Author Archives: RagBlog

New Rule: Now that we’ve sent “stay the course” down the memory hole, where Big Brother erases things, we’ve also got to retire: “The world is safer with Saddam Hussein out of power.” “Don’t you want America to win?” and … Continue reading →

Iraq: ‘The Greatest Strategic Disaster in American History’By Patrick Cockburn, AlterNet. Posted October 31, 2006. The following is an excerpt from Patrick Cockburn’s new book, The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq (Verso, 2006). [snip] The US failure in Iraq … Continue reading →

The subtitle says: Baghdad: Zawra satellite channel has stopped broadcasting by order of the government. h/t Today In Iraq

BIPARTISANSHIPI’ll hug your elephantif you’ll kiss my ass

Rev. Ted Haggard Begins Spiritual ‘Restoration’By DAN ELLIOTT, AP DENVER (Nov. 9) – There will be prayer, and perhaps the laying on of hands. There will be counseling and a confession. And there will be advice, confrontation and rebuke from … Continue reading →

France Test-Fires Long-Range Nuclear MissileReuters BISCARROSSE, France (Nov. 9) – France test-fired a new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles for the first time on Thursday and said the launch was a success. The M51 missile — which is designed to … Continue reading →

IS GEORGE W. BUSH CLINICALLY INSANE?By Bill Gallagher DETROIT — His shrill voice pains sensitive ears. In the red states of the South and West, he ramps up his Texas twang as he brags on his war and hurls insults … Continue reading →

Nov 8 (Reuters) – Here are five facts about Robert Gates, 63, who was named on Wednesday by President George W. Bush to replace Donald Rumsfeld as U.S. secretary of defense. * Served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency … Continue reading →

‘Failed’ American envoy to leave IraqBy Patrick Cockburn in Arbil, northern IraqPublished: 07 November 2006 Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy in Baghdad who tried to conciliate the Sunni people, is to leave his post in the next few months said … Continue reading →

Cost of Taking Fuel to Iraq Is Questioned in New AuditBy JAMES GLANZ A Halliburton subsidiary charged the Iraqi government as much as $25,000 per month for each of as many as 1,800 fuel trucks that were to deliver gasoline … Continue reading →

What fired Iraq watchdog has been watchingAs well as mislaid weapons, report lists a litany of waste and other abusesBy Carl Sears, NBC News ProducerNBC NewsUpdated: 12:32 p.m. PT Nov 6, 2006 WASHINGTON — While surging violence grabs headlines, Iraq … Continue reading →

If you don’t read her, you should. She has the most remarkable, astute analysis of what’s happening in Iraq of anyone I have read. I have a confession: I remember swearing at her in an e-mail the day the UN … Continue reading →