WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush will not support a war spending bill that punishes the Iraqi government for failing to meet benchmarks for progress, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday.

Rice’s comments cast fresh doubt on a potential compromise between the Democratic-led Congress and the White House in getting money to U.S. troops.

Didn’t Mr. Bush and the Sec/Def both tell us, as well as Iraq and the entire world, that the U.S. commitment to Iraq is NOT open ended?? I seem to distinctly remember him saying that the Iraqis must show progress of their own if they want us to stay… Yes, they did, I had to refresh my memory as to when and where but it was fairly recent as indicated Here , Here and Here

He said disagreeing with him over the war — as many in the room do — does not mean “you don’t share the same sense of patriotism I do.”

“You can get that thought out of your mind, if that’s what some believe,” the president said. “These are tough times, but there’s no doubt in my mind that you want to secure this homeland as much as I do.”

Uh, Mr. President, I, as well as most Conservative already know that, but could you do us a favor?? Pass that on to a certain group that we refer to as ‘Bush Bots’?? Especially one Army wife in particular?? She really believes that anyone that disagrees with you is the Devil incarnate, she told me my Teddy Roosevelt quote at the top of my blog was an effort to twist things to MY way, I mean, you know better, and so do most people, but could ya drop her and her 3 or 4 buddies a note and tell em it’s OK and they don’t have to use covert means to try and destroy someones blog?? Please?? Just askin’…

“I listened to many members here, I listened to members of my own party, I listened to the military and came up with a plan that I genuinely believe has the best of succeeding,” the president said.

‘And after listening to all those people I decided to do it MY way, since I’m the decider and all, and since there’s not a damn thing any of y’all can do, I’m a ‘lame duck’, what are you gonna do, not re-elect me?’ would likely be a lot closer to what the real thought process was…

What this all boils down to is partisan politics, and it’s being used to play with the lives of American troops, and that’s not right, no matter who is doing it…

Full Story Here:
Rice: Bush Would Oppose Iraq Benchmarks

PETA — those People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — has a message for the editors at the Associated Press:

Fido’s a “he,” not an “it.”The organization, known worldwide for championing animal rights, is now taking its campaign to the written word, calling on Norm Goldstein, editor of The Associated Press Stylebook, to revise its guidelines, which currently characterize animals as inanimate objects.

In a letter written to Goldstein, the animal activists ask the AP to “take a progressive step and give animals the respect that they deserve by revising AP style guidelines to reflect the usage of personal pronouns for all animals.”

Anna West, the group’s director of communications, pointed out to Goldstein that “the American legal system recognized that nonhuman animals deserve legal status beyond that of mere ‘property’ and that abusive treatment of animals is more than simple vandalism.”

No word on whether the AP also was asked to refer to Spot in second reference as Mr. Spot.

SOURCE:
PETA Asks AP to Refer to Animals as ‘He’ and ‘She’

Ya know, there’s just some organizations that beg to be made fun of, and PETA is one of them…

Even USA Today takes a swipe at the moonbat PETA idiots with their very last line of this story: “No word on whether the AP also was asked to refer to Spot in second reference as Mr. Spot.” and quite frankly, I think that’s hilarious…

I seriously have to ask this question, if the AP does acquiesce to PETA’s request, will Spot notice the gender specific correctness in his name reference when he reads the morning news??

I am a proud, life-long, due paying, card carrying member of PETA, and my family has always supported PETA, but the PETA we belong to is People Eating Tasty Animals, in fact, as I type this, I’m eating some really tasty pig, sausage and biscuits…

So remember folks, there’s always plenty of room on the plate for all of God’s creatures, cooked medium/medium well, served with a baked potato, some Ranch Style beans, a salad and your beverage of choice…

Bon appétit…

BAGHDAD (AP) - An active duty U.S. Army officer warns the United States faces the prospect of defeat in Iraq, blaming American generals for failing to prepare their forces for an insurgency and misleading Congress about the situation here.

“For reasons that are not yet clear, America’s general officer corps underestimated the strength of the enemy, overestimated the capabilities of Iraq’s government and security forces, and failed to provide Congress with an accurate assessment of security conditions in Iraq,” Lt. Col. Paul Yingling said in the article published Friday in the Armed Forces Journal.

Several retired generals have made similar comments, but such public criticism from an active duty officer is rare. It suggests that misgivings about the conduct of the Iraq war are widespread in the officer corps at a critical time in the troubled U.S. military mission here.U.S. spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said Yingling was expressing “his personal opinions in a professional journal” and the military was focused on “executing the mission at hand.”

Yingling served as deputy commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. He has served two tours in Iraq, another in Bosnia and a fourth in Iraq’s Operation Desert Storm in 1991. He attended the Army’s elite School for Advanced Military Studies and has written for one of the Army’s top professional journals, Military Review.

Full Story Here:
Army Officer Criticizes Generals on Iraq

The 1st rule of career advancement: Thou shalt not criticize the POTUS or Sec/Def, no matter how wrong they are…

Yingling also broke the 2nd cardinal rule of career advancement: Thou shalt not criticize any commanding General even if that General IS an idiot…

Lt. Col. Paul Yingling just committed career suicide, in the interest of speaking the truth and telling it like it really is, he has sacrificed HIS career, you see, speaking the truth isn’t real popular anymore, not among many of our fellow bloggers, the current administration, the DoD and most supporters of the war in Iraq…

As the article says, “several retired generals have made similar comments, but such public criticism from an active duty officer is rare.” and that is the truth, in every sense of the word, and the reason is, many in the officer corps today are only concerned with one thing, and that is their career and how to advance it…

I am personally of the opinion that Lt. Col. Yingling either reads my blog and fashions his opinion after mine, or, God forbid, I have been right in MY accusations all along and my opinion is shared by people that aren’t blinded by politics, and have opinions that are formed by a real and sincere concern for what’s right for the USA and our troops, not the kissing of the presidents ass… Imagine that…

Or, Yingling could just be a moonbat anti-war traitor to the USA, I’m sure there’s a few on the FAR right that are already offering up that possibility, it seems like any opposing opinion garners that exact response from the FAR right and the ‘Bush Bot’ crowd, I know I have had a few of the FAR right accuse me of such nonsense…

Well, it may make me highly unpopular for saying this, but some folks need to open their eyes and take an objective look at what these retired Generals and folks like Lt. Col. Yingling are saying and not rely so much on the observations of the FOBBITS that never leave the wire and their wives that have never been there…

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Police arrested 172 Islamic militants, some of whom had trained abroad as pilots so they could fly aircraft in attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil fields, the Interior Ministry said Friday. A spokesman said all that remained in the plot “was to set the zero hour.”

The ministry issued a statement saying the detainees were planning to carry out suicide attacks against “public figures, oil facilities, refineries … and military zones” - some of which were outside the kingdom.

“They had reached an advance stage of readiness and what remained only was to set the zero hour for their attacks,” Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Mansour al-Turki told the Associated Press in a phone call. “They had the personnel, the money, the arms. Almost all the elements for terror attacks were complete except for setting the zero hour for the attacks.”

The ministry did not say the militants would fly aircraft into oil refineries, as the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers flew planes into buildings in New York and Washington, but it said in a statement that some detainees had been “sent to other countries to study flying in preparation for using them to carry out terrorist attacks inside the kingdom.”

Full Story Here:
Saudis Arrest 172 Militants in Plot

And another segment in the continuing saga, ‘As the Worm Turns’…

Nearly all of the 9-11 terrorists that struck the USA were of Saudi decent if I am not terribly mistaken, and that has led to the belief by many, myself included, that the Saudis had a fairly big role IN the attacks of 9-11, covert involvement, but involvement none the less…

It’s possible that the Saudis didn’t have the involvement with 9-11 that some of us have suspected or, it’s possible the Saudis have pissed off the more radical of their brethren, with moonbat terrorists, you never know, but in any case, the Saudis have shown us all what a strike against terrorism looks like, and it didn’t resemble a ’surge’, it looked like a ’sweep’, and maybe that’s what needs to happen in Iraq, sweep up the trash and get rid of it…

And you can bet that the Saudis won’t mollycoddle anyone that threatens their nation, they don’t play PC bullshit, they execute criminals, readily, and often…

Whether the Saudis are truly our friends or not is a question I don’t have a definitive answer to, our president seems to think so but I am not convinced, but I do think this story bears watching, I want to see exactly how the Saudis handle this threat, how open and honest they are in their prosecution of these people…