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Wow, part 11 of this topic has gotten huge - thats what we get for not having a moderator for this forum!

May I remind you that full articles should not be posted - please put up a few paragraphs at most and a link. This is better for the stream of conversation, trust..

Catch up on Part 11 here..
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Great article (I've taken the liberty to edit for a shorter read full article at www.independent.co.uk )

Cut and run: Bush heralds cut in troops as British forces head for exit
By Patrick Cockburn The Independent.co.uk
Published: 04 September 2007
President George Bush flew into a US airbase in Anbar province in western Iraq yesterday to announce that recent American military successes would allow a reduction in the 160,000-strong US force in Iraq.

Mr Bush chose to visit Anbar because the split between the Sunni tribes and al-Qai'da in Iraq has led to a sharp reduction in attacks on US forces

The administration has had some success in persuading US public opinion and media that the military escalation known as "the surge" which started in February is having a measure of success. Gen Petraeus and Mr Crocker are to report on the impact of "the surge" when they testify to Congress on 10 September. Since they will be reporting on their own efforts it is likely they will report significant progress.

The reduction in American troop numbers Mr Bush suggested is probably inevitable given the strain Iraq is placing on American military resources and the public pressure domestically.

Mr Bush flew secretly to al-Asad airbase in Anbar where he met the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki whose government has been criticised by the Democrats in the US and half of whose ministers have been withdrawn.

Addressing cheering troops, Mr Bush insisted troop withdrawal would be based on a "calm assessment by military commanders on the ground not a nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media".

But he said that the province was an example of what could happen in the rest of Iraq. He had been told a year ago, he said, that the province was lost. "Today Anbar is really a different place," he said.

In reality, the improvement in the US position in Anbar has nothing to do with the surge and the deployment of 30,000 extra American troops. The change in the military situation in the province is a result of a split in the Sunni guerrilla movement between an al-Qa'ida umbrella organization called the Islamic State of Iraq and the rest of the Sunni guerrillas.

The Islamic State of Iraq created widespread anger among the Sunni community by killing anybody connected with the government, such as garbage collectors or lowly employees of ministries. They were also seeking to draft one young man from each Sunni family into their forces.

Bizarrely, the US is now backing and arming Sunni tribal militias who do not answer to the Iraqi government, while pressing Mr Maliki to clamp down on the Shia militias, notably the anti-American Mehdi Army led by Muqtada al-Sadr.

President Bush may be giving a hostage to fortune by claiming a major success in Anbar because, since the improvement in the military situation had little to do with the US, the Sunni guerrillas could compose their differences and resume the offensive.

The administration has been seeking to give the impression that the US military may at last be turning the corner in Iraq, though Iraqi politicians in Baghdad believe very little has changed on the ground.

One sign that Iraqis themselves believe security in the country is getting worse is that the number of Iraqis fleeing their homes in fear of their lives has risen from 50,000 a month to 60,000 a month according to the UN High Commission for Refugees. Some 4.2 million Iraqis are now refugees inside and outside the country.

Although the US has been pressing the Iraqi government to push through parliament a series of benchmark measures that would supposedly lead to reconciliation between Sunni, Shia and Kurd the different Iraqi communities are too frightened of each other to live in the same street or village.

There are other signs that violence in Iraq is not lessening. Figures compiled by AP show 1,809 Iraqi civilians were killed in August, compared with 1,760 in July. There has been a reduction in sectarian killings in Baghdad but that may be because Mr Sadr stood down the Mehdi Army, blamed for many of the killings of Sunni civilians, in February.

The number of US military killed was 81 in August, an increase of two over July but less than this year's high point of 126 in May. There is usually reduction in attacks on the US forces at this time of year when the temperature soars to 120F.

The whole question of civilian casualty figures is, in any case, far less certain than the Iraqi government claims. In one bomb attack on the Shia civilian district of Karada on 26 July the police said there were 25 dead and 100 wounded. But a week later, without any publicity, municipal andcivil defence workers pinned up the true list on a shop showing 92 had been killed and 127 wounded.
Last edited by Anna Nicole
Bin Laden -
A videotape has emerged purportedly of a speech by Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, in which he refers to the Bush administration's progress in Iraq and the performance of the Democratic party in opposing it.

The following are excerpts from the recording, I think it's important to read it as he is what is billed as the greatest of enemies but in my eyes he is no more a terrorist than the Bush administration. Very little difference really - except perhaps that Bin Laden probably is more educated and world travelled than President Bush.

"At first, I say that despite the fact America possesses the greatest economic power and the most powerful and modern military arsenal, despite spending on this war much more than what the entire world spends on its armies, and despite it being the superpower influencing world policies - as if it has a monopoly on the unjust veto right - despite all of this, and with God's help, nineteen young men were able to change the direction of its compass.
"Bush mentions his co-operation with Maliki and his government to spread freedom in Iraq, but in fact, he is co-operating with the leaders of one sect against another sect, believing that this will lead him to a quick victory.

"At first, I say that despite the fact America possesses the greatest economic power and the most powerful and modern military arsenal, despite spending on this war much more than what the entire world spends on its armies, and despite it being the superpower influencing world policies - as if it has a monopoly on the unjust veto right - despite all of this, and with God's help, nineteen young men were able to change the direction of its compass.


"Thus, he spread the so-called civil war, and things worsened on his hands and got out of his control. He became like someone who ploughs the sea and gains nothing but failure.

"These are some facts pertaining to the freedom he says he is spreading. Bush's insistence not to give the United Nations an expanded mandate in Iraq is an implicit admission of his loss and defeat over there.

"Among the most important items in Bush speeches since September 11 is his statement that the Americans have no options but to continue the war. Such statements are in fact a repetition of the words of the neo-conservatives, such as [Dick] Cheney, [Donald] Rumsfeld and Richard Perle, who said earlier that the Americans have no option but to continue war, or to face a holocaust." "However, we are a people that do not tolerate oppression, we reject humiliation and disgrace, and we take revenge on the people of tyranny and aggression".



Interesting that this speech wasn't played on any US network in full. I found this on Al Jazeera. We are brainwashed to hate this man but have we read enough of his words to understand him. I find it interesting how much clarity there is in his words. I do not justify the actions of 9/11 or any terrorist action, nor do I justify any war under false pretences and lies which is just terrorism in a business suit and a media pitch.
Last edited by Anna Nicole
I read Bin Ladens statements and I still hate him. I don't think I'm brainwashed into hating him by any means. I am as opposed to the Bush administration as anyone on this site, but the enemy of my enemy is not my friend.

Bin Ladenism is esentially a RIGHT WING ideology. It is religious fanaticism of the worst kind. Each one of us on these boards would be put to death under a Wahabi regime of the kind bin laden advocates, either for being gay, or for being a liberated woman.

It is trendy today to say Islam is a religion of peace. At this point, I think all religions are instruments of opression. Read here what happened to one woman in the Neatherlands who dared to speak out about the abuse of women in Islam......

http://richarddawkins.net/article,1729,Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali-...s-and-Salman-Rushdie
Yes, I've read about Ayaan Hirst Ali before and I also am getting very sick of hearing people say, "Islam is about peace." Like the other so-called great religions of the world, Islam is about social control. By according women such a low social status, a pecking order is established and the entire population is essentially subdued. Islam means "submission."
Today, NEW YORKS DEATH PENALTY law was finally completely invalidated by the court of appeals.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/death-pena...llings/index.html?hp

that's it. it's over. there is no death penalty in New York and the speaker of the Assembly will not allow a vote on a new death penalty law.

New York now joins the civilized jurisdictions around the world that have rejected state killing as public policy.
This society deserves to have to pay for the upkeep of murderers it creates until the day they die in prison.

Now if only a social environment could be created where no one ever would even think of walking in to a Wendy's, forcing the seven employees in to the meat locker and shooting them all in the head.

The whole society should be given the death penalty for being such an anti-human establishment.
In my mailbox today...

"Meet Richard Honaker, a former Wyoming state representative who is President Bush's pick for a lifetime appointment as a federal judge. Honaker:

- Tried THREE times to ban abortion in Wyoming.
- Publicly stated that abortion is "wrong, and no one should have the right to do what is wrong."
- Belongs to the Federalist Society, a group whose experts advocate for the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Does this man really sound like someone who can be a fair-minded judge? I don't think so!

Click the link below to tell senators that this nominee should be defeated.

LINK

As the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade approaches, so much hangs in the balance. "
Last edited by hatches
a good friend of mine works in
the rentboy.com offices and was
kind enough to provide me with
the following links on the late breaking
scandal involving one of their "boys"
and christian right leader george akers...
"methinks he doth protest too much!!"


Hilarious Rentboy.com segment
on The Colbert Report, with shots
of the home page and HustlaBall London Logo:
watch!

original Miami New Times article

London Times Article

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
7:00 minutes into the show,
Leno cannot stop saying Rentboy.com
repeatedly...emphatically, like a mantra,
like he loves it.

"When Anti-Gay Leaders Purchase Rentboys"
change.org article

Huffington Post article

queerty.com article

towleroad.com article

rentboy.com blog
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