WASHINGTON POST: PALIN BILLED STATE FOR NIGHTS SPENT AT HOME AND FAMILY TRAVEL

Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at HomeTaxpayers Also Funded Family's Travel

By James V. Grimaldi and Karl Vick

Washington Post Staff WritersTuesday, September 9, 2008; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090803088.html?wpisrc=newsletter

ANCHORAGE, Sept. 8 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.

Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her official "duty station" is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post.

The governor's daughters and husband charged the state $43,490 to travel, and many of the trips were between their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away, the documents show.

Gubernatorial spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said Monday that Palin's expenses are not unusual and that, under state policy, the first family could have claimed per diem expenses for each child taken on official business but has not done so.

Click here to read full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090803088.html?wpisrc=newsletter

"COMMUNITY ORGANIZER"---WINK, WINK: REMEMBER OBAMA IS A BLACK MAN

The GOP and the McCain/Palin campaign has seized on something I knew was eventually going to come out and that is simply to keep reminding the American people that Barack Obama is an African-American.

Notice how many times McCain and Palin talk about Obama as a "community organizer."

That is Republican double-speak, or code words for ginning up the anti-African American vote and you would have to be living under a rock not to see it.

The GOP and the McCain/Palin campaign use "community organizer," which Barack Obama was in Chicago, as just another sneaky way to inject racism into the race for POTUS.

McCain and Palin are under the wing of Republican dirty trickster pro Karl Rove's minions who will use every racial slur they can come up to further divide the United States along racial lines.

Someone once wisely observed: "Politics ain't beanbag."

The GOP and McCain/Palin aren't using a "beanbag" but a sledge hammer to drive home the point every chance they get that Barack Obama is an African-American.

You can expect the veiled "racial slurs" to increase as each day and week goes by until November 4.

GOD HELP THE UNITED STATES WHEN KARL ROVE'S PEOPLE ARE IN CHARGE OF THE McCAIN/PALIN CAMPAIGN.

This campaign is going to set race relations back before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and in the end could spell the end of the United States of America.

Commentary by BILL CORCORAN, editor of CORKSPHERE

SARAH PALIN'S "INTERVIEW" WITH ABC'S CHARLEY GIBSON WILL BE WORTHLESS GOP HYPE

The McCain/Palin campaign picked out the biggest wus in the network news business, Charley Gibson of ABC NEWS, for Sarah Palin to do her first interview.

Why did they bother?

Why didn't they just put her on FOX NEWS or let her sitdown with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham or Michael Savage?

NONE of them are reporters either.

Commentary by BILL CORCORAN, editor of CORKSPHERE



Sarah Palin's "interview" with Charles Gibson won't give her any credibility

By Chad
Created 09/08/2008 - 10:15am
Published on BuzzFlash.org (http://www.buzzflash.com/articles)

The McCain campaign has been hiding Sarah Palin, treating her as if she is a China doll.

"She's too delicate to be presented in a one-on-one interview with a reporter who might ask 'tough' questions" is the impression given by the McCain campaign.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis summed it up well on Sunday. "We run our campaign, not the news media. And we'll do things on our timetable."Well, that timetable got thwarted when the campaign realized that keeping her in a box forever isn't going to work. So they decided to grant one reporter a chance to interview Sarah Palin.Now if you run the McCain campaign, you have lots of options.

You can go with a total partisan (Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, among others) but that might seem a hollow gesture. You could go with a woman reporter who you know will be soft toward Gov. Palin, such as Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric.

Not only knowing that won't hit hard for political reasons, but also the idea of having a woman interview the first female Republican vice presidential candidate. But perhaps you think that there may be a backlash against Palin being interviewed by a woman (an incredibly sexist thought).

So you decide to pick a white man who will be on your side [1] but have perceived credibility:

ABC's Charlie Gibson. Perfect.We know Gibson's obsession with capital gains tax cuts [1] from the debates, and his utter disdain for Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton in Philadelphia [1] is legendary. And it gets even worse for the truth: Gibson will travel to Alaska to do the interview.

The idea that Palin will gain the upper hand by having the setup on her home turf diminishes even more so the little credibility the interview might generate.

So when Gibson treats her with softball questions, and treads lightly on any possible issue (and won't address alleged serious corruption issues during her brief reign as governor or as mayor of Wasilla), then the McCain campaign will get to say, "See, she can stand up to the test."By the time the interview will take place, Palin will have been in the national spotlight for two weeks. You know the McCain campaign has been testing her and feeding her material so she can sound somewhat informed.

If the McCain campaign people seriously think they have treated Sarah Palin well in all of this, they are sadly mistaken. The more they treat her like a China doll, the more of a joke she becomes.

Davis also said Sunday that Gov. Palin won't subject herself [2] to any tough questions from reporters "until the point in time when she'll be treated with respect and deference." She's a politician running to be vice president of the United States: respect and deference don't come for any candidate.

Short of something more extreme coming out, Palin won't be the next Thomas Eagleton [3]. So as long as Gov. Palin will be in the spotlight, she needs to speak for herself in an objective scenario where she might fall flat on her face.

Vice presidential candidates have done so for over 200 years without much harm done.

We currently have a vice president whom the media is scared of, and won't ask tough questions.

To replace him with a vice president who is scared to take questions isn't a scenario for a democratic republic.

HOW McCAIN AND PALIN INSULTED OUR TROOPS

How Did the RNC Insult Troops and Veterans? Let me count the ways?
Posted: 08 Sep 2008 10:12 AM CDT

http://www.vetvoice.com/

Last week's Republican convention sure made every superficial effort to come off as pro-Troop and pro-Veteran. And, of course, the media ate it up, not challenging a single thing. But to those of us who did serve, it was offense after offense after offense. Let's count the ways:
McCain Didn't Mention Veterans' Care: Maybe it's because he has a terrible record, but not once in John McCain's speech did he talk about taking care of those who served their nation in the military. With exploding rates of PTSD, suicide, homelessness among veterans. With ridiculous wait times for veterans seeking care, and a VA that every major vets group says is woefully underfunded. With administrators dumping vets out of the veterans care system by diagnosing them with a lesser mental injury than they have. Not. A. Single. Word. And, with the shame of...


Walter Reed: What a slap in the face. The first photo that John McCain stood in front of was Walter Reed. Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood, California. Chalk it up to someone in the campaign not knowing the difference between the two, but what I find even more offensive is this: At some point John McCain asked his campaign what was going to be on the screen behind him. And someone told him the first picture would be Walter Reed Army Medical Center. John McCain didn't object - even though he voted against closing tax loopholes to help fund military hospitals like Walter Reed. But that wasn't the only bit of fake imagery....
"Phony Soldiers": For the amount that Rush Limbaugh likes to rant on "phony soldiers," there was a big silence and others from the mainstream media on the fact that the McCain campaign used stock footage of actors pretending to be soldiers in a video, intended to show how pro-military McCain is. It's actually kind of fitting - phony soldiers to promote a phony record on military and veterans' issues.


Speaking of phony: Remember that faux-outrage from the McCain campaign when General Wesley Clark dared to point out that being a POW isn't a qualification for being Commander in Chief? Boy, the McCain campaign wouldn't let up on that. Where were they when Fred Thompson said the same exact thing?


Real outrage: But, there were some things to be angry about. First, Sarah Palin repeatedly saying that her son was deploying for Iraq on September 11. First, not only is this not exactly true, but if she sincerely believed it to be true, she would be knowingly violating Operational Security (OPSEC), which says you should never tell the enemy when people and units are going to be landing in Iraq. Thankfully, Palin was fudging the truth, and not endangering the troops. So, she either knew she wasn't telling the truth, or she thought she was and thought violating OPSEC was worth the political points. Second, there's the fact that right after the Republican convention, the party produced a bunch of flags that they stole from the Democratic convention in Denver, in an attempt to "prove" the Democrats were throwing out the flag. In fact, workers in Denver were collecting all the flags left at Invesco Field, to send to community events around the country, where other patriotic Americans might want to wave the flag. So, to promote a complete fabrication, Republicans stole flags that some five-year old kid might have wanted to wave on Main Street. Stay classy...


It's things like this that caused those troops deployed to donate to Obama by a 6-1 ratio.
Though many in the media may lap up the lies, the distortions, and fake representations, troops certainly don't. We know the difference between fantasy and reality.

And that brings me to the last point. Speaker after speaker told the convention that the "surge worked" and we were on our way to "victory."

Except not so much. Bob Woodward, in his new book, explains what those of us in the military always knew - commanders on the ground were against the surge, and knew it would not work strategically. And, in fact, it hasn't worked in stabilizing Iraq's internal political problems, hasn't aided our global strategy, or helped strengthen our military.

But, as the President explained to General Abizaid, and others, success wasn't the point of the surge - the APPEARANCE of success was the purpose. Quoting Woodward's finding, "A surge would "also help here at home, since for many the measure of success is reduction in violence," Bush said [to Abizaid]."

In short, Bush knew that since less than one-percent of America had served in the wars, and most commentators were ignorant about what constitutes true military and strategic success, a reduction of violence could be sold as "success," even if it was not.

And that, perhaps, was the biggest insult to those of us in the military, out of many, coming from the Republican National Convention.

AP Doing Everything Except Actually Physically Handing Track Palin Over to Insurgents
Posted: 08 Sep 2008 02:27 AM CDT

Following the example of Governor Sarah Palin's idiotic reference to her son Track's impending deployment to Iraq "on September 11th," the AP has now really outdone itself in terms of compromising the operational security of Track's unit.

In a piece published Sunday, the AP divulged PFC Track Palin's division, his brigade, and even his company. So far as I can tell, the only identifying unit information they've left out is his battalion and platoon--which I assume is simply an oversight on the AP's part. I'm sure if they realized it was relevant, they'd post it.

They went so far as to describe exactly what job PFC Palin would be doing with his unit. They gave away the Iraqi province to which his unit is deploying. They gave the date he would deploy (which his irresponsible mother--the VP candidate--has done as well), where he would go first, where he would go second, and how long he would remain in Iraq.

For good measure, they threw in a photo of PFC Palin.

So let's analyze this now. Let's say I'm an insurgent and I want to take out the potential Vice President's son. I now know where to look for him. I know what unit he's in down to the company level. I know how to identify that unit (because I know how to use "the Google"). If I don't find him immediately, I know how long he'll be in the country--which guides my sense of urgency. And, of course, I know what he looks like.

The worst thing about this is the added danger in which the entire unit is now placed. The men of the unit now face a more precarious situation because there is the potential that the unit will be specifically targeted.

I know everyone in the media is giddy over this deal, but those covering the story need to shut their pieholes. That goes for Governor Palin, too--who should probably now be prohibited from holding a security clearance if--God forbid--she gets elected.
(

BRUTAL WAR VIDEO: WHAT REPUBLICANS CAN EXPECT TO SEE MORE OF IF McCAIN AND PALIN ARE ELECTED

EXTREMELY GRAPHIC IRAQ WAR VIDEO: WHAT THE CHILDREN OF REPUBLICANS VOTING FOR McCAIN AND PALIN HAVE IN STORE FOR THEM

The media in the United States has filtered out everything that has to do with the horrors of the Iraq war, but this video captures the true essence of what is happening to the innocent Iraqi civilians inside of Iraq which is being kept from the people of the United States by the mainstream media.

John McCain and Sarah Palin are warmongers and they will most certainly take us to war with IRAN if they are elected and that means there will have to be a military DRAFT and EVERYONE---Republican and Democrat---kids will be DRAFTED and shipped off to IRAN to get a taste of what WAR is really like.

WARNING: This video is very, very graphic.

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN CENTER OF PIC TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/v/ApsfQzQDzi0&hl=en&rel=0

A LETTER FROM SARAH PALIN'S HOMETOWN IN ALASKA

THIS LETTER HAS BEEN CHECKED OUT BY SNOPES AND IT IS LEGITIMATE

Anne Kilkenny, Wasilla Resident, writes ABOUT SARAH PALIN
August 31, 2008

A Note to All by Anne Kilkenny

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.

Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis.

Our children have attended the same schools.

Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher.

I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a "babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.

She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym. She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters. She's smart. Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator.

She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign. Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative." During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents. The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn't even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later — to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing. While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once. These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city. As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state. In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus, borrow for needs. She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them. While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day. Sarah complained about the "old boys' club" when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys." Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal — loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below). As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he "intimidated" her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support. She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness. Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her. When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically quit, exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined). As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to. As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects — which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance — but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork." She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative. Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her. As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together a package of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum. Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar bears as threatened species. McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President. There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she. However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it. CLAIM VS FACT o "Hockey mom": true for a few years o "PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since p "NRA supporter": absolutely true o social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconsitutional). o pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it. o "Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation. o "Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000. o political maverick: not at all o gutsy: absolutely! o open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions. o has a developed philosophy of public policy: no o "a Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR. o fiscal conservative: not by my definition! o pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards. o pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents. o pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla's history. o pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union. WHY AM I WRITING THIS? First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny + Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local government, education, and PTA/parent organizations. Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings. Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that’s life. Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship. Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable. CAVEATS I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall — they are swamped. So I can't verify my numbers. You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s. Anne Kilkenny August 31, 2008

SARAH PALIN'S ONLY INTERVIEW

If Sarah Palin is ONLY going to do ONE interview with that right-wing kiss ass Charley Gibson of ABC news, I'm through writing and talking about this election.

Let the Republicans win and let McCain, Lieberman, Lindsay Graham and the "Cairbou Barbie" doll take us to war with IRAN and then every MFing Republican in the country will see their little darlings DRAFTED and sent off to probably DIE on the sands of IRAN.

It would serve all of them right.

And any Repuke who doesn't think we aren't going to go to war with IRAN hasn't been listening to Lieberman, Graham and even that SOB Dick Cheney who was in Georgia (not the state) telling them we would come to their defense if Russia jacks them around anymore.

With what Cheney? Spitballs? The F..king military is broken. We couldn't beat Haiti.

The U.S. commander in charge of the war in Afghanistan said TODAY he needs more troops and we don't have them.

CAN'T REPUKES SEE WHAT IS COMING? FOR CRISSAKES THERE WILL HAVE TO BE A DRAFT AND THAT IS WHY THE SELECTIVE SERVICE BOARD IS SECRETLY MAKING PLANS FOR A DRAFT AND TIGHTENING UP THE BORDERS SO NODOBY---REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT---CAN RUN ACROSS THE BORDER AND HIDE FROM THE DRAFT.

I'm at the point where I know RACISM is going to defeat Obama and I'm also at the point where I really don't give a shit if McCain/Palin win because I know McCain will pull another knee-jerk reaction like he did in picking the Holier-than Thou "Moose Killer" and before anyone knows it we will be at war with IRAN.

Bush used to say "Bring it On!" That is my new rallying cry. "Bring it On" McCain and Palin and be sure and put in an extra large order for bodybags because you are going to need them. Better order some more C-130s while you are at it. You'll need a lot of them to bring back the AMERICAN KIA from IRAN to Dover AFB.

I want to see EVERY Republican who will vote for McCain/Palin standing next to a grave when a GI hands them a folded up American flag that was on the coffin of their son, daughter or grandchild who were KIA in IRAN....ALL BECAUSE OF MCCAIN AND PALIN and their VOTE.

Commentary by BILL CORCORAN, editor of CORKSPHERE

STUDY: MORE SEX ASSAULTS OCCUR IN US MILITARY THAN REPORTED: ARMY TIMES

Study: More sex assaults occur than reported
Prevention program’s director says new approach is making some progress

By William H. McMichael - Staff writerPosted : Sunday Sep 7, 2008 8:56:01 EDT
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_sexassault_090708w/

The director of the Pentagon’s program to prevent and respond to sexual assault in the ranks is not surprised at a government investigation’s conclusion that far more rapes and other sexual assaults are being committed than reports indicate.

It’s one of the nation’s most underreported crimes, period, said Kaye Whitley, director of the Defense Department’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

Continue reading http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_sexassault_090708w/

PROTESTER WHO INTERRUPTED McCAIN'S SPEECH IS AN IRAQ WAR VETERAN

Protester who interrupted McCain’s speech is an Iraq War Veteran

by Mary MacElveen on Sat 06 Sep 2008 01:12 AM EDT By Mary MacElveen
September 6, 2008
http://www.marymacelveen.com/blog/_archives/2008/9/6/3871122.html

Much has been made of the surge strategy in Iraq by the McCain/Palin ticket since John McCain supported it and it should open the door to actually discuss the conduct of this God awful war and those brave soldiers who come home from it and the ones who do not. Putting personalities aside, drama aside, let us at least discuss this war. Yes, we are spending $10 billion a month on it, but what about the true human cost meaning those who have died and those who come home. Some forever broken.

In his acceptance speech before the Republican convention, there was no mention of the veterans who have served over in Iraq by John McCain. As he gave his acceptance speech a protester interrupted that speech and this is what McCain said of it, "My friends, my dear friends ... please, please don't be diverted by the ground noise and the static," in which those gathered at the convention shouted back at that protester, “USA” over and over. Let some of them walk a mile in his shoes.

Little did they know or John McCain know that this protester actually served over in Iraq and according to Iraq Veterans Against the War, his name is, Adam Kokesh who is an IVAW board member. He held up a sign stating, "McCain Votes Against Vets." Surge nothing, this patriotic American actually put on the uniform, served his country deserved some respect coming from McCain and those Republicans gathered at the convention. While they may not have know who he was, it was the sign that should have at least clued them in before they belligerently shouted him down.

According to IVAW, “McCain's record on veterans' issues is extremely poor. He received a "D" rating from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the Disabled American Veterans reports that he voted for legislation benefiting veterans only 20% of the time.” That is one dismal record and the mainstream media should press him on it. Then again, the McCain campaign as well as those in attendance demonized the media by calling them elitists. But, the facts should be brought out none the less.

Another fact not really being talked about as reported by the IVAW, "Despite numerous mailed, faxed, and in-person invitations to meet, McCain’s office refused to send anyone to receive the briefing. When Davey, a retired Army First Sergeant and former St. Paul police officer, attempted to deliver the briefing, he was escorted off the premises." Such arrogance coming from the McCain campaign.

If McCain truly wants to be the Commander in Chief of the armed forces; shouldn’t he at least hear any grievances and concerns coming from these veterans? You would think so. Then again, he has circled the wagons where he will not allow the mainstream media to interview Sarah Palin. Obama, McCain, Biden and others have been fully vetted by the media and so should Palin.

On May 21st, 2008, The Nation reported that Senator Barack Obama slammed McCain for not supporting a GI bill sponsored by Virginia’s senator, Jim Webb and Nebraska’s senator, Chuck Hagel. This bill “would increase the amount of money given to returning vets to cover tuition, books, and a living stipend…”

Also reported by The Nation, "Today, soldiers receive only a fraction of the benefits that they used to, and the college costs covered by the military are usually only enough to cover about 60 percent of a public education, and far less at a private institution."

It was none other than Senator Barack Obama who stood up for our veterans when he said, "He is one of the few Senators (meaning McCain) of either party who oppose this bill because he thinks it's too generous. I couldn't disagree more." So Barack did not wear a flag lapel pin, but he did after all stand up in support of our veterans when it counted most.

According to Veterans for Common Sense, they do list McCain’s dismal record in his non-support of our troops and veterans.

This site reports that "John McCain skipped close to a dozen votes on Iraq, and on at least another 10 occasions, he voted against arming and equipping the troops, providing adequate rest for the troops between deployments and for health care or other benefits for veterans." Yet, yet, he wants to be the Commander in Chief of the Armed forces?

Below you will read but a few votes McCain voted against.

September 2007: McCain voted against the Webb amendment calling for adequate troop rest between deployments. At the time, nearly 65% of people polled in a CNN poll indicted that "things are going either moderately badly or very badly in Iraq.

May 2006: McCain voted against an amendment that would provide $20 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care facilities.

April 2006: McCain was one of only 13 Senators to vote against $430,000,000 for the Department of Veteran Affairs for Medical Services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.

March 2006: McCain voted against increasing Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.

In reading a past piece by The Hill dated, May 17th, 2007, you will read, “Sen. McCain has spent considerable time defending the president on Iraq and catering to the Republican base on immigration, but has only managed to show up for four of the last 14 Iraq votes…”

It is no wonder why that protester who interrupted his speech was so angry. I would be too especially if a candidate could become the next president of the United States.

We should expect more from a man who can become the next president, but again, according to The Hill, "McCain’s campaign said the rigorous travel schedule necessary when running for the White House makes it extremely difficult to be voting all the time in Washington."

The McCain/Palin ticket or should we say the McBush/Palin ticket often states that Senator Obama just talks, but when it came to these important votes, he did what was expected of him when one reads, “Barack Obama (D-Ill.) voted on each of the 14 measures.” Voting is an action and it is exactly why his constituents voted him into office in the first place.

This article also cites, "Iraq has arguably become the central issue of McCain’s campaign, as he has been the most outspoken in his defense of the recent troop surge." Well what about McCain's defense and support of our troops when they do need him?

Yes, he was a POW during the Viet Nam War and did come home, but we also must remember that over 58,000 soldiers did not make it home alive from that war. So far over 4,000 did not make it home from this war and those still serving are being stretched to the limit.

I will be writing of the devastation of war during the next few weeks, since McBush brought it up, but I wish to end this one piece with one of the most powerful essays written to date called The Wall by Alfred A. Hambidge, Jr.. When I first read it, no words came to me to adequately describe how it made me feel, but I do think it extremely important for all of my readers to read in its entirety so that McCain aka McBush does not go onto become the next Commander in Chief.

In the meantime, here is but a snippet of this marvelous essay, “You know what really galls me? How those that seem to yell loudest for war have never seen one. They've never seen a buddy disappear from the waist up after a shell hit, then see his legs stand there for a moment before falling over. They never saw a friend all psyched up about going home tomorrow after finishing his tour get hit in the belly with shrapnel, see his guts spill out, then watch him try to gather up his intestines lying in the dirt.” In true support of our troops and veterans, all I ask is that you pass this piece onto everyone you know asking they do the same and then go out and vote.

You may contact the author at this email address, xmjmac@optonline.net

VIDEO: FROM THE FOLKS AT JIB JAB. A GREAT POLITICAL LAUGH FOR ALL

I hope you will enjoy this video from the folks at Jib Jab:

http://www.peteyandpetunia.com/VoteHere/VoteHere.htm

FOUR EXAMPLES OF HOW McCAIN AND PALIN LIE TO AMERICANS

Here are four documented examples of how John McCain and Sarah Palin are lying to the American public and continue to do it shamelessly.

The McCain campaign has said they will NOT allow Sarah Palin to be interviewed by the mainstream media and she will only go on FOX NEWS and talkradio shows like Rush Limbaugh and others.

Welcome to the FOURTH REICH. Move over HITLER. There is a new DICTATOR and his parrot in town.

The new Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun are John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Comment by Bill Corcoran, Editor of CORKSPHERE: url: http://corksphere.blogspot.com

Click on links below for the REAL documented TRUTH about John McCain and Sarah Palin:

http://corksphere.blogspot.com/2008/09/mccainpalin-spin-iraq-victory-here-is.html

http://corksphere.blogspot.com/2008/09/cnn-reports-iraq-bombings-kills-6wounds.html

http://corksphere.blogspot.com/2008/09/cnn-reports-bush-to-cut-8000-troops.html

http://corksphere.blogspot.com/2008/09/palins-governor-plane-not-sold-on-e-bay.html

McCAIN/PALIN "SPIN" IRAQ VICTORY. HERE IS THE REAL TRUTH

Spinning Iraq for a GOP Victory

By Patrick Cockburn, Independent UKPosted on September 3, 2008, Printed on September 6, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/97511/

Political events in Iraq are seldom what they seem.

The handover by the U.S. military of control of Anbar province, once the heartland of the Sunni rebellion, to Iraqi forces is a case in point.

The U.S. will keep 25,000 American soldiers in Anbar, so the extent to which the Iraqi government will really take over is debatable. But the future of Anbar is a crucial pointer to the fate of Iraq. It is a vast area and one of the few parts of Iraq that is overwhelmingly Sunni.

The Iraqi government is dominated by Shia Islamic parties in alliance with Kurdish nationalists.

The vital question now is whether or not this Shia-dominated government can reassure the Sunni minority that they are not going to be overrun as the U.S. withdraws its forces. The Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is in a very confident mood. In the past four months he feels he has successfully faced down the Shia militiamen of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army by taking back control of Basra, Sadr City and Amarah.

Then he refused to sign a new security accord with the U.S. which President George Bush wanted to see agreed by August 31st.

In the past few weeks he has been confronting his Kurdish allies over the future of the oil city of Kirkuk and the town of Khanaqin.

Maliki may be overplaying his hand but there is no doubt that the Iraqi state is becoming more powerful in Iraq and the Mahdi Army, the Americans and the Kurds less so. The Americans in particular feel that he exaggerates the extent to which his success against the Mahdi Army was because of the new strength of the Iraqi security forces. These troops were doing badly until they received American support.

Click here to read full story: http://www.alternet.org/story/97511/

CNN REPORTS: IRAQ BOMBINGS KILLS 6,WOUNDS 50: McCAIN AND PALIN KEEP SAYING "WE ARE WINNING THE WAR"

It remains a shame the mainstream media doesn't CHALLENGE John McCain and Sarah Palin on how they can keep on saying we are "winning the war in Iraq" when incidents like the following are happening every single day in Iraq.

The "surge" was a total joke and anyone who has ever been in the military knows the United States military didn't do anything or you would have been reading about the body count of dead Al Qaeda or insurgents.

The Sunni Awakening and other Iraq tribal leaders ran Al Qaeda and the insurgents out of their provinces while the U.S. military stood GUARD.

McCain and Palin continue to LIE, LIE, LIE to the American public about the "surge" and not a single reporter has the guts to ask them where are all the bodies of dead Al Qaeda and insurgents if this was such a big U.S. military victory.

This is now the only military victory in the history of the world where no dead bodies of the enemy have ever been found.

Comment by BILL CORCORAN, editor of CORKSPHERE


Deadly Iraq bombings target market, politician

Story Highlights
Saturday car bombing in busy Tal Afar outdoor market kills 6, wounds 50
Bombing follows attack on politician Ahmed Chalabi; he survives but 6 killed
Tal Afar was scene of May crackdown on Sunni insurgents
Violence happening during Islam's holy month of Ramadan

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/06/iraq.main/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least six people were killed and 50 wounded in a suicide car bombing Saturday at an outdoor market in northern Iraq, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.
The midday attack in Tal Afar, about 45 miles west of Mosul in Nineveh province, was carried out less than a day after a car bombing in western Baghdad that targeted Shiite politician Ahmed Chalabi.

The car bombing hit the same market in Tal Afar where a car bombing last month killed more than two dozen people and wounded scores, police said.

Iraqi officials said at least six people, including five from Chalabi's entourage, were killed in Friday's attack in Baghdad. Chalabi was not harmed, Iraq's Interior Ministry said.

Nine of Chalabi's guards or drivers were among the 17 wounded, the ministry said. The rest of the casualties were civilians, it said.

Chalabi is a controversial Iraqi politician best known outside the country for providing false intelligence to the U.S. government on the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The intelligence was cited, in part, as the justification for the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

A deputy prime minister for a time after the invasion, Chalabi is now head of a committee overseeing the activities of former members of deposed President Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.

Also on Friday, Defense Ministry adviser Abdul Amir Hassan was driving near his home in east Baghdad when he was shot to death by attackers using guns equipped with silencers.

The violence comes as Muslims observe the holy month of Ramadan, a time when markets are busier than usual with people shopping for food and other items in preparation for the breaking of the daily fast at dusk.

Read more here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/06/iraq.main/index.html

CNN REPORTS: BUSH TO CUT 8,000 TROOPS. MOVE SAID TO BE POLITICALLY MOTIVATED

President Bush is planning on cutting 8,000 troops from Iraq and the move is considered to be politically motivated as a way to help the McCain/Palin ticket in November.

Source: Bush considering 8,000 troop cuts in Iraq
Story Highlights
NEW: President Bush looking at top commander's proposal for troop reduction
Commanders agree more troops needed in Afghanistan to counter growing Taliban
U.S. military leaders say no significant troop withdrawals before early 2009
A joint Iraqi-U.S. committee would determine duration and number of forces needed

From Barbara Starr, Jamie McIntyre and Brianna Keilar CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/05/iraq.troops/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The top U.S. general in Iraq is recommending nearly 8,000 troop cuts in Iraq because of the improving situation there, a source close to the process has told CNN.
President Bush is considering Gen. David Petraeus' recommendation, which the official said is for a reduction of "well over 7,500 personnel," with the number including combat and support troops.
Some units would leave Iraq over the next five months as they complete their missions. But the first possible significant reduction -- an army brigade combat team -- would leave without replacement early next year, said the official, and that would free a brigade to be rotated to Afghanistan instead of Iraq.
Petraeus gave his recommendation to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, who have passed it and other recommendations along to the president.
A reduction in U.S. troops in Iraq would free up personnel for deployment to Afghanistan, a move urged by many commanders. The Taliban has stepped up its fight in that country, posing a challenge for the 33,000 U.S. troops deployed there.
The White House will not comment on the details of the Iraq recommendations. Spokeswoman Dana Perino said only that Bush "has received the assessment and recommendation from the Pentagon and he is considering his options."
The president is expected to make an announcement on troop levels next week, the same time Gates and Mullen are to testify before the House Armed Services Committee about Iraq and Afghanistan.
There are 146,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Iraq and the United States are working to seal a security agreement that would set down a framework to withdraw troops.
In deciding on troop cuts, officials must weigh the need for sufficient U.S. military presence to help Iraq build its army and the significant sentiment there for U.S. and coalition troops to withdraw swiftly.
U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have been looking at a proposal calling for a complete U.S. military withdrawal by the end of 2011, and a deadline of June 30, 2009, to end the presence of U.S. troops in cities and towns.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell confirmed that Gates and Mullen made their recommendations to Bush on Wednesday, but gave no details.
"I can tell you that all these leaders are fundamentally in agreement on how we should proceed in Iraq," he said of Gates, Mullen, Petraeus, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and acting Central Command chief Gen. Martin Dempsey.
"Of course, now it is up to the commander-in-chief to decide the way ahead," Morrell said.
Officials said senior military leaders agree that the soonest troop levels could be significantly reduced would be early in 2009, when a 3,500-strong brigade from the 10th Mountain Division is scheduled to deploy to Iraq to replace a brigade leaving in mid-January.
Pentagon officials say that would free another brigade combat team to arrive in Afghanistan in mid-February.
The Army has identified units that could be available for Afghanistan, but it would take two to three months from the time the decision is made to assemble all the weaponry and equipment they need and ship them and the troops to Afghanistan, two Army officials told CNN.
The officials said the troops would not need extensive additional training to switch from Iraq to Afghanistan, especially those earmarked to train Afghan forces.
The increase in fighting in Afghanistan contrasts with the dramatic drop in violence across Iraq, where U.S. military is confident that it will continue to make strides.
The military transferred security control to Iraqis this week in the country's Anbar province, a Sunni Arab region once dominated by insurgents and now a bastion of the Awakening Councils, or Sons of Iraq, U.S.-backed groups that help with some security duties.
The military said it plans to transfer management of the Awakening Councils to the Iraqi government next month.
"The government of Iraq and coalition forces have agreed in principle to transfer all 100,000 Sons of Iraq," Maj. John Hall told CNN. "The transfer will start with the Baghdad province, with the other provinces following at a later date."
Under the security agreement still being negotiated, the Iraqi government could ask Americans to extend the tentative deadlines if it sees the necessity of doing so. A joint Iraqi-U.S. committee would then help define the duration and number of forces that would be needed and regularly assess the security situation on the ground.

PALIN'S GOVERNOR PLANE NOT SOLD ON E-BAY

Plane Not Sold on eBay

Updated 7:10 p.m.
By Anne E. Kornblut

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/05/plane_not_sold_on_ebay.html

One of the compelling anecdotes about Sarah Palin is that she auctioned off the Alaska governor's jet on eBay after taking office -- a swift move made by a reformer hoping to clean up the excesses of her predecessor.

But in fact, the jet did not sell on eBay. It was sold to a businessman from Valdez named Larry Reynolds, who paid $2.1 million for the jet, shy of the original $2.7 million purchase price, according to contemporaneous news reports, including a story in the New York Times.

Dan Spencer, the director of administrative services for Alaska's Public Safety Department, said that the Republican speaker of the Alaska House, John L. Harris, brokered the deal. Reynolds made campaign contributions to both Palin and Harris in 2006 and 2007.

What happened? It appears that, as promised during her bid for governor in 2006, Palin did try to sell the plane on eBay but that doing so was not as easy as it might have sounded. After putting it up to auction, there was one serious bid, in December 2006, and it fell through. Still, the Westwind II was sold about eight months later, achieving Palin's goal of ridding the state of a luxury item.

But that hasn't stopped Palin, or John McCain, from implying -- and, on Friday, claiming outright -- that Palin did sell the jet on the Internet.

"You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor and sold it on eBay -- and made a profit!" McCain declared in Wisconsin at a campaign stop on Friday. It could not be immediately determined what that profit was.
The video tribute to Palin that aired at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night made the same claim.

"She signed sweeping ethics reform legislation, auctioned the governor's jet on eBay," the narrator said, citing it in a list of Palin's achievements.

Palin has been more cautious in her comments. Rather than claiming she sold it on eBay, she gave in her convention remarks a description that was true but, nonetheless, still left the impression she had sold the jet online. "That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay," Palin said.

"She put the plane on eBay," said Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for McCain's campaign. "It didn't meet the minimum threshold the state desired so they used a broker. The plane was purchased by the former gov against the wishes of the legislature and voters -- was a symbol of corruption."

She sold the plane and saved the taxpayers money on maintence and costs."

PALIN'S COLD SHOULDER

WASILLA, Alaska — While Sarah Palin’s supporters tout her personal warmth and openness, the newly minted Republican vice presidential nominee can be brusque to allies, advisers and employees who fall from her favor.

Palin has unceremoniously ended relationships with an aide who was dating a family friend’s soon-to-be ex-wife, a campaign adviser whose mother-in-law fought Palin’s legislative agenda, a local political mentor who she felt represented the “old boys network,” a police chief who she said tried to intimidate her with “stern look[s]” and a state commissioner who refused to fire her sister’s ex-husband.

By KENNETH P. VOGEL 9/5/08 1:21 PM EST
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13190.html

“When she decides you’re done, you’re done,” said John Bitney, who was a top aide to Palin’s gubernatorial campaign and administration.Bitney, a longtime state Capitol hand who grew up in this small town with Palin and her husband, Todd, said he was asked to leave his job as legislative director in the governor’s office last year after the Palins found out that he was dating the soon-to-be-ex-wife of one of Todd’s good friends.While Palin’s office framed the departure as an “amicable” mutual decision, Bitney told Politico that Sarah and Todd Palin “were upset with me about my divorce and who I was dating and they didn’t want that in the governor’s office. I wanted to stay with the governor and support the governor — we’re talking about someone who’s been a friend for 30 years — but I understood it and I have no ax to grind over the whole thing.”

Still, Bitney took a line from the "Seinfeld" character Elaine, deeming Palin “a bad breaker-upper.” Palin’s abrupt and often unexplained — or not fully explained — dismissals, though, leave former colleagues and political observers speculating about the “real reasons,” Bitney said, adding that her style “is more dramatic than the way most executives do it. They bring you in, tell you they’re going to go in another direction and get everyone in the office to sign a card and cut a cake. But that’s just not her style.”

The McCain-Palin campaign declined to answer questions about Palin’s personnel moves or personal rifts. Her supporters in Wasilla — a group that seems to include an overwhelming majority of the city’s 7,000 or so residents — say she is guided by the taxpayers’ interests and a strong moral compass.“In general, she is an extremely kind-hearted person,” said Judy Patrick, a close ally who served on the city council when Palin was mayor.

“It’s just difficult when you’re a leader. She had to make tough decisions on how she planned to accomplish what she planned to accomplish and who was going to be on the team to do that.”Palin’s willingness to end allegiances with those who offend her may have helped propel her rise in 2004, when she exposed corrupt dealings by a Republican bigwig on the state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, burnishing her reformer credentials and setting the stage for her 2006 gubernatorial campaign.But on other occasions, her trigger has gotten her into trouble.

An ongoing investigation by the state legislature—expected to be released before the presidential election—into Palin’s firing of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan in January threatens to damage her reputation as a reformer.At first, Palin offered only a vague, platitudinal explanation for Monegan’s dismissal. But after Monegan asserted http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/469001.html he was pressured by both Sarah and Todd Palin, the governor accused Monegan of not being a team player, and of failing to hire sufficient numbers of troopers or doing enough to reduce rural alcohol abuse.

Read more here: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13190.html

WASHINGTON POST: JUST THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT WAS HEARD AT GOP CONVENTION: PENTAGON URGES EXTENDED PAUSE IN IRAQ DRAWDOWN

Senator Lindsay Graham (R. South Carolina) angrily told the GOP convention that we are "winning in Iraq" even as the Pentagon was issuing a statement calling for a slowdown in a drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq because of the unstable conditions in the country.

Pentagon Urges Extended Pause in Iraq Drawdown

By Karen DeYoung and Ann Scott TysonWashington Post Staff Writers
Friday, September 5, 2008; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090402820.html

Pentagon leaders have recommended to President Bush that the United States make no further troop reductions in Iraq this year, administration officials said yesterday.

The plan, delivered this week, calls for extending a pause in drawdowns until late January or early February -- after the Bush administration has left office. At that point, up to 7,500 of the approximately 146,000 troops in Iraq could be withdrawn, depending on conditions on the ground there.

The reduction would coincide with new deployments to Afghanistan, officials said.
Defense officials described the recommendation as a compromise between those who believed that security gains in Iraq remained too tenuous to contemplate further withdrawals now, and those who proposed continuing the reductions that began this spring.

Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, adopted a cautious approach in an assessment he presented last week to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Petraeus cited several areas of ongoing concern, including the postponement of provincial elections initially scheduled for this month, the disputed status of the northern city of Kirkuk, lingering ethno-sectarian conflicts, and questions surrounding the future of a local security force known as the Sons of Iraq.

There was also the factor of "a new commander coming in," one official said. On Sept. 16, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno will replace Petraeus, who will become head of U.S. Central Command.

According to another military official close to the process, Petraeus and Odierno also considered the rising violence in Afghanistan as well as the overall strain on the U.S. military from the two conflicts. Under the proposal Gates and Mullen gave Bush in a video briefing Wednesday, at least one additional Army combat brigade -- about 3,500 troops -- would be sent to Afghanistan instead of its scheduled deployment to replace a brigade leaving Iraq. An additional 4,000 would be withdrawn from disparate units. In Afghanistan, a Marine battalion due to depart by the end of the year would be replaced.

Read full story here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090402820.html

VIDEO: ROBERT PARRY ON THE 'REAL' JOHN McCAIN AND THE IRAQ WAR

Robert Parry is an American investigative journalist. He was awarded the George Polk Award for National Reporting in 1984 for his work with the Associated Press. In 1995, he established Consortium News as an online ezine dedicated to investigative journalism. From 2000 to 2004, he worked for the financial wire service Bloomberg. Major subjects of Parry's articles and reports on Consortium News include the presidency of George W. Bush[3], the career of Army general and Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell (with Norman Solomon), the October Surprise controversy of the 1980 election, the Nicaraguan contra-cocaine investigation, the efforts to impeach President Clinton, right-wing terrorism in Latin America, the political influence of Sun Myung Moon, mainstream American media imbalance, United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates [11], as well as international stories . Parry has written several books, including Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & "Project Truth." (1999) and Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq (2004).

WATCH THIS FASCINATING THE REAL NEWS NETWORK VIDEO HERE:


http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2224

CNN REPORTS: PALIN RAISES MILLIONS----------FOR OBAMA. ONE DAY RECORD

Sarah Palin's much talked about speech to the GOP convention resulted in a one day record-breaking $10 million into the Obama/Biden campaign coffers while only $1 million was raised for the McCain/Palin campaign on the same day.

After Palin speech, Obama has record $10 million day

Posted: 08:50 PM ET
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

(CNN) – Barack Obama's campaign for president has raised $10 million since Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke Wednesday night, the campaign announced, calling it a "one-day record."

Palin, the governor of Alaska, launched harsh attacks on Obama, accusing him of being two-faced and a political lightweight with no significant legislative accomplishments.

"Coverage of the Palin attacks on the news this evening just pushed us over $10 million," Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in an e-mail to reporters Wednesday night.

The Republican Party announced earlier in the day it had raised $1 million in the wake of Palin's speech.

VA CONTINUES TO ABANDON WOUNDED VETS

The VA Continues to Abandon Returning Vets

By Joshua Kors, The NationPosted on September 4, 2008, Printed on September 4, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/97284/

Sgt. Juan Jimenez had one of the most dangerous jobs in Iraq, ushering top Administration officials through the war-torn streets of Baghdad. He returned home with two Purple Hearts and shrapnel lodged in his right arm. Today he is gravely ill.

What Jimenez didn't realize is that before he could receive benefits for his wounds, he'd have to prove that those wounds came from war. Three and a half years later, the sergeant is still making his case. The Department of Veterans Affairs isn't convinced. And it won't give him his benefits until it is.

The VA requires all veterans to prove their wounds are "service-connected" before it writes them a check. Jimenez thought that hurdle was merely a formality. The Army sergeant had been struck by two roadside bombs. The first sliced into his arms; six months later, a second bomb sprayed scrap metal into his face, knocking him unconscious and leaving him brain damaged. He began having seizures and suffering from memory loss. The blast left a persistent ringing in his right ear. The stress sparked nightmares, flashbacks and acid-reflux disease.

"I'm a different person now," Jimenez says glumly. "I come home; I lock myself in my room. I don't really talk to anyone. I used to be fun." Now, he says, he can't even have a bowl of cereal. It gives him heartburn for days. "That second bomb, it killed me -- it just left my body." Sick, suicidal, the sergeant sought help from the VA.

The VA's diagnosis: too much caffeine. "They said I was drinking too much Red Bull. That's what was causing my problems."

Jimenez got mad. At that point, he did something few veterans even consider: he sued the VA. The sergeant is a member of Veterans for Common Sense (VCS), one of the most prominent veterans' groups in the country. In July 2007, executive director Paul Sullivan filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Jimenez and the thousands of veterans in his organization who were wounded in Iraq and, he says, were rebuffed by the VA when they sought disability and medical benefits.

"The VA needs more than a few minor changes at the margins. It needs a massive overhaul," says Sullivan. His organization's lawsuit asked Judge Samuel Conti to do exactly that: radically restructure the VA and the way it processes veterans' claims. The VA moved immediately to get the case dismissed, asserting that Sullivan's organization didn't represent the nation's wounded vets and had no standing to demand an overhaul of a $94 billion government organization.

Judge Conti disagreed. The 86-year-old World War II veteran scheduled the trial for the end of April, and he demanded VA's top officials appear and take the stand. Over seven days VCS's lawyers would press them to explain internal e-mails and studies, statistics and videos, all suggesting that high-ranking officials purposely deceived Congress and the public, twisted data to cloak the VA's poor care of the ill and injured, and fired a prominent doctor who decided to expose the problems.

Continue reading here: http://www.alternet.org/story/97284/

CNN BREAKING NEWS: U.S. TROOPS MISTAKENLY KILL 6 IRAQI SOLDIERS

Mistaken-fire incident leaves 6 Iraqi troops dead

NEW: Three police, two soldiers, one Awakening Council member killed
Iraqi troops mistakenly fire on U.S. patrol boat; U.S. copter fires back
Incident occurs in Sunni Arab town north of Baghdad

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/03/iraq.main/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. forces killed at least six Iraqi security troops after Iraqi personnel mistakenly fired on an American patrol boat north of Baghdad on Wednesday, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

Ten people were also wounded in the firefight, which occurred at an Iraqi checkpoint along the Tigris River north of the Sunni Arab town of Tarmiya. The checkpoint was manned by Iraqi security forces and Awakening Council members.

The Interior Ministry official said the forces mistakenly opened fire on a U.S. military patrol boat. A U.S. chopper returned fire, causing the casualties, the official said.

Another Interior Ministry official said that the incident took place early Wednesday and that the security personnel didn't realize they were firing on U.S. troops.

This official said that among the six who were killed, three were police, two were soldiers and one was an Awakening Council member.

The U.S. military didn't elaborate on the sequence of events but confirmed coalition forces had been conducting operations against al Qaeda in Iraq militants when there was "weapons fire between coalition and Iraqi security forces."