The Dalai Lama is visiting Washington to be honored in an award ceremony and China's sending threats to the United States not to follow through with this or it "would have “an extremely serious impact” on relations between the 2 countries". More on this at The NYT
Retired General John Abizaid, the former top US general in Iraq, told a crowd of 5,000 people during a round table discussion at Stanford University, that diplomacy, and not the military, will ultimately stabilize Iraq. He also stated, "of course it's all about oil" which is what the opposition to this administration has been saying for years, (with nothing but indignant deniers screaming that the lefties don't know what they're talking about).
When the retired General insisted we need to build up our state department and feels if we leave Iraq it will explode in more unrest, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman responded with, “We made so many mistakes, many of them needless. If you created a list of the 100 things to do wrong, we’d probably check every box. And the worry I have now is that you can’t Tivo history. You can’t do in 2007 what you should’ve done in 2003”.
Check out more here at Think Progress where Abizaid takes on John McCain's idea that we need more troops in Iraq.
The one area of Iraq that's remained reasonably peaceful during this 6 year reckless war is the northern region where the Kurds have been living peacefully and even building their own town with shops that mimic the western world, things that have never been seen in this region before. They built up, and guarded trenches that protected them from the hell breaking loose in the rest of Iraq, just 40 miles to the south of them. Unfortunately they sit on the northern border where their neighbors in Turkey have been restrained by the US (until now) from coming across the region and creating their own havoc. This is a serious turn of events that will affect the region, the war, the US military and any sight of stability in Iraq...if there ever was one.
Dubya's good pal crazy man Putin is appearing crazier by the day. He's now visiting his good pal in Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the Caspian Sea leaders summit in Tehran. "Putin issued a veiled warning Tuesday against any attack on Iran as he made the first visit by a Kremlin leader to Tehran in six decades _ a mission reflecting Russian-Iranian efforts to curb U.S. influence". Read more here at HuffPo
12 Army Captains Back From Iraq Pen Op-Ed: "Institute Draft Or Withdraw Immediately"
Five years on, the Iraq war is as undermanned and under-resourced as it was from the start. And, five years on, Iraq is in shambles. As Army captains who served in Baghdad and beyond, we've seen the corruption and the sectarian division. We understand what it's like to be stretched too thin. And we know when it's time to get out.
In Politics: It's the Rudy McRomney Show
Mitt Romney, presidential candidate, refuses to talk about Blackwater, it's recent scandal (which isn't it's first but the MSM never covers all the stories that pop up regarding Blackwater and companies like them). By coincidence (NOT!) his campaign security adviser is linked to the company and was just caught today saying he'd "torture in a heartbeat" with words to the effect of a knife in a leg or something.....
In other news, Rudy Giuliani says he gave his blood for the Republican party. I suppose this was in response to him being denounced for saying he wasn't a real republican a few years back during his mayorial campaign days. Hopefully as time goes on and Rudy's inevitable lead in polls increases (due to irrational Hillary hate in the country), the truth about Rudy will begin to unveil and America will wake up and see what a dangerous crazy idea it is to even consider him as president.
When Romney came out with a campaign slam against Rudy saying he's the real Republican in this race not Rudy, John McCain felt left out of this child's play and decided to throw in some of his own bitch slapping to show he's tough too!
We thought the lie of Barack HUSSEIN
Spying:
None of this surprises me, it doesn't surprise a lot of people.
Illegal wire tapping was sought long before 9/11. Constitutional scholar Jonathon Turley says, 9/11 'highly convenient' in allowing Bush to expand power. ""This administration was seeking a massive expansion of presidential power and national security powers before 9/11. 9/11 was highly convenient in that case".
Verizon spied without legal warrant 720 times and turned over data without even blinking.
In an Oct. 12 letter replying to Democratic lawmakers, Verizon offered a rare glimpse into the way telecommunications companies cooperate with government requests for information on U.S. citizens.
Verizon Communications, the nation's second-largest telecom company, told congressional investigators that it has provided customers' telephone records to federal authorities in emergency cases without court orders hundreds of times since 2005. more on Verizon's illegal wire tapping at WaPo
The company said it does not determine the requests' legality or necessity because to do so would slow efforts to save lives in criminal investigations. Comcast has it's hands dirty too
Other:
mAnn Coulter says she "doesn't think most Jews are as stupid as Donny Deutsch". awww ain't she sweet?
