NOW they have weapons

What Does a Republican Have To Do To Get Impeached Around Here? Watch

As you've all probably heard, we've just learned that between 350-380 tons of extremely powerful explosives were looted from a location in Iraq, from a time period of just after the invasion to relatively recently (see 'Huge cache of explosives vanished from site in Iraq'). Only a few pounds of this stuff are enough to create a devastating explosion. If we calculate that 5 pounds of explosive is enough to kill a US soldier, then there is enough missing material to kill (conservatively) 140,000 US servicepeople.

So this is how Bushco is supporting the troops. Their own little yellow magnetic car ribbon was to protect the oil ministry while the forces of chaos looted this site. And of course, they've been hiding this information from the American public. They claim that Kindalazy Rice just found out about this a month ago, even though Bremer was told about it at least six months ago. I guess she's been too busy campaigning for Bush in swing states to do her job. She's a crack national security advisor, all right. They were warned about this site by the IAEA. The weapons inspectors who were in country before we invaded even checked the site to see that everything was still secure, but NO ONE thought to secure the site? Way to "make America safer" there, guys.

The circumstantial evidence is that this material is what has been inside many of the roadside and car bombs that have been used on our forces so far. Prior to this, it was believed that much of the explosives in those attacks came from artillery shells, but that is a dangerous source, and this material being in the wrong hands explains why we haven't found too many dead bombmakers around the country.

So, way to run the war guys. You can't even be bothered to protect your own fighting forces, which are your sole tool for international diplomacy. It now is almost surely true that the world was indeed a safer place with Saddam in power, with the IAEA keeping an eye on this material. Now, it is in the hands of "insurgents" and "terrorists", whereas before it was not.

Some of this material might even find its way into our country. The idiots who support this war think that if we are fighting them "over there" that they won't come here looking for vengeance. But, I don't know why they would fight our armed soldiers in Iraq when they could come here and blow up our populace, do you? They aren't stupid. So, apart from the difficulty of getting in to the country in the first place (which Bush hasn't made any harder, by shoring up border security), I'd say we are looking like a big fat target these days. What stupidity.

Zarqawi Watch

Recently Bush has been using Zarqawi as his newest cynical reason why this war has to be continued. "Zarqawi is a bad man", etc. etc. And there is no doubt that Zarqawi is a bad guy. However, we knew about him, had him located, and had plans on the table to take him out even before the invasion of Iraq began. Why didn't we do it? I hear you ask. After all, Zarqawi DID have ties to Al Qaeda, and he did use terrorism as a strategy. And he was in the US controlled northern fly zone, where we could reach him easily.

No one will ever know the true reason, but there are those who believe that the Bushies didn't take him out because that would have taken away one of their excuses for the invasion. An excerpt from "Avoiding attacking suspected terrorist mastermind" explains:

In June 2002, U.S. officials say intelligence had revealed that Zarqawi and members of al-Qaida had set up a weapons lab at Kirma, in northern Iraq, producing deadly ricin and cyanide. The Pentagon quickly drafted plans to attack the camp with cruise missiles and airstrikes and sent it to the White House, where, according to U.S. government sources, the plan was debated to death in the National Security Council.

Four months later, intelligence showed Zarqawi was planning to use ricin in terrorist attacks in Europe. The Pentagon drew up a second strike plan, and the White House again killed it. By then the administration had set its course for war with Iraq.

In January 2003, the threat turned real. Police in London arrested six terror suspects and discovered a ricin lab connected to the camp in Iraq. The Pentagon drew up still another attack plan, and for the third time, the National Security Council killed it.

Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi’s operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam. And despite the Bush administration’s tough talk about hitting the terrorists before they strike, Zarqawi’s killing streak continues today.

So, again, we see another chance for the administration to make our troops safer, and letting it pass because of political purposes. Support the troops, indeed.

Vietnam Watch

For those of you who think this election should be decided based on the Vietnam War (of which there are a surprising number of Republicans) and who said that maybe that war was not such a great idea, there is currently a documentary out about Kerry's experiences as a young man growing up, in Vietnam, and afterwards called "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry". If you have some time on your hands, you can download and watch the entire movie on your computer.

Our Responsible Media Watch

See this piece for a spot on critique of the way our lovely discourse is shepherded by the media. It would be funny if it weren't so true. For example, Kerry says he would like it if terrorism were a nuisance in our lives, not an immediate issue. The GOP acts as if Kerry said terrorism WAS a nuisance, not that he WOULD LIKE IT TO BE a nuisance. And guess what? The media go right along with the charade. Good job, media. Way to stifle meaningful debate.

Who Would Jesus Bomb Watch

Thanks to Melissa for this hilarious link, which with tongue firmly in cheek analyses the candidates' lives and lies from the perspective of the ten commandments and then attempts to determine who Jesus would vote for. It is hilarious and appropriately cynical.