troops departing infers about buddy guy could be blues diagnoses so horrific -- Iraq turning into an Al Qaeda haven plagued by ethnic cleansing and preyed upon by Iran -- that the only prudent course is to keep at least 130,000 soldiers in Iraq at least until July. President Bush is expected to accept this recommendation in a speech Thursday. Despite Democratic protests, it's unlikely that this toothless Congress will stop him from continuing the de facto occupation of Iraq for the remainder of his term. We fear this is a grave mistake that will compound the colossal error of invading Iraq in the first place -- although we fervently hope that Petraeus, Crocker and the courageous people they lead will somehow manage to prove us wrong. The president will ask the nation to pay for the next 11 months in Iraq with billions of dollars and hundreds of lives. We think this sacrifice will be in vain, because only Iraqis can heal their national wounds. And so we ask instead: What else could the United States do with a guesstimated $100 billion to reduce the strength and the appeal of Islamist terrorist groups worldwide?That money may be needed to defend Afghanistan against the resurgent Taliban, or to track Al Qaeda elsewhere. But does our creative country have no better ideas for winning Muslim friends and thwarting terrorists? How about spending $20 billion on anti-poverty and education programs in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan, to give the population a reason to fight the Taliban? Or distributing $20 billion in emergency support to impoverished Iraqi families? Wouldn't $10 billion help repatriate the 2 million Iraqi refugees abroad and resettle the 2 million inside Iraq who have fled sectarian violence? Would $10 billion for child-health programs in Islamic nations help demonstrate that Americans are not, in fact, at war with Muslims? Certainly another $10 billion could pay for more than 55,000 bright students (from anywhere in the world) to spend four years studying Arabic, Islamic thought and counter-terrorism at the University of California.
And heck, that would still leave $30 billion to beef up domestic and international law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security. Is staying the failing course in Iraq truly the only prudent course of action? bb king buddy guy . Re "It feels 'like Sept 10,' CIA director says," Sept 8This story states that CIA Director Michael V eric clapton . Hayden "lashed out at the media" when discussing the terrorist threat in a speech last week to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York . The article did not mention that Hayden said he has "a very deep respect for journalists and their profession" or that many journalists -- especially since 9/11 -- have given their lives in the act of keeping our citizens informed five long years chords . Or that journalists and intelligence officers "each have an important role to play in the defense of the republic. "Referring to those who leak classified information to the media that puts Americans at risk, Hayden said, "Those entrusted with America's secrets and [who] break that trust by divulging those secrets are guilty of a crime. " He then added: "But those who seek such information and then choose to publish it are not without responsibilities. "In the world we live in, there are times when life-and-death issues are at stake when intelligence activities are the subject of news reports james cotton . Saying that the media are "not without responsibilities" hardly qualifies as lashing out at; it's a reasonable, thoughtful and carefully considered statement. Mark MansfieldDirector of Public AffairsCentral Intelligence AgencyLangley, Va. *Hayden is on a PR campaign, arguing that imposing the stricter anti-torture rules of the U. S military on the CIA would hamper the CIA's efforts. "We're not in the Department of Defense," he says, wearing his Air Force uniform. Either the Air Force needs to prosecute him for violating military anti-torture rules, or Hayden needs to stop wearing the uniform while claiming military rules don't apply to him. Mike KindleLos Angeles.
Not for the first time, self-awareness was in short supply across Washington during this week's marathon congressional hearings on Iraq with Gen David H best buddy guy . Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. The one point that drew agreement from Republicans and Democrats alike was that Iraq's political leaders have too often failed to transcend their narrow sectarian interests to forge compromises in the national interest. Pot, meet kettle. Buddy Guy tickets Here in the U Buddy Guy - buddyguys . S Buddy Guy . , the two parties are doing much the same thing byther smith . President Bush and congressional Democrats are each so determined to win the argument over Iraq that they have lost sight of their joint interest in finding a way forward that can attract broad and lasting support from a public disillusioned and dangerously polarized over the war kenny neal . More than ever, the parties this week structured the debate as if it were an electoral campaign hoodoo man blues lyrics. Each asked Americans to ponder only the pieces of the picture most congenial to its arguments. Democrats, challenging Petraeus' numbers on the overall trends in violence, downplayed the evidence that the "surge" has improved security where it has been applied -- and, if nothing else, has prevented a downward spiral into full-scale civil war. The White House and congressional Republicans, celebrating those intermittent security gains, brushed aside the National Intelligence Estimate and the report from the Government Accountability Office documenting the Iraqi government's inability to provide basic services, the continuing doubts about the loyalty and reliability of the Iraqi security forces, and the absence of progress toward the political reconciliation that all sides consider the key to long-term stabilization in Iraq Buddy Guy - buddyguy . Petraeus and Crocker, while not ignoring those problems, unduly minimized them too. Interest groups on the left and right, meanwhile, are doing their best to discourage anyone from bridging this partisan gulf.
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