The Hollywood Liberal

6 U.S. troops die; McCain tours Baghdad

AP
Tally arrives during week in which more than 500 died in sectarian violence
Excerpt:
BAGHDAD – After a heavily guarded trip to a Baghdad market, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) insisted Sunday that a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in the capital was working and said Americans lacked a “full picture” of the progress. The U.S. military later reported six soldiers were killed in roadside bombings southwest of Baghdad.

Four soldiers were killed responding to the blast that killed the first two, the military said. Britain, meanwhile, announced that one of its soldiers had been shot to death in southern Iraq — its 104th combat casualty since the war started four years ago.

McCain, a Republican presidential hopeful who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, acknowledged a difficult task lies ahead in Iraq, but criticized the media for not giving Americans enough information about the recent drop in execution-style sectarian killings, the establishment of security posts throughout the city and Sunni tribal efforts against al-Qaida in the western Anbar province.

“These and other indicators are reason for cautious, very cautious optimism about the effects of the new strategy,” said McCain, who was leading a Republican congressional delegation to Iraq that included Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record).

HLs Take:
You Believe This Guy!!!

BLITZER: Michael, when Senator McCain says that there are at least some areas of Baghdad where people can walk around and — whether it’s General Petraeus, the U.S. military commander, or others, are there at least some areas where you could emerge outside of the Green Zone, the international zone, where people can go out, go to a coffee shop, go to a restaurant, and simply take a stroll?

WARE: I can answer this very quickly, Wolf. No. No way on earth can a westerner, particularly an American, stroll any street of this capital of more than five million people. Wolf, you’d barely last 20 minutes out there. I don’t know what part of ‘Neverland’ Senator McCain is talking about when he says we can go strolling in Baghdad.”

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Tal Afar bomb toll hits 152, deadliest of Iraq war

AP
Tally arrives during week in which more than 500 died in sectarian violence
Excerpt:
BAGHDAD, Iraq – The Iraqi government raised the death toll on Saturday from a truck bomb in the town of Tal Afar to 152, making it the deadliest single bombing of the four-year-old war.

Meanwhile, a series of bombings and attacks killed at least 17 people around the country, including nine construction workers who died when gunmen opened fire on their bus. The violence capped a week in which more than 500 people have died in sectarian violence.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Abdul Kareem Khalaf said 347 people were wounded in Tuesday’s attack on a Shiite area.

“It took us a while to recover all the bodies from underneath the rubble of the homes … what did they achieve by using two tons of explosive to kill and wound 500 in a residential area?” Khalaf asked at a news conference.

The past week has been the bloodiest in Iraq since the government launched a security crackdown in Baghdad in February aimed at halting the country’s slide toward civil war.

Ex-Aide Says He’s Lost Faith in Bush

NY Times
Excerpt:
AUSTIN, Tex., March 29 — In 1999, Matthew Dowd became a symbol of George W. Bush’s early success at positioning himself as a Republican with Democratic appeal.

Former Adviser Breaks With Bush A top strategist for the Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years, Mr. Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Mr. Bush’s political brain trust and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president’s chief campaign strategist.

Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced.

In a wide-ranging interview here, Mr. Dowd called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s leadership.

He criticized the president as failing to call the nation to a shared sense of sacrifice at a time of war, failing to reach across the political divide to build consensus and ignoring the will of the people on Iraq. He said he believed the president had not moved aggressively enough to hold anyone accountable for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and that Mr. Bush still approached governing with a “my way or the highway” mentality reinforced by a shrinking circle of trusted aides.

“I really like him, which is probably why I’m so disappointed in things,” he said. He added, “I think he’s become more, in my view, secluded and bubbled in.”

In speaking out, Mr. Dowd became the first member of Mr. Bush’s inner circle to break so publicly with him.

HLs Take
This guy is a flip flopper, seems like he goes whichever way the wind blows, but at least he is smart enough to jump off the Bad ship Bush like a rat off a burning navy ship in Pearl Harbor, some of the dumb ones are going to go down, all the way down on the Titanic, until there are no more life boats left, those guys will wind up in Prison.

Ex-Partner Of Giuliani May Face Charges

Washington Post
Excerpt:
Federal prosecutors have told Bernard B. Kerik, whose nomination as homeland security secretary in 2004 ended in scandal, that he is likely to be charged with several felonies, including tax evasion and conspiracy to commit wiretapping.

Kerik’s indictment could set the stage for a courtroom battle that would draw attention to Kerik’s extensive business and political dealings with former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who personally recommended him to President Bush for the Cabinet. Giuliani, the front-runner for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination according to most polls, later called the recommendation a mistake.

Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, right, with former police commissioner Bernard B. Kerik in November 2003. (By Shirley Bahadur — Associated Press)

Kerik rose from being a warden and police detective to become Giuliani’s campaign security adviser, corrections chief, police commissioner and eventual partner in Giuliani-Kerik, a security arm of Giuliani Partners, which Giuliani established after leaving office in 2001. Kerik resigned his positions in Giuliani’s firm after he was nominated to the homeland security job.

Kerik’s Lawyer: Ex-Top Cop “Did Nothing Wrong”

1010 WINS New York
Excerpt:

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik has rejected a plea deal offered by federal prosecutors pursuing multiple charges against him, most related to his failed bid to become Homeland Security secretary, The Associated Press has learned.

Any indictments against Kerik could prove embarrassing to presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who appointed Kerik police commissioner and recommended Kerik for the Homeland Security post.

A person close to the federal investigation said prosecutors could indict Kerik on multiple felony counts, including tax evasion, conspiracy to eavesdrop and providing false information. Indictments are not believed to be imminent, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

HLs Take
I didn’t do nothing wrong. Thats what Scooter Libby said, This guy Kerik was hip deep in corruption and had ties to the mob. How did Guiliani become Mayor of New York, thats right by breaking up the mob. Sounds pretty shady to me. Kerik was using an apartment right off the Ground Zero, that was supposed to be for the cleanup workers, to bang his mistress and Rudy signed off on the whole thing, Guilani is a crook who must not become the next President.

Bush again affirms support for Gonzales

AP
Excerpt:
A Republican congressman on Saturday urged Gonzales to resign, citing what he said were Gonzales’ contradictory statements about his role in the firing of eight federal prosecutors.

“I trusted him before, but I can’t now,” said five-term Rep. Lee Terry (news, bio, voting record), whose district includes metropolitan Omaha.

Gonzales’ credibility took a blow this past week during testimony by his former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sampson, who resigned March 12, said the attorney general was regularly briefed about plans to fire the prosecutors and was involved with discussions about “this process of asking certain U.S. attorneys to resign.”

HLs Take
At least Torture Boy is taking the heat off Bush, thats why he continues to support him. As soon as he gets to be more trouble then he is worth old “Torture Boy” will be histroy, but that might take a while.

Kissinger says military victory not possible in Iraq

Interntional Herald Tribune
Excerpt:
TOKYO: Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who helped engineer the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, said Sunday the problems in Iraq are more complex than that conflict, and military victory is no longer possible….
A ‘military victory’ in the sense of total control over the whole territory, imposed on the entire population, is not possible,” Kissinger told The Associated Press in Tokyo, where he received an honorary degree from Waseda University.
The faceless, ubiquitous nature of Iraq’s insurgency, as well as the religious divide between Shiite and Sunni rivals, makes negotiating peace more complex, he said.
“It is a more complicated problem,” Kissinger said. “The Vietnam War involved states, and you could negotiate with leaders who controlled a defined area.”

HLs Take
Right Henry, thats why you guys were able to win the war in Viet Nam, its the same situation then as it is now. The “Insurgents” have sway over the people just like the Viet Cong did. It isn’t so easy to control the hearts and minds of a country through force and death. They could have bought the oil in Iraq for less money then it cost to come and and steal it. But then the Military Industrial Complex wouldn’t get to keep the money.