Are We Safer?....

President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez directed in a radio address this weekend.... "Mr. Defense Minister, move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately--- tank battalions, deploy the air force.... we don't want war, but we aren't going to permit the U.S. empire, which is the master [of Colombia].... to come to divide us." (WashingtonPost)

As the military from leftist Ecuador and Venezuela deploy on their borders with Columbia, a U. S. ally, the tense crisis threatens to erupt into war.

The reason.... a raid by Colombia into Ecuador which killed a leader of the rebel leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) which has fought to overthrow the Colombian government for 40 years.

Colombia said its police and air force shot back at targets in Ecuador only after its forces came under fire from FARC rebels about a mile inside Ecuador.

Chavez warned "This is something very serious. This could be the start of a war in South America" and threatened to retaliate with Sukhois.... recently purchased Russian warplanes.

And... in the Middle East, Iranian's President Ahmadinejad is visiting Baghdad today and telling the U.S. to get out of Iraq and the region. (WashingtonPost)

During his two-day trip, Iran and Iraq will sign seven agreements on customs, transportation links, improving cooperation in industrial development, highlighting the new, closer relations between the former foes.

Since the U.S. overthrow of Saddam and the installation of a new U.S.-backed government, both Iraq and Iran are now run by Shiite majorities.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) decried our lack of focus on Afghanistan and nuclear-armed Pakistan. (NYTimes)

"Afghanistan is slipping toward failure. The Taliban is back, violence is up, drug production is booming and the Afghans are losing faith in their government"... Biden warned.

"If we should have had a surge anywhere, it is Afghanistan.... Afghanistan's fate is directly tied to Pakistan's future and America's security. When President Musharraf of Pakistan concluded that we were not serious about finishing the job in Afghanistan, he began to cut deals with extremists in his own country.

"As a result, the border area remains a freeway of fundamentalism: the Taliban and Al Qaeda find sanctuary in Pakistan, while Pakistani suicide bombers wreak havoc in Afghanistan."

The fruits of the Bush administration's Iraq-obsessed foreign policy.... deep unrest with the specter of war in our backyard, and an obscenely costly war in Iraq that has played into Iran's ambitions in that country while emboldening fundamentalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Heck of a job, Georgie.

Cartoon of the Week....

Huckabee's Nose Grows

Presidential GOP candidate Mike Huckabee said of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan that we send "our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan" and referred to the "continuing" martial law there.

By his recent statement, GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has once again demonstrated not only his lack of understanding of Middle Eastern affairs, but his "slick" side.

This glib preacher who has delivered numerous sermons and consoled the grieving said he misspoke..... that he meant to say "sympathies" not "apologies" and had a long explanation for why he thought that the martial law had not been lifted by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf when in fact it had.

The truth, something with which Huckabee seems to only have a nodding acquaintance, is that he is weak on foreign affairs, although he tries mightily to flim-flam.

In his rush to capitalize on the tragedy and divert the discussion to the safer waters of domestic affairs, Huckabee linked the Pakistan situation to the dangers of illegal immigration in the United States, arguing Friday that "we have more Pakistani illegals coming across our border than all other nationalities except those immediately south of the border."

When pressed on the numbers.... looking like a deer caught in the headlights.... Huckabee fumbled around asserting that he thought they were CIA or immigration numbers. Actually, Homeland Security reports for 2006 show that many more illegal immigrants living in the United States came from India, Korea, China and Vietnam than Pakistan.

And, while on the subject of Huckabee's tough campaign stand on illegal immigration, let's take a look at his record.

The Washington Times ran an article by Stephen Dinan in which he said in the first paragraph: "Mike Huckabee is overselling his record of cracking down on illegal aliens as governor, claiming he ordered his state police to arrest illegal aliens when in fact he never signed the agreement with federal authorities that would have allowed it."

Huckabee's web site, however, boldly twists the facts.... "As governor, I ordered my state troopers to work with the Department of Homeland security to arrest illegals and enforce federal immigration laws." But he never signed an agreement with Homeland Security that would secure the training needed before federal immigration laws can be enforced by state police.

When called on this inaccuracy, his excuse was that he just ran out of time to get the agreement with Homeland Security.... the dog ate his Homeland Security agreement so to speak.

Yet, Huckabee had more than 20 months left in office to work out an agreement with Homeland Security for training, something his successor undertook in 12 months.

Huckabee at campaign rallies in Iowa exhorts voters to caucus for him.... "do something different that would utterly confound the political ruling class in this country"... deliver a "seismic shock."

An Iowa caucus win for Huckabee would be more like shock and horror.

Haven't we had enough talking the talk, but not walking the walk? Hopefully the Republican voters will examine Huckabee's record and deliver their shock to the huckstering Huckabee campaign on January 3.

Deadly Middle East Meddling

Here we go again!

Regime change to solve a problem.... like the U.S.-supported shah of Iran. And, we all know how that turned out. Iran now has a radical Islamic controlling party and the United States is the enemy.

Learning nothing from history, The Decider tried regime change in oil-rich Iraq. So far what that has gotten us are countless U.S. and Iraqi casualties, a virtual tsunami of national debt, and an unstable warring nation bordering on, and largely politically controlled by, neighboring U.S.-unfriendly Iran. With no good resolution in sight.

The United States had one "friend" in this Middle East cluster, military-coup president Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. He "supported" the Iraq invasion while dealing with very unstable Islamic elements in his own country.... obviously not very successfully as al Qaeda and The Taliban relocated and revitalized their command and control operations to Pakistan's mountainous northwestern region, even infiltrating and overrunning some cities.

So..... a meddling Bush twisted Musharraf's arm to allow exiled former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto to return to Pakistan in order to forge a power-sharing government. A government pleasing to the United States. This set the stage....

When those negotiations not surprisingly broke down, rather than relinquish his dual role as president and head of the military, Musharraf declared a national emergency.

You see, the "term of Pakistan's current government expires on Thursday, and it also would have been the final day of Musharraf's current stint in office had he not extended it by declaring emergency rule." WaPo

So now, this nuclear-armed nation is coming apart at the seams, and rival leaders are under detention or have been "carted off by the police." NYTimes

Opposition politician Imran Khan, a popular former cricket player, appeared at a university anti-Musharraf protest Wednesday. You probably saw the media accounts.... signs that read "No to Emergency" and "Go Musharraf, Go." Not the "Go" rallying cry of football games, but the "Go" of leave office now.

What you may not have seen were the students at the protest affiliated with the radical Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami who were chanting slogans against President Bush and the United States. Kahn was seized by students belonging to Islami Jamiat-e-Talba, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. They detained him until he was arrested by police.... obviously the radical Islamics are emboldened by recent events.

So, here is the "shah of Iran" showdown once again.... and Musharraf, by aligning himself with the United States, is the enemy of the radical Islamists, but has also alienated the Pakistani moderates with his suspension of the constitution and national-emergency strong-arm tactics....

But this Pakistan showdown is deadly different from Iran's uprising..... for whoever controls Pakistan controls a nuclear-armed nation.

Bush's Foreign "Friends"

So grandiose is The Decider's opinion of himself, and his influence on other world leaders, that he has based much of our foreign policy on his so-called personal relationships with those leaders, leaving the good of the people of those nations, and ours, to choke on the effluvia of his egomaniacal "spreading of Democracy" rhetoric.

The Decider's "good friends" like.... Mexico's former president Vincente Fox who described The Decider as the cockiest man he ever met and speaks Spanish like a fourth grader; Russia's president Vladimir Putin who is grabbing Soviet-style power while Bush is gazing into Putin's soul; and Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki who is firmly lodged in Iran's back pocket while pimping American lives and treasure.

Or, nuclear-armed Pakistan's president Gen. Peverez Musharraf who is ignoring the admonishments of the White House to stop his martial-law-enforced grip on power. These leaders are at the ready for Bush photo-ops, but their actions scream their disdain.

Bush gets no respect, because he's earned no respect.

The dangerous oligarchs lying in wait just beneath the surface of nations.... usually restrained by a commanding president of a strong U.S.... have taken arrogant Bush's measure and judged that as long as they give lip service to The Decider's neoconist worldview crusades they can unleash their dictatorial ambitions without retribution.

The perfect example is Pakistan. Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999 with promises of a civilian government. Because The Decider wanted Musharraf's support for his "war on terror," he looked the other way... and slipped Musharraf a mostly unaccounted for nearly $11 billion. Musharraf tested him by repeatedly breaking promises to move toward democracy, forcing his rivals into exile, being vindictive, and intimidating anyone who tried to stand up to him.

Now Bush's dependence on his perceived "relationship" with this man has blown up in his face.... Musharraf has suspended the constitution, is rounding up judges, beating and jailing lawyers and journalists, arresting members of his opposition, and has silenced the media.

Moves that will embolden extremists in The Decider's war on terror like Al Qaeda and the Taliban who are resurgent on Musharraf's northern borders, while fueling anger and mistrust among Pakistani moderates.

Musharraf said his actions were necessary to preserve Pakistan, and compared himself to Abraham Lincoln during our civil war. Please.

The truth of the matter is that after "winning a sham ballot last month, General Musharraf was awaiting a Supreme Court decision on whether his election, while still serving as army chief of staff, was legal.... he asserted military powers after getting word that the court would rule against him." (New York Times)

It's plain....Musharraf is preserving his power.... although he did throw the bone of a "promised" election in January. Will there be another "emergency" to stay that election? Elections held by a tyrannical government have but one outcome.... either no election, or the "election" of the tyrant.

Just as we have watched world leaders gutting their sham democracies while seizing unlimited state powers, we have also watched The Decider, by virtue of presidential directives and an acquiescent attorney general and lawmakers, vastly expanding the powers of his office.

Is Pakistan's perilous state just a chilling preview of November 2009?

The answer may lie in whether or not The Decider takes strong measures to restrain Musharraf by plugging his U.S. piggy bank, protecting the popular former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and insisting on open elections.... a real foreign policy effort, not a nod-and-a-wink accommodation for his "friend."

Could it be that the most dangerous leader is the one elected to office for the national common good, who instead uses it to undermine individual rights while pursuing his ego-directed globalist ideology.

Fighting Them Where?.....

The Decider and his course-whisperer Darth Cheney keep telling us to be very afraid....a Middle Eastern country wants nuclear weapons.... fight Islamic militants there so we don't have to fight them here.

They are describing the next country in their cross hairs, Iran.

But.... Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons, and isn't a base for Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda or the Taliban.

What they won't tell you because it doesn't fit their "axis of evil" mentality.... is that arguably the most dangerous country in the world, one "Where the Jihad Lives Now," and, "Islamic militants have spread beyond their tribal bases, and have the run of an unstable, nuclear-armed nation"....is Pakistan. (Newsweek)

Just ask Benazir Bhutto how dangerous Pakistan is. Upon her return from exile in Dubai last Thursday, suicide bombers unleashed explosions that killed at least 134 bystanders and police, and injured 450 more on her motorcade's parade route in Karachi.

You see, Pakistan created militant Islamist groups for their own purposes.... originally recruited, trained and armed by the Inter-Services Intelligence agency.... who have now become a rampaging monster, twice nearly succeeded in assassinating the country's autocratic leader, General Pervez Musharraf.

Al Qaeda doesn't have to look to Iran or any other country for its nuclear bomb, it's right in their Pakistan backyard where the "Taliban and Qaeda elements have now turned much of the country, including some cities, into a base that gives jihadists more room to maneuver, both in Pakistan and beyond."

Dozens of Taliban commanders have moved their wives and children to Pakistan from Afghanistan. Islamist fighters now operate relatively freely in cities like Karachi after lying low in remote mountain villages since 2001. The Taliban work closely with Qaeda leaders in the tribal regions, "planning attacks together and pooling their skills."

Meanwhile.... the dastardly D.C. duo, led by Cheney, are pounding the war drums on Iran, echoing the same drumbeat that justified the attack on Iraq. Sunday Cheney called Tehran, "the world's most active state sponsor of terror" and vowing "serious consequences".... and The Decider uttered the "W" word last week.... WW III.

So while our reckless leaders go charging after old scores to settle in Iran, the deadly jihadist cancer spreads in Pakistan.... nuclear-armed unstable Pakistan.

Bush, the King of Trumps

While recent events in Pakistan and D.C. may seem unconnected, they actually have a common theme... political power.

In Pakistan, the "Supreme Court Reinstates Judge". (WaPo)... Chief Justice Chaudhry, that is, who President Musharraf had accused of misconduct and removed.

The timing was.... well, suspect. When Chaudhry was removed, he was "reviewing and preparing to rule on several cases challenging Musharraf's plans to orchestrate a new five-year term for himself before upcoming parliamentary elections."

The Supreme Court ruled that the removal was illegal and Chaudhry was reinstated today.

The legal struggle has been framed as between the two branches of government. Bowing to the ruling, Pakistan's Prime Minister Aziz said, "We must all accept the verdict with grace and dignity reflective of a mature nation, this is not the time to claim victory or defeat. The Constitution and the law have prevailed and must prevail at all times."

Now, let's contrast this rather stirring outcome with the White House dispute with our legislative branch of government.

Invoking a new assertion of Bush's executive authority Thursday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys.... "Broader Privilege Claimed" is the latest White House maneuver.

Bush's executive branch doesn't worry about the judicial branch slapping their hand since their grip on that branch is so total.... the "Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege." (WaPo)

Allowed?

And, the reason they are so arrogantly confident?

As it turns out, House and Senate contempt citations must be submitted to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia... the legal branch.... Attorney General Gonzales is Bush's boy and will do his bidding, and the majority on the Supreme Court is in the White House pocket.

This latest administration move is such a sweeping negation of the separation of powers it is important to quote fully a senior White House official on their consensus opinion: "A U.S. attorney would not be permitted to bring contempt charges or convene a grand jury in an executive privilege case, and a U.S. attorney wouldn't be permitted to argue against the reasoned legal opinion that the Justice Department provided. No one should expect that to happen."

Mark J. Rozell, professor of public policy at George Mason University calls the White House policy "astonishing."

"That's a breathtakingly broad view of the president's role in this system of separation of powers, Rozell said. "What this statement is saying is the president's claim of executive privilege trumps all.

Trumps the Constitution.

Trumps Congress.

Trumps the rule of law.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said the administration is "hastening a constitutional crisis." And Henry Waxman (D-CA) added, that the administration "makes a mockery of the ideal that no one is above the law.... I suppose the next step would be just disbanding the Justice Department."

It's shocking to realize that the "mature" democracy of strife-torn Middle Eastern Pakistan is functioning and protecting its separation-of-powers government, while above-the-law Bush and Cheney's unholy alliance is ripping the guts out of ours.

A ruthless, unprincipled power grab orchestrated by shadow president Cheney. Congress must act, NOW.... while they still are the third branch.

Will Someone Wake Me Up?

Here's the nightmare.... al Qaeda is Sunni. Saudi Arabia is Sunni... and supposedly our friends, even though Osama bin Laden and most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudi nationals.

Radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's powerful Mahdi Army is a Shiite militia. Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is Shiite. Iran is majority Shiite.

Shiite militia has been infiltrating Iraqi police units, and the Iraq military.

"Mahdi Army, Not Al-Qaeda, is Enemy No. 1 in Western Baghdad." It's no longer the case that the "Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq is the city's most formidable, the Mahdi Army has transformed the composition of the district's neighborhoods by ruthlessly killing and driving out Sunnis...." (WaPo)

There has been an ethnic cleansing of Sunnis in the 10-square mile district of West Rashid, home to about 700,000.... the Shiites have taken over.

The Shiites already control Iraq in the east on the Iran border, and in the south.

Although the bloody toll continues to rise in attacks across Baghdad, and in the Kurdish north, we heard Maliki assert on Saturday that Iraqis were ready to take over security operations "any time" American forces choose to leave.

How?.... because the Shiite militias with Iran's help will be the ones taking over, with Maliki's blessing?

Oh sure, today we hear lots of backtracking and explaining by Maliki over his comment, and not unsurprising really, the main thrust of his clarification is a defense of al-Sadr as being good for Iraq. Is anyone in Washington listening to this?

Meanwhile, our troops are still dying in the 103 degree heat while the Iraqi government takes an August vacation. So, between now the the September report from Gen. Petraeus, nothing much will happen from Maliki's government to bring the factions together, there will be more cleansing, and the Shiites will grow even stronger.

And, the Sunni al-Qaeda.... "Pakistan Truce Appears Defunct." (WaPo) A peace deal between the Pakistani government and tribal leaders in the north where al-Qaeda is known to be regrouping is over. Last weekend, 70 mainly soldiers and police were killed after the Taliban fighters announced an all-out guerrilla war against the Parkistan army.

So, this is the effect of what Bush and Cheney have wrought with their misbegotten Middle East adventure.... they are handing Iraq to the Shiites, and thus to Iran, while al-Qaeda is gathering strength in Pakistan.... a country with nuclear weapons and a weakened President Musharraf.

It's too late for what they should have done after 9/11.... gone after Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and made THAT country a bastion of freedom from terror.

What we should be doing now is strengthening our own borders and ports, and aggressively rebuilding our military.... not because Homeland Security's chief Chertoff's gut is rumbling.... but because while we're over there, the terrorists will show up here, "Big Time."