Thanks!
Reader Paul sent me this link to a letter to the American people by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
Dear Americans:There is more. Read it all for it is good.
As I am visiting the United States for the second time representing free and democratic Iraq, I felt it my duty to give you an update on what has been achieved in Iraq over the past year and on the challenges that lie ahead.
The first thing I would like to convey is the gratitude of all Iraqis, who are fighting for a democratic government and a civil society, to the Americans.
Without your commitment, our struggle against despotism could not have made the progress that we have achieved. No expression of thanks could be enough for those who lost loved ones in Iraq. We feel your pain, we honor your sacrifice and we will never forget you.
To those of you who have family and friends in Iraq today, we say: Your sons and daughters are helping us through a historic transition. We will always remember the enormous sacrifice that America is making for Iraq.
Thanks to the United States, we are transforming Iraq from a country that was ruled by fear, repression and dictatorship into a country that is ruled by democracy and has the values of equality, tolerance, human rights and the rule of law at its heart.
April 9, 2003, the day of liberation, heralded a new era in the history of Iraq and the region. That day triggered a sequence of events that laid the foundation of a modern Iraq that is at peace with itself and the world.
All segments of Iraqi society have benefited from liberation. Under Saddam Hussein, the majority of the Sunni Arabs of Iraq were marginalized, Saddam and his gang were ruling in the name of this community. But in reality, the Sunni Arabs never had the chance to choose their representatives democratically and have a say about their future. Today, they have 58 deputies in Parliament, a vice president, a deputy prime minister and a speaker of Parliament; all were elected by the people of Iraq.
...The battle in Iraq today is not between the various communities. Their elected representatives have agreed on a government of national unity and on national reconciliation. Nor is it a battle between civilizations, as some have seen it.
It is a war "about civilization" as Prime Minister Tony Blair has phrased it so well - the conflict is between those who believe in having a civilization and those who don't believe in having one at all. As you no doubt already understand, we are fighting a terribly difficult war in Iraq. We are doing everything within our power to protect our people from this clear form of fascism that seduces them into civil war.
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FROM CAROL HERMAN
First of all, Iraq's a good place for Americans to build bases on. It adds to what we have in the Mideast. Including the needs to protect "the oil." And, the various countries, there. Including Kuwait, where it took effort to expel Saddam in '91.
With our presence in Iraq we put a damper on the ambitions of the Turks. Who right now are supposedly planning, along with Iran, a 4-mile incursion into the Kurd's area of Iraq TO STEAL KIRKUK! (Yes. You read that, correctly.)
And, Turkey isn't much of a partner. Because ALL of our current problems in Iraq stem from the games Turkey played (with the EU), back in 2003. When we were UNABLE to base troops at the Northern Iraqi border. And, had to take out Saddam without the benefits of a pincer move.
Given that Israel has no trouble STAYING PUT in a hostile environment, I think it helps the Americans maintain their presence in Iraq, as well. (This is NOT Vietnam! Where there was nothing there for the US. Except hostile civilians.)
Here? With Israel able to maintain her presence, SO SHOULD WE! (And, yes, it pisses Europe off! So that's another reason to stay put.)
What about Turkey's current plans? Dunno. DEBKA reported it. (So at least President Bush knows as much as DEBKA! And, it's hardly likely that the Kurds in Iraq have to worry! More like the Iranians should worry! And, according to DEBKA, Iran won't move until AFTER Turkey does the Turkey trot.) I'm not holding my breath.
But what about what's happening on the ground?
It turns out the poorest of the poor in Iraq, the uneducated SMALL groups of religious adherents, are RUNNING RIOT. They can only go so far. And, then? There will eventually be new elections. And, the current crop of parliamentarians; who are considered very defective by Iraqi MIDDLE CLASS standards, may face the enema you get when people vote one fraction OUT, and another IN. How often can this happen? AS LONG AS WE HAVE BOOTS ON THE GROUND, often enough!
By the way, in South Korea, our AIR FORCE is THREATENING TO LEAVE! Do you know why? The South Koreans refuse to give the Americans any place to do target practice. So, we're threatening to take away our air fleet from those lunatics. KEEP IN MIND: Korea is a worthless piece of real estate in the Pacific! There really is no "north and south." Just one side of the island that starves. While the other is in better industrial shape. Like Vietnam, it is NOT a problem for us to resolve.
Tactics in wars has changed dramatically! I think Iraq represents the LAST TIME WE GO IN AND TRY FOR STRUCTURAL CHANGES AMONG THE RECALCITRANT NATIVES. (That's why Bush hesitates to do anything about Iran. Sure. We could wup Iran! But then what? Hostile natives? Americans don't do well when we get this crap. So let them suffer.)
But learning how to do war RIGHT is very important! Just as GANG CONTROL is in the USA. You didn't know whe had problems with gangs, in this country? Surprise. Surprise. But it is well contained. Our police have various layers of containment. And, we keep on building prisons. And, identifying the worst offenders.) Again, some day all of this will link.
Meanwhile, we just need to keep up our courage.
Some things really do not change overnight! That's just the way it is.
FROM CAROL HERMAN, again.
I'd like to add a strange insight.
This past weekend, at a family get-together, I sat near a man who carries a badge. He works for the State. Policing gang activities. (The cop responsible for keeping the bad guys housed. NO PAROL.)
He said something that made the "LIGHTS GO ON."
Do you know why we have a WAR ON DRUGS? (He asked me.)
Then, he answered this question.
THE WAR IN VIETNAM brought out the PEACE-NIKs. And, our WAR ON DRUGS was a reaction to these "high" folks. In other words, even though I didn't see it ... I saw what he was saying.
Drugs have always been available. Heck, "grass" was BIG among the jazz bands of the 1920's and 1930's. We had PROHIBITION against ALCOHOL. It didn't include grass, back then.
But then we get to these "peaceniks" and an anger level builds up INSIDE government. So, NIXON ENDS THE DRAFT (1972). And, the WAR ON DRUGS begins.
Some war. We've enabled the worst cartels. Drugs are pervasive, now, throughout our school system. And, the wars, here, are nothing funny!
But, yes, we have killing fields most Americans are unaware of. And, it began because government types wanted to punish the flower-empowered-idiots.
Go figa.
That was what seeded this whole thing. Which still sits there as a dilemma. Minor drug users are no longer handicapped with long sentences, either.
Just like the history of BEDLAM. The insane asylum in London. Where, way way back, (Shakespeare's time) ... And, he demonstrates this in KING LEAR with Edgar faking madness ... and becoming TOM OF BEDLAM. IF you were a "peace-able" lunatic," you were NOT HOUSED in BEDLAM! There were only so many beds! So the lunatics who harmed no one were always set free.
This, too, is a piece of our Drug Wars. With half of us looking the other way. And, the other half puzzled on how the roots to this War on Drugs can't just be pulled out of the earth. Deeply imbedded. And, it started as a "get even" mentality with the kids, no longer drafted. Who knew?
Fancy that, huh?
Nixon says so to Haldeman on the Nixon tapes.
Nixon says pot is no worse than a martini. He says that the drug war was designed to go after the peacenik pot smokers.
Is this good or bad news?
Top Turk general warns of Islamist threat
Top Turk general warns of Islamist threat
Paul
Iraq will retaliate?
Iraq's Talabani warns neighbors to stop interfering
FROM: CAROL HERMAN
What if there's no category "good news or bad news?" In other words, what if you had a Crayola crayon box; and the color of your choice just wasn't there?
We have, in fact, a war on drugs. We don't tax the stuff. The "beverage" companies like keeping pot off the shelves. And, this is true, too, for the PHARMACEUTICALS.
It's like having valves at certain places in the economy. Which is going gangbusters.
So for all the things we've done wrong during the Cold War, the ECONOMY has been swelling. And, not necessarily because you earned a college degree. Bill Gates, not to waste his time, LEFT HARVARD!
So a lot of the things you carry around in your head, you carry around on faith. And, this is not just a reference to Jesus. Or Irving. (Since Moses wasn't given a name, I thought I'd provide one.)
Any-hoo. Most people DON'T PUT TOGETHER the reason we suddenly began putting pot smokers in prisons. This, you can couple to what Winston Churchill said. In our youth, we are all liberals. Because our hearts are in the right place. But when we reach maturity our heads take over. And, liberalism sinks along with most of the things that leave as we slide downhill.
Doesn't matter.
IT WAS A GOOD MOVE! For whatever reason. THE CONSEQUENCES WORK WELL ENOUGH. We have a broad society. We've now got lots of prisons. We've got schools that stink. (But wouldn't they stink, anyway? It only takes four or five years to teach a kid to read and write. Perhaps, a bit longer in China. Their system is harder than ours. But once you own the skills all you need is a good library. And, friends who ALSO read. Discussions don't have to come out at you through college lectures. Given what passes today, for college lectures.)
Though, I gotta tell ya. I OWN about 20 boxes or more of Feynman tapes! Good that this was taped when he gave them back in the early 1060's. In those years there wasn't much interference between the "elites" ... and REAL POLITICS. As well as REAL TEACHING! Stuff didn't start flying out the window until Stanford went ape shit. And, then? To meet the scourge we have a War on Drugs.
While the liberals put together a show with a turning away from religion. And, what had once been neighbrohood cohesion. Now? Ya can shop at Wal-Mart's on Sundays. Happy hunting.
AND ANOTHER THING.
FROM: CAROL HERMAN
Woodward's book is gonna tank. This time around his source, George Tenet, is OUT OF THE LOOP. (And, it was pretty obvious, even without Tenet saying so, that our President did not hold Tony Blair in high regard.)
Of course, the left is still happy saying our president is an idiot.
While, when Tony, at the G-8, tapped Bush on the shoulder for this "chit chat" it was Tony who didn't come off all that well.
And, even talking with bread in his mouth, off-the-cuff, the President was in high gear. ("They irony" of it all.)
With dirty politics now in motion, it also turns out Pelosi's "rag" is this garbage about FOLEY, which seems to feed the DC gossip stream. But just like their homocide rate, which is squite high in DC, it doesn't seem to matter to the rest of the country at all.)
Are we learning things in Iraq?
Heck, we're gonna galvanize, down the road, how we handle the bad neighborhoods.
DC won't be South Central (LA). Where one street is now being renamed for an Arab monster. That can only happen to Blacks! Who always manage to get themselves short-shrifted. Not that I care.
Will the arabs dare another 9/11 adventure? Well, if you think the answer is "yes" ... how come it's still safe to ride in taxi cabs in places like NYC? You couldn't do this in Baghdad. Without being a prime target for a kidnapping.
While transportation, public, that is; seems to fall to the lowest common denominators, who know nothing of public service. Another harm done by schools that stress garbage.
The military, meanwhile, is the last best hope for some kids to get out of poverty. And, others to bypass the crap that loads them with debt, that they pick up from colleges.
No wonder people dread having large families. Once upon a time, Detroit built station wagons. Because there was no other way to get all the kids; the entire family, "to the church on time." Not once we left riding horses to riding automobiles.
Now? You can shrink the sizes of cars. People just don't want large families. Imagine that! One or two kids is nice. But people no longer dream of fielding baseball teams. No. I'm not surprised.
Nor am I surprised that in the future, when we arm our military AND OUR POLICE, the men in the field WANT the best equipment possible.
The day of the old elites? Soon to be bygone. As law degrees themselves, now so common; have made our courts impossible venues. You didn't know? In Civil Cases all that happens is that you're supposed to get frightened. One way. Or another. And, the sooner you refuse the headaches and the bills? Lawyers earn less money.
Heck, in today's environment, half the marriages that DON'T TAKE PLACE, are symbols of how people feel about divorce lawyers.
Iraq, meanwhile, will remain on the agenda. GREAT TRAINING GROUNDS. While the arab savages fight among themselves. Will they get exhausted?
Perhaps, in one hundred years people will pass these buildings that have breasts for tops; and wonder why they are so empty? Start off with the fact that they don't include chairs. And, you NEVER GO THERE WITH NEW SHOES.
Things really do change.
When was the last time you saw an American injun with feathered headgear? Honest. It takes a long time. But savages do disappear.
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