Quick, before the Pope dies!
Mood:  blue
Topic: Hurry
Isn't it cute how the media is in full on flurry mode from the whole vegetative thing last week so there's not even a breath between it and now the Pope's death. Meanwhile the Senate is trying to sneak by legislature that would effectively prevent the Democrats to Filibuster any supreme court justice nominations favored by the in control right! (johnkerry.com)

"Senator Frist, the Republican Majority Leader, has a plan to make President Bush?s judicial nominations immune to a Senate filibuster. If he can convince enough Republican Senators to go along, the nomination and confirmation of judges will become a tightly-controlled, one-party affair."

So says John Kerry I am not sure if this is a bill or a motion or what that is to be passed in the Senate. I haven't been able to find out much else about it as the news is ALL POPE ALL THE TIME right now.

However, I was able to find this little tid-bit:
(Washington Post)

'A study of U.S. military operations in Iraq, prepared for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, sharply criticizes Pentagon attempts to plan for the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion two years ago, saying stabilization and reconstruction issues "were addressed only very generally" and "no planning was undertaken to ensure the security of the Iraqi people."

HEy look everybody yet another opportunity for somebody to be accountable for at least some of the major league fuck ups proctored by this fine war we're stuck in! I have even heard Rummy has offered to resign in the past...More than once! Though that was mostly related to that whole Abu Graib thing you hardly ever hear about anymore...

"The study, done by the Rand Corp., an independent research group that was created by the U.S. government and frequently does analyses for the Pentagon, also says the experience in Iraq has underscored the Pentagon's tendency "not to absorb historical lessons" when battling insurgencies. It notes a lack of political-military coordination and of "actionable intelligence" in the counterinsurgency campaign, and urges creation in the Army of a "dedicated cadre of counterinsurgency specialists."

The Pentagon has a 'tendecy not to absorb historical lessons?' I'd say it's more a deliberate strategy of deception and non-accountability my self. I just adore the way this shit is slipped into the news on a Friday right in the middle of this entirely faux rise of the 'culture of life.'

As hard as I am trying not to mention it I fear these freaks are entirely emboldened now that Schiavo has kicked off and they are crying and tearing off their 'life' stickers and they are pissed off! They will ride this wave as far as they can. They may even somehow spin the Pope's death into their 'good fight' saving America from it's awful, baby killing, insensitive ways. Isn't it funny how none of these people are out wailing on the streets for all the dead and dying in either Afghanistan:

(Al Jazeera)
Suspected Taliban fighters ambushed a convoy of civilian trucks carrying vehicles to the US military in southern Afghanistan, killing eight of the drivers.

The armed men attacked the trucks on Friday after they crossed the Pakistani border at Spin Boldak, 90km (55 miles) south of Kandahar city, Spin Boldak District Chief Faz al-Din Agha said. Aljazeera reported eight Pakistani drivers were killed in a hail of gunfire that severely damaged the trucks and two of the military vehicles, Agha said.

or Iraq:
"A car bomb has exploded in central Iraq, killing five people, including four police officers on patrol, while gunmen killed an education official in Baghdad. The car bomb on Saturday in Khan Bani Saad, near the city of Baquba in central Iraq, also injured two police officers and three civilians, said provincial police Colonel Mudhafar al-Juburi."

or Yemen:
"Yemeni army tanks and helicopters have pounded Shia strongholds in the north, killing at least 36 people, officials and fighters' sources have said."

OH, and there's this little thing:

(CNN)
"...at least 548 killed by Monday night's 8.7-magnitude earthquake, which devastated Nias, Banyak and Simeulue islands off the coast of Sumatra."

Ok, ok those are all mostly 'brown' people so I suppose our 'culture of life' friends only want white folk to stay alive, like this guy...

(The Daily Kenoshan)
"A relative of three children whose screaming, naked father was killed by Kenosha, Wis., police when he began twisting his 5-year-old son's neck on the side of a road said the authorities were "just doing their job" when they fatally shot him.

A few of Bobby Sherrod's family members questioned why police lodged nine bullets in the 31-year-old's torso, but concluded they probably resorted to shots to keep the children safe from Sherrod's uncharacteristically bizarre and abusive behavior, said the relative, who didn't want his name used."

This guy clearly had mental problems and had all those people with 'LIFE' taped over their fucking mouths been looking out for people who really need some help. Bah, Sherrod was nuts but you get my point.

HEY, I was talking about that Pentagon report anyways...Damn 'culture of life' keeps interfering in EVERYTHING!!!

So, what exactly was the problem?

"The study highlights shortcomings as well in the conduct of the invasion. It cites inflated expectations at the outset about airstrikes in toppling the Baghdad government, poor performance by Apache helicopters in attack missions, delays in bomb damage assessments, gaps in tactical intelligence for battlefield commanders, disruptions in supply lines and inadequate coordination between Special Operations units and conventional forces."

Hmmm, remember when Dubya flew onto that aircraft carrier with the big banner that said, "Mission Accomplished?"

"Rumsfeld, who received the report last month...The Rand recommendations "are worth our careful consideration." He set a deadline of yesterday for responses and added that he had asked his then-deputy, Paul D. Wolfowitz, to gather the group together "and discuss what changes might be appropriate."

And what were some of the flaws that will result in these eventual 'changes?'

1) In discussing the conduct of the war, the report notes that the opening salvo of airstrikes, dubbed "shock and awe" by some at the Pentagon, did not precipitate the collapse of the government that airpower advocates had hoped for.

2) "The attacks on 'regime' targets (leadership, command and control and infrastructure) were able to disrupt but not eliminate the ability of Iraqi leaders to communicate with the Iraqi people and military forces," the report says. "For the future, a caution is in order with respect to expectations of what air attacks on 'regime' targets can achieve."

3) Later helicopter attack missions against Iraqi forces "proved risky and not very productive," the report says, a reference to the troubles Apache units encountered dealing with ground fire from enemy fighters hidden in populated areas. "Though planned, no air assault operations were undertaken," the report notes, concluding that the experience "raises questions about some of the emerging concepts" for deep helicopter strikes in enemy territory.

4) Intelligence gathering, too, fell short. Airborne sensors were "in many cases unable to locate and identify" the swarms of Iraqi paramilitary fighters who moved along roads in civilian vehicles or hid out in built-up neighborhoods, the report says. When information about enemy locations did become available, it frequently failed to get far enough down the chain of command. tactical commanders often did not receive specific or actionable intelligence," the report says. "Tactical units were often moving too fast for the information to be useful, or the information was not detailed enough."

5) Bomb damage assessments "fell behind early" as a result of bad weather, a scarcity of sensor systems and inadequate reporting, the report notes. "Turn-around times were measured in days instead of hours." As a result, U.S. aircraft restruck some targets "unnecessarily," and ground forces had "scant knowledge of the condition of enemy forces along the route of advance."

6) Planning for the invasion's aftermath rested with the Defense Department, the report recalls, rather than with the State Department or the National Security Council. "Overall, this approach worked poorly," the report says, noting that the Pentagon lacked the expertise, funding authority and contacts with civilian aid organizations for the job. When the insurgency arose, the report says, U.S. authorities failed to understand how it differed from past "wars of national liberation" or from a "classical guerrilla-type campaign."

Ya know, between this report and the one about how all the intelligence leading up to the fucking war was all "dead wrong." One must wonder what, if anything, was exactly right where this war is concerned?!?! If I fucked up this bad in my job I would have been fired a long time ago. In fact, I have been fired for way less! While we're at it they tried to fire Clinton for something way less. Way, way, way less when you tabulate the negative effects of his lies by the number of people dead or dying directly due to his reception then denial of a blow job. 2006 we have to start the tide turning away from these fucking nutjobs in power right now. We owe it to the America we should be living in.

In conclusion:

"Iraqi insurgents are groups of disparate opposition elements with no center of gravity, no clear leader, no aim to seize and hold territory, and no single defined or unifying ideology," the report says. "The Iraqi insurgency demonstrates the closest manifestation yet of 'net war,' which is characterized by flatter, more linear networks rather than the pyramidal hierarchies and command and control systems of traditional insurgent organizations."

In future counterinsurgency operations, the report concludes, the Pentagon should rely more on forces with specialized training in such warfare. Planning for postwar recovery, the report adds, must involve greater coordination between the Pentagon and other government agencies and greater attention by defense officials to securing the peace. The report recommends setting up "some process for exposing senior officials to possibilities other than those being assumed in their planning."

IN other words, the Pentagon would probably have a little more fucking success should it bother to pay any attention to a) it's mistakes b) attempt to learn from siad mistakes and really the first step might be ACKNOWLEDGING THEY HAVE AND CAN MAKE MISTAKES and then CORRECT THEM GOD DAMMIT!!!