BUSH BLIND TO THE REALITY WITH IRAN’S IRAQI INFLUENCE
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistYou know, back in the mid-90s, there was an attempted coup by the Shiites against Saddam Hussein’s government.
The running theory with the Clinton administration back then was this: If the Shiites were somehow
successful and overthrew the powerless dictator, the Shiites in
control of Iraq’s government would be more open towards Iran and less friendly towards the US’s Middle Eastern interests.
So what happen?
Well according to history, the CIA pulled its support of the intended coup, and a few prominent Iraqis pulled theirs as well–allowing Saddam to pretty much put down the coup any way he saw fit.
Now fast-forward to 2007, and now we are seeing some of the
results of what a Shiite-dominated government is doing to our Middle-East interests.
While Bush is rattling his toy saber at Iran for arming the Shiite militias, it’s funny how he never saw this one coming.
By
installing a Shiite-dominated government without any foresight to what had happened in the 90s, Bush has effectively killed our influence in the Middle East–and thus allowing countries like Iran and Syria to grow
strong again after a quarter-century of checks and balances by previous administrations.
Iran now has every right to meddle in the affairs of Iraq–by supporting its Shiite brethren in their fight against both the US-led coalition
and the Sunni-led insurgency.
So it will do whatever it takes to see this operation through--and Malaki will go along with it willingly.
And there is little we can do to stop them from accomplishing their underlying objectives.
But as always, Bush will be blind to this reality. Because this arrogant man of a President still cannot connect the dots on his own.
Even with help.Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1@yahoo.com
THE BUSH PRESIDENCY: A PARTY OF…UH…? WHERE IS EVERYONE?
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistDon’t blame yourself if you don’t watch Bush’s “State of Denial” speech tonight about how we must continue to
surge ahead and “stay the course” no matter what in Iraq.
Don’t blame yourself if you don’t watch Bush’s “101 Domestic Agenda Failures” speech tonight on how we must cut back on Medicare, Medicaid, education, healthcare, child care, and so many other programs–just so we can spend billions more for a failed war which could’ve revitalized our country’s sagging social infrastructure on so many levels. (But who really needs healthcare these days, right?)
Don’t blame yourself if you don’t watch Bush’s “10 Ways To Screw America out of its Energy Independence” speech tonight on how we must cut back on our oil consumption by 20%–by boosting ethanol-based gasoline derivatives–thus shaving off 8.5 billion gallons of gas over the next ten years. (We use about 54.5 billion gallons every year. So don‘t blame us, blame the GOP‘s “fuzzy math bunnies” on this one.)
With his poll numbers bumping up against Nixon’s for the worst Presidential showing
ever, a Republican revolt in the making inside Congress, and an entire nation united against him for the first time since 9-11, the President is not only reduced to a pitiful excuse for a Commander-in-Chief, but now it seems as though he is also
reduced to talking to himself whenever he feels the urge to speak to the nation.
Everything he says is just recycled rhetoric, and no matter what Bush does or says, the American public just tunes him out.
Just goes to show:
When you cry wolf one too many times, people tend to stop listening
.Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1@yahoo.com
PRESIDENCY AND MILITARY BOTH STUCK IN WONDERLAND
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political Activist
Is it too late for a refund?
Because right now we are sitting on almost $540B for the cost of the war–including the $105B Bush wants to spend for this year; plus the “surge” which he is damned determined to go through with–no matter who says
what.
And even though the cost of the war keeps
escalating into unheard of territories and Bush kept promising that “things will get better; you just watch and see” these last 4 years, we just don’t see any of that “good news progress” which has eluded us since this war began.
Of course, what struck me as odd over the last couple of years is how General Casey proclaimed time and again that we would be leaving Iraq by either the end of 2005 and then when
that didn’t happen…?
2006.
Well, 2006 has passed and now the general is saying that most of the “surge” of troops going in may not leave Iraq until late summer–once the US military sees that “the security situation in Iraq is stable, and the people of Baghdad start feeling safe enough to come out.”
Trouble is, is that
first, the security in Iraq is so out of control, pacifying the capital alone is going to take more troops than what Bush is proposing and what General Shinseki had originally abdicated for–long before we invaded Iraq on lies and grave distortions of our own available intelligence.
And
secondly, making
grandiose timetable declarations when the problem is more exasperated than the military will care to admit out in the open–for fear that we are indeed appearing more weaker than Gates claimed recently about the state of our own military (In regards to Iran “overplaying its hand”)– doesn’t make the reality on the ground any easier to deal with.
So what does that mean for the American public in general?
Simple.
We have a Presidency in a constant state of denial, and a military wrapped up in a constant state of delusion.
Tied together, they just created the sequel to
Alice in Wonderland.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1@yahoo.com
WHEN DID THE WH BECOME TOO POWERFUL?
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistI wonder at what point that the Executive Branch suddenly became too
powerful for its own good.
I think it got started soon after 9-11 when the Republican-controlled Congress decided to forgo all checks and balances, and informed Bush and Cheney: “Do whatever you want, because we are now on a terror war footing.”
Funny how the second world war didn’t change the Executive Branch, but FDR still had to play by the rules and consult not only members of Congress, but also the
will of the people.
He didn’t do anything which would necessarily
upset the apple cart. He wanted to win as much as everyone else did. But he didn't fight that war
stupidly like this current administration has gone and done with Iraq.
Furthermore, this President (or should we say
Dictator-elect?) doesn’t seem to understand the political ramifications of what the public is trying to tell him, and also both parties–with the Democrats now running the majority.
Without public support from either the people or Congress, there is very little chance
that this ‘new way forward’ can succeed!
But that doesn’t seem to be stopping Bush or Cheney any. They see their plan as the ‘ultimate’ answer to everything–not even caring how much they are pissing of the American public or Congressional Democrats or Republicans.
They actually believe
that they have overpowering authority to do whatever they want–thanks in part to the free reigns which the then GOP-led Congress had given them!
So where does it say in the Constitution that the Executive Branch can run roughshod over the other 2 branches of government and the general public its supposed to represent–without the absolute
need for essential checks or balances?
Of course, Cheney was quoted as saying that critics fiercely opposed to this plan (he must mean the 70% of all
Americans) are actually playing into the hands of Osama bin Laden.
Sadly for him, we already
have. By invading Iraq on lies and distortions, Bush unconsciously handed the mastermind of 9-11 everything he could’ve possibly
wanted.
Anything afterwards is nothing but semantics for this one-sided visionary administration, and they will do whatever it takes to destroy not only the American economy–in what Cheney has called ‘the long war’ (30 to 40 years)–but he and Bush have effectively
crushed what little US military strength is left in the Middle East with this last ‘surge’ of troops.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1@yahoo.com
JUST ANOTHER “STAY THE COURSE” SPEECH
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistLike the famous cowboy puppet on Howdy Doody, Bush is now looking more and more like a drunken boxer in a boxing ring: All smashed up and nowhere to go.
He sits there in a daze and wonders just
who will come and rescue him.
His speech on Wednesday laid out what looked like a glorious and well-thought out plan, but many people are wondering:
Why the hell didn’t he think of this sooner? Easy.
Bush is notorious for not thinking things through ahead of time. And as such, his failed and–sometimes
backwards–policy decisions have cost the United States much more than its credibility with the international community.
It has cost 3,016 lives, $530 billion dollars, and five years of wasted effort–all in a blind-sided attempt to spread “democracy” and “freedom” across the Middle East.
But now Bush is openly defying not only the American people who voted for a change, but a newly appointed
Democratic Congress in his push to add a paltry 21,500 troops over the next four months just to Baghdad and the Anbar Province alone.
And if this sounds familiar it should. We tried this
four times in 2005 and 2006, and the results all ended with
failure.
So why is Bush
persistent in following a
failed course of action? Because he’s not concerned with the here and now. He’s more worried about what
future historians will say about his legacy as President.
And that is a grevious fallacy in itself.
Historians in the present
are already pegging his 8 year tenure as either the ‘The Worst Presidency in US History’, ‘The Dark Side Administration’, or ‘The Lame Duck Years’. History's already
called the shots well in advance, and only in ten years, we will already have the full picture to the Bush years in Technicolor or IMAX.
But why should we all wait until the man is dead to have figured this one out? Once again, Bush has
yet to catch onto that fact.
And while he does, America must now wait 3-4 months to see if his latest (and last) gamble will finally pay off.
But word to the wise: I wouldn’t hedge any bets on this working out either. Safe money would be on how we will be able to get out, not stay
forever in a never ending quagmire-slash-civil war.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1@yahoo.com
NOT AS PREPARED AS YOU MIGHT THINK
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political Activist
Remember Katrina?
Remember all the chaos which ensued in New Orleans? Remember how ill-prepared and ill-equipped the government and Homeland Security was in
dealing with that disaster?
A disaster which could’ve been marginalized had the
right people been put in charge of the whole operation–instead of a bunch of inexperienced pack mules and political circus clowns running the show?
Yes, America…
This is your government for you.
But things get even worse.
A report yesterday revealed just how ill-prepared most US cities are in the wake of either a terrorist attack or another Katrina-like storm.
Of the 75 cities listed in a Homeland Security poll, only
six of those cities actually have any real chance of dealing with either of the above. But even those six aren’t completely immune.
Why?
Because like with all things, old turf rivalries, political grandstanding, and cultural differences still remains–5 years after Bush promised he would fix these things.
Five years!
But as usual, our own government has turned a deaf ear to the pleas of community leaders, emergency responders, and communication directors.
It isn’t a lack of federal funding which has caused a serious lax of interest in the Bush administration, or the former GOP-led Congress. It’s the fact that most of the monies promised by
either isn’t enough to overcome the problems of building a fully integrated and well-drilled response system.
And since Bush is more concerned with blowing
billions on his tax cuts and funding his wars–while cutting back on key domestic provisions at home–the next terror attack or Katrina-like storm will just remind all of America once again how ill-prepared we really are.
And since we can no longer rely on our own government for help in times of crisis, I think it’s time we ditched the feds and start looking out for each other.
It’s the only way we can survive.Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1@yahoo.com
