Weekend Update: Condi Visits The Mess She Helped Create. Is Newsweek To Blame? John McCain Pleads To Fellow Reps For Sanity. Red Sox Update.

More Success In Iraq

Secretary of State Killa Sleazy Rice pulled a surprise visit to Iraq yesterday amid more and more insurgent attacks on US troops and members of the new Iraqi "government" and civilians. Excerpt from the UK Times via Google News:

THE surprise visit of Condoleezza Rice to Iraq was upstaged yesterday as insurgents mounted a wave of attacks against those loyal to the shaky United States-backed Government. In the first visit by a member of the Bush Administration since Iraq formed its Government a fortnight ago, the US Secretary of State sought to give impetus to the country’s political transformation.

Yet even as she was shuttled across the country, insurgents stepped up their campaign of terror on a day in which 42 people died. It began with a double suicide-bomb attack against Raad Rashid, the Governor of Diyala province. He escaped unhurt, but four policemen and two civilians were killed. The attack followed assassinations of two government officials, one who worked at the Industry Ministry, the other at the Foreign Ministry. A Shia cleric was also murdered by gunmen.

Then police found the handcuffed bodies of 13 men near the sprawling Sadr City slum in Baghdad. They had been shot dead and abandoned in a rubbish dump. West of Baghdad, in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, the remains of ten Iraqi soldiers were found with their throats cut. South of the capital, in Iskandariya, the corpses of eleven more Iraqis, thought to be lorry drivers, were found in a field, four of them beheaded.

The killings pushed the death toll in Iraq to nearly 500 since the new Government was formed. Laith Kubba, the Government's spokesman, blamed foreign volunteers for the campaign, which included 70 car bombs, and accused these criminals of trying to prove that the Government is incapable of protecting the people.

American forces have tried to blunt the insurgent campaign and yesterday ended Operation Matador, a week-long offensive to halt the infiltration of foreign fighters into Iraq across the Syrian border. Nine US Marines were killed along with 125 suspected terrorists, but there was no appreciable impact on the insurgency.

Dr Rice said yesterday: The insurgency is very violent, but you defeat insurgencies not just militarily in fact not especially militarily you defeat them by having a political alternative that is strong.

Full story: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1614010,00.html

So Killa Sleazy, what is this brilliant political alternative that you and the gang of crooked thugs for whom you work have in mind to defeat these insurgents? If it is anything like the nonsense that President Brainless has been spewing lately, then I think it is safe to say that we will continue to see headlines from Iraq that read like this: Baghdad Car Bombs Kill ___ U.S. Soldiers And ___ Iraqi Civilians. The headline can be run every day with the press just updating the numbers day by day as you rotten bastards continue to pretend things are just fine in Mesopotamia.


Newsweek Apologizes For Colossal "Mistake"

Check this Washington Post report about Newsweek's supposed mistake regarding their report of the desecration of copies of the Quran that led to massive protests and casualties in Afghanistan last week. Excerpt:

NEW YORK -- Newsweek magazine has apologized for errors in a story alleging that interrogators at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Quran, saying it would re-examine the accusations, which sparked outrage and deadly protests in Afghanistan.

Fifteen people died and scores were injured in violence between protesters and security forces, prompting U.S. promises to investigate the allegations.

"We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst," Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker wrote in a note to readers.

In an issue dated May 9, the magazine reported that U.S. military investigators had found evidence that interrogators placed copies of Islam's holy book in washrooms and had flushed one down the toilet to get inmates to talk.

Whitaker wrote that the magazine's information came from "a knowledgeable U.S. government source," and before publishing the item, writers Michael Isikoff and John Barry sought comment from two Defense Department officials. One declined to respond, and the other challenged another part of the story but did not dispute the Quran charge, Whitaker said.

But on Friday, a top Pentagon spokesman told the magazine that a review of the military's investigation concluded "it was never meant to look into charges of Quran desecration. The spokesman also said the Pentagon had investigated other desecration charges by detainees and found them 'not credible.'"

Also, Whitaker added, the magazine's original source later said he could not be sure he read about the alleged Quran incident in the report they cited, and that it might have been in another document. "Top administration officials have promised to continue looking into the charges, and so will we," Whitaker wrote.

Full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/15/AR2005051500605.html

So now the story is all bullshit? Are we really supposed to believe that a bunch of evangelical neocon douchebags would not only not condone such behavior as desecrating another religion's holy book, but that they would actively seek to punish members of the armed forces at the detention center? Maybe they'll try to pin this on Lynndie England and Former General (now Colonel) Janice Karpinski too...

Okay, so Isikoff isn't exactly Sherlock Holmes, but he's never been accused of simply having made shit up like Ann Coulter either. So what do we have here? Did the unnamed Defense Department official lie when he didn't dispute the charge? If so, did he do so knowing that such a report would eventually see the light of day in the Middle East and thereby set off a whole new round of anti-American protests? I'd like to think that this was not planned by Cheney and the administration, but after seeing how many other things they've fucked up in this war it wouldn't surprise me a bit to find that this was intentional. Why? Easy. Dumbya has called this a crusade a number of times, and the stupid son of a bitch probably thinks he's living in the days that will usher in Armageddon, and that it's his job to help push things along. What better way to keep the shit stirred up in a country we've already "conquered" by pulling a stunt like this?


John McCain Just Wants Us All To Get Along

In yet another example of why it will take a few sane Republicans to stop President Useless from destroying everything he touches, Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) is warning idiots like Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to play nice or else the Reps could reap what they sow. Bloomberg News excerpt:

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator John McCain said the fight between Democrats and Republicans over Senate rules of debate on judicial nominees may jeopardize initiatives including President George W. Bush's proposal to revamp Social Security.

``There's a number of other compelling issues, whether it be deficit reduction or the war on terrorism, Iraq, many other legislative items'' that would get stalled by the fight over filibusters, McCain said today on ABC's ``This Week'' program.

Senator McCain is obviously mistaking Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for a fighter. Christ, it's almost as if Tom Daschle was still leading the Dems...

Senate Republican leader Bill Frist is threatening to try to bar Democrats from using the filibuster -- a parliamentary tactic that allows unlimited debate -- to block Bush's appointments for judgeships. Democrats warn they will counter by using procedural rules to drag out Senate action.

Senator Frist, asshole that he is, at least understands that the Dems will pretend to fight, then cave in the end.

McCain, of Arizona, is one of two Senate Republicans who say they will buck party leaders and vote against changing the rules. Representatives of both sides said today they have enough votes to prevail if the issue comes to a head this week.

Democrats have used the filibuster to block votes on 10 of Bush's federal appeals court nominees, seven of whom have been resubmitted by the President. By comparison, the Republican-controlled Senate blocked 64 nominees of former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, by refusing to hold votes or hearings rather than by filibuster.

Full story: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aBJauO2iqzgo&refer=top_world_news

I wish to hell someone would point that last sentence of the excerpt out to shitheads like Limbaugh, Hannity and O'Reilly. They are pretending that what the Dems did to Dubya's ten thalidomide appointees is the greatest Constitutional outrage in over 200 years while conveniently forgetting their slimy roles in helping the Reps gut Clinton's nominees.


Sox Lose Two Of Three In Seattle. Manny Hits Number 400.

The Red Sox (22-15) lost 5-4 today to the Mariners at Safeco Field as Manny Ramirez hit his 400th career home run. The milestone homer was a three-run shot to right-center field in the top of the fifth inning off of starter Gil "Ga" Meche.

Meche was impressive for most of the six innings he threw. He hit 94 MPH several times with his fastball and showed outstanding control. By the fifth, he was nearing 70 pitches, not an excessive amount, but allowed singles to Mark Bellhorn and Johnny Damon before Ramirez' homer. The relief work of Shigetoshi Hasegawa, the unfortunately named J.J. Putz and Eddie Guardado combined to keep the Sox bats at bay to close out the win.

Tim Wakefield had a quirky game. Wake surrendered two of the three hits catcher Miguel Olivo, who was hitting .127 entering the game, had on the day. The first of these came in the bottom of the second inning -- a squibber between the mound and third that eluded the Sox infielders, and led to Bret Boone scoring the first run of the game all the way from second base. The Mariners went on to score three more times in the inning to take a lead they would never relinquish. Wake would also allow Olivo's first homer of the year in the fourth inning.

In other AL action, the Orioles beat the White Sox 6-2 to move to two games ahead of the Sox at 24-13. The red-hot Yankees beat the A's 6-4 to get to .500 at 19-19. They are threatening to move into third place in the AL East, currently occupied by the Blue Jays (20-18) who beat the Indians 5-2.