Someone took umbrage at my "impeach Cheney/Bush admin" (waste of time, no point), but did make an interesting point I'd not thought about, namely:

What about sessioning Cheney & Bush and Condiments directly off to the Hague (do not pass go, do not collect impeachment dollars)?

While we haven't signed up to support the "New World Order/One World Court," what about the Hague War Crimes Tribunal?

Does anyone have any interest in tackling the military on the press blackout of Dover AFB and Andrews AFB?

I've been looking for the "official orders" but haven't found 'em yet. I think it was Poppy who instituted the press blackout for the Gulf War (Operation Enrich Our Friends).

Bill W. (Vietnam Vet--that and $4.36 'll get you a Starbucks latte venti.)

This seemingly senseless policy--kicking out servicemen who've completed 504 hours of Arabic training at the justly world-famous Army Language School at Presidio of Monterey--can only be adequately explained, not by stupidity, but by design. (IMHO, of course.)

That is, the military actually does not care whether our troops are supported by loyal Americans who can speak Arabic and American English fluently.

That is why there were not enough troops sent to Iraq. That is why we left Afghanistan before we "brought bin Laden to justice."

That is why the troops ride around in "Up-yours Armored" Humvees, instead of Buffalo and Cougar APCs that were designed in South Africa with V-shaped undercarriages to deflect the blasts mines and roadside bombs.

That's why the only ministry guarded after the Fall of the Statue was the Ministry of Oil, certainly not the waterworks, power stations, the museum (Right, Rummy, shit DOES happen when you don't give a damn). Ohhh yeah, and certainly not the hundreds of ammo dumps scattered throughout the nation that have provided all the explosives for "IED"s that account for half of the US combat dead, probably almost all of the traumatic brain injury cases, etc.

That is why the military has been fighting to deny "our loyal troops" disability benefits, overlooking treatment for traumitic brain injury, for post traumatic stress disorder (look up DSM IV §309.81 to see how the medical profession describes PTSD if you want another ironic "Yuk").

That is why the military says "we don't count bodies" of the thousands and thousands of Iraqis killed, maimed or wounded. (Hey, hey, dooble-vay, how many kids did you kill today?--dooble-vay being the pronunciation, in German, of the letter W--kind of fits the Hey, Hey, LBJ... beat nicely, if you happen to remember that beat, Vietnam and the '60s.)

I've already suggested to the White House that at least, if we can't win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, we could at least harvest them for transplantation, at least the few that are left whole. No response. (I did admit that the harvesting would have to be done expeditiously, given the lack of electricity, refrigeration, passable roadways, etc. But heck, we're America--we can do whatever we set out to do, right?)

I think we all tend to forget our purpose in the world and need to put up reminders all over, like Clinton did for his campaigns. In this case, "It's the oil, stupid."

I'm certain that the Iraqis accept our apologies for when they get in the way of our bombs and bullets. "I understand, sir, that you have really precisely targeted bombs--in fact, that they can kill any person whose name you enter into the guidance system. And I know you feel badly that you don't have enough translators to get our names right, so you just drop them with the name "Collateral" entered in, right?"

I'm thinking of petitioning the NHSTA--the CAFE folks--to calculate their fuel economy ratings in a more realistic manner-- in Mid Eastern combat deaths, DPPG instead of MPG--Dead People Per Gallon instead of Miles Per Gallon.

(And I sure hope the No Such Agency (NSA ) isn't eavesdropping on these comments. Well, I guess since I haven't received a wiretap warrant, I don't have to worry about speaking freely, right?) Of course, as the saying goes, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're NOT out to get you."