Barack Obama scored major national security marks with his July 14 New York Times editorial "My Plan for Iraq" and his speech in Washington D.C. on July 15.  He deftly addressed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's insistence that the U.S. make deadline-centric plans to end its occupation of Iraq and outlined the core of the coherent foreign policy and national security strategy he'll pursue as president.

I'm not saying Obama parked one out on Waveland Avenue.  It's more like he safely bunted his way to first.  He has a long way to go, and I'm concerned whether it's humanly possible to graft sanity onto the foreign policy of a country in which, after nearly eight years of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and the neocons, John McCain is a credible candidate for the presidency.

NEVADA LYON CO. DEMS---

TO ALL OF YOU HILLARY SUPPORTERS... You don't HAVE TO fall in line!!
It's not over!   Nationally:    http://18millionvoices.blogspot.com
      locally:  http://hrclinton.blogspot.com/...

--If you are for Obama, and you are having second thoughts!
          It's not over!   Nationally:   http://18millionvoices.blogspot.com
      Locally:   http://hrclinton.meetup.com

--If you're, just...Obama's:  May the best man win in August!!    

Thanks all for your time!
nevadavoices@yahoo.com

The speaker is Jed Babbin, editor of Human Events. Human Events was reportedly Ronald Reagan's favorite newspaper, unquestionably conservative.
Babbin was also a deputy undersecretary of defense in President George H.W. Bush's administration. According to him, the notion that we should stay in Iraq to build democracy there--is a lot of hooey!

The bad news is, he wants us to invade Iran.

Let's IMPEACH them, NOW! I pray this to honor every Iraqi child who was blown into redness for absolutely nothing -- other than happening to be born on oil-soaked sand -- in order to satisfy a bunch of chicken-hawk draft-dodgers who are currently running our nation using this bizarre, filthy, far-out Neocon "quasi-fascist" Middle-Eastern colonization attempt, just to help their buddies at Exxon and Haliburton. I really hope there is a fair judging for heaven and hell because that's where the Bush war criminals are going!

M.J. Rosenberg has noted a public discourse shift concerning Israel.  For those of us concerned about the linkage between middle east policy in this country and the goals of hawkish supporters of Israel, this really matters!

The evidence for this, as noted in this DKos diary, is that Joe Klein blasted the neocons on his blog for the war in Iraq, suggesting that they have divided loyalties to Israel and the US.   Subsequently, Klein was attacked by Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, with this the key quote:

The notion that Jews with "divided loyalties" were behind the decision to go to war is reminiscent of age-old anti-Semitic canards .....

to which Klein hit back!!!!

But what has allowed this shift of discourse?

Walt and Mearsheimer.

More below the fold.

Anyone with email can be a dumbass.

From an article in Truthout by Maya Schenwar and Matt Renner, the House will vote on a non-binding resolution to ramp up the pressure on Iran.  The resolution also provides vague language that can be interpreted to mean that Congress supports a military (read Naval) Blockade of Iran and their importation of refined oil products, upon which their economy depends.

From the article:

A non-binding resolution to demand that President Bush impose "stringent inspection requirements" on trade with Iran - language that leaves the door open for a military blockade - will likely come to the House floor this week, according to sources close to Congressional leadership. The legislation, H.Con.Res.362, which is paralleled by a similar Senate bill, has gained bipartisan support rapidly, with more co-sponsors signing on by the day. Once it hits the floor, it's bound to "pass like a hot knife through butter," a staffer in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office told Chelsea Mozen of the nonprofit Just Foreign Policy.

Equally troubling to me is the support the bill has, including high-profile Democrats.

More below the fold.

I'm baffled why people are upset about the FISA bill. It's not like there is no history is Democrats caving.

In fact, here is some current history. Democrats, Unionists, and Neocons banding together. That's right. Democrats and John Bolton, Frank Gaffney Jr, Max Boot, Fred Kagan all arm and arm fighting the fight together.

Scoop Jackson lives!

It has taken an abortive impeachment attempt, a couple of contentious elections, a terrorist attack on American soil, the invasion of two sovereign nations, and political intrigue that would make Niccolo Machiavelli proud, for the neocon establishment to consolidate power within the U.S. Government to the extent that the traditional system of checks and balances has, for all intents and purposes, withered beyond recognition.  Dick Cheney’s vision of a restored and empowered Executive Branch has been realized, and the notion of public accountability has gone out the window.  Wrapping themselves in the banner of patriotism and national security, this authoritarian Republican cabal has positioned itself to influence both foreign and domestic policy in ways that have deliberate, enduring consequences.  The obvious beneficiaries of this enterprise are the corporate giants that tend to flourish under imperialistic policies that favor exploitation of cheap foreign labor, unlimited natural resources, and virtual freedom from environmental regulation.

It wasn't about WMD.

It wasn't about Democracy.

It wasn't about Saddam being a bad guy.

It certainly wasn't about 9/11.

So what was Iraq was about?

As Michael Moore pointed out in Fahrenheit 9/11, when the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. didn’t invade Mexico, and for good reason.  Most of us agree that the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq was a preposterous and overtly-contrived reaction to the events of September 11, 2001.  Virtually everyone in the Bush/Cheney inner circle knew how ridiculous this would appear in the eyes of American citizens, even those bent on revenge against some unseen middle-eastern enemy, and therefore spared no effort in orchestrating an a deceptive scheme to make this happen.

I just read the Phase II of the Senate report on the Bush administration misleading the country into war. I recall at the run up to this war that I would tell anyone who would listen that it was bullsh**. We had been bombing Iraq to enforce the no-fly zone since the 1st Gulf War. The year before 9/11, national security officials were claiming that Sadaam and Iraq were contained in a box and was not a threat. After our national tragedy, they suddenly became enemy #1 (even above Bin Laden) and the greatest threat to the U.S. Remember claims that Sadaam was only months away from having WMDs. I knew it was ALL BULLSH**. But here we are 5 years later, with no end in sight. So I pose the question. Why are we still in Iraq and what should we do next?

Thank you for waking this ex-Republican up and showing me the light.  Thank you for making me see the good in America and not all the hate you spew.  Here's my two handed one finger salute to all you AM right wing talking heads.  

The Whitehouse is in full defense mode.  I just watched Ari Fletcher defend the Bush position on ABC news, Coni Rice is out there defending and the rest of the spin meisters defending Bush.  There are cracks in this sinking ship and we have the making of a perfect storm for impeachment....

I'm making this diary short and to the point!!!

According to Ray McGovern these NeoCons of yours were known throughout Washington, well before they got elected not once but twice, as the ‘crazies’ and at this phase we can all say rightfully so. Name a nuttier group in history. I know you’re gonna say it was the Nazis and yes, they had their own particular vision of how the Earth should be dominated by the Nation they served and yes, they did nutty, awful things because nobody was able to stop them, but would you say they were nuttier? Have you read "Project for the New American Century?" Maybe not the same game but certainly in the ballpark. You know, 'the Global Domination/Damnation' ballpark?

What if the only significant structural differences between Neocon and Nazi was that Adolph Hitler was but one man, whereas the PNAC were MANY of the most powerful men on earth?

In 2002 William aka "Weasel" Kristol penned the diatribe extensively quoted below the fold.

He was arguing FOR the proposition that George Bush was standing smack dab on the side of Moral Clarity, truth, justice, the Amerikun way, and presumably apple pie, in leading the United States into a war to remove that thug, that mass murderer, that sovereign ruler of the people of Iraq and former business partner and international ally to Donald Rumsfeld, Saddam Hussein.

Kristol was at sixes and sevens-- maybe he was so overwrought as to have been at eights and nines, who knows; but a writer's restraint required that he display just sixes and sevens -- sixes and sevens, the Sabbath number, over this statement:

"

"Leading Republicans from ... the State Department ... have begun to break ranks with President Bush over his administration's high-profile planning for war with Iraq."

We hear them again and again, not always from the same people, not always in the same era, but they continually return and effortlessly roll off the tongue. An appreciable number of Americans have grown to love or at least to be cajoled those magical slogans. In fact, they have become such a staple of politicians and power brokers that they can take on a life of their own. They are slippery little things that spread like a virus when people are backed up against the wall of immanent failure or are streaking toward a defeat and have nothing substantial to say.

So, here is a list of my favorites. After them there will be translations from "Captain Subtext." He’s a demented soul who has a bizarre view of reality; that means that he knows the Bush-Cheney-Republican-Neocon mind. (I have resurrected Captain Subtext from the British comedy "Coupling.")

A lot of excellent work as been done over the past 24 hours at DailyKos with regard to the Bush comments in the Israeli Knesset. The reprehensible commentary of Bush, and subsequently by McCain and his Vice Presidential hit man Joe Lieberman, prompted a powerful and unified response by the Democratic leadership. Pelosi and Reid spoke up. Biden was blunt and strong. Even Hillary Clinton stepped in to defend the Democratic Presumptive Nominee. Where in the world is Al Gore?