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John McCain’s Swift Boater Needs To Go

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, History, McCain, Military, War

Okay, I’ve finally heard some of things that Bud Day said on the conference call, and McCain better get rid of this guy or he has no right getting upset about what Clark said.
In any event, Bud Day still claims that the Swift Boaters were okay because they were just pointing out “the truth.”
“The [...]

June 30th, 2008 | Permalink| 4 Comments »

Wesley Clark, Please Remove Foot From Mouth

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Democrats, Dumb Things Said By Smart People, History, McCain, Military, War

As opposed to misinterpreting what McCain said about gas prices…this one is crystal clear…
“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”
As Ambinder notes, this one belongs in “The Better Left Unsaid Department…“

June 30th, 2008 | Permalink| 4 Comments »

Guantanamo Decision Not “Worst in History”

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Constitution, Guantanamo Bay, Law, McCain, Supreme Court, Terrorism, The War On Terrorism, War

George Will takes issue with John McCain’s statement that the recent Supreme Court decision on Guantanamo detainees was one of the “worst decisions in history.”
Will’s complaint is as much about McCain’s hyperbole as it is about McCain’s opposition to the ruling. As Will notes, this is not a clear-cut matter and people of good will [...]

June 17th, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

McCain: SCOTUS Detainee Decision One Of The Worst In History

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Constitution, Guantanamo Bay, Law, McCain, The War On Terrorism, War

Can you tell it’s an election year?
From Swampland comes this transcript of McCain’s statements during a town hall…
The United States Supreme Court yesterday rendered a decision which I think is one of the worst decisions in the history of this country. Sen. Graham and Sen. Lieberman and I had worked very hard to make sure [...]

June 13th, 2008 | Permalink| 11 Comments »

Supreme Court Rules Detainees Now Have Legal Rights

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Guantanamo Bay, Law, Supreme Court, Terrorism, The War On Terrorism, War

Big, big news.
The Supreme Court restored habeas rights for enemy combatants, and thereby acknowledged that the “War on Terrorism” has no discernible end and so detainees should be able to challenge indefinite detention.
More from AP:
In its third rebuke of the Bush administration’s treatment of prisoners, the court ruled 5-4 that the government is violating [...]

June 12th, 2008 | Permalink| 8 Comments »

Finding Our Missing Billions In Iraq

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Bush, Cheney, Iraq, Military, Money, The World, War

Apparently, the BBC has been able to find where some of it went…
The search for the missing billions also led the programme to a house in Acton in West London where Hazem Shalaan lived until he was appointed to the new Iraqi government as minister of defence in 2004.
He and his associates siphoned an estimated [...]

June 10th, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

McCain Should Not Use Petraeus To Raise Money

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Bad Decisions, Iraq, McCain, Military, Money, War

First this…

Obviously this is a really bad call on McCain’s part, especially since the Joint Chiefs have recently said, very explicitly, that members of the military should not be involved with these political campaigns…
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has written an unusual open letter to all those in uniform, warning [...]

May 30th, 2008 | Permalink| 6 Comments »

Former Bush Press Secretary’s Scathing Tell-All Revealed

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Books, Bush, History, Iraq, Republicans, The Plame Game, The War On Terrorism, The World, War

After the administration threw Scott McClellan under the bus in the Plame affair, you knew this had to be coming. But most revealing is his inside info about the Iraq war.
Politico details some of his assertions:
• McClellan charges that Bush relied on “propaganda” to sell the war.
• He says the White House press corps was [...]

May 27th, 2008 | Permalink| 6 Comments »

Gen. David Petraeus: Appeaser?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Bush, Iran, Iraq, Military, Terrorism, The World, War

He apparently thinks diplomacy with Iran is the best option, and as the following suggests, he’s right in line with Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
From Wash Post:
Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, President Bush’s nominee to lead U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, supports continued U.S. engagement with international and regional partners to find [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

Bush Plans To Attack Iran Before He Leaves?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Bush, Democrats, Iran, Military, Republicans, The World, War

That’s the report from the Jerusalem media, but the administration is saying it’s false.
Who’s telling the truth?
The White House on Tuesday flatly denied an Army Radio report that claimed US President George W. Bush intends to attack Iran before the end of his term. It said that while the military option had not been taken [...]

May 20th, 2008 | Permalink| 8 Comments »

Obama And McCain Square Off On Foreign Policy

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Democrats, Foreign Policy, McCain, Republicans, Terrorism, Video, War

TPM has the comparison…

It’s definitely encouraging to think we’re going to have a genuine policy debate this fall about how we conduct our foreign policy.
So then…is Obama naive to think he can talk with our enemies or is McCain naive to think we shouldn’t given that our current foreign policy stance has resulted in more [...]

May 19th, 2008 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

Who Won The Foreign Policy Debate This Week?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Bush, Democrats, Foreign Policy, Iran, McCain, Republicans, The War On Terrorism, Video, War

Obama or McCain?
The Meet The Press roundtable tackles the subject, and while nobody breaks from their partisan affiliations, it’s a good talk.

Do note that Huckabee said Iran is indeed more dangerous, but he just doesn’t think it’s really Bush’s fault. Well, whose fault is it when we’re discussing American foreign policy? The Democrats?
In the end, [...]

May 18th, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

Obama Unwraps Bush’s Gift

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Bush, Democrats, Foreign Policy, History, Iran, Israel, McCain, Republicans, Terrorism, The War On Terrorism, War

And something tells me that this will be one of those gifts that’ll keep on giving…

May 16th, 2008 | Permalink| 5 Comments »

Bush’s Gift To Obama?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Bush, History, Iran, Israel, McCain, Terrorism, War

Chuck Todd explains why the Obama camp is cheering today…
When President Bush — thousands of miles away in Israel — decided to fire his thinly veiled shot at Obama yesterday, it was a giant gift to the Illinois senator and his campaign.
Why?
One, it essentially kept Clinton on the sidelines just two days after [...]

May 16th, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Lieberman Backs Bush’s “Appeasement” Statements

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Bush, Iran, Iraq, Lieberman, McCain, Republicans, Terrorism, The War On Terrorism, The World, War

Here’s the transcript from MSNBC via ThinkProgress:
“President Bush got it exactly right today when he warned about the threat of Iran and its terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. It is imperative that we reject the flawed and naïve thinking that denies or dismisses the words of extremists and terrorists when they shout “Death to [...]

May 15th, 2008 | Permalink| 8 Comments »

Video: Obama Praises Bush Sr.’s Gulf War Strategy

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Bush, Foreign Policy, History, The War On Terrorism, The World, Video, War

There have always been whispers that George Sr. really thinks his son’s Iraq policy is wrong. That’s never been confirmed by him personally, but former aides are on the record as saying so.
And now Obama is giving his strategy the thumbs up as a juxtaposition to the his son’s.
I wonder how he’d feel about the [...]

May 15th, 2008 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Bush Proves Yet Again He Just Doesn’t Get It

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Bush, Democrats, Hillary, History, McCain, Military, The War On Terrorism, The World, War

After a foreign policy that has resulted in more enemies instead of fewer, Bush actually has the gall to suggest that talking with some of the more high level foes is akin to appeasing Hitler.
Seriously?
“Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have [...]

May 15th, 2008 | Permalink| 5 Comments »

Purple Hearts For Psychological Wounds?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Mental Health, Military, War

That’s what the Pentagon is pondering, and although it’s nothing more than a gesture, making PTSD and other invisible battlefield scars worthy of this historic recognition would be something I’d welcome wholeheartedly.
From Wash Post:
WASHINGTON — Centuries before Iraq and Afghanistan, George Washington created the Purple Heart to honor troops wounded in combat.
But with an increasing [...]

May 13th, 2008 | Permalink| 6 Comments »

Jon Stewart Interviews Doug Feith On Iraq

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Bush, History, Iraq, Terrorism, Video, War

Feith is famous for being the guy who formed the “Office of Special Plans”, a group that cherry-picked the intelligence for the administration so they could justify going into Iraq because of WMDs and ties to al Qaeda. And now he’s out on the talk show circuit hawking his book which claims that their was [...]

May 13th, 2008 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Obama “Disses Boomers”?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Democrats, History, War

Obama said this today in West Virginia…
One of the saddest episodes in our history was the degree to which returning vets from Vietnam were shunned, demonized and neglected by some because they served in an unpopular war. Too many of those who opposed the war in Vietnam chose to blame not only the leaders who [...]

May 12th, 2008 | Permalink| 8 Comments »