Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Watcher's Council Nominations, 2/21/07




Every week, the Watcher's Council members nominate two posts each, one from the Council members and one from outside for consideration by the whole Council. The complete list of this week's Council nominations can be found at the site of our fearless leader, Watcher of Weasels.

OK, here's this week's Council lineup:

1. J O S H U A P U N D I T: I'm tired of `Supporting the troops' In this week's piece....oh well, read it and draw your own conclusions.


2. Done With Mirrors: Bomb shells Callimachus' essay this week deals with the evidence presented by the Pentagon that Iran is supplying arms and ordnance to the people targeting our troops in Iraq. This is no big news to anyone who's been paying attention... but because of the way the Bush Administration has handled things, as Cal aptly puts it, `now members of Congress from both parties, the U.S. public and world leaders treat White House claims like two-week old sushi.'

There's no question that Iran has committed what previous generations of Americans would consider acts of war. The million dollar question, of course is what we do about it.

3.Soccer Dad: The temple dodge Soccer Dad has a fine post this week on the Temple Mount controversy and especially, on how the dinosaur media is handling it. Odd that a sovereign nation would have to justify excavation and repair in its capitol. And especially odd given the silence of the world during the two decades when the Arabs ruled East Jerusalem, desecrated numerous Jewish religious shrines and forbade any Jews whatsoever to enter their part of the city, much less worship there...lying, hypocritical @##!


4. Right Wing Nut House: A rock, a hard place, and the deep blue sea In Rick's well written piece this week, he ponders what to do about the resurgence of the Taliban and al Qaeda, given the fact that they have safe havens in Pakistan and our `ally' President Musharref won't allow us to go in after them.

I left a comment on Rick's site on this one, which boiled down to basics says: Musharref has NEVER been an ally in the true sense of the word. Either he's got the ability to stop Pakistan from being a haven for al Qaeda and the Taliban, even if it simply means allowing coalition forces to go in after them and kill them or he doesn't.

And since we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan on the basis that they were harboring our enemies and were a threat, so why should Pakistan be any different – or Iran?

High time we addressed this sorry situation - because it will only get worse.

5. The Sundries Shack:Global Warming - What Can We Do? (Part I) This week, Jimmie Bise does something very unusual. Rather than simply pontificating about a problem, he suggests a simple and practical step that any one of us could readily do that would significantly cut oil consumption and the production of greenhouse gas emissions...no mean feat Mr. Bise!

6. Rhymes With Right: No, they're not America Here, Greg reacts to a particularly woolly headed NYT editorial on illegal immigration.

7. The Glittering Eye: The Impossibility of Victory Dave has an excellent piece this week, which I largely agree with.

retired Lt. Gen. William Odom had an op-ed in the WAPO this week in which he states exactly why victory in Iraq is impossible under the terms the Bush Administration has set,namely a stable democracy that will be an ally in the so-called War on Terror.

General Odom, who was the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the Army and served as head of the NSA under Reagan looks at the reasons given for staying in Iraq and concludes that we should withdraw immediately (he opposed the Iraq invasion from the beginning). Dave feels we should stay for the present, but severely redefine our goals and objectives.


8. AMERICAN FUTURE - Iran’s Economic House of Cards here, Marc reflects on something I wrote about some time ago, the precarious state of Iran's economy.

Marc feels that this will lead to a `compromise' of some sort in Iran's nuclear program. I disagree with him. The fascist regime in Iran cannot afford peace,and will have to expand or lose power. And the Muslim mindset, with its honor/shame mentality will not allow for a peaceful compromise, in my opinion.

9. The COLOSSUS OF RHODEY: Best (and worst) TV show "replacements" A fun post by Hube for you TV fans out there..not being one, I haven't got much to say!

10. Fallen angels- Eternity Road A long, rambling post by Francis on good, evil andthe nature of morality.

11. Intentionally confusing the illegal immigration debate: Bookworm Room Like Greg at Rhymes With Right, Mrs. Bookworm also reacted viscerally to that frankly silly NYT editorial on immigration, and with good reason.

12.The Education Wonks: Getting The Grown-ups To Grow-up EdWonk examines the implication of schools in Florida pulling out all the stops to get parents involved with their children's schools.

That's this week's lineup..enjoy!

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