Why Torture?

We torture, you and I. I wish you'd stop doing it. Maybe I should stop, too.

It isn't like a suffering that one has chosen, to be tortured. It isn't like giving a kidney for a friend. It's something that is done to you.

The purpose of torture is ostensibly to recruit you to the will of the torturer. This is bullying taken to the extreme. We kill people during torture, you and I.

As soon as the victim departs the torture chamber, any coercion of will departs, and the torturer becomes the new enemy. We have just now processed a nation of people into becoming our enemy by bullying and torture. We fear they may follow us home if we leave the scene. So there we stand, with blood on our hands.

You and I.

The Quality Of Democracy

The quality of democracy in any nation is the rightful interest of every other nation.

For a democracy to become so co-opted by the sellers of war that it blindly invades one country after another in a quest to dominate oil-rich lands on the opposite side of the world - this must concern all nations in the world.

War does not solve every problem.

Linkage

This morning, the House of Representatives is debating a non-binding resolution opposing further troop buildup in Iraq. This is a stinging rebuke to a President who is presently in the middle of just such a buildup. Nancy Pelosi just announced, further, that the war powers given to the President for fighting terrorists don't include the invasion of Iran. One anticipates a "Sense of the House" resolution coming soon.

Last weekend, a "smoking gun" display of captured munitions that proved Iran's complicity in Iraq's complexity was presented to the press at an anonymous background briefing, evidence which no military authority was willing to support. "Shaped charges" were shown, which apparently can be made in any machine shop, as they are simple. Stampings on the evidence appeared to be in Times Roman font.

More and more, the story itself appeared to be a "shaped charge."

As the story fell apart throughout the week, generals contradicted the briefing's conclusion that the munitions pointed to the Iran government. Shaped charges are used against us mostly by the Sunnis in western Iraq, not by the Shias in the oil-rich east, who are responsible for only 8 percent of American deaths. We should go after Saudi Arabia, not Iran.

The story didn't fall apart quickly enough to keep Bush from linking the imports to an Iranian revolutionary guard called the QUDS force, "a part of the Iranian government". But then it was discovered that this guard was under the control of Ayatollah Khameni, not of the Iranian government.

If the Iranian central government ever DID support the anti-Western forces in Iraq, we would be in serious trouble. Even more serious trouble. But Iranians are Shiite, as is our protege central government in Iraq.

The most sensible new way forward was presented this week by Joe Biden, candidate for President, who thinks Iraq should be divided into three regions, one Shiite, one Sunni, and one Kurdish. Let the central government be a federal government, rather than the city-hall type pastiche of empowerments it is today. This solution puts the Sunnis out in the cold, out in the oil-less west, and for them to get their share of the national wealth they will need to cooperate with the other two regions. Perhaps Baghdad itself could be polycultural?

The Scooter Libby trail has gone to the jury. We know he lied. Will the jury believe it? Evidence in the case will now support the civil litigation that Valerie Plame has filed against the man for ruining her career. And a possible impeachment of the Vice President, so that John McCain, who is bouncing up and down on his toes in the wings, can assume the mantle of darkness. All so quickly.

Meanwhile...

An Italian judge just indicted 25 American CIA agents and 5 Italians in the kidnapping of an Egyptian they suspected of terrorism. An Egyptian court decided there was no evidence against him.

Bush interests have purchased a big ranch in Paraguay for him - 98,480 acres in the Chaco - and have made Paraguay a safe haven for our troops against any complaints of international law. So he will be there with them.

And on and on...

Three out of four Americans think our government is not telling the truth about 9/11.

Restoration...

Kansas evolves. (HuffPost.)

Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Elwood says the president can break the law. Until the Supreme Court tells him not to do so.

Florida ditches touch screen voting. Too many votes were lost.

The National Intelligence Assessment says we're damned if we stay in Iraq, yet damned if we leave. What would Dear Abby say?

Is your government censoring your web connection? Connect through one of these proxy servers.

How much of the Iraq war tab is your state or city picking up?

Iran - Tomorrow's Failure Waits In The Wings

Having failed to evict the Taliban from Afghanistan, having brought chaos to Iraq, we are now setting our sights on Iran.

Iran is a Democracy. The notion that we are spreading freedom has fallen by the wayside; it is rarely mentioned these days. Israel and Pakistan, Iran's neighbors, both have nuclear programs and arsenals and Iran is working hard to catch up. They claim to be developing a breeder reactor for peaceful purposes, but they do not let the UN inspect it. We have commanded them to stop their folly. but everyone in the world knows that we are in it for the oil. (North Korea parallels Iran as a budding nuclear power, but they have no oil, so we ignore them.)

We have an air war pending. Forces are moving into position. If Iran blinks and accepts UN visitation, then we're screwed. But surrounded as they are by other nuclear powers, they don't dare blink or they're screwed. It may turn out that their program is as deficient as Saddam's supposed program or a paper tiger like the Soviet Union's. Undoubtedly they have boasted and exaggerated to some extent. Surely they do not want any weaknesses shown. Pride will keep them in the saddle, resisting UN inspection.


What will happen on the ground?

Our navy ships will blockade the Gulf and stop Iranian oil tankers from supplying the world. The price of oil from Texas will go through the roof. But so will the price of oil from Venezuela.

Unlike Iraq, Iran is a Democracy. Because Iran is a Democracy, our foot-soldiers may not get very far on the ground. These people love their country. And they are on their home ground.

Already in Iraq, our ownership of the air near the ground is newly in doubt.

Our helicopters are suddenly being taken down. Six in two weeks. We have looked carefully for evidence of shoulder-fired missiles, but have found none. Ordinary gunfire seems to be the cause.

Air supremacy does not guarantee success on the ground.


The hearts and minds of a people are on the ground, where a would-be-conqueror's feet must try to stand. Not everyone in the world is in accord with our imperatives. A plan that does not account for the will of the people on the ground is guaranteed to be stalemated from the start.

What is our plan for Iran? Another guaranteed stalemate?