Scott Ritter's a pretty convincing speaker. He's got cred coming out of every pore, he's got the confidence of knowledge, and he's got the military and intelligence chops to shut right up all those whiners who complain about 'lefty peaceniks'. Is that why he was marginalised and ridiculed when he tried to speak out about Iraq?

Interesting stuff, too, particularly about life in Iran. One thing I'd quibble with, though - I'd like to see everyone drop this absurd NewSpeak of "regime change" and just talk about overthrowing governments. That's what it is, after all.

But I confess I'm very pessimistic. Regardless of all our efforts, I still think the Bushies and all the other greedy, rich, powerful men in the world will continue to do just whatever the hell they want, and get clean away with it, leaving the already disadvantaged to deal with the cost and the mess.

And I'm forced to believe that ordinary people won't give a toss. I was reminded of that just today, when someone I thought was relatively progressive, albeit a tad ignorant, told me in no uncertain terms (with a certain amount of force, indeed) that he'd vote for Bloody John Bloody Howard if there were an election. Regardless, he pointed out, of the war in Iraq or any other tragedies. "Most people would do exactly the same," he said. "People care about jobs and inflation, they care about what affects them. Why wouldn't they? The economy's going great, unemployment's down, the country needs someone to lead it."

Sigh. And this was someone I considered a nice person. Several hundreds of thousands of innocent deaths due to a war in which we're complicit, and most people wouldn't care because they're told the economy is doing well and unemployment's down.

What is the fuckin' point?

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"Sources close to the Bush family said that the machinations behind Rumsfeld’s resignation and the Gates nomination were complex, and the seeming triumph of the Old Guard may be illusory. The former senior intelligence official, who once worked closely with Gates and with the President’s father, said that Bush and his immediate advisers in the White House understood by mid-October that Rumsfeld would have to resign if the result of the midterm election was a resounding defeat. Rumsfeld was involved in conversations about the timing of his departure with Cheney, Gates, and the President before the election, the former senior intelligence official said. Critics who asked why Rumsfeld wasn’t fired earlier, a move that might have given the Republicans a boost, were missing the point. “A week before the election, the Republicans were saying that a Democratic victory was the seed of American retreat, and now Bush and Cheney are going to change their national-security policies?” the former senior intelligence official said. “Cheney knew this was coming. Dropping Rummy after the election looked like a conciliatory move—‘You’re right, Democrats. We got a new guy and we’re looking at all the options. Nothing is ruled out.’ ” But the conciliatory gesture would not be accompanied by a significant change in policy; instead, the White House saw Gates as someone who would have the credibility to help it stay the course on Iran and Iraq. Gates would also be an asset before Congress. If the Administration needed to make the case that Iran’s weapons program posed an imminent threat, Gates would be a better advocate than someone who had been associated with the flawed intelligence about Iraq. The former official said, “He’s not the guy who told us there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and he’ll be taken seriously by Congress.”

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For whatever reason... forced into it by desperate Israelis, or just for the hell of flipping off the entire world in one last tantrum of neocon pique, IF the US nukes Iran, rest assured that the combined arsenals of China and Russia will most assuredly wipe the US off the face of the earth.

They CAN do it, and better they do it then than later, so they will. China will take a huge hit, but will rebuild; the US will not.

And you thought "Jericho" was just a TV show... actually it is, because in what the Chinese and Russians will unleash, not even a Jericho would survive.

It is most unwise to get between China and her oil supply.

MOST unwise. But who ever thought neocons were remotely wise?

Suicidal? Absolutely.

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I completely agree with WOW. And wish to add that Bush and the Repubs having much of the Coalition of the Willing and eventually will ose all of them when Blair is gone is forming a new Coalition. It consists of John Howard, Stephen Harper and Calderon of Mexico who the Repub slime machine under Dick Morris put into office using the same slime tactics during the Mexican elections.
Calderon will do the same as Vincente Fox, Calderon will keep the poor Mexican citizens poor and the 15 families who control 90% of Mexico's wealth will just get wealthier. And the Catholic Church, my church, thinks thats all just peachy keen.
Just as msm is now irrelevant so to is religious extremism becoming seen for what it is and will also become irrelevant.

Give peace a chance, pray for peace not war.
Diplomacy only, never war which benefits the rich and kills the rest of us.
Let's have universal draft once again so the burden of the fighting is evenly distributed among the wealthy, not just the poor. And as one poster said, draft the Bush girls first and just watch how fast the war ends. In fact draft the entire Bush family and watch just how fast they move/run to Paraguay. Then America can really celebrate for getting rid of this oh so corrupt and dysfunctional family. And if we really get lucky maybe a bunch of other Rethugs will go with them as well as phonies like Falwell and Robertson and all the pedophile priests. Paraguy is probably a Catholic country.

Amen
Pray for peace, the end to the Repub Torture Legislation and the deaths of our troops and the Iraqi and Afghani citizens.
I wonder how fast the Bush family is sending their money out of america so they don't have to pay war reparations to Iraq and Afghanistan for all their dead and all the lost infrastructure. Also the oil company executives must have large accounts in the Caymen Islands or in Swiss bank accounts where the South American nazis have their billions stolen from Holocaust victims.
Sorry for the length and pray for peace.
Demand only diplomacy, never war-

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...to go to war with Iran? They're all busy or wore out.

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