Posts by teejay

92

Blacks and Voting

by Mecurious? in

okay, this is not meant to inflame or cause another race debate.

but something here is amiss.

why aren't more blacks getting out and registering to vote?

Cost of War

by teejay in

cost of war

teejay

Dubla,

Do you have a link to the Kerry quotes?

149

Tons Of Iraq Explosives Missing

by teejay in

tons of iraq explosives missing

material could be used as nuclear trigger .

cnn) -- some 380 tons of explosives powerful enough to detonate nuclear warheads are missing from a former iraqi military facility that was supposed to be under american control, the u.n.'s nuclear watchdog says.

teejay

ThiChi,

I could be wrong but you seem overly upset by nothing more than the quotes from websites that I made in the initial post. There really is no need for that, is there?

I made no false claim. I did not say anywhere that Bush uttered the words "Mission Accomplished." Neither did I say that he or any member of his White House staff put the signage on the aircraft carrier. Despite your unwillingness to face the truth?you said, "Notwithstanding, your "Mission Accomplished" photo is misleading and just plain wrong" ?in what way is the photo misleading? Or wrong? And if it's misleading, who's responsible for the confusing message?

Are you saying that Bush had no idea the sign was there? And had no idea or purpose in sending, as it turned out, a crass and overly premature victory message to not only the crew of the USS Lincoln but to the whole world? Are you saying that he had no idea how his "Mission Accomplished" might be misunderstood... that viewers of the photo might be misled? Do you really believe that he went through all of those motions of donning a flight suit, making two fly-bys, landing on an aircraft carrier, standing in front of that sign, all to simply say "job well done" to the crew of that one aircraft carrier? Do you really believe that?

As president of the US and Commander in Chief of the armed forces (including the Navy), surely you know that Bush could/would have had it removed if he had found it out of order or inappropriate. As you can clearly see (in the photo plastered all over the world at the time), he did neither. The simple message "Mission Accomplished" evidently jibed nicely with his general message at the time. That he passed the buck and later blamed the sign on the Navy is simply characteristic of his arrogant unwillingness to admit to his mistakes, consistently blaming others for them. As CNN reported,

White House spokesman Scott McClellan told CNN that ... Navy officials on the carrier told Bush aides they wanted a "Mission Accomplished" banner, and the White House agreed to create it.

"We took care of the production of it," McClellan said. "We have people to do those things. But the Navy actually put it up."

In the scheme of things, does it really matter who "put it up"?

You asked:

why is old news (19 months old) " being recycled now? And it does not state when the explosives went missing. One source states that the explosives went missing before the US even showed up, which your story did not report...

Agreed. Apparently no one knows precisely when the ammo/explosives went missing, but as the news report reads, it was made known to the Bush administration just a few days ago that the weapons in that particular ammo dump were missing.

Exactly when the explosives went missing is somewhat of a moot point, wouldn't you say? The fact is: (at least) 380 tons of high-grade explosives is unaccounted for. Not a lot in comparison to what was believed to have been in Iraq at one time and apparently not enough for one senior White House official to be concerned, but still enough to do a lot of damage if it ended up in the wrong hands.

More than anything... what I find absolutely fascinating is your seeming unwillingness, your abject REFUSAL, to admit to any error on Bush's part, regardless of how horrendous the report. Since tanks started to roll toward Baghdad last Spring, Bush has made costly (in terms of dollars and lives) blunder after blunder and you, like him, can't seem to own up to a single one.

149

Tons Of Iraq Explosives Missing

by teejay in

tons of iraq explosives missing

material could be used as nuclear trigger .

cnn) -- some 380 tons of explosives powerful enough to detonate nuclear warheads are missing from a former iraqi military facility that was supposed to be under american control, the u.n.'s nuclear watchdog says.

teejay

This old news.

Incorrect. It was well-known that the Bush Administration (generally) dropped the ball with respect to the proper handling of explosive dumps all over Iraq. What wasn't known until recently (according to the report) is that the some-380 tons at the Al Qaqaa complex, south of Baghdad was missing. The interim government just announced it.

I know it's embarrassing to you (as it is to the Bush Admin.) but your embarrassment is, as far as I'm concerned, a non-issue when compared to the horrendous potential danger that now looms for, not only the troops on the ground in Iraq, but for whomever possessors of said explosives may choose to target.

Regardless of how you and the rest of the neo-con Bushies might want to spin it, the fact that Rumsfeld's Doctrine of rushing to Baghdad with insufficient troop levels and no subsequent plan to guard hundreds of arms depots or otherwise secure the country is somewhat alarming now, don't you think? His idiotic plan has put Iraq, not to mention the world, in considerable danger.

your "Mission Accomplished" photo is misleading and just plain wrong. Did you know that Bush never stated "Mission Accomplished" in his speech on the Lincoln, which photo you wrongly have used stating he had?

Again... I know it's now more than a bit embarrassing to Bush (and you) that he stood before a "Mission Accomplished" sign, but where did I state that Bush said anything? I simply posted a picture that Rove & Company put up in front of which Bush stood.

12

My Brother's Funeral-Part TWO- The Reception

by doodle-v in

here is the link to part one:.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/79037/1.ashx.

it didn?t help that it was dark, and my dad was a slow driver.. ?ok sorry, i?ll go slower.?

teejay

Sounds like a nice ending to what had to be a very stressful, sad day. Thanks for sharing.

149

Tons Of Iraq Explosives Missing

by teejay in

tons of iraq explosives missing

material could be used as nuclear trigger .

cnn) -- some 380 tons of explosives powerful enough to detonate nuclear warheads are missing from a former iraqi military facility that was supposed to be under american control, the u.n.'s nuclear watchdog says.

teejay

Tons Of Iraq Explosives Missing

Material could be used as nuclear trigger

CNN) -- Some 380 tons of explosives powerful enough to detonate nuclear warheads are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that was supposed to be under American control, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says.
The interim Iraqi government reported several days ago that the explosives were missing from the Al Qaqaa complex, south of Baghdad.
The explosives -- considered powerful enough to demolish buildings or detonate nuclear warheads -- were under IAEA control until the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. IAEA workers left the country before the fighting began.
She described Al Qaqaa as "massive" and said it is one of the most well-known storage sites. Besides the 380 tons, there were large caches of artillery there.
The discovery was not made public sooner because standard intelligence practice is not to let enemies know such information, said a senior administration official.
There are hundreds of tons of other weapons and munitions missing around the country, and it is impossible for the United States to track down all of them, the official said.
A European diplomat told The New York Times that Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, is "extremely concerned" about the potentially "devastating consequences" of the vanished stockpile.
The Iraqi letter to IAEA identified the vanished explosives as containing 194.7 metric tons of HMX, or "high melting point explosive," 141.2 metric tons of RDX, or "rapid detonation explosive," among other designations, and 5.8 metric tons of PETN, or "pentaerythritol tetranitrate."
Fleming said the IAEA, whose mission is to keep track of everything with potential nuclear weapons applications, had been monitoring about 100 sites in Iraq, but there were only a few of special concern, including Al Qaqaa .
"The concern is that other sites that have items that are potentially dangerous have gone missing," Fleming added.
The senior administration official downplayed the importance of the missing explosives, describing them as dangerous material but "stuff you can buy anywhere." The official added that the administration did not see this necessarily as a "proliferation risk."
"In the grand scheme -- and on a grand scale -- there are hundreds of tons of weapons, munitions, artillery, explosives that are unaccounted for in Iraq," the official said. "And like the Pentagon has said, there is really no way the U.S. military could safeguard all of these weapons depots or find all of these missing materials."

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April 29, 2003:

A Reality Check for the Rumsfeld Doctrine

Will Donald Rumsfeld, the US secretary of defence who has just led a war to remake Iraq, now turn his sights closer to home and remake the US military?
Mr Rumsfeld is now so powerful and his concept of future warfare is so well validated that he will overcome domestic opposition and at last prepare America's armed forces for 21st-century warfare. Proponents of this view pour on the accolades for Mr Rumsfeld: he is the most influential cabinet secretary since Kissinger, the strongest defence secretary since McNamara, the most creative battle strategist since MacArthur, the most refreshingly blunt politician since Churchill. They also suggest that the doctrine of overwhelming force espoused by Colin Powell, secretary of state, will soon be replaced by a new Rumsfeld doctrine emphasising high technology, special operations units and sheer brainpower to defeat future foes.

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APRIL 26, 2004:

IT'S TIME TO SHELVE THE RUMSFELD DOCTRINE

Too few soldiers and no exit plan have led to upheaval in Iraq

Denial is rampant in Washington. There is denial that intelligence mistakes were made in the months and years before September 11. There is denial that foreign policy mistakes were made in the runup to the war in Iraq. There is denial that the Shiite revolts mark a turning point in the postwar occupation. And most importantly, there is denial that the military strategy going into Iraq, the Rumsfeld Doctrine, is a failure.
The best hope left of establishing a stable Iraqi democracy is to replace that doctrine, which emphasizes small, light, and fast military operations, with its rival, the Powell Doctrine, devised by then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell. The Powell Doctrine calls for overwhelming force shaped by very clear political goals and a specific exit strategy, two things lacking today in Iraq.
The failure of the Rumsfeld Doctrine in Iraq is all too clear -- too few boots on the ground, too little legitimacy for America and its handpicked Governing Council, too many shifting goals, and no clear exit strategy. The result in recent weeks has been a cycle of kidnappings, ambushes, counterstrikes, death, and destruction that increasingly echoes the disaster in Vietnam.

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Mission Accomplished