News – A long way to go for Turkey (1/2)

Bush’s latest stunt is just as controversial as the last, with sides speculating wildly and every inch of it being scrutinized. Depending on how you look at it, it could be much ado about nothing or yet another show of how dishonest the Bush Administration is.

Iraq

To add to the many scoffs at Bush’s Thanksgiving trip, Air Force One’s flight plan was falsified to cover up his destination. Personally, I don’t see a massive issue in that. Only that the obfuscation seems a touch craven, though justified given the situation in the country. It’s an admission that the Baghdad area is quite unstable and dangerous.

What does Bush’s Thanksgiving adventure mean to you?

A bomb explodes in the middle of a busy Baghdad street, killing one US soldier and four Iraqis. Some Iraqis, wondering how a bomb could be put in so public a place, show a decided lack of faith in the various institutions in control of the country. In a side note in the article, former Baathist leaders how fell out of grace with Saddam want to form a new party under a new name to participate in the country’s new political climate. Saddam, of course, can’t join up.

The lack of body armor for soldiers in Iraq has been a hot issue for some. Some worried families have even resorted to buying the flack jackets themselves and sending them to Iraq. But it looks like they’re finally going to be sent out. Hopefully it can curb some of the death that’s been going on over there.

What the sides have predicted about the outcome of the Iraq war have not come true in a literal sense. Personally, I was more peeved about the lying and deception, but as noted before that has passed and the occupation is the focus now.

Israel/Palestine

Things aren’t looking good for Ariel Sharon. His approval rating has dipped to an all time low at home, what with the US/Israeli feud over Colon Powell’s meeting with the Geneva Initiative authors. To add to that, Bush is backing up the meeting.

Afghanistan

The Constitutional Grand Assembly in the country is being threatened by the Taliban. Calling it a drama by US occupiers and stating that those attending deserve death, it’s pretty clear how they feel about it. Question is, will they do anything?

The US and UK are at odds over Afghan’s heroin trade. European intelligence sources and independent experts have said that while the US shows public concern, a blind eye is turned toward it. Considering that Afghan poppies are responsible for 90% of the UKs opium trade and very little of it reaches the US, one can see in part where the determination to end the drug trade varies.

Russia

A commuter train was blown apart by what is thought to be a suicide bombing. 36 killed, 150 injured in what is thought to be a move to disrupt weekend parliamentary elections.

US

Bush scraps steel tariffs, avoiding some trade issues with Europe, Japan and China. Bush offers little to cushion the blow here at home, with US steel workers and makers saying Bush capitulated to European blackmail. The Administration says that the tariffs were scrapped because studies showed they weren’t necessary, not because of threats of retaliation.

A musing on the state of low interest rates. Why they might not be such a good thing. Personally, the article confuses the brain. But I think I get the general idea of it all.

A National Academy of Sciences panel ash said that children, pregnant women and all others under the age of 40 living near US Nuclear plants need to have potassium iodide pills ready in case of a release of nuclear materials, for example because of an attack on the plant. I’d think that was a given.

Bush signed into law new legislation to give new tools in combating identity theft. Some consumer groups worry that it will prevent states from passing tougher regulations down the line.

Letters on Guantanimo – Camp Delta is a shame on the American people and all that they stand for. This autocratic administration continues to lose the sympathy and support given by the rest of the world after 9/11.

Musing if the war record really has that much sway over a candidate’s election possibilities. Pondering the four who have had their brush with the military. Dean, Bush, Clark and Kerry.