‘Careful’ and ‘Responsible’ foreign policy flusters GOP

"...we have a phased redeployment, where we’re as careful getting out as we were careless getting in..." - Sen. Barack Obama, during the 2008 presidential campaign, referring to his plan for withdrawal from Iraq, in an interview with Politico before the Potomac Primaries, Feb. 11, 2008. "As a candidate for president, I pledged to bring…

Guantanamo Bay and the Big Shitball

"...the consequence of error may be detention of persons for the duration of hostilities that may last a generation or more, this is a risk too significant to ignore."-from the Supreme Court decisionto allow for habeas corpus hearingsfor prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay(pp.56-57) So habeas has returned to Gitmo. Like swallows to Capistrano, it is…

For the Sake of Surrender

John McCain will not surrender in Iraq. He continually says so.In another military cemetery in America, a widow, a mother, a son receive a folded flag. The stars and stripes that draped the coffin of their fallen hero is a flimsy bandage for the bloody scar on their hearts. Each mourner, consumed by pain, let's…

Surge Plus 365

A War Going Better Is Not a Better WarHere we are, a year after Bush announced the Surge. Brave men and women have fought and died and many parts of Iraq have settled down, but the flaccid influence of America continues to slowly stir the morass of dysfunctional politics around the world.Instead of being a…

A Sabbatical for War

Letting the Killing Fields Lie FallowAfter the Autumn HarvestSo the seeds sown in the spring surge have been cut, and baled in flag covered coffins. The noble Petraeus, in the regalia of an honored soldier, and the honorable Crocker, intent hidden behind the skirts of his diplomat's robes, pay homage to the lords of state…

Behind the Curtain

Pay No Attention to the Politician Behind the CurtainThere is a shadow play going on behind the shroud, and like the characters in an old cartoon, the shaded shapes creep in apparent self awareness, while we cheer and jeer the performances of those who cast them. The hidden machinations of the players bear little resemblance…

Freedom in Chains

Refute ApathyRebuke BushRepatriate FreedomWhat remains of Freedom's robes are threadbare, and her scalp is scabbed and scarred between clumps of matted, thinning hair. Her humid, windowless cell is an oven, where crawling cockroaches pull peeling plaster off the blistered, wet walls. Sitting on the dirty floor, in a dark corner, with her knees to her…

Power Failure

Last Power StandingRockets and bombs, tank tracks and bullets, leave blood-soaked boots standing burnt and empty. In the flash of mortar fire, a fallen, legless marine loses his hold on purpose, and lets his life go, seeping, into the sand. "I will not be the last to die," his mind says when he finally releases.…

Get Off the Surge; Go Off On the Contractors

Posturing is not governing. It's like a farmer wearing an expensive Italian suit to plant potatoes - you can only stand there looking good for so long before your customers wonder why you aren't bending down and getting dirty so you can fill their orders.Look, I'm all for Congress resolutely standing against the President's surge…

Mis-state of the Union: President Projector

"For the terrorists, life since 9/11 has never been the same."With those words, President Bush began the portion of his speech Tuesday night that was yet another justification for taking on Iraq, for turning it into a terrorist haven and a killing field. I am not comforted by his assurances, and not because I fear…