by James Glaser
September 15, 2005

The President of the "new" Iraq, Jalal Talabani came to America this week, and right off the bat he said 50,000 American troops could come home by the end of the year.

That was before the man saw George Bush, and after he did, that proposed troop withdrawal was history.

All week there have been American officers, who are stationed in Iraq, telling us on the nightly news that things are going so much better now, and that American troops are working in support of Iraqi troops. Those officers were telling us that 80% of the insurgency in the North of Iraq has been devastated. How do they know that? They claim that captured Al Qaeda leaders have told them that. I seem to remember that every time an al Qaeda leader made a claim in the past, the military would trot out an al Qaeda Training Manual that said if they were captured, they were supposed to lie.

The Pentagon claimed they lied about being tortured and we were told that they lied about the desecration of their Holy Book, the Koran, but we are now supposed to believe that they are telling the truth.

Well we now have the President of Iraq talking about sending American troops home, and we have American officers telling us 80% of the al Qaeda in the north half of Iraq are done for, and then they talk about how every day Iraqis are helping to stop the insurgency.

So what happens next, after all this good news about Bush's War in Iraq? Well that devastated insurgency goes out and kills 169 Iraqis and wounds 542, in one day. I think the insurgency is listening to our news programs and they wanted to tell the American people that they are still there, and that they are still ready to "bring it on" as President Bush asked them to.

Posse Comitatus Act

That is a law from the late 1800s that "Forbids the use of the military of the US from being used for Law Enforcement purposes." Well when George Bush sent the troops down to New Orleans, they didn't leave their M-16s back at the base and law enforcement is what they were doing.

I know, and so do you that it takes an act of Congress to send our troops off to war, but not when George Bush is President, and we know American troops are supposed to stay on base when they are here in the States, (other wise they would be protecting our border with Mexico) but George will tell you he had to use them, because too many of the National Guard troops from Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi were fighting in Iraq.

So George ignored the Posse Comitatus law, and sent in the troops armed with automatic weapons and body armor. I don't know if George even thought about what he did, but I do know, next time it will be easier.

Think back just five years and think about the changes in America. Now we can see American troops on the streets of an American city, dressed for combat. Federal law enforcement officers can now search your home or business, with no warrant or even a notice that they have done it. If they want, they can look at your library records or you bank records.... with out notice. To top all of that off, now they can come and take your land, if someone has a better use for it and will pay higher taxes.

Remember, George is not President for life. He could have done a lot of good for the country. So many people, worked so many years to get a Republican majority in the House and Senate, with a Republican President. They had every tool needed to make America better, and all they could do is kill, borrow and spend, expand the size of the federal government, and take away our freedoms. So sad.

Heading Home

Gas prices are going back up down here, above 3 dollars a gallon at some stations. Some stations have no gas to sell. I stopped at Sam's Club, and they had no bottled water. I see contractors packing up and heading west for "big money jobs" in Alabama, and I wonder who will be doing work around here. I am heading back to Minnesota, but will be checking with AAA to see if I can get gas all they way. I don't want to be stuck in a motel someplace on the way, as I can at least work down here.