a bid to stem a spate

WAR STUFF
* " Tens of thousands of Iraqi security personnel are to form a tight cordon around Baghdad involving hundreds of checkpoints in a bid to stem a spate of deadly car bombings, Defence Minister Saadun al-Dulaimi told reporters" LINK
things arent going great in iraq.

* juancole: "I had to rub my eyes. The speaker of the Iraqi parliament is calling for inclusion of the guerrillas in the constitution-writing process, and asking them to form a political wing so that they can be so included." LINK

* "Maverick British lawmaker George Galloway, who captured headlines this month during a fiery Senate appearance, plans on continuing his anti-war theme during a summer speaking tour of the United States." LINK
hear me roar.

* "Sinclair backs 'Nightline' honoring soldiers" LINK

* cnn are showing some hezbollah training video found by the idf or some such... the tapes show exactly how to stand on a bus when you are wearing a suicide vest et al. lebanon is toast.

* everyone is pointing to this new pincus article. wapo A1'd it. more falling upwards. the article misses the point, of course. the best we can do these days is be thankful its critical at all... LINK

* "The Navy has ordered five ships and 2,800 sailors to deploy on unexpected missions to support anti-terrorism efforts in the Balkans and Middle East. Four of the ships will leave today." LINK

* "Fisk: I think so. The great equation, which causes much bloodshed in Iraq, is this: The Americans must leave, and the Americans will leave, and the Americans can't leave." LINK

* fox showed an hour long show today on attacking iran

* heres a thought - the one good thing about being correct about the war and the egadmin way back then is that im not one of those many people over the last few months who are currently looking in the uglymirror and asking how the hell they supported the war, and voted for bush. and there are many who are asking themselves exactly those questions. their polling numbers are appalling - think of all those people who have woken up in shame and switched sides. think of the cognitive dissonance. only 6 months ago they were pro-bush, and we know there hasnt been much indifference this last little while, ergo many of them were strongly pro-bush, and they are fleeing in numbers. think about what these people are going through - imagine how we'd feel in 6 months time if we suddenly switched sides and somehow come to the conclusion (without being tortured or drugs) that blinky really is saving the world and keeping us safe and darkies really are bad and zygotes really are people. imagine the horror we would experience, looking back at our previous thoughts and writings and words and unamericanness. well, its exactly that experience that all these swingers are experiencing today - except its even worse for them, cos now they gotta admit they were duped, and people died. and they actively campaigned for it. we've heard it said that theres nothing more annoying than a reformed smoker, perhaps there should be a movement to recruit the evangelical ex-bush-voter. the more the merrier.