Moral Clarity
The Devil Makes Work For American Idle Hands.
political, cartoons, Political Cartoons, Satire, War, Middle East, Israel, Lebanon, Condi Rice, Condoleezza Rice, Rice, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld
Joe Lieberman
Firedolake has the latest on the Lieberman /Lamont Senate primary race in Connecticut.
political, cartoons, Humor, Satire, Political Cartoons,ned lamont, Connecticut, Senate, Republicans, Joe Lieberman, Lieberman
Here is a ladder…
Sorry it is coated with grease.
Democrats were incensed that the GOP leadership would couple the minimum wage hike, the first increase since 1997, with an estate tax cut that would reduce federal revenue by $268 billion over the next decade, to the overwhelming benefit of the country’s richest families.
What’s Better About Today Than Two Weeks Ago?
Bush & Blair finally got off their asses today and called for a ceasefire in Southern Lebanon.
Will the media have the courage to ask why now and not two weeks ago?
Has the delay in calling for this ceasefire had any positive effect? Is Hezebollah any less powerful or, in fact, more so?
I’ll tell you what’s worse because of the delay … hundreds of dead civilians. Maybe Bush thinks the dead can rest easy knowing they gave their lives to bolster Bush and Condi’s internal political strategies here in the U.S.
I’ll also give you another issue the traditional American media is afraid to cover … whether our blind support for Israel has actually increased the dangers being faced by our troops in Iraq? I’ve heard the number of attacks has jumped and one must wonder if these are coming from Shiites sympathetic to Hezbollah or angered over the deaths of Lebanese civilians.
The Hamburglar
political, cartoons, political cartoons, Satire, War, Iraq, Donald Rumsfeld, Rumsfeld, Last Throes, Dead Enders, McDonalds, Mayor McCheese
Republican Wage Proposal, "Political Cover"
Since the beginning of George Bush’s first term in office the Democratic party has been clamoring for a much needed increase in the $5.15 per hour minimum wage. Of course all efforts by the Dems have gone over like a fart in church within the Republican controlled congress. That is until now.
In a sign of just how scared the Republican party is of losing control of congress this fall, House Republicans are actually planning on floating a $2 increase in the minumum wage today, just in time to head back to their districts and campaign. Of course, this move is not the result of some sort of epiphany on the part of the GOP. No they did not realize all of a sudden that $10,712.00 is an imposible wage to live on, nor did they acknowledge finally that a full 80% of those working at this wage are adults and 59% are women.
No, they have admittedly come to this point for one reason only…
Mr. Boehlert and others have argued that Republican support for an increase in the federal wage is essential to shore up the party’s strength among blue-collar and low-income workers who could decide critical House contests in the Northeast and Midwest. (emphasis mine)
…
The moderates ran into opposition from conservatives who said the wage proposal could turn off campaign contributors with the elections looming and drive away the party’s business base. But some lawmakers said opponents also recognized the political necessity of giving moderates some political cover, a prospect more appealing than potentially losing their majority in the House.
That’s right, we don’t really give a shit about these workers but we’ll be damned if we are going to let our boys go out there without “political cover.” Pathetic.
Tony Snow
Next month, “Syria is the NEW Lebanon!”
political, cartoons, political cartoons, Satire, Tony Snow, FOX News, White House, Bush, War, Middle East
Quasi State v. State Actors
Hezbollah is a proto or quasi state actor in Southern Lebanon — it has support of the people, it has a near monopoly on internal usage of violence, and it can conduct a foreign policy that is significantly indpendent of the foreign policy of the Beirut government. It does not have international recognition nor control of its currency, but it functions as a state within a state.
The Glittering Eye a couple of days ago wrote the following derived from this news report.
Syria was continuing to smuggle arms into Lebanon to rearm the group, IDF Operations Branch Head Major General Gadi Eisenkot said during a press briefing Tuesday…..“These are rockets that belong to the Syrian army. You can’t find them in the Damascus market, and the Syrian government is responsible for this smuggling,”If true, this would be a very serious matter indeed—an escalation of the activity that could legitimately draw an Israeli attack on Syria. How could the Syrians be so stupid?
This is true, it is an accepted fact of war that a nation state at war can interdict the supply lines of its enemies. This is a very high cost action (see the results of the second German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917 for the best example) whose costs can be somewhat mitigated if the only targets that are hit are the actual transporters of weapons and other war material but history has shown that this level of precision is never achieved.
As I said, this is a very high level of escalation if Isreal was to strike against Syrian supply depots within Syria [anything that is contributing military support within Hezbollah's zone of control is 100% fair game]. At the same time, as the function of the state has begun to weaken, morph and expand to non-state groups such as Hezbollah, there probably is a very strong argument that if Hezbollah was to successfully attack the US transport planes or ships which are carrying munitions and spare parts to Isreal, that this would be a legitimate military strike and not an act of terrorism. It would be an amazingly dumb action, but a legitimate action.
Hope?
Maybe … just maybe … something positive can come out of Israel’s bombing of the UN Peacekeepers.
Maybe … just maybe … this incident can be the impetus of a successful push for an overdue ceasefire.
The hundreds of deaths of hundreds of Lebanese civilians and tens of Israeli civilians wasn’t considered sufficient but its hard to hide behind a “human shield” argument when UN Peacekeepers are blown out of a well-known observation tower.
Now since I’m searching for a silver lining. Let’s look at some other signs for hope …
The New York Times reported that Israel is apparently willing to accept an international peacekeeping force on the Lebanese border. This represents a sea change for Israel which has long opposed such forces.
Another important concession from Israel is its apparent willingness to include the Sheeba Farms issue on the table. What? You are not aware of the Sheeba Farms issue? Well, get on over to Liberal Oasis and read Bill Sher’s excellent work on this issue here and especially here.
Finally, Kevin Drum has some hopeful news of a possible breakthrough on the also-raging Gaza incursion.
Check it all out.
I am cautiuos as all the signs of hope come solely in the form of words while today’s actions have continued this human catastrophe.
Doctor Condi Rice
Bad Actor Update from The Heretik
The Satirical Political Report, regarding Bill Clinton’s campaigning for Lieberman.
Zenyenta on the Compassionate Conservatives in Las Vegas.
political, cartoons, political cartoons, Condi Rice, parody, satire, television, T.V., commercials, Lebanon, Israel, Middle East
Time to Leave Iraq
I have been a supporter of a deliberate, and fairly rapid withdrawal of US forces from Iraq because I do not believe that the US can accomplish its political goals in the country. The best counter-argument to this position has been that US forces are the only buffer forces that prevent the current bloodshed of 100+ civilians killed per day in the past couple of months from getting worse.
However I read this Knight Ridder report concerning Baghdad:
There are about 8,000 American soldiers in Baghdad, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a top U.S. spokesman in Iraq.
“They can’t be everywhere all the time in a city of over 7 million people,” he said.
I had been operating under the assumption that the Baghdad force numbered six or so brigades with supporting elements, leading to 30,000-40,000 US uniformed personnel in the capital and its immediate suburbs. I was wrong. If there are only 8,000 US soldiers in the capital, this is a force that is tactically, and operationally insignificant as a presence force, and who can only serve as a rapid counterattack force. This is a force ratio half of that maintained by the Pittsburgh Police Department (900 officers, 330,000 people).
And given the news that we have seen in the past couple of months, it is a force that has not successfully stopped platoon and company sized units of Iraqis of whatever primary loyalties from going on rampages agaist civilians within the Baghdad area of operation.
I am extraordnarily curious as to where the US is deploying forces if they are not in Baghdad for Baghdad is the country’s center of gravity and it is spiralling out of control as it is right now. If Baghdad is chaotic, the rest of Iraq can not function as a country — it can only function as quasi-autonomous regions. If Anbar province is chaos, the rest of the country can still function reasonably well. I am extremely curious as to where the rest of the US forces are if these reports are accurate.
I know that the dispersal of US forces from the capital have not led to a decrease in overall insurgent attacks:
“Other months have shown similar increases: April was up 59 percent, to 86 this year from 54 last year, and May was up 44 percent, to 91 from 63, according to figures supplied by the U.S. military in Baghdad.Statistics compiled by the Brookings Institution in Washington indicate that daily attacks by insurgents have risen consistently during the past three years.
They also show a steady rise in multiple-fatality bombings,
Therefore, I believe that the argument that apres les etats unis le deluge is an invalid argument. The deluge is already here.
Ariel Sharon…
Welcome to the Freak Show.“…the conflagration both broke out and instantly became so fierce
and so rapid from the wind that it seized in its grasp the entire length of the circus..”
Tacitus, Annals XV, 38
The Newshog is thinking like a true martial artist.
political, cartoons, political cartoons, Bush, Condi Rice, Condoleezza Rice,David Bromberg, parody, satire, Lebanon, Israel, War on Terror, circus, freak show
Reap What You Sow
Well, well, well. Isn’t it a pity that the Kowboy Koward of Krawford has decimated our relationships with every country in the world, to the point that we can’t even speak to them directly? And that the useless and toothless UN and Kofi Annan must be appealed to? Apparently that smooth, suave, silver-tongued master of diplomacy John Bolton hasn’t been able to woo other nations with his matchless charm! How shocking is that?
The Results Are In, Bloggers Are Simply Exhibitionists
Report Exposes the Real Deal About Bloggers - -
“This idea of expressing yourself creatively is really just about being an exhibitionist in some way,” said Daren Siddall, an analyst at Gartner. “They want to tell people who they are, what their interests are and who their friends are. That’s what the majority of blogging is about, especially among young people.”
WARNING: They may just be right…
File under Friday Diversionary Blogging
Milhous Fillmore in Veto For Titilation
PRESIDENTIAL DAILY BRIEFING: BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO ATTACK DISCARDED BLASTOCYSTS FORMED IN THE U.S. AFTER AUGUST 8, 2001
political, cartoons, political cartoons, Mallard Fillmore, parody, satire, Bush, Right Wing, Stem Cell, Veto, Snowflake babies, Death Penalty, Capital Punishment, Hypocrisy
Tactical Success, Operational Setback
Even though the US is publishing a new counter-insurgency operations manuel, counterinsurgency thinking is does not appear to be working all of the way towards the frontlines in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Force on force kinectic warfare thinking is still exhibited in both locations. I’ll start with Afghanistan.
From Forbes we learned that Taliban insurgents captured two medium size Afghanistani towns a couple of weeks ago. We also learned the following:
The second of two towns seized by the Taliban went back into government hands Wednesday with relatively little bloodshed after more than 1,000 U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops swept into the area.
Two Afghan soldiers were wounded and two Taliban were killed in the battle to retake Garmser,
Two Taliban insurgents were killed from a force that was able to take the town in the first place. This indicates that either the force that took the town were three brothers and their cousins (highly unlikely) or that the vast majority of the Taliban force followed the first tactical rule of being guerrillas — don’t fight set piece battles against vastly superior firepower, instead run away and snipe next week.
Here is where kinectic thinking on the part of the US Army comes through though:
“The Taliban appears to be bullying their way around some of the smaller towns in remote areas but they have no capability to lay claim to any piece of ground,” U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick said.
It is a core tenet of guerilla warfare to not go head to head against main force units until the very last stages of a guerilla war. However this tactical success of reclaiming a town is an operational setback in a counterinsurgency campaign because the counter-insurgent task is a very complex task of seperating the population from the insurgent, and creating credible guarantees of security from any retaliation from the insurgent force.
The insurgent force needs the population for resupply, recruits, intelligence and concealment. Some of these objectives can be gained by an appeal to primary loyalties, but other times, intimidation and violence are used to achieve these ends. The counterinsurgent force has to generate a bubble of security that negates the ability of the insurgent force to target informers, cooperators and neutrals. This bubble must be very strong for if the insurgent force can routinely penetrate the bubble, the promises of reward for cooperation with the counter-insurgent force become meaningless, for cooperation credibly means death. We have seen this dynamic in Iraq, most notably in Ramadi where after Sunni tribal shieks authorized their young men to sign up for the police force, eleven shieks were assainated in under a month. All of a sudden the Ramadi police recruitment drive collapsed because the US Marines were unable to project that bubble of safety away from their perimeter.
The news that the Taliban took two towns reduces the credibility of the counter-insurgent promise that it is the only force that can provide protection. Therefore despite the tactical success of reclaiming these towns, the counter-insurgency effort in southern Afghanistan has suffered a setback.
Pro-Spleen Wisdom
Lots of people with political blogs get nasty comments, either directly in comments sections,or in emails. “So Long And Thanks For All The Frisch”? “So Long And Thanks For All The Hits” is more likely. Ban commenters and emailers, delete comments and emails. That would be the most expeditious way to deal with offensive remarks, and if the comments wander into the ” dangerous threat zone”, by all means, call the cops! But these remedies don’t generate blog traffic, do they?
Toon in next week, same MoonBatGirl Time, Same MoonBatGirl Channel!
political, political cartoons, cartoons, satire, parody, Right Wing, Republicans, Politics, blogs, Malkin,Pro-Spleen Wisdom, Protein Wisdom