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PATH: BS | Government | Military
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Santorum Compares Iraq to Minas Tirith
Posted by wizeGurl
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[Military] |
 In a recent interview, U.S. Senator and enricher of slang dictionaries everywhere Rick Santorum compared Iraq's role in the world terror situation to a subtle relationship in J.R.R. Tolkein's epic fantasy saga of good battling evil, The Lord of the Rings.
"As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else," Santorum said, describing the tool the evil Lord Sauron used in search of the magical ring that would consolidate his power over Middle-earth.
"It's being drawn to Iraq and it's not being drawn to the U.S.," Santorum continued. "You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don't want the Eye to come back here to the United States."
Santorum failed to mention the huge battle that resulted when the Eye of Sauron was drawn to Minas Tirith, the near-destruction of that city, or the thousands of deaths that resulted. Nonetheless, we'd get behind any plan he might have to send President Bush off to Mordor to retrieve his Precioussssss oil. And who's Frodo in this analogy? Whitney Houston, the Dark Queen who destroys the power of the evil Sauron-bin-Laden? |
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Halliburton Serves Tainted Water to Troops; Doesn't Tell 'Em
Posted by Pile
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 Troops and civilians at a U.S. military base in Iraq were exposed to contaminated water last year and employees for the responsible contractor, Halliburton, couldn't get their company to inform camp residents, according to interviews and internal company documents.
Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, disputes the allegations about water problems at Camp Junction City, in Ramadi, even though they were made by its own employees and documented in company e-mails. Unfortunately the person discovering the contaminated water was actually the company's water treatment and testing expert, and not the company's minister of information. Everyone obviously knows by now, the public relations department are the only ones who know the real truth, right? |
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Bush Pulls All Stops to Block Access to Abu Ghraib Photos
Posted by Pile
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[Military]
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While the rest of the world has known for a long time, the public photos from the abuse at the US-run Abu Ghraib prison are merely the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of credible reports indicating what took place there was far worse than is commonly known: murder, raping of young boys, etc, and the Administrtation is intentionally trying to stall further investigation into the issue by various authorities.On July 22, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) denounced the latest efforts of the Bush Administration to block the release of the Darby photos and videos depicting torture at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison facility. On June 2, 2004, CCR, along with the ACLU, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense, and Veterans for Peace filed papers with the U.S. District Court, charging the Department of Defense and other government agencies with illegally withholding records concerning the abuse of detainees in American military custody. Since then, the organizations have been repeatedly rebuffed in their efforts to investigate what happened at the prison. |
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US Used "Napalm" in Iraq; Lied To UK
Posted by Pile
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[Military]
[Terroir-ism] |
 American officials lied to British ministers over the use of "internationally reviled" napalm-type firebombs in Iraq.
Yesterday's disclosure led to calls by MPs for a full statement to the Commons and opened ministers to allegations that they held back the facts until after the general election.
Despite persistent rumours of injuries among Iraqis consistent with the use of incendiary weapons such as napalm, Adam Ingram, the Defence minister, assured Labour MPs in January that US forces had not used a new generation of incendiary weapons, codenamed MK77, in Iraq. Unfortunately, the English weren't told the truth and unknowingly violated several international weapons treaties.
The MK77 bombs, an evolution of the napalm used in Vietnam and Korea, carry kerosene-based jet fuel and polystyrene so that, like napalm, the gel sticks to structures and to its victims. The bombs lack stabilising fins, making them far from precise. |
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The Bush administration has condemned a recent missile test conducted by China in which one of that country's older weather satellites was blown into as many as 300,000 pieces (technically known as "smithereens"). The reason for the criticism should be obvious to anyone- it might impede our ability to spy with impunity!
A U.S. Marine Sargeant was ordered to put a stop to an online auction which would have allowed the winner to pick the name the young Marine would legally assume. Sgt. Cody Baker might have become Sgt. Finest Freshest Fastest or Sgt. Mr. Clean although the winning bidder at the time the auction ended was FreebieStore.com with a bid of 30,000.01. Apparently the Dept. of Defense was not amused (is anyone surprised?).
President George W. "I Am the Decider!" Bush is delaying until some time in January his planned report to the nation on the direction he and aides are charting for the United States in Iraq. Meanwhile the American soldier death toll in Iraq is nearing 3000, tens of thousands of Americans injured, and reports of upwards of 500,000 dead Iraqis. But hey, what's another month... listen to what even CNN is saying now about "The Decider!"
A Navy drill off the coast of Hawaii to demonstrate the U.S.'s ability to destroy two incoming missiles at once from the same ship failed. This second test failure was due to a computer configuration error (Navy techs had inadvertantly installed spyware while surfing www.naughtymidshipman.com) and caused the first interceptor missile of two to misfire and the test to terminate. So on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, we find ourselves once again unable to defend that port.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the controversial face of U.S. war policy, quit on Wednesday after Democrats rode Americans' anger over Iraq to victory in Tuesday's congressional elections.
Two days from now, an incredibly rare joint editorial will run in the Army Times, the Air Force Times, and the Navy Times. Read it in full here...
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan have been confronted with a most dastardly foe--giant marijuana plants. The Taliban soldiers they are fighting use the plants, which absorb too much energy to penetrate with thermal detection devices, for cover. I think this should definitely be in the next Army recruitment video.
The U.S. Army recruited more than 2,600 soldiers under new lower aptitude standards this year, helping the service beat its goal of 80,000 recruits in the throes of an unpopular war and mounting casualties.
It barely made news last week when Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne called for the testing of nonlethal weaponry on US citizens in crowd-control situations. According to Wynne, "If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation."
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Gary Weddle followed the news so closely he forgot to shave. After a week he decided not to shave until Osama bin Laden was caught or killed.
How to address the growing problem: not enough people are signing up for the armed forces to keep waging this war in Iraq. Bonuses don't seem to be helping, and they've turned to keeping soldiers for extra tours of duty because they can't replace them. (Be All that You Can Be...for two or three times as long as you signed up for.)
Let's say that you're one of the brave soldiers who have served your country honorably, earning yourself the right to a few veteran's benefits for your service. What's one way your Veteran's Administration can thank you?
For all of the empty words and useless posturing that most people mean when they say they "support the troops," Fran O'Brien's Stadium Steakhouse in DC, located in the basement of the Capital Hilton, gives 
The current administration recently reported that due to a "recent surge of violence", troop levels in Iraq will not be reduced any time soon. Democratic Underground began examining things more deeply and discovered that the "recent surge of violence" is much more than a recurring theme in the media.
The Army Corps of Engineers seems likely to fulfill a promise by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans's toppled flood walls to their original, pre-Katrina height by June 1, but two teams of independent experts monitoring the $1.6 billion reconstruction project say large sections of the rebuilt levee system will be substantially weaker than before the hurricane hit.
Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets.
While American media railed against the horrors of Saddam Hussein using chemical weapons against Iran as justification for Iraq's invasion, the little known fact that the Unites States executed similarly henious acts is now starting to surface.
In an effort to deal with continually-declining enlistment rates, the military is changing its strategy. It's latest ad campaign features a proud father who is impressed his son, returning from service, looks him in the eye and shakes his hand. A sharp contrast from traditional PSA's directed at parents that encourage them to protect their children from harm like drugs, alcohol and sex, the army's newest campaign promotes military service as some kind of "attitude adjustment system" in order to motivate parents to encourage their children to enlist.
As the world prepares to mark the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Saturday, some American media experts see uncomfortable echoes between the suppression of images of death and destruction then and coverage of the war in Iraq today.
In response to the seemingly never-ending diatribes on the part of republicans over "supporting our troops" and the merciless criticisms they levy against "filthy liberals" who they claim are "against the war" 
In a national address, the President took advantage of the holiday and directed people towards a new web site, AmericaSupportsYou.mil - touted as a way to show support for the troops. Apparently one of those ways is to purchase yet another crappy ribbon lapel pin from a Pennsylvania marketing association (whose claim to fame is making a toaster that burns the Target logo on bread, and a stilletto heel that doubles as a beverage holder). Are any of these products actually made in America? Does any of the revenue generated go towards supporting our troops? Are you kidding me?
In another Friday-news-dump-to-keep-it-from-going big, Time Magazine is turning over documents supposedly exposing Bush's brain and PR mastermind,