The Rag Blog

Charlie named this piece “Vision.” Indeed ….

Did you know that “when the final history is written on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is … a strong will for democracy”? The utter hypocrisy and sadism of the man in the White House is disgusting.

Read more here.

Someone else we know has expanded on this business a little, and perhaps there’s merit in what he says. If you’re interested, look here. Thanks to Nick Hopkins for the tip about the latter link.

Richard Jehn

It’s Wildlife Wednesday, and I thought you might like to see his girlfriend. You know, the fellow who dropped in last week, that migratory parrot. His girlfriend is a little less showy, but still a beautiful creature in her own right. And she’s a very cautious and curious creature, too, keeping an eye out for their safety as they have a little snack at the feeder. That’s him on the left, with his back turned to us. As previously reported, they are evening grosbeaks.

British military in crisis as NATO mission in Afghanistan unravels
By Harvey Thompson
26 September 2006

Faced with a burgeoning insurgency and the deteriorating authority of the central government of Hamid Karzai, the NATO command has signalled its determination to sacrifice more Afghan civilians and its own soldiers in a desperate bid to wrest control of the country.

The newspaper revealed that British commanders had now been given official clearance to use the army’s controversial Hydra rockets, which are developed to kill large concentrations of people with tungsten darts. It commented that “the disclosure marks a major escalation in hostilities in the war-torn country and directly contradicts claims made by the government that the Army was only in Afghanistan to provide the security conditions needed to allow reconstruction and self-governance to take place.”

Read the full article here.

And there’s this:

24 September 2006
EXCLUSIVE: BETRAYED, SOLDIER QUITS
EXCLUSIVE Army officer quits in disgust over Afghan shambles & reveals: Our troops are called The Borrowers because they have to cadge ammo The heat is so intense that guns are melting British food is being stolen by Taliban looters
By Nick Owens

… The officer – a member of 16 Air Assault Brigade – has now turned whistle-blower to give a shocking account of how shortages have hit troops on the frontline.

“Hearing that message was a kick in the guts for me and the rest of the boys. The truth is not being told and there is anger on the frontline about the lack of supplies.” …

To read the complete article, click here.

At least, I hope these are all about politics in Texas. Somethin’ ’bout a governor’s race, I think … I live in Washington state, so you folks can decide what these are about. Thanks, Charlie. Richard Jehn

Monkeywrench Books will show Rebels With a Cause tomorrow at 8:00 at 110 E. North Loop. Some of you SDSers try to come and participate in the discussion afterwards with the current generation of activists. OK?

Wednesday, September 27th, 8pm, MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop

MonkeyWrench Books presents a screening and discussion of “Rebels with a Cause.” Rebels with a Cause is a 2000 documentary that chronicles the movements for social change of the Sixties that began with the civil rights movement and culminated with the angry protests against the US war in Vietnam. Students for a Democratic Society, the largest and most influential student organization of the ’60s, was a uniquely American movement that grew and evolved in response to the times. At tis peak in 1968, SDS had over 100,000 members and 400 chapters. Told through the eyes of SDS members, the film is about far more than SDS. It’s about the values, motivations, and actions of a generation that lost it’s innocence but gained a sense of power and purpose. It’s about a decade that changed America.

I’m running late, so I’ll post more tonight. Thank you, Charlie.

If you haven’t seen this gem, it is indeed that. Couldn’t resist giving ya’ll a double feature today. Make a huge bowl of popcorn, get together other snacks such as bananas or jalapeño poppers, and a mango smoothie or large glass of cranberry juice to drink. Relax and enjoy, and get ready to laugh a lot, even as you acknowledge that this guy is talking about some incredibly serious shit. R. Jehn

A very big word of warning: this video is 45 minutes in length, and consequently is a huge download (157 mB). For dial-up users, you may wish to forgo watching in this venue.

It’s Monday Movie time, and this is a punchy one. I’d recommend garnishing your popcorn with finely minced garlic (or cheat, if you must, with garlic powder), chipotle powder and very finely grated parmegiano reggiano cheese. Yummmm ….

Here’s what the author of this flick, ‘Steven Stealberg,’ has to say about his effort:

One man’s opinion of America and the Bush regime.

S. Stealberg

And now on with the show, New World Lies.

Ted Turner, appearing before journalists in the New York City Reuters offices a few days ago, advocated men being barred from public office for a hundred years in every part of the world.

“If we had women holding all the public offices, the amount of money on the military would be immediately cut way back and more would be spent on healthcare and education. There wouldn’t be lack of family planning or birth control if the women ran things.”

If you want to read more, click here and here.

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat
‘Islamic Radicalism … Has Metastasized and Spread’

By MARK MAZZETTI, The New York Times

WASHINGTON (Sept. 24) — A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,’’ it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.

An opening section of the report, “Indicators of the Spread of the Global Jihadist Movement,” cites the Iraq war as a reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology.

The report “says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse,” said one American intelligence official.

More than a dozen United States government officials and outside experts were interviewed for this article, and all spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a classified intelligence document. The officials included employees of several government agencies, and both supporters and critics of the Bush administration. All of those interviewed had either seen the final version of the document or participated in the creation of earlier drafts. These officials discussed some of the document’s general conclusions but not details, which remain highly classified.

To read the full article, click here.

This is some kind of joke, right? rdj