] Since it is clear that we cannot leave until they stop
] killing us, and equally clear that they will not stop
] killing us until we leave, I propose the following exit
] strategy:
] 1) Kill all the ones who are trying to kill us, in
] such a way that none of those who presently do not want
] to kill us suddenly start wanting to kill us.
] 2) At the moment of the death of the last person who
] wanted to kill us, race quickly out of the country before
] some additional person suddenly decides he/she wants to
] kill us, thus necessitating our continued presence in
] Iraq, in order to kill him/her.
] 3) Having left Iraq quickly, do not look back, so as
] not to witness individuals claiming they would have liked
] to kill us, which would then necessitate a return to
] Iraq, in order to etc., etc. (See No. 2, above.)

Good ole Slate. Better before MSN, but they are currently showing a surprising amount of Kerry support. This particular article is very tongue-in-cheek, so don't get your knickers in a bunch. :-)

-janelane

How to leave Iraq in three simple steps.

Learn about the beast. Or, one of them....energy is such a sordid business these days.

The World According to Halliburton

] U.S. authorities released 293 prisoners Friday from the
] prison near Baghdad, the first mass prisoner release
] since images of abuse at the hands of the U.S. military
] surfaced several weeks ago.
]
] {snip}
]
] About a week ago, there were about 3,800 prisoners at Abu
] Ghraib. The new U.S. commander of detention operations in
] Iraq, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, said he plans to reduce
] that number to somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000.

Wow. Halliburton's contractors must be scared even more shitless.

CNN.com - Interrogation techniques banned in Iraq - May 14, 2004

] The news came one day after UK armed forces minister Adam
] Ingram said an inquiry by military police found a truck
] seen in the Mirror's photos "was never in Iraq."
]
] The tabloid newspaper issued a statement on Friday
] afternoon apologizing for printing the pictures, saying
] it believed it had been "the subject of a calculated and
] malicious hoax."

Egads! A tabloid misleading the public! Inconceivable!

CNN.com - Fake abuse photos: Editor quits - May 14, 2004

] UNION POINT, Ga. May 13, 2004 — The mayor of this small town
] apparently committed suicide Thursday morning, just hours before
] he was to appear before a grand jury investigating allegations of
] investment fraud, police said.
]
] Mayor Ben Stewart called the Union Point police chief at 4:30 a.m.
] "and told him to come get him, he was going to take his life,"
] Greene County Sheriff Chris Houston said.

What this article doesn't mention (and that I couldn't find print statements of but saw on the 12 o'clock news) is that he was suspected of defrauding 800-900 people out of $38 Million. Seems unlikely suicide would have been a plea of "not guilty." And the supreme court hadn't even called for an indictment, they'd only just begun to review the case.

ABCNEWS.com : Ga. Mayor Dies of Apparent Suicide

] According to the lower request, the $25 billion would be
] placed in a fund under Bush's control. He could decide
] how the money would be spent, as long as he informed
] Congress that his request was "an emergency and essential
] to support activities and agencies in Iraq or
] Afghanistan."
]
] "This reserve fund will ensure that our men and women in
] uniform continue to have the resources they need when
] they need them," Bush wrote in a brief request barely
] longer than three pages.

I wonder if the "request" (which is inappropriate nomenclature since they are asssured of providing what he asks) included provisions for where the hell the money would come from (not that most of us can't guess).

--
janelane

CNN.com - Wolfowitz: Iraq, Afghan costs could top $50B - May 13, 2004

] Nader said the meeting will take place in Washington in
] April but said no specific date has been set. He told CNN
] that he and Kerry "have a common objective, and that's to
] defeat the giant corporation residing in the White House
] masquerading as a human being."

Ha! Well, masquerading as _several_ human beings, at any rate.

God, but the man knows what he's doing; too bad the two party system will never, ever let him get his foot in the door.

-J

CNN.com - Nader says he'll meet with Kerry - Mar 29, 2004

] BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Patrick McSorley, who said
] he had been molested by defrocked priest John Geoghan and
] was one of the most outspoken Boston clergy sex abuse
] victims, was found dead early Monday, his lawyer said.
]
] The cause of the death was not immediately announced.
] McSorley, 29, nearly drowned in a river last year but
] denied he had attempted suicide.
] ...
] McSorley had been one of the most vocal critics of the
] Boston Archdiocese since the sex abuse scandal first
] broke two years ago.

Part of me hopes that it wasn't suicide that caused the death of such an outspoken, courageous young man. Of course, a homicide would only be slightly less grim.

] ...
] McSorley's lawsuit in the Geoghan case was among the
] first of hundreds eventually filed against the
] archdiocese. The church settled with 86 plaintiffs,
] including McSorley, for $10 million in 2002. Geoghan was
] slain in prison last year.

Yes, even axe murderers have their standards and don't trust the legal system to give pedophiles what they deserve.

Consoling him for his father's death, for Christsake!

CNN.com - Outspoken sex abuse victim Patrick McSorley found dead - Feb. 23, 2004

] LONDON, England -- British anti-terrorism police have
] started an investigation into five Britons to be freed
] from the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba after
] being held without trial for two years.
]
] London and Washington announced on Thursday that the five
] would be sent back to the United Kingdom in the next few
] weeks and could be freed on their arrival.
] ...
]
] Washington says the prisoners are "enemy combatants" who
] have no right to lawyers. The U.S. government has been
] interrogating the detainees and deciding whether they
] will face military tribunals or be released.

Any thoughts on the rights of "enemy combatants"? What are their actual rights (if any) and what are they entitled to?

I definitely am not cool with the U.S. just holding them with trial, or, I'm assuming, even charging. Of course, this kind of thing probably happens all the time, especially after 9-11.

CNN.com - UK investigates Guantanamo five - Feb. 20, 2004

] SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- A massive outbreak of
] crop-eating locusts has been triggered by heavy rains
] that broke the worst Australian drought in a century to
] generate record crops and flood parts of the Outback.
]
] It is the worst outbreak since up to 100 billion of the
] pests were spawned in December 2000.

Ah, the Outback...where a can of Raid is more precious than diamonds.

CNN.com - Locust plague hits Aussie Outback - Feb. 19, 2004