the federal plan, critical habitats would be cut by more than 80 percent in the Northwest and 50 percent in California — and more cuts might be ordered based on public comments over the next six months, said Bob Lohn, northwest regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for saving salmon from extinction.

Large areas could be cut where state and federal habitat protections are already in place, such as national forests and places where the economic benefits of development outweigh the biological benefits of habitat.

After a lawsuit brought by the National Association of Home Builders, the federal agency agreed to reconsider critical habitat designations for 13 groups of threatened or endangered salmon in the Northwest, and seven in California.

Read the rest of this post...

Mixed messages on the economy

One report says Q3 was slightly better than previously reported and shortly afterwards, consumer confidence tanks for the fourth straight month. The holiday shopping season hasn't started off with the bang that they were expecting (though there's plenty of time to recover) but overall people are still nervous because the good jobs continue to be sparse.
Read the rest of this post...