Have they forgotten that it was the Republicans who were in [...]]]> In every poll taken since 9/11, Americans say they STILL view Republicans as the party better able to deal with terrorism and a national crisis, confirming (as if there were any doubt) that voters either suffer from severe amnesia, or else they are monumentally stupid.

Have they forgotten that it was the Republicans who were in charge when the terrorists struck on 9/11? That it was the Republicans who decided to invade Iraq, even though Bin Laden and the Taliban were in Afghanistan? That it was a Republican administration that grossly mismanaged that war? That it’s Republicans who have failed to protect our ports? And that it was Republicans who ignored the warnings in the days before Hurricane Katrina, and who then failed to organize an effective rescue effort?

In the face of such a dismal record, how can rational, objective people believe that Republicans, as opposed to Democrats, are better able to handle a national security crisis and are better at protecting America?

Wait. I see that that question answers itself.

Six years ago, the United States had a chance to completely dismantle the Al Qaeda terror network and its supporters within the Afghan Taliban government behind a worldwide coalition sympathetic for the 2,754 [...]]]> “We have the evidence that al-Qaida and Taliban were behind the suicide attack on Benazir Bhutto,” Pakistan’s Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said.

Six years ago, the United States had a chance to completely dismantle the Al Qaeda terror network and its supporters within the Afghan Taliban government behind a worldwide coalition sympathetic for the 2,754 Americans that were murdered on 9/11. Instead, we chose to attack a completely unrelated nation and took our eye off the ball. Now, we have only thousands of more dead Americans, hundreds of billions of dollars lost and an Iraqi civil war to show for it.

Bhutto’s death is a direct result of the Bush administration’s incompetence in foreign policy. In case you are keeping score at home, the terrorists are winning and if you think we have managed to thwart additional attacks here in the United States because of our federal government’s policies, you are mistaken. Waterboarding, warrantless surveillance and the entire Department of Homeland Security have done absolutely nothing to increase our safety.

Al Qaeda has regrouped, they are as powerful as they were before 9/11 and have used our seemingly endless presence in Iraq as their most effective recruiting tool. For those that seek to kill us, their mission is truly accomplished. The only thing left for these nuts to do is to send the White House a Thank You card for doing their job for them. This is not fear mongering, this is reality.

Higher prices for gasoline and home heating oil, stock market volatility and rising mortgage foreclosures all account for some of the pessimism.

If this trend continues, prepare [...]]]>

Americans have turned markedly gloomier about the economy in recent months, a shift that is reshaping a presidential campaign long dominated by the war in Iraq and national security concerns.

Higher prices for gasoline and home heating oil, stock market volatility and rising mortgage foreclosures all account for some of the pessimism.

If this trend continues, prepare for Republicans to return the focus to fear mongering, “supporting the troops” and 9/11 – right up Rudy’s alley.

ANALYSIS October 8, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

General Pervez Musharraf’s victory in Pakistan’s October 6 presidential election has further destabilized the world’s most dangerous nation and ratcheted up tensions in a politically convulsed Middle East. Over the past few months, Musharraf has jailed the popular Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, arrested and [...]]]> U.S. Iran Peace Project
www.usiranpeace.com

ANALYSIS
October 8, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

General Pervez Musharraf’s victory in Pakistan’s October 6 presidential election has further destabilized the world’s most dangerous nation and ratcheted up tensions in a politically convulsed Middle East. Over the past few months, Musharraf has jailed the popular Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, arrested and deported former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif when he returned to Pakistan, beat and detained thousands of anti-government protesters, and defied the constitution by seeking a third presidential term while serving as Chief of the Army. Thus, it came as no surprise that on Election Day virtually every opposition member of the National Assembly and Senate boycotted the election. Musharraf carried the National Assembly vote 252-2, after 185 legislators resigned. The results from the voting of the four provincial assemblies were virtually the same.

Consistent with President Bush’s crusade to “spread democracy” to the Middle East, the administration’s silence concerning Musharraf’s strong arm tactics was as predictable as it was disgusting. After pumping over $10 billion into Musharraf’s government since 9/11 to secure Pakistan as a strategic partner in the “war on terror,” Pakistan’s Northwestern frontier remains a sanctuary for Osama bin Ladin and al Queda, the Taliban maintains base areas of support to subvert Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the most lethal terrorist attacks launched in Europe since 9/11 can be traced back to Pakistan.

Spreading democracy will remain a low priority on the Bush Administration’s foreign policy agenda for Pakistan. Washington’s overriding concern is preventing Pakistan’s nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of “Muslim radicals,” shutting down the al Queda/Taliban axis and thwarting the outbreak of war between Pakistan and its nuclear rival India over the status of Kashmir. Maintaining Pakistan’s army as the dominant political institution is therefore the strategic imperative driving U.S. support for Musharraf’s dictatorship. Despite significant support among Pakistan’s military and ISI intelligence leaders for the Taliban whom they originally supported to take over Afghanistan, and their deep ties to radical Muslim militias in Kashmir, the U.S. finds itself locked into another incestuous relationship with unreliable allies whose allegiances are tenuous and potentially dangerous.

While the Bush administration had no intention of dumping Musharraf, they hoped he would strike a deal with the growing political opposition to avert a constitutional and political crisis. Instead, Musharaff’s clampdown has pushed the growing lawyer’s movement, Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League, and broad sections of Pakistan’s middle-class into a united opposition front. In the short run Musharraf’s fate will likely hinge on cutting a deal with exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who leads the Pakistan Peoples Party, the largest political party in the country.

General Musharraf announced on October 3, that all corruption charges will be dismissed against Bhutto, and that she will be allowed to return to Pakistan without the threat of being jailed. Bhutto is set to return to Pakistan on October 18, but has yet to receive official notification that the corruption charges have been dropped. Musharraf also negotiated an Amnesty Bill with the legislative assembly that will negate current election laws prohibiting the Prime Minister from serving more than two terms. Bhutto served as Prime Minister from 1988-90 and 1993-96. Musharaff also signaled his intention to honor Bhutto’s demand to step down as Chief of the Army by announcing that Lieutenant-General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani will be made a full general and take up the post of vice-chief of the army staff on October 8. Musharraf said he will permanently resign as Chief of the Army on November 15. Presumably, Kiani would assume the reigns of the army.

The frantic maneuvering between Musharraf and Bhutto is not sitting well with the Pakistani people who are demanding genuine governmental reforms, and legitimate democratic elections. Unlike other opposition parties that withdrew from the government, Bhutto’s PPP remained in the government but joined the election boycott. Some members of Bhutto’s own Pakistan Peoples Party have denounced the power sharing arrangement that will leave Musharaff in power as President, with his hand-picked general in charge of the army.
While the country braces for Bhutto’s return, Musharaff still has one more obstacle to clear to remain in power. The Supreme Court must rule on the constitutionality of him serving as President for a third term. The Courts will likely rule in favor of Musharraf. His dismissal could provoke the army to suspend the constitution and place the country under emergency military rule.

For the Bush administration, the Bhutto-Musharraf power sharing arrangement, with all its political intrigue represents the best case scenario for a “transition” to democratic rule. While the elections will not be free or fair, Washington hopes that in the short-run they may marginalize Pakistan’s extremist forces and reduce the growing tensions in society. But the confluence of forces swirling beneath Pakistan’s complex social forces is fraught with danger. Pakistan’s radical Muslims and the mainstream Pakistan Muslim League (N) will continue to demand that the Lahore Declaration and UN resolutions on Kashmir be upheld. The ungovernable Northwestern frontier, the Baluchistan region and their tribal authorities will not be dictated to by Musharraf or Bhutto. Al Queda and Pushtun Taliban forces will not easily be dislodged from their safe havens, and the Pakistan-Afghanistan border will be a hotbed of contention between the two countries as the war in Afghanistan drags on into its fifth year. And after all is said and done, lurking in the shadows is Osama Bin Laden.

In the New Middle East, the United States is embroiled in a shooting war in Iraq with no end in sight. Temperatures are rising as Iran tightens its grip in Iraq and accelerates the development of its nuclear power program. But at the end of the day, Pakistan remains the most explosive powder keg in the region. In the next two months we may find out just how dangerous Pakistan really is.

*** Webster Brooks is Editor-in-Chief of the U.S. Iran Peace Project’s website: www.usiranpeace.com. The organization advocates for the full restoration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Iran.

By this definition, and ever since 9/11, the Bush team has engaged in terrorism to bully Congress into granting it increased presidential power. [...]]]> Terrorism is defined as “violence or other harmful acts committed (or threatened) against civilians by groups or persons for political or other ideological goals…acts which are intended to create fear or terror.�

By this definition, and ever since 9/11, the Bush team has engaged in terrorism to bully Congress into granting it increased presidential power. And he has terrorized the American people by convincing them that failure to support the government’s Iraq strategy:

- Is Unpatriotic, because it implies that we do not support our troops.
- Is Dangerous, because it encourages the enemy to strike again, this time with a mushroom cloud.
- Former Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge has acknowledged that Bush Regime officials forced him to elevate the “threat level” on what he calls “flimsy evidence.” Why? To create fear in the public’s mind and pave the way for the administration’s assault on the Constitution and our civil liberties.

Bush claims that he has kept America safe since 9/11. But that claim ignores the country’s very real and present vulnerabilities. Six years after the 9/11 attacks, the administration has still failed to secure American ports, railroads and airports from terrorist attack, and has put the profits of the chemical and nuclear-power industries ahead of safeguarding their plants.

Bush talks about “staying on the offensive� against terrorism, but it was his decision to invade Iraq that diverted resources from the real offensive, the one against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Bush’s incessant fear-mongering — and the Democrats’ refusal to challenge him — has had one notable success. The only issue on which Americans say that they trust Republicans more than Democrats is terrorism, because Bush has taught us to fear the terrorists. The Democrats believed the Bush lie and acceded to his requests out of fear of being out of step with public sentiment and losing their jobs. They show only fear of Republicans.

So let’s be clear about who the REAL terrorists are: Bush may not have flown a plane into the Twin Towers, but he is no less guilty of terrorism than bin-Laden, Zawahiri and the fanatics who did.

- Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman, responding to Senator Hillary Clinton