Wednesday, January 10th, 2007
Dear Mr. President: Send Even MORE Troops (and you go, too!)
...from Michael Moore
Dear Mr. President,
Thanks for your address to the nation. It's good to know you still want to talk to us after how we behaved in November.
Listen, can I be frank? Sending in 20,000 more troops just ain't gonna do the job. That will only bring the troop level back up to what it was last year. And we were losing the war last year! We've already had over a million troops serve some time in Iraq since 2003. Another few thousand is simply not enough to find those weapons of mass destruction! Er, I mean... bringing those responsible for 9/11 to justice! Um, scratch that. Try this -- BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE MIDDLE EAST! YES!!!
You've got to show some courage, dude! You've got to win this one! C'mon, you got Saddam! You hung 'im high! I loved watching the video of that -- just like the old wild west! The bad guy wore black! The hangmen were as crazy as the hangee! Lynch mobs rule!!!
Look, I have to admit I feel very sorry for the predicament you're in. As Ricky Bobby said, "If you're not first, you're last." And you being humiliated in front of the whole world does NONE of us Americans any good.
Sir, listen to me. You have to send in MILLIONS of troops to Iraq, not thousands! The only way to lick this thing now is to flood Iraq with millions of us! I know that you're out of combat-ready soldiers -- so you have to look elsewhere! The only way you are going to beat a nation of 27 million -- Iraq -- is to send in at least 28 million! Here's how it would work:
The first 27 million Americans go in and kill one Iraqi each. That will quickly take care of any insurgency. The other one million of us will stay and rebuild the country. Simple.
Now, I know you're saying, where will I find 28 million Americans to go to Iraq? Here are some suggestions:
1. More than 62,000,000 Americans voted for you in the last election (the one that took place a year and half into a war we already knew we were losing). I am confident that at least a third of them would want to put their body where their vote was and sign up to volunteer. I know many of these people and, while we may disagree politically, I know that they don't believe someone else should have to go and fight their fight for them -- while they hide here in America.
2. Start a "Kill an Iraqi" Meet-Up group in cities across the country. I know this idea is so early-21st century, but I once went to a Lou Dobbs Meet-Up and, I swear, some of the best ideas happen after the third mojito. I'm sure you'll get another five million or so enlistees from this effort.
3. Send over all members of the mainstream media. After all, they were your collaborators in bringing us this war -- and many of them are already trained from having been "embedded!" If that doesn't bring the total to 28 million, then draft all viewers of the FOX News channel.
Mr. Bush, do not give up! Now is not the time to pull your punch! Don't be a weenie by sending in a few over-tired troops. Get your people behind you and YOU lead them in like a true commander in chief! Leave no conservative behind! Full speed ahead!
We promise to write. Go get 'em W!
Yours,
Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.comhttp://www.michaelmoore.com/
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=204
Poll: Americans oppose Iraq troop surge
By Nancy Benac / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Seventy percent of Americans oppose sending more troops to Iraq, according to a new poll that provides a devastatingly blunt response to President Bush's plan to bolster military forces there.
All sides in the Iraq debate are keenly aware of mounting public dissatisfaction with the situation: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday it's one thing on which all Americans — including administration officials — are united.
Yet the Associated Press-Ipsos poll found widespread disagreement with the Bush administration over its proposed solution, and growing skepticism that the United States made the right decision in going to war in the first place.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8959
Matthews Battles Snow Over Iran Attack, Says He Fears ‘Extra-Constitutional War’
Tonight on MSNBC, Chris Matthews aggressively questioned White House Press Secretary Tony Snow about whether President Bush’s rhetoric last night was a “precursor for a rationale for an attack” on Iran.
Matthews said he feared the Bush administration would use a skirmish with Iranian fighters in Iraq as a reason to “bomb the hell out of them and hit their nuclear installations without any without any action by Congress. That’s the scenario I fear, an extra-constitutional war is what I’m worried about.” Snow told Matthews “you have been watching too many old movies,” but Matthews interrupted. “No, I’ve been watching the war in Iraq, is what I’ve been watching.” Watch it:
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/11/snow-matthews-iran/
Blast at U.S. embassy called 'terrorism'
By Nicholas Paphitis / Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece - A rocket was fired at the U.S. Embassy early Friday, striking the front of the building but causing no injuries. A senior police official said the blast was an act of terrorism, raising fears of a resurgence of far-left Greek militant groups.
Police cordoned off streets around the heavily guarded building after the explosion shortly before 6 a.m. The shell struck the third floor and smashed glass in nearby buildings.
Investigators were examining what they believed was the device used to fire the rocket shell from a construction site near the embassy.
"This is an act of terrorism. We don't know where from," Attica Police Chief Asimakis Golfis said. "There was a shell that exploded in the toilets of the building ... It was fired from street level."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8963
In Baghdad, Bush Policy Is Met With Resentment
By John F. Burns and Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times
BAGHDAD, Jan. 11 — Iraq’s Shiite-led government offered only a grudging endorsement on Thursday of President Bush’s proposal to deploy more than 20,000 additional troops in an effort to curb sectarian violence and regain control of Baghdad. The tepid response immediately raised questions about whether the government would make a good-faith effort to prosecute the new war plan.
The Iraqi leader, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, failed to appear at a news conference and avoided any public comment. He left the government’s response to an official spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, who gave what amounted to a backhanded approval of the troop increase and emphasized that Iraqis, not Americans, would set the future course in the war.
Mr. Dabbagh said that the government’s objective was to secure the eventual withdrawal of American troops, and that for that to be possible there had to be security for Iraqis. “If this can be achieved by increasing either Iraqi or multinational forces,” he added, “the government, for sure, will not stand against it.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8958
Antiwar Protests Held In Bay Area, Across Nation
(CBS 5 / AP) SAN FRANCISCO Activists angered by President Bush's decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq staged protests Thursday from New York to San Francisco, declaring that the extra troops would only give insurgents thousands of new American targets.In New York's Times Square, hundreds crammed onto a traffic island near a military recruiting center chanting "Stop the funding, stop the war," as drivers in one of the world's most famous intersections honked in support. Rallies were also held across the Bay Area.
http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_011190337.html
About 35 protest Bush's troop surge in Danbury
DANBURY -- Roughly 35 people stood in front of Danbury Library tonight holding signs protesting President Bush's goal of sending another 21,000 troops to Iraq.
Holding candles and waving hand-written signs with slogans such as, "De-escalate, Investigate, Bring Them Home," "Stop the Surge" and "Say No to Torture," the demonstrators generated a mostly positive response from passing motorists, many of whom honked their car horns in support.
One exception was Michael Waston of New Milford, who challenged the group from his car as he sat in traffic.
"What about the World Trade Center? Who's going to pay for that?" he asked.
Read the full story in Friday's News-Times.
http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1028187
War protesters take to streets
Karen Shields, with the local the Hugh C. Thompson Veterans For Peace local chapter, and about 20 other people call for the end of the Iraq War during a protest Thursday near the Pensacola office of U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller.Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070111/NEWS01/70111011
Condi Gets Grilled on Escalation
By: SilentPatriot on Thursday, January 11th, 2007 at 5:20 PM – PST
Both Democratic and Republican senators alike absolutely hammered Condoleezza Rice at today's Armed Services Committee hearing. Senators Hagel & Feingold were especially rough and you could hear the disgust in their voices.
"You're going to have to do a much better job" explaining the rationale for the war, "and so is the president," Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, told her. He said Bush could no longer count on his support.
"I've gone along with the president on this and I've bought into his dream and at this stage of the game I just don't think its going to happen," Voinovich said.
[..]Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., the committee chairman, told her, "Secretary Rice, to be very blunt, I cannot in good conscience support the president's approach."
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/11/condi-gets-grilled-on-escalation/
Rice 'loves' Fox News; CBS anchor 'decent guy'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice let slip her news media preferences Thursday, saying, "I love every single one" of Fox News network's correspondents and also favors CBS anchor Harry Smith.
In comments overheard on an open microphone between morning television interviews, including one with Fox, the top U.S. diplomat said: "My Fox guys, I love every single one of them."
But Rice told an aide that when she was next in Iraq she would like to do a "one-on-one" interview with CBS "The Early Show" anchor Harry Smith.
"He's a decent guy. I know they are, like, 55 in the ratings, but I like him," Rice said in comments monitored by Reuters on a television feed.
Bush war plan draws fire on Capitol Hill
By Tom Raum / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq ran into a wall of criticism on Capitol Hill on Thursday as administration officials drew confrontational, sometimes mocking challenges from both Democrats and Republicans.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in response that the administration might abandon the increase if the Iraqi government doesn't do its part, but he provided no timetable. "I think most of us, in our minds, are thinking of it as a matter of months, not 18 months or two years," he told the House Armed Services Committee.
Bush and top members of his national security team sought to rally support for the troop buildup a day after he unveiled his plan for turning around a conflict that has lasted nearly four years and cost more than 3,000 American military lives.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8957
Troops who led 2003 invasion deploy for third tour
FORT STEWART, Georgia (AP) -- Twice before, Sgt. Michael Konvicka has picked up a rifle to go to war. Doing it a third time won't be any easier.
"Every time I come back from Iraq, I tell my wife, 'I'm done honey, stick a fork in me,"' said Konvicka, 36, of Flint, Michigan. "I'm not really looking forward to it. But I've got 10 years in the Army, and I'm not about to throw that away."
Hours before President Bush was to announce his plan Wednesday to increase U.S. forces in Iraq, soldiers of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division said goodbye to their families as they deployed on their third tour.
The 19,000-troop 3rd Infantry, which helped lead the 2003 charge to Baghdad, is the first Army division to be tapped for a third deployment to the war. Barely a year has passed since its soldiers returned from their last yearlong rotation.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8938
U.S. military deaths in Iraq hit 3,019
Associated Press
As of Thursday, Jan. 11, 2007, at least 3,019 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,425 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is nine higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Thursday at 10 a.m. EST.
The British military has reported 128 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 18; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, six; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Romania, one death each.
The count includes two deaths listed by the Department of Defense that could not be verified as Iraq-related casualties by the AP.
The latest deaths reported by the military:
• A soldier was killed Tuesday in Anbar province.
The latest identifications reported by the military:
• Army Pfc. Ming Sun, 20, Cathedral City, Calif.; killed Tuesday in Ramadi by small-arms fire; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
• Army Pfc. Ryan R. Berg, 19, Sabine Pass, Texas; killed Tuesday in Baqubah by small-arms fire; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
• Army Maj. Michael L. Mundell, 47, Brandenburg, Ky.; killed Friday in Fallujah when an explosive struck his vehicle; assigned to the 1st Brigade, 108th Division (Institutional Training), Spartanburg, S.C.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8961
Defense Department gives details of troop increase
FORT BENNING, Georgia (CNN) -- As President Bush tried to sell his new plan for Iraq to Congress and the American public, new details emerged about which troops will be deployed.
The Department of Defense released a list Thursday of the military units that will be part of the 20,000 additional troops Bush says will help gain control of Iraq.
Brigades based in North Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, and Washington state will be sent.
Bush also has ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region.
The 1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division of the Minnesota Army National Guard will extend its current tour of duty for up to 125 days and will redeploy no later than August.
Also, the Marine Corps will extend two reinforced infantry battalions for about 60 days.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8956
Senators bemoan lack of Iraq oil law progress
By Chris Baltimore / Reuters
WASHINGTON - U.S. senators on Thursday grilled U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over a yet-unpublished Iraqi oil law that is expected to set terms for investment and revenue-sharing in the war-torn nation's battered hydrocarbon sector.
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on U.S. President George W. Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, Rice tried to assure impatient U.S. lawmakers that Iraqi officials are making progress on the hydrocarbon law.
"You referred to the oil law as a remarkable law," Sen. John Sununu, New Hampshire Republican, told Rice. "Well, it's the most remarkable law that no one has ever really seen."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8949
Western companies may get 75% of Iraqi oil profits
Last Update: 7:34 PM ET Jan 8, 2007
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Iraq's massive oil reserves may be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies - which could end up grabbing up to 75% of the beleagured nation's oil profits - under a law seen coming before the Iraqi parliament within days, the Independent reported on its Web site Monday.
A draft of this controversial law, which the U.S. government has been helping to craft and has been seen by the Independent, would give oil giants such as BP PLC (BP), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and let these foreign oil companies undertake their first large-scale operations in the country since the industry was nationalized in 1972.
Oil industry executives and analysts say the law, which would allow Western companies to pocket up to three-quarters of profits in the early years, is the only way to get Iraq's oil industry back on its feet after years of sanctions, war and loss of expertise. However, opponents say Iraq, where oil accounts for 95% of the economy, is being forced to surrender an unacceptable degree of sovereignty, the Independent reported.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/western-companies-may-get-75/story.aspx?guid=%7B09CFDDFD-E299-4659-A8C3-5ADE6E26579E%7D
Iraqi firefighters try to extinguish a burning oil pipeline near Kirkuk, Iraq, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Thursday Jan 11, 2007. Suspected Sunni insurgents attacked and set fire to a large oil pipeline in northern Iraq, interrupting the flow from the Kirkuk oil fields, an official of the Northern Oil Co. said. (AP Photo)
http://apnews.myway.com/image/20070111/APTOPIX_IRAQ.sff_BAG110_20070111094054.html?date=20070111&docid=D8MJ4VO80
Gitmo turns five
Protesters, dressed as prisoners from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, march near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, January 11, 2007.
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=guantanamo+bay+washington&c=news_photos
80 Arrested Protesting Guantanamo Detentions
Demonstrators Stopped Inside Courthouse
By Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post
More than 80 protesters were arrested inside the federal courthouse in Washington yesterday after a demonstration that called for closing the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The demonstrators were commemorating the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo detention facility. They targeted the courthouse where lawyers have challenged the legality of indefinitely imprisoning hundreds of suspected enemy fighters and terrorists at Guantanamo.
Those arrested were part of a group of nearly 300 demonstrators -- a loose coalition of antiwar, civil liberty and religious organizations. The group had a permit to protest outside the courthouse at Third Street and Constitution Avenue NW.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8962
Stuck in Iraq? War feels wrong? When did you start feeling this way?
http://www.michaelmoore.com/links/index.php
A walk to end the wars
By Chris Dabovich / San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Fed up with war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, a former United Methodist pastor and Vietnam-era veteran is doing something about it. He is walking the walk, cross-country, trying to rally public support to help end the conflicts.
Armed with a petition and a burning desire to finish what he's started, Bill McDannell began "The walk to end the wars," on Nov. 4 in Lakeside, Calif., near San Diego, en route to Washington, D.C. He stayed in Willcox Thursday and Friday nights as he took Friday off to rest and update his web site.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8924
January 11: This is probably going to be a long entry because I've been away from the computer for so long and there is so much to say. I want to get a couple items of business out of the way immediately:
First of all, I have a day off today. I promised Jonna I would not walk in the rain while she's gone and today is the first time I've had to honor that promise. Trouble is, rain is forecast clear through until Sunday! I'm hoping tomorrow might be clear enough that I can walk, but Saturday and Sunday are almost certainly going to be days off. Rats. Well, at least it might allow me to catch up on emails.
Secondly, I've decided on my first major route change, which I will reflect on the Route page as soon as I can. Instead of heading for Alamagordo after Las Cruces I am now going to continue on Interstate 10 through to El Paso, then Interstate 20 up to Fort Worth. This will keep me farther south for a longer period of time and hopefully provide better weather. It will also include a couple of significant media markets that may help people find out about my walk. I apologize to the folks in the Alalmagordo area who have been waiting for me to mosey on through, but I think this route will serve the walk better and hope you understand.
http://www.wtetw.com/page6.html
A PETITION TO THE CONGRESSAND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
WHEREAS the people of Iraq have successfully elected and empowered a representative government, and
WHEREAS the people of Afghanistan have also elected and empowered a representative government, and
WHEREAS the United States has no grievance with either of these governments that constitutes a basis for war, and
WHEREAS the so called war on terrorism is not a war within the historic definition of war, but rather an ongoing policy to identify and address the conditions that breed terrorist activities and protect the United States and other nations from terrorist actions, and as such cannot be considered the basis for obtaining or retaining any powers of war not otherwise endowed to a specific branch of government, and
http://www.wtetw.com/page2.html
Thank you
... for completing our form.
Protesters take to Davenport street
By Jason Fechner
DAVENPORT, Iowa -- Around three-dozen protesters lined 53rd Street in Davenport late Thursday, holding signs of opposition to President Bush's proposal to escalate troop strength in Iraq.
"One person gave me the finger a little while ago," said first-time protester Melissa McBain, "that's not happened in this context before. But, I'm getting a lot of honks."
Those honks were likely in support of the protesters messages to "Bring them home," or "Oppose Escalation," all painted on cardboard or poster board and held up in the sky.
http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=5928691&nav=1sW7
