I'm trying to wrap my head around the whole Iraq thing...

I'm willing to accept the necessity of bringing the enterprise to a successful conclusion on the U.S.'s terms, for all the good that will do --as a Canadian, my support or opposition means exactly jack squat to American pollsters and politicos. But I can't help but notice the glaring inability of the Bush administration to provide a solid rationale that will connect with the American public for their ongoing presence there.

The whole "honouring the sacrifice of those who have already fallen" set of talking points does not seem to be getting across as a justification for continuing the struggle, notwithstanding the protestations of die-hard hawks. Ever since David Frum, an Iraq war supporter if ever there was one, posted an article critical of the administration's current approach to selling (and conducting)the war on August 23, 2005, his online diary has been deluged with readers who share his frustration. The current concern of the neo-cons is that Bush is losing the Public Opinion war in the U.S. to Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore and their ilk through simple inertia. This is a fight they cannot afford to lose.

Articles like this can provoke an angry reaction from jingoistic chest-thumpers, insensed that some of the right-wing intelligensia appear to be flagging in their support of Bush, but they should also provoke some soul-searching and reflection.

Why is the Bush White House struggling to get a positive message across? Some may think that is because there is nothing positive to report on, but a quick survey of several Warblogs and soldierblogs written by those on the ground in that country paint a compelling picture of some very significant achievements amidst the the litany of setbacks and deterioration that the media has been deluging us with.

Still, there is no denying that we have a mixed bag of good news/bad news/very bad news coming out of Mesopotamia. To me, the increasingly prominent role of Iran in the sectarian violence is particularly troubling. Also, there does not appear to be a long term plan and set of clearly defined objectives --at least none that I can see --just a rather arbitrary timetable for achieving democratic government in what currently appears to be a very unstable country. It remains the task of Bush, Condi, and company to convince the U.S. public to stay the course in a place where everything seems to be falling apart.

As someone in the communication biz, I watch with interest, waiting to see whether or not the Bush administration can come up with a rationale and "storyline" that will convice Americans that what they are doing in Iraq is worth doing, and that the sacrifice of American blood and treasure will pay dividends in the long run.

What happens next in Iraq will set the tone for the prosecution of the War on Terror --or whatever they are currently calling the struggle against radical islamism-- for years to come. Everything hangs in the balance...

He comes from Atlantic Canada...

He is a person of colour...

He works for the CBC...

His contributions to Canadian culture are too numerous to mention...

Ladies and gentlemen of the PMO, for your consideration, Newfoundland's own Raj Binder for Governor General in 2009!

Ever since the CBC went on strike, I have been surfing the web to get info on news and current events...

America needs to know!

concerning the Supreme Court:
The Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment, and America needs to know whether
___JOHN ROBERTS___ supports the GOP's secret plan of a Rush Limbaugh Jesus army
of unwanted, unquestioning fetus zombies programmed to urinate on the Korans of
Guantanamo detainees.

New Spokesperson for the Taliban urges immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan:

In her first statement since leaving Crawford, Cindy Sheehan speaks at a "Support Our Troops" rally:

Allah ordered us ... to purify Muslim land of all
non-believers,... We are surprised this question is coming from Americans....
American history does not distinguish between civilians and military, and not
even women and children. They are the ones who used the bombs against
Nagasaki.... America does not have a religion that will prevent it from
destroying all people.... We believe that the biggest thieves in the world and
the terrorists are the Americans... We are sure of Allah's victory and our
victory against the Americans and the Jews as promised by the prophet peace be
upon him....We predict a black day for America and the end of the United States
as United States.

Oops... wrong quote. That was noted philanthropist Osama Bin Laden, going off topic, I believe, on one of those taped rants sent to Al Jazeera following the capture of anAl Qaeda operative in the mountains of Waziristan. By the way, I think the enemy combatant was subsequently sent to Guantanamo, where he was urinated upon and disposed off down a toilet during one of the Koran shortages which has plagued the facility.

Here is what the latest standard bearer for the peace movement actually said on Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: All right. If your son had been killed in Afghanistan, would you have a different feeling?

SHEEHAN: I don't think so, Chris, because I believe that Afghanistan is almost the same thing. We're fighting terrorism. Or terrorists, we're saying. But they're not contained in a country. This is an ideology and not an enemy. And we know that Iraq, Iraq had no terrorism. They were no threat to the United States of America.


MATTHEWS: But Afghanistan was harboring, the Taliban was harboring al-Qaida which is the group that attacked us on 9/11.

SHEEHAN: Well then we should have gone after al-Qaida and maybe not after the country of Afghanistan.

MATTHEWS: But that's where they were being harbored. That's where they were headquartered. Shouldn't we go after their headquarters? Doesn't that make sense?

SHEEHAN: Well, but there were a lot of innocent people killed in that invasion, too. ... But I'm seeing that we're sending our ground troops in to invade countries where the entire country wasn't the problem. Especially Iraq. Iraq was no problem. And why do we send in invading armies to march into Afghanistan when we're looking for a select group of people in that country?

So I believe that our troops should be brought home out of both places where we're obviously not having any success in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden is still on the loose and that's who they told us was responsible for 9/11.

Yeah... like Homer Simpson told Bart: If something is hard, it isn't worth doing.... now lets all have a big ol' swig of moonbat juice.