On a personal level, majorities now say Bush is not a strong leader (once his claim to fame), 56 percent say he can't be trusted in a crisis (another onetime mainstay), most don't see him as honest, two-thirds don't think he understands their problems and nearly as many don't think he listens to others' views. Fifty-five percent say he has not made the country more secure, his focus since 9/11.

I'd like to welcome the majority of the country to what I've been thinking for years. It's really unfortunate that impeaching him would give us Darth Cheney as the new emperor.

ABC News: State of the Union: Unhappy With Bush

Kutz, the government investigator, said surplus F-14 parts shouldn't be sold. He believes Iran already has Tomcat parts from Pentagon surplus sales: "The key now is, going forward, to shut that down and not let it happen again."

When the F-14 was flying for the US, it had the well deserved reputation for being either the best, or on an even level with the F-15 and Mig-29 as the best, air to air platform ever built. The Navy retired the Tomcats last September, but the Iranians still fly them, and this sort of thing is an absolute bonanza for them.

The Iranian air force flies both Mig-29s and F-14s, and if we decide to run ops there, we could have a very rude surprise waiting for us. Worse, if that little Israeli nuclear plan goes off, the planes they send, with big fat nukes strapped to them, would be sitting ducks, and at that point all that's needed for an actual nuclear armed Iran is some guys with trucks picking them up out of the wreckage.

AP: Iran gets army gear in Pentagon sale

Israeli officials believe that destroying all three sites would delay Iran’s nuclear programme indefinitely and prevent them from having to live in fear of a “second Holocaust”.

Try it would cause a "second Holocaust." You want to start tossing around nukes in the mid east? That's sort of like playing with matches while floating on a raft in the middle of a gasoline tank.

By the way, here's one for you, HOW does Israel pull this off? The Iraq raid back in 1981 was at the limit of Israeli range. Running an operation into Iran is beyond the range of the planes, so how do they get there? Answer, they do mid-air refueling, but the Israeli's don't have that capability. Who does? The US Air Force and US Navy. Fill in blanks as needed.

Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran - Sunday Times - Times Online

The document says that Syria's legislative elections, scheduled for March 2007, "provide a potentially galvanizing issue for... critics of the Assad regime." To capitalize on that opportunity, the document proposes a secret "election monitoring" scheme, in which "internet accessible materials will be available for printing and dissemination by activists inside the country [Syria] and neighboring countries." The proposal also calls for surreptitiously giving money to at least one Syrian politician who, according to the document, intends to run in the election.

I don't know how to comment on this, except wait, I do. Bashir Assad was trained as an opthamologist and took over the Syrian government when his father died. He is generally seen as a moderating force between his hardline military and his equally hardline, albeit in a different direction, civillian government. I'm quite sure with a little pushing we could get Assad out. I am also quite sure the results of doing so would be a debacle somewhat worse that the Bay of Pigs, but probably not as bad as the current situation in Iraq. Unfortunately, with Syria right next to Mess O' Potamia, I think it's safe to say it would have a multiplicative effect.

If the White House pushes ahead with this, the only way we're getting a result even marginally favorable to the United States is if the entire region is nuked into a giant plain of fused glass.

TIME.com: Syria in Bush's Crosshairs -- Page 1

Barnes:…and the day before he leavers office—carry out the military option in Iran. Wipe out their nuclear facilities….

Well, if there were any question about Freddie Barnes being a nutcase, I thing this answers them. "Hey, let's bomb the crap out of Iran and leave it for the next guy to deal with." I have to agree with Amato on this one, only on Fox...

Crooks and Liars » Fred Barnes hopes the “lame Duck” Bush bombs Iran on the way out the door

The Americans, who are frustrated with Mr. Maliki’s political dependence on Mr. Sadr, appear to be working hard to help build the coalition. President Bush met last week in the White House with the leader of the Iranian-backed Shiite party, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, and is to meet this week with the head of the Sunni Arab party, Tariq al-Hashemi.

Iraqis? Looks to me like Maliki isn't the toadie that Il Dupe thought he was and is trying to get rid of him. For the other groups, the Kurds will toss in with anyone who says "back me and I'll let you do whatever you want," the Sunnis hate al Sadr as the backer of the Shia death squads, and the Iranian backed Shiites are following the lead of their Iranian mullahs who see al Sadr as a future threat to them.

They may get their anti-Sadr coalition, but it's only going to speed the trip to total chaos. The civil war is wide open.

Iraqis Seek Coalition to Curb Cleric - New York Times

The Bush administration wants North Korea's attention, so like a scolding parent it's trying to make it tougher for that country's eccentric leader to buy iPods, plasma televisions and Segway electric scooters.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! What an enormous pile of crap.

U.S. bans sale of iPods to North Korea - Yahoo! News

"The American people have spoken out against the president's agenda on a number of fronts, and presumably one of those fronts is on foreign policy," Mr Chafee said.

"And at this late stage in my term, I'm not going to endorse something the American people have spoken out against."

This is both good for the country and a brilliant move by Lincoln Chafee. By coming out like this, he solidifys his position as a centrist who will follow where the voters say to go. If he wants to run for Governor, he's lined himself up well.

BBC NEWS | Americas | US envoy to UN 'set to lose job'

Sixteen years after falling from power, Daniel Ortega, the former Marxist revolutionary who battled US-backed rebel forces in Nicaragua throughout the 1980s, appeared to emerge victorious in Sunday's presidential election, according to preliminary results and quick counts by two of the country's respected observer groups.

Sandanista!

Ollie North went down there to campaign for the guy the Bushies supported. It seems the Nicaraguans have long memories.

Ortega appears set for Nicaragua's presidency | csmonitor.com

But the agreement explicitly gives the president "the authority for the United States to interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions."

This is an utterly collossal fuck up. Bush and Cheney have already demonstrated they are not to be trusted with the keys to the damn bathroom, much less with how the Geneva Conventions are applied.

The CIA has been torturing prisoners and W approved it. That's called a war crime.

CNN.com - Deal on detainee treatment quells GOP revolt - Sep 21, 2006