Gitmo: The Worst of the Worst? - "Now dig this about "the worst of the worst" of the "bad guys" intent on killing Americans: There are now about 490 prisoners at Gitmo, and "55 percent of the detainees are not determined to have committed any hostile acts against the United States or coalition allies. "Only 8 percent of the detainees were characterized as Al Qaeda fighters. Of the remaining detainees, 40 percent have no definitive connection with Al Qaeda at all and 18 percent have no definitive affiliation with either Al Qaeda or the Taliban. "Only 5 percent of the detainees were captured by United States forces. [A total of] 86 percent of the detainees were arrested by either Pakistan or the Northern Alliance and turned over to United States custody. This 86 percent of the detainees captured by Pakistan or the Northern Alliance were turned over to the United States at a time at which the United States offered large bounties for capture of suspected enemies.""
Daniel Pipes - Civil War in Iraq would not be that bad for our interests - "I somehow think most Iraqi's would be quite relieved to hear of Dr. Pipes' concern for their welfare in a civil war fomented by U.S. intervention and disdain for postwar planning. Dr. Pipes believes that civil war will serve coalition interests in so many ways. An incomplete list of the good things (strategically) are as follows:"
UK, US to withdraw Iraq forces by early '07: papers - "The United States and Britain are planning to pull all their troops out of Iraq by the spring of 2007, two British newspapers reported in their Sunday editions, quoting unnamed senior defense ministry sources."
US denies Iraq pullout plan - "The U.S. military denied British newspaper reports on Sunday that it planned to pull its forces from Iraq early next year, saying the stories, sourced to senior British defense officials, were "completely false.""
Names Offer Glimpse Into Top-Secret Prison - "About 490 prisoners are being held at Guantanamo Bay, but only 10 of them have been charged with a crime."
GOP growing increasingly angry, frightened by Bush's missteps - "President Bush, once the seemingly invincible vanguard of a new Republican majority, could be endangering his party's hold on power as the GOP heads into this year's midterm congressional elections." -- But there's no opposition party.
Venezuela's Threat - "And of course this begins to explain why Chavez is viewed as a threat, as a "virus" that might "infect" others. An alternative development model where the citizens, not private U.S. foreign investors, are the primary beneficiaries of government policy is feared by U.S. elites. As Latin American expert Prof. Rosa Maria Pegueros observes, from Washington's perspective the real threat is that if Chavez succeeds, he may "create an eqalitarian society that has the power to resist United States hegemony." Who knows where this virus may appear next. To help it spread, I'm filling my tank at the Citgo station from now on."
Its Real: Prison Labor for the Military - "As you may recall, we reported a few weeks back that we've heard that troops are in such short supply in Iraq that ordinary seamen off Navy Trident subs are being given quickie training as sentries, rather than serving on strategic missile platforms, and off they go to Iraq. Now, with the receipt of the Army plans to use federal prisoners for labor, we have to ask what kind of picture this paints of the military's state of readiness?"
CDC: 2 major drugs useless on flu strain - "The government, for the first time, is urging doctors not to prescribe two antiviral drugs commonly used to fight influenza after discovering that the predominant strain of the virus has built up high levels of resistance to them at alarming speed."
Quote of the Day
"I get so used to saying what people want to hear I forget sometimes they might just want the truth."
~ Howard, In the Company of Men
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