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THE ACTING COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
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George Bush dreams of himself as the star in High Noon - but he's really the director of a snuff film
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What 9/11 seems to have awoken in him was a desire not so much to be President as to be Commander-in-Chief (or maybe sheriff). It's an urge that anyone who grew up in the darkened movie theaters of the 1950s, watching American war films and Westerns, might understand. Sooner or later, most of us, of course, left behind those thrilling screen moments in which Americans gloriously advanced to victory and the good guys did what was necessary to put the bad guys down, but my own suspicion has long been that George W. Bush did not -- and that avoiding the conflicts of the Vietnam-era helped him remain a silver-screen warrior.
From his "Top Gun," Mission-Accomplished moment landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln to the way he kept his own "personal scorecard of the war" (little bios with accompanying photos of leading al-Qaeda figures, which he crossed out as U.S. forces took them down), from his visible pleasure in appearing before hoo-aahing American troops wearing G.I. Joe doll-style dress-up jackets (often with "commander-in-chief" stitched across his heart) to his petulant "bring 'em on" comment of game-playing frustration when the Iraqi insurgency wouldn't go away, it's hard not to register his childish urge for role-playing.
This is all so woefully infantile for the leader of the globe's last superpower, and the man who now holds in his hands the lives of countless Iraqis and tens of thousands of Americans about to be sent into Hell
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VAST NUMBERS OF CONTRACTORS AND LABORERS
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America's three armies in Iraq exceed a quarter of a million, a commitment of people and money that is comparable to the Vietnam war. Aside from the U.S. military forces, another
American army in Iraq is made of the 100,000 government contractors paid for by the U.S. government, and subject neither to local law nor U.S. military law. The third American army in Iraq is an invisible army of sub-contractors that are paid to do the menial work for the bigger U.S. and other military contractors. An international network of such companies has apparently brought thousands of laborers to Iraq
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Israeli Air Force practicing training flights
2006 ends year of failures, with no direction for future
Called for complete military dominance of Eurasia
Only neo-cons and Senators McCain and Lieberman endorse the idea
Over 2x the number killed in 20-year war in Vietnam
Website blocking also growing
Already concerned because coup has restored former autocratic style rulers
Media circus last year over alleged missing $300 million
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Critically endangered Sumatran tiger faces new risk from illegal coffee farmers
PHOTO: WWF
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Robusta coffee, often used to make instant coffee and energy drinks, has become a common crop illegally planted in protected area
A terrorist nation using fight against Islamists to gain legitimacy
1 in 4 Americans believe Islam teaches violence and hatred
Spread of killer diseases from Burma to other parts of Asia recognized as an international security threat
"It is a peaceful way of expressing the public's views, because protests are banned, the media is censored, and there are no elections"
"This is the moment freedom begins," the conference's keynoter Bill Moyers said
Autonomous government left alone by Mexico, no longer media sensations
UK and U.S. not willing to investigate banks that also launder money for terror groups
"Some people wanted to lump all these folks together as terrorists or radicals"
Bin Laden power comes from view that Western foreign policy is an attack on Islam
Low-income neighborhood is dumping ground for high-tech's toxic byproducts
3 suicides, hundreds force-fed to keep them alive during intermittent hunger strikes
Using lottery revenue to replace general fund dollars previously spent on education
As population falling by about 700,000 annually
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THE WAR IN IRAQ
POLITICS AS USUAL
