The President does not want people to call the domestic spying he is doing "domestic spying." Oh. Well, I don't agree.
I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying.
How do they know the telephone numbers of terrorists? If you've made a phone call to a relative overseas, how are we sure that it wasn't wiretapped without a warrant? This administration has lied to us before (medicare drug plan, rebuilding the gulf coast after the hurricanes, war in Iraq would be short, the tax cuts would boost the economy, Plame leak case, protecting our troops with armor, they had no warning before 9/11, etc.) and why wouldn't they lie to us again?
>>The Thin Green Line
A new report indicates that the Army is stretched to the limit. MSNBC quotes the Associated Press. Here are some excerpts:
Stretched by frequent troop rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has become a “thin green line” that could snap unless relief comes soon, according to a study for the Pentagon.
Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who wrote the report under a Pentagon contract, concluded that the Army cannot sustain the pace of troop deployments to Iraq long enough to break the back of the insurgency. He also suggested that the Pentagon’s decision, announced in December, to begin reducing the force in Iraq this year was driven in part by a realization that the Army was overextended....
...Rep. John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat and Vietnam veteran, created a political storm last fall when he called for an early exit from Iraq, arguing that the Army was “broken, worn out” and fueling the insurgency by its mere presence. Administration officials have hotly contested that view....
Hmmmm. It appears that Democratic Rep. John Murtha was correct!
On the other hand, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, disagrees with the report. (Unfortunately, I caught part of Rumsfeld's news conference today. He was rude and he tap-danced around answers. All we want is the truth! Can't this administration tell us the truth?)
The Mercury News has the story:
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday rejected two new reports - including one ordered by his own office - warning that the Iraq war has strained the Army to the breaking point.
In an "interim assessment" of the Iraq war commissioned by the Office of the Secretary Defense, former Army officer Andrew Krepinevich said the strain of keeping large numbers of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has reduced the Army to a "thin green line."
...Rumsfeld rejected their conclusions, saying the Army had met its goals for recruiting in each of the last seven months even though the goals were raised as part of a plan to boost the size of the force by 30,000.
He added that the Army exceeded its goal for retention - the number of soldiers re-enlisting and officers extending their commissions - in fiscal 2005, which ended Sept. 30.
"The force is not broken," Rumsfeld declared. Moreover, he said, "It's battle-hardened. It's not a peacetime force that has been in barracks or garrisons."
The Army fell 6,667 troops short of its fiscal 2005 recruiting goal of 80,000 and the Army Reserve missed its goal by 4,626....
http://icasualties.org/oif/: 2237 Americans have been killed in Iraq. Also, during this same news conference, Rumsfeld managed to blame the Clinton administration. Can't this administration take responsibility for anything?
>>New Orleans
It looks like that Orleans will not get any special help for rebuilding. Are you surprised? I'm not. The Times-Picayune has the sad news:
In a severe blow to state and local plans for rebuilding hurricane-devastated areas, the Bush administration Tuesday came out against a homeowner bailout proposal that many Louisianians say is the key to economic recovery and the rebirth of a redesigned New Orleans...
The administration's opposition to the Baker bill drew sharp criticism from Louisiana officials who say the Community Development Block Grant financing isn't enough to cover the state's critical housing needs.
"Clearly the $6 billion isn't enough," Baker said. "It ignores the vital recovery in the parishes of Orleans, St. Bernard, Cameron and parts of Plaquemines. That is unacceptable."
The Louisiana Recovery Authority, the panel established by Gov. Kathleen Blanco to oversee the state's recovery plans, estimated that 217,245 homes were destroyed during Katrina and Rita. Baker's bill would have drawn on federal financing to pay owners of flood-damaged property at least 60 percent of the equity in their homes and also would have paid off their mortgages....
This administration believes that rebuilding Iraq is more important. Overpaying Halliburton is more important than helping Americans.
