BBC Headline - NO TROOP INCREASE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8356094.stm
Envoy urges no US troop increase 
 Ambassador Eikenberry was previously a military commander in Afghanistan

"The US ambassador in Kabul has written to the White House arguing against sending thousands more American troops to Afghanistan."
In a leaked cable, Karl Eikenberry expressed doubts about the competence of President Hamid Karzai's government. 

"The message arrived amid intense debate over strategy, with President Obama yet to make a decision on troop numbers. 

This dramatic intervention seems to put the envoy at odds with generals wanting reinforcements, correspondents say."

Fort Hood suspect warned of threats within the ranks
Cited stress facing Muslims Hasan spoke at Walter Reed in 2007  
Maj. Nidal M. Hasan gave a presentation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2007. (AP)

By Dana Priest
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

"The Army psychiatrist believed to have killed 13 people at Fort Hood warned a roomful of senior Army physicians a year and a half ago that to avoid "adverse events," the military should allow Muslim soldiers to be released as conscientious objectors instead of fighting in wars against other Muslims"

Republican and Democrats will attempt to capitalize on the Fort Hood killings to further constrict constitutional rights and expand the National Security State. 

In my view, the core issue is: Will policy be changed to strengthen the rights of members of the military or will Fort Hood become the pretext for further restrictions on rights.

I believe that the Fort Hood killings could have been avoided if Hasan had had a way out of the military. Current military policy must be changed. New legislation to expand the rights of conscientious objectors is needed.

Consider the case of Muhammad Ali:

 "The most celebrated case was that of boxer Muhammad Ali, who in 1966 claimed that military service was inconsistent with his conversion to Islam. Ali should have been covered under Seeger, but his local draft board found his beliefs to be insincere and sentenced him to five years in prison. He remained free on bond until his case was overturned in 1971, but hundreds of Muslims (especially black Muslims) went to jail because courts refused to accept their religion as the basis for conscientious objection." 

I am open to ideas on how the Fort Hood tragedy can become a force for peace. If we are not pro-active, we cede issues raised by Fort Hood to the neo-cons. You can be sure that they will milk this slaughter for evey drop to advance their pro-war agenda. 

"Fort Hood shooting: Texas army killer linked to September 11 terrorists

Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a "spiritual adviser" to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001."

All the facts are not in yet, but it looks to me like Hasan chose sides and took action. Some will call it an act of terrorism. However, I think "terrorism" implies the killing of innocents for political reasons. This seems to me like a direct strike on the U.S. military. It was an act of war.

Gitmo prisoners in their own words

Help spread this on the internet.

see the ACLU Video

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/11/02/justice-denied-voices-from-gitmo/

 The Washington Post Editorial Is a Lie
 
 The editorial defends deficit spending for war, but not for health care reform.WAPO sums up its argument as follows:
 
 "So, in answer to our questioner: Wars end, and the spending for them tapers off; entitlement programs must be funded in perpetuity."
 
 This claim is false in numerous ways.
 
 Deficit spending on these wars continues into perpetuity, as will interest on the debt. Of course, Americans maimed and disfigured by these wars will get "free" government health care for the rest of their lives. Then there are the costs of rebuilding these countries after their infrastructure has been destroyed. This rebuilding cost has no ending date.
 
 Of course, there are also the costs of maintaining the U.S. military presence long after the shooting stops. Japan, Germany, and Korea are just a few examples. Apparently, there is no end to these expenditures.
 
 Over the course of recorded history, war spending does not taper off. War spending increases.
 
 The second WAPO lie is that "entitlement programs must be funded in perpetuity."
 
 According this front page Washington Post story , "Clinton Signs Welfare Bill Amid Division," dated August 23 1996, "President Clinton signed historic welfare legislation yesterday that rewrites six decades of social policy, ending the federal guarantee of cash assistance to the poor and turning welfare programs over to the states."
 
 "The bill ends the long-standing cash-assistance known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, abolishing an entitlement created 61 years ago that guarantees any eligible poor person can receive aid."
 
 The Washington Post is lying. It is war spending that is funded into perpetuity, not entitlements.

The YouTube video is here

It's the latest Dance Craze... We're doin' the mop.
 Rockin' the mop!
 
 First ya shake it to the left
 Then ya shake it to the right
 
 Do the rope-a dope
 Then Slap 'em with the soap
 
 Oh Yeah!  
 We're rockin' the mop!

The United States stands alone among industrialized nations in not providing health coverage to all of its citizens.

DOWNLOAD The Harvard Study here...

http://pnhp.org/excessdeaths/health-insurance-and-mortality-in-US-adults.pdf

Many are criticizing the selection of Obama as Nobel Peace Prize winner. Few have suggested a better choice.

The outrage of the neocons is predictable. They want more war. The critique from the left is a bit more difficult to figure out. Of course we would all like Obama to to more. So would he. 

Can he move faster than the American public? Can he move faster than the Congress? We hope so, but there are some constraints.

Dianne Feinstein and many other Democrats want MORE troops in Afgahnistan. Perhaps the left should deal with this reality instead of joining the right wing in their ridicule of Obama.

Looks like the Nobel Committee unanimously selected a marxist/muslim/death panel/nazi as winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. I guess this means the Nobel Committee is also part of the great conspiracy. 
Quite a large number of elected Republicans have committed themselves to some or all of the wing-nut theories. As reality becomes more apparent over time, the nut-ball statements of these Republicans will come back to bite them.
By the way, I can't think of any single individual who has done more to shift the war dynamic than Barrack Obama. I think a lot of Americans don't even realize what he has already accomplished.
How about this.. John McCain, the guy who just a few months ago was singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran..." is now congradulating President Barrack Obama. Yes, the tables are starting to turn. Keep it up Mr. President. Work that rope-a-dope until they're punch drunk, then seize the moment!