Bush's War On Terror Shifting Targets

Officials Say Pakistan, And Again, Afghanistan At Center OF Fight Against Militancy

(CBS/AP)  In a shift with profound implications, the Bush administration is attempting to re-energize its terrorism-fighting war efforts in Afghanistan, the original target of a post-Sept. 11 offensive. The U.S. also is refocusing on Pakistan, where a regenerating al Qaeda is posing fresh threats.

There is growing recognition that the United States risks further setbacks, if not deepening conflict or even defeat, in Afghanistan, and that success in that country hinges on stopping Pakistan from descending into disorder.

Privately, some senior U.S. military commanders say Pakistan's tribal areas are at the center of the fight against Islamic extremism; more so than Iraq, or even Afghanistan. These areas border on eastern Afghanistan and provide haven for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters to regroup, rearm and reorganize.

This view may explain, at least in part, the administration's increasingly public expressions of concern.

At a Pentagon news conference last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that while the U.S. respects the Pakistani government's right to decide what actions are needed to defeat extremists on its soil, there are reasons to worry that al Qaeda poses more than an internal threat to Pakistan.

"I think we are all concerned about the re-establishment of al Qaeda safe havens in the border area," Gates said. "I think it would be unrealistic to assume that all of the planning that they're doing is focused strictly on Pakistan. So I think that that is a continuing threat to Europe as well as to us."

That threat extends most immediately to eastern Afghanistan, where CBS News correspondent Cami McCormick spent last week with the U.S. Army, watching first hand as they trolled the tiny villages for Taliban and al Qaeda militants and their supporters.

A military spokesman said the frequency of attacks had dropped slightly in the border area due to winter weather making the rugged mountain terrain much more difficult for militants crossing the border from Pakistan. He also told McCormick (Audio) that more checkpoints have been set up, but the border remains porous.

But, one local Afghan governor, who was himself targeted by a suicide bomber in 2007, told McCormick (Audio) that stepped-up military operations across the border are pushing the threat into his province.

The Pentagon says it has fewer than 100 troops in Pakistan, including personnel who are training Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps in the western tribal region along the Afghanistan border.

The U.S. military has used other means, including aerial surveillance by drones, to hunt Osama bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda leaders believed to be hiding near the Afghan border. Ground troops on the Afghan side sometimes fire artillery across the border at known Taliban or al Qaeda targets, and U.S. officials have said special operations forces are poised to strike across the border under certain circumstances.

In recent days, administration officials have said they would send more U.S. forces, including small numbers of combat troops, if the Pakistani government decided it wanted to collaborate more closely.

It is far from certain that U.S. combat troops will set foot in Pakistan in any substantial numbers. On Friday, Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, said his country opposes any foreign forces on its soil. "The man in the street will not allow this - he will come out and agitate," he said. Musharraf said the U.S. instead should bolster its combat forces in Afghanistan.

The top two U.S. intelligence officials made a secret visit to Pakistan in early January to seek Musharraf's permission for greater involvement of American forces in trying to ferret out al Qaeda and other militant groups active in the tribal regions, a senior U.S. official said Saturday. Musharraf was said to have rebuffed an expansion of an American presence in Pakistan at the meeting, either through covert CIA missions or by joint operations with Pakistani security forces.

The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has grown over the past two years from about 20,000 to the current total of 28,000. That is the highest number of the war, which began in October 2001. The total is to jump by 3,200 this spring with a new influx of Marine reinforcements, including 2,200 combat troops who will bolster a NATO-led counterinsurgency force in the south.

Most U.S. troops in Afghanistan are based in the country's volatile eastern provinces, where McCormick spent last week embedded with soldiers who are trying to win the support of local populations in Paktia and Khost provinces and rid the area of militants. Click here to see her special report.

Five hundred U.S. and Afghan forces have recently fanned out across Paktia province, travelling along dirt roads regularly mined by the Taliban, to weed-out the militants, reports McCormick. In addition to house-to-house searches (seen at left) and other standard military operations, the Army is trying to win hearts and minds by paving roads and opening schools.

"There is strong pressure now from the international community to find some solution to Afghanistan because of the fear that this could quickly go south," said Ashley J. Tellis, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In 2006-07, he was an adviser to Nicholas Burns, the undersecretary of state for political affairs.

"We haven't lost the war yet, but we could be on our way to doing so," Tellis said in a telephone interview Friday. He strongly recommends strengthening the U.S. military presence in southern Afghanistan.

The vast majority of deployed U.S. troops are still in Iraq, although the force of nearly 160,000 is set on a downward trend. In recent weeks U.S. officials have spoken of Iraq as moving toward stability, with al Qaeda-affiliated fighters weakened and possibly forced to make a last stand.

So there is no wholesale shift of U.S. military firepower from Iraq to Afghanistan. Gates recently rejected a Marine Corps proposal to move the 20,000-plus Marine contingent in Iraq to Afghanistan, reflecting a worry that Iraq's progress is still fragile.
Just last month Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress that the war in Afghanistan is a secondary priority. "In Afghanistan we do what we can. In Iraq we do what we must," he said.

Yet it is apparent that as security conditions in Iraq improve, the administration is looking closer at what needs to be done in Afghanistan to counter recent gains by the Taliban. The Taliban ruled the country in the late 1990s and provided haven and support for bin Laden as his global terrorist network laid the groundwork from Afghanistan for the Sept. 11 attacks.

Gates is leading a NATO effort to produce a statement of goals for Afghanistan that spells out clearly what is at stake. The purpose is to bolster NATO governments' efforts to convince their publics that fighting and dying in Afghanistan is an investment worth making. The statement is supposed to be ready for adoption by President Bush and other NATO leaders at a summit meeting in April.

Also, the administration is showing more interest in deepening its involvement in Pakistan.

Teresita C. Schaffer, director for South Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Friday that an important indicator of that approach was the recent visit to Pakistan by Adm. William J. Fallon, the commander of American forces in that region. Fallon met with senior officials, including the new chief of the Pakistani army, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani.

"Why is that happening now?" Schaffer asked. "It suggests to me that the administration is taking this much more seriously than it was." That has meant more attentiveness to the needs of U.S. commanders in Afghanistan, including officers' concerns about countering the threat inside Pakistan.

"The sense I get is that at least in military terms they are getting a response from Washington which they weren't getting all along," said Schaffer, a career foreign service officer who was deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia in the administration of former President Bush.

[feelfree1]

Re: "Bush''s War On Terror Shifting Targets"

New plan: fire blindly in all directions.

[feelfree1]

I''m going to go ahead and mark this article as exhibit "A", in the case of CBS complicity, in fomenting yet another war of aggression, this time against Pakistan and our little dictator buddy over there.

Heckuva'' job Pervie!

[winnerindia]

haa haaa.. this news article is nothing but a summary of the CBS news website from the past 2 years or so!
I give a dime C*U*N*T

[tomtomasters]

It is right in step with the first 300 dollar tax refund at the beginning of his term, and now givng the same at the end of his term. Might as well attack Afghanistan on his way out too. This is how he marks consistency in his policies. There is no need for marginalizing anything, even binLadin. I wonder how many more innocent will die on this sand blast?

[skyk-2009]

Has there EVER, in the history of mankind been any leader more stupid than the one we now have. We KNEW all along who the enemy was but for greed and maybe vengence, this IDIOT left the enemy ON THE BATTLEFIELD and took his troops, with the aid of 935 LIES to the American People, into another war. Without a doubt the biggest blunder in the history of War.

[joyous88]

the CLOWN has a war on all right,

it''s a war on people who can think!

[feelfree1]

The Bush War of Terror might be a bonanza for an infinitesimally small handful of greedy elite, but it is a devastating bust for the people of the U.S. and the world.

[truthspeake2]

Wow, I thought this story was about the truth...The Shifting of Terror Targets onto the American people!

My Bad....

[ajaxtheleast]

And why shouldn''t we move on now. Baghdad is
greatly improved. Why just this week the U.S.
reports finding only 8 dead bodies and only
3 dead Bush/Condi Roadmaps dumped throughout
the city!

The bodies were decapitated and the Roadmaps
appeared to have met a tortured end.

[piercetheval]

I wish he''d hurry the **** up and get this war over with, haven''t been able to score any kush in ages. HEY DUBYA! BRING US BACK A FEW KILOS AND ONE OF THEM COLORFUL KNIT BLANKETS FOR MY MOM WHILE YOU''RE OVER THERE, WILLYA?

[wolf563]

George W. Bush, a man who knew evil when he saw it and who had the courage and the determination to do battle against it.
TERRERISTS DO NOT HAVE A HOME TOWN AND DON`T STAY IN ONE PLACE , SO THIS WAR EFFORT WILL MOVE ON AS THE TERRORISTS MOVE ON .IF THEY GO TO PAKISTAN AND PAKISTAN WANTS NO HELP . IT`S THIER PROBLEM AND WE SHOULD LEAVE . PAKISTANS NUKES are at risk and will be used by a terrorist in the comming months and ITALY ,TURKEY AND FRANCE will be devestated by the effects .

[brianbwb-2009]

"Officials Say Pakistan, And Again, Afghanistan At Center OF Fight Against Militancy"

So now the media begins to shift the word from "terrorists" to "militancy", Hey CBS/AP/Reuters, some of us do notice these things.

Posted by wolf563

Is your first name Paul, and your complete last name Wolfowitz? You sound just like him, "Let us kill anyone in any country we want they are nothing but goyim anyway"

The Afghanis, pakistanis, Iraqis, and, if hitler Jr. hets his way, Iran are no threat to us.

But think about it, if so many countries really did hate us so much, isn''t it possible that they have good reason to do so?

Maybe, just maybe there is something we are doing that they don''t like, like perhaps invading and killing them and their families on the basis of lies, for nothing more than the profit of a few large multinationals?

[brianbwb-2009]

Thanks to a compliant and complicit media the "war on terror" is now being changed to "the war on militancy"

Don''t let these people get away with this one, call them on it before the right to resistance is denied for the whole world, which also means YOU.

[wolf563]

BUSH`S ADVISORS are the problem here as the CIA ,FBI and the other so called intelligencs agencies continue to give BUSH the wrong information to work with . DON`T JUST CHANGE THE PRESIDENT CHANGE THE WHOLE GOVERNMENT .

[brianbwb-2009]

PAKISTANS NUKES are at risk and will be used by a terrorist in the comming months and ITALY ,TURKEY AND FRANCE will be devestated by the effects .
Posted by wolf563

Using your logic, you might someday be in a fatal DUI car accident which kills someone, so lets kill you now before it happens.

[brianbwb-2009]

BUSH`S ADVISORS are the problem here as the CIA ,FBI and the other so called intelligencs agencies continue to give BUSH the wrong information to work with . DON`T JUST CHANGE THE PRESIDENT CHANGE THE WHOLE GOVERNMENT .
Posted by wolf563

Now you''re talking, we can definitely agree on that one. Abolish the CIA, and restrict the FBI to matters of national policing. we can get intel now far more efficiently than the CIA, they are like rottweilers that were trained to kill, then let loose.

[sleepyric]

my prediction....in search of his lost legacy GWB will now spend the treasure and blood of our country at one last ditch effort to find OBL....he probably knows where he is, but can''t get to him without some theatre....it just wouldn''t be right!...

[taotxzen]

(cont)

In the past week, 5,000 US and Iraqi troops have launched an offensive to clear al-Qa%u2019ida militants from Diyala province, north of Baghdad, which the research group Iraq Body Count says is now the most violent in Iraq. But military experts have warned that pacifying Diyala, with a mixed population of Sunnis, Shias and Kurds, will be far more difficult than in Anbar - the success story of the %u201Csurge%u201D - which is almost exclusively Sunni. Yesterday, however, the Iraqi parliament finally adopted a measure long urged by the US, aimed at reversing one of the main causes of Sunni resentment: the sacking of Baath party members from all government jobs. The way has now been cleared to reinstate them.

by Raymond Whitaker, Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem and Anne Penketh in Muscat
Published on Sunday, January 27, 2008 by The Independent/UK

[taotxzen]

Bush: Pace of Withdrawal from Iraq May Have to Slow

In a development that could have an impact on the US presidential race, President George Bush said yesterday that the US could slow the pace of troop withdrawals from Iraq if commanders on the ground considered it necessary.0127 02

Mr Bush, speaking in Kuwait after meeting General David Petraeus, the senior US commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the American ambassador in Baghdad, said further reductions this year, beyond the 30,000 already announced, would depend on what the general recommended. He and Mr Crocker are due to report to Congress in March.

%u201CMy attitude is, if he [Gen Petraeus] didn%u2019t want to continue the drawdown, that%u2019s fine with me, in order to make sure we succeed,%u201D Mr Bush said after the meeting. %u201CI said to the general, %u2018If you want to slow her down, fine. It%u2019s up to you.%u2019%u201D But in an election year, such a proposal could have a tough time in Congress. Iraq is the main reason for Mr Bush%u2019s record unpopularity in the polls, and Democrats have been pushing hard, so far unsuccessfully, for faster and deeper troop cuts.

(cont)

[wolf563]

posted by brianbwb : Is your first name Paul, and your complete last name Wolfowitz? You sound just like him, "Let us kill anyone in any country we want they are nothing but goyim anyway" ........ YOU ARE A TIPICAL AMERICAN . IGNORANCE AND INSULT FIRST .
Think about it, if so many countries really DO hate the U.S.A so much, isn''''t it possible that they have good reason to do so? Maybe, just maybe there is something we are doing that they don''''t like, like perhaps INSULTING THEM as you do so freely brianbwb

[ajaxtheleast]

Bush''s war on terror is fastly becoming
a combination Boris Badinuf cartoon and
Ghost Busters movie,

One tightly glued together group first
dashing to the top of your TV screen then
to the bottom then to the right side then to

[excoachken]

Having a "War on Terror" is as nonsensical as having "battle against stupidity." Terror is a concept. It has no shape or size or weapons, except in a person''s imagination. It can be anything or anybody, including your own citizens. The only battle that the Cowardly Cowboy has been fighting, for 7 years, is against the American Middle class, and sadly, he has won that war. Our economy is the most "Terrifying" aspect of life these days. His "welfare for the wealthy" tax breaks have brought us to our knees. Well, maybe their has been a "war of terror," and "W" has been the terrorist.

[wolf563]

posted by lastdance : Crawl back under that rock of - Delusion and Deception

Take another pill - Trip Back into -
The Republican (Nazi) Party World of :
Hallucination and Fantasy Land

wolf563 -
Forever Floating and Drifting throughout the -
Republican Nazi Twilight Zone - Never Knowingly ..Realizing or Understanding
The Difference of : True Reality and Hallucinogenic Fantasy Land #1/ I`m impressed with your attempt at whit and humor ,sounds just like G.W. If you think that well thats your choice but you will remember the statement when the time comes . Your countries leader G.W.B. will go down in history as a man of action against terrorism .

[samsel3]

February 12, 1998 John J. Maresca vp of UNOCAL oil appeared before a House sub committee. The purpose of the meeting was to gain support for exploitation of oil & natural gas resources in the Caspian Sea area. In his testimony he stated, "The key question is how the energy resources of Central Asia can be made available to nearby Asian markets ". The exploitation option stated : "One obvious route south would cross Iran, but this is foreclosed by American companies because of U.S. sanctions (with Iran ) . The only other possible route is across Afghanistan, which of course has it''s own unique challenges. " He continued saying, " the pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments,lenders (world monitary fund & world bank ) ,and our company "......" UNOCAL and other American companies are prepared to undertake the job ".

More than a year and half before 911 the CIA Special Activities Division was conducting operations in Afghanistan, trying to topple the Taliban regime for the Caspian Sea Oil & Gas Pipelines.

[samsel3]

In 2007 Condoleeza Rice in a meeting with President Musharaf of Pakistan said the administration was not happy with the progress being made on their end of the Caspian Sea Pipeline. Unkown to the administration at the time, Musharaf was talking to Iran & India.
January 24,2008 India announced a plan for a 2,775 km Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said, "Iranian ambassador spoke to me tuesday and they are very keen that the project takes shape as it is in the interest of all three countries ". Times of India
This is a new twist that does not fit Cheney''s energy policy for the Caspian Sea Oil & Gas pipelines headed for Pakistan to supply Asian markets.
Will Musharaf dump the USA''s Caspian Sea Pipeline now that he has Iran on line in this new deal? Or will he take both pipelines through Pakistan for Asian markets.

[excoachken]

The Cowardly Cowboy will go down in American history as the man who almost ended American history! we are but an empty shell of the country he was selected to "lead" by his "Supreme Court." Our economy is a wreck, our Constitution has been shredded, we have more poor than ever since the great depression, our former friends and allies hate us, and he ignores the plight of the veterans who have been brutalized to make his cronies richer. He WILL be REMEMBERED!

[mcv57]

CBS in the business of government propaganda. When the devil convinces to lie and deceive, you lose creditability, respect, and any ethics that keep your organization from chaos. CBS staff should realize that they hold the power to put down their Hitler.

[formrusmcsgt]

6 1/2 years now with no end in sight.

Utter incompetence.

[prinzowhales]

This vile Administration of Human Garbage is the terror problem. Here is an article from the TIMES revealing that highly placed State Department official tipped off the Turks and ISI that Plame''s Brewster-Jennings cover was a government front...This blew the investigation into the spy ring selling US government secrets...More Zio-Nazi pigs spying on America...selling our secrets...creating nuclear proliferation...and then taxing YOU to fight it. The only answer to this is good hemp rope and lots of it!!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3257725.ece

The Democratic Congress, led by a real estate thief and Mafiosi Senator from Nevada will not impeach the Chimp and the human filth running for the presidency in the mainstream of both parties keep silent on this issue...just as they remain silent on the election fraud in New Hampshire et al.

[batpoo]

Changing venues on the war on terror? What does that mean? Other than throwing a handful of troops into Afghanistan many years ago, to give the appearance he was fighting terrorism, GW''s aggressive takeover of the sovereign nation of Iraq was a clever ploy used to help recruit thousands of new terrorists in a country that had none.
The Bush regime used 9/11 as an excuse to invade Iraq. What is most disturbing is that Bush not only got away with it but has managed to single handedly destroy the USA both economically and morally.
After denouncing Iraq''s invasion of Kuwait and all but wiping out Iraq''s military, Bush turned around and did the same thing to a defenseless country under the guise of wmd''s. This completely insane move had absolutely NOTHING to do with terrorism.

The dismantling of the constitution and scoffing at the Geneva convention are also feathers in George''s cap, yet, the most spineless party in history, the Democrats and their weak leadership, have chosen their normal response to the myriad of impeachable offenses by doing absolutely nothing.
Now that the USA has become the old Soviet Union by spying on their own citizens, torturing people, and barraging the world with propaganda we can all feel safer now. George W. Bush is on the job.

[mcv57]

6 1/2 years now with no end in sight.

Utter incompetence.

Posted by formrusmcsgt

You mean utter maddness. Russia has just finished the first shipment of Urainum to Iran. Now the Bushwacker moving on *** and Afcan . . . this is utter maddness. Will someone shoot that texas nut.

[cbs_oliver]

Just stop the damned crusade now.

[prinzowhales]

Here is an article from antiwar.com on Sibel Edmonds and her whisltleblowing story of the betrayal of the US by Zio-Nazis imbedded in the US government-- she is under an unprecedented ''national security'' gag order from a black-robed pig on the federal bench... its not national security that is being protected... it is the same Zio-Nazi War Pig bacon that is being protected...just as it is being protected by the judicial delays in the AIPAC spying case.

...and people still vote for candidates who support AIPAC and sniff at its heels for money and a kind word...

[prinzowhales]

Here''s the article:

http://antiwar.com/justin/

Bush promisted to deal with those who blew the cover of the CIA agent Valerie Plame...he has! He commuted that great paragon of family values...the porno writer, Scooter Libby who wrote of little girls having se.x with bears. And there are scum who still support these animals!!

[walt1944-2009]

No matter what the Great Emperor Bush II and his Fascist Neocon court try to do anywhere to combat "terrrrrrorists" in the Middle East, it won''t work. We are hearing the same words we heard LBJ and his people use during the Vietnam War. Everyone (except the Neocons) knows what happened in Vietnam and afterwards and the same thing is going to happen in Afghanistan and Iraq and probably Pakistan if and probably when we get involved there.

People are fed up with their politicians, the Bush "adventures", the "Ferengi" economy, the right-wing religious wackos, the O''Reillys, Limbaughs, and Savages out there trying to deny the truth, and our country being sold out from under us to foreign businesses to get quick cash!

HOW DISGUSTING!!!!!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!

[offtheback]

Your countries leader G.W.B. will go down in history as a man of action against terrorism .




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by wolf563

The kool-Aid is poison...

[rowdytexan2]

The only incompetence is Mr. Bush has no intellect of his own, knows nothing about the people of the US and our belief in peace and prosperity for ALL. The only thing he knows is the support given to his failures by the backers of the Neocon regime and their greed. It is their design, you can plot it step by step across the middle east.

These guys are very competent at THEIR war on terror. They are terrorists in the extreme and have no conscience. And they are very very competent at what they do. And they have convinced the idiot son that what he does is right and just.

As said before terrorism is a concept that they have developed to promote fear in the US and use as a tool to pave the way to unleash the Muslim jihad so as it appears that THEIR terrorist actions are just. There lies the real Axis of Evil, and the US has become one of the Axis of the Willing because these men have control of our country.

Of all the countries that have WMD''s in the world and all the countries that wish to have them, and not one soldier sent to route them out, except the ones that sit on billions of dollars of black gold.

It''s really sad, that a peace loving country is being ruined by this trash.

[samsel3]

February 12, 1998 John J. Maresca vp of UNOCAL oil appeared before a House sub committee. The purpose of the meeting was to gain support for exploitation of oil & natural gas resources purchsed by BIG OIL in the Caspian Sea area. In his testimony he stated, "The key question is how the energy resources of Central Asia can be made available to nearby Asian markets ". The exploitation option stated : "One obvious route south would cross Iran, but this is foreclosed by American companies because of U.S. sanctions (with Iran ) . The only other possible route is across Afghanistan, which of course has it''s own unique challenges. " He continued saying, " the pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments,lenders (world monitary fund & world bank ) ,and our company "......" UNOCAL and other American companies are prepared to undertake the job ".

More than a year and half before 911 the CIA Special Activities Division was conducting operations in Afghanistan, trying to topple the Taliban regime for the Caspian Sea Oil & Gas Pipelines.

[samsel3]

In 2007 Condoleeza Rice in a meeting with President Musharaf of Pakistan said the administration was not happy with the progress being made on their end of the Caspian Sea Pipeline. Unkown to the administration at the time, Musharaf was talking to Iran & India.
January 24,2008 India announced a plan for a 2,775 km Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said, "Iranian ambassador spoke to me tuesday and they are very keen that the project takes shape as it is in the interest of all three countries ". Times of India
This is a new twist that does not fit Cheney''''s energy policy for the Caspian Sea Oil & Gas pipelines headed for Pakistan to supply Asian markets.
Will Musharaf dump the USA''s Caspian Sea Pipeline now that he has Iran on line in this new deal? Or will he take both pipelines through Pakistan for Asian markets ?

[liberalme]

Your countries leader G.W.B. will go down in history as a man of action against terrorism .
Posted by wolf563

This country''s leader GWB will go down in history as the leader who created fatality--to thousands of troops, innocent Iraquis and the near demise of our Constitution and the division of a once great country!

He has created such fear in many Americans that they revere his every word on chasing them down--they''re not stupid people--they are scared and the Bush regime has them believing they are the only ones who can save the country, when in fact, we are hated even more.

This AH and his "false statements" lies and deceit will go down in history as his wannabe likeness to Hitler!

[Con Mohrat]

The Viet Nam War Coward knows how to handle wars, doesn''t he?

[runningralph]

A lot of people are dissatisfied with the US''s war effort. Many think they could have done better. Many think the US should appease the jihadists. Many believe oil companies or construction companies flew airplanes into buildings in New York and the Pentagon. Many believe the jihadists are just kidding, they are really nice guys enjoying their hobby of suicide bombing. And of course, many blame the US for their own personal failures. In spite of all this the US has managed to keep the war across the ocean except for random snipers and foiled bomb attempts. Compared to what is going on in Africa and the Middle East the average American is well protected. Count your blessings.

[liberalvet]

Bush should have never moved from Afganistan. What a complete moron. The only thing worse are the blind idiots that still support him.

[samsel3]

Russia is well aware of the Cheney plan for the Casapian Sea pipeline which will be cheaper to build if the US goes through Iran. Iran does not want to negotiate with the US on this pipeline. Cheney wants regime change, but Russia does not because it''s not in there economic interest. Thats the real deal !
Moscow -- Armed forces will be used if necessary, including preventively and with the use of nuclear weapons, for protection of Russia and its allies, the Russian Armed Forces'' Chief of the General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky said on Saturday.

"We do not intend to attack anybody. But all our partners must realize that for protection of Russia and its allies if necessary armed forces will be used, including preventively, including with the use of nuclear weapons," Baluyevsky was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Baluyevsky reportedly made the statement at a scientific conference of the Academy of Military Sciences.

From the China daily January 21, 2008

[liberalme]

A lot of people are dissatisfied with the US''''s war effort. Many think they could have done better. Many think the US should appease the jihadists. Many believe oil companies or construction companies flew airplanes into buildings in New York and the Pentagon. Many believe the jihadists are just kidding, they are really nice guys enjoying their hobby of suicide bombing. And of course, many blame the US for their own personal failures. In spite of all this the US has managed to keep the war across the ocean except for random snipers and foiled bomb attempts. Compared to what is going on in Africa and the Middle East the average American is well protected. Count your blessings.
Posted by runningralph at 09:22 AM : Jan 28, 2008

Sorry your still running-Ralph--

Who really hit the WTC?? Ask Bush and Cheney--also ask them how steel and cement burn as quickly as the WTC buildings did.
Buildings that tall will lean--not fall to the ground as fast as they did--they were imploded!
Again, you will have to ask the tow "batmobilers" how that happened.
Just google 911 and you will find all kinds of information the government would prefer us not to know.

The Bush american terrorists all need to be brought up on treason charges and hung high!!

[missingamerica]

Compared to what is going on in Africa and the Middle East the average American is well protected. Count your blessings.

Posted by runningralph at 09:22 AM : Jan 28, 2008

Compared to what is going on in Detroit the average resident of Martha''s Vineyard is well protected. Count your blessings.

That is about a hell of a note, isn''t it? The Bush apologists are now resorting to "Well, we could have dorked it up worse, you know.".

[samsel3]

It''s all about BIG OIL. The administration wants regime change in Venezuela. Conoco-Phillips, Mobil Exxon & Chevron would not accept new conditions for their oil leases. They wanted significant control in new areas of the gulf of Venezuela, but the Venezuelan''s are looking after it''s own interests and offered a diminished role in developing oil reserves or nothing. As a result all three companies were terminated. The owners of these companies are Richard Cheney''s friends and now look for the administrations strong arm tactics.

In 2006 & 2007 Iran & Venezuela vested oil deals and partnered to develop tracts in Venezuelas Orinoco Reserve. One tract Iran will help develop contains approximately 30 billion barrels of oil.
Venezuela''s total oil reserves are estimated at 265 billion barrels which could top the Saudi''''s Reserves.

Venezuela, has struck oil and natural gas deals with Iran & Malaysia , as well as China and Russia . China & Russia. will aid and protect Venezueala if needed .

[jkantor]

The reason why we are losing "the war on terror" is precisely because the news media and the liberals make it out to be "Bush''s" war. It''s everybody''s war. And if you aren''t with us, you''re against us. Terrorists are merely opportunists. The true enemies are the ones among us who make them possible.

[jkantor]

And when the bombings start here - we will hold you accountable for undermining the war.

[samsel3]

Posted by jkantor at 10:02 AM : Jan 28, 2008....

You are a fool ! Take another sip of the Kool-Aid, it''s a different flavor today.