Cheney doesn't know which Country Hugo Chavez leads

Peru? or Venezuela? The VP seems to not know which country Hugo Chavez leads.



Same Players. Different Scandal.

Video: Senior U.S. Foreign Service Officer "forcing US to Iraq is a potential death sentence"

Diplomats in Revolt.

Jack Croddy, Senior U.S. Foreign Service Officer, states...

"Incoming is coming in everyday. Rockets are hitting the Green Zone. So if you force assign people that is shifting the terms of what we're all about. It's one thing if someone believes in what is going on over there...and volunteers, but it is another thing to send someone over there on a forced assignment....and I'm sorry, but basically that's a potential Death Sentence...and you know it."

Thank you Mr. Croddy! These 'diplomats' are not conscripts. The Bush administration CAN NOT FORCE them to Iraq. I urge all to follow up and read the comments posted at Buzzflash.net on this topic. FSO's are not the problem. They are HEROES in pursuit of PEACE.


recent posts:
Cheney's staff dressed his dogs like Darth Vadar and Superman for Halloween
Video: Bush on Cheney: "The dark force is near"
Video: Biden on Giuliani.."all he mentions is a noun, a verb, and 911"

Same Players. Different Scandal.

Cheney's staff dressed his dogs like Darth Vadar and Superman for Halloween

I didn't believe it when I read it, but it appears true.

From the Huffington Post,

At the vice president's home at the Naval Observatory, his staff put both of the Cheneys' dogs in Halloween costumes on Wednesday, just for fun and family photos. The yellow lab got to be Superman. The black lab? Darth Vader.

The Caption read,

In this photograph provided by the White House, Vice President Dick Cheney's Labrador retrievers Jackson, left, and Dave, right, prepare for Halloween, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007, as they sit for a photograph at the Vice President's Residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington. Jackson is dressed as Darth Vader, Dave is dressed as Superman. (AP Photo/The White House, David Bohrer)

From ABC News,

ABC News' Jennifer Duck Reports: The Vice President's dogs may beat the President's dogs in the best dressed category this Halloween.

Late night TV shows have ridiculed and compared Vice President Dick Cheney to Darth Vader.

So in a wicked response, Cheney dressed one of his dogs, Jackson, as the famous Star Wars character. Cheney's other Labrador retriever, Dave, is dressed up as superman.

Related video:
Video: Bush on Cheney: "The dark force is near"
Video: Biden on Giuliani.."all he mentions is a noun, a verb, and 911"
The Coultergeist is Back: "Perfected: The Ann Coulter Song" VIDEO

Same Players. Different Scandal.

Independent panel cites U.S. Army as a procurer of needless debt

"The Iraq-Kuwait-Afghanistan contracting problems have created a crisis"

It must be nice to be a government contractor. No bid contracts, limited oversight, unlimited profit potential...all is great. Not so according to a new report by six independent members on a panel to review the U.S. Army 'procurement process'.

From an article in the IHT. ...According the the six member panel,

In a wide-ranging report to be made public on Thursday, the panel said these and other shortcomings had contributed to an environment in Iraq and Kuwait that allowed waste, fraud and other corruption to take hold and flourish.
.....
the six-member panel, appointed in August by Army Secretary Pete Geren, levels a stinging indictment of how the army oversees $4 billion a year in contracts for food, water, shelter and other supplies to sustain United States forces in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. The panel also blames senior army leaders for not responding more swiftly to the problems, despite warning signs like severe shortages of contracting officers in the field. "The Iraq-Kuwait-Afghanistan contracting problems have created a crisis," the report states.

Got that...a 'crisis'. These guys are spending not only our current funds, but those of our children as well. How hard is it to employ people to 'review' these shady contracts? How hard can it actually be? From the time I was little..I've always heard, " pay for what you can afford. Don't purchase anything you can't pay for up front. Anything else will lead to debt" The message appears true.

...the panel's examination of the problem is the broadest to date and offers potentially the most far-reaching recommendations for fixing the shortcomings plaguing the supply system for a military that is increasingly conducting combat and stability operations around the globe. (nowadays, War is everywhere)

and those recommendations are....

increasing the number of army contracting officers by about 25 percent, or 1,400, in coming years. (Years? try NOW!) It urges the department to improve training and to start young officers in the procurement corps soon after they join the army, not after seven or eight years of other duties, as is common now.
.....
any increases in financing or changes in authority, would require congressional approval, officials said. But several others will be up to Geren, the army secretary, and senior army leaders to carry out. ( In short, they still get what they want.)

The recommendations haven't came without grief, though. Many 'top lawmakers' view the 'recommendations' as too little too late,

These and other changes, the officials say, are long in coming, and if they had been put in place immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, they could have curbed much of the corruption that has surfaced since then.

"If you had had more personnel, who were better trained, on longer tours with more supervision, could you have cut the number of fraud, waste and corruption cases in half?" asked Raymond DuBois, a former senior army official. "Yes."

Yet the corruption still continues,

As of Oct. 24, the army reported that it had 83 criminal inquiries related to contract fraud in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, according to Christopher Grey, an army spokesman. He said that 23 military and civilian staff members faced criminal charges, and that over $15 million in bribes had been uncovered. (The "#" is most likely far higher)
.....
One of the largest cases involves Major John Cockerham of the army, who is accused of bribery, conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction. Prosecutors have accused Cockerham, with his wife and sister, of taking at least $9.6 million in bribes in 2004 and 2005, when he was a contracting officer in Kuwait. ( these people should be tried for TREASON)

and how does the military 'attack' the problem? They've created another panel of course..

A second army review, led by Lieutenant General N. Ross Thompson III and Kathryn Condon, two army contracting specialists, is examining current contracting operations, particularly in Kuwait.

We don't need anymore 'studies' or 'investigations' . The contract 'procurement' system is in shambles. Our hard earned tax payer dollars are being diverted into 'programs, systems, and weapons' which the American tax payer would never approve. We're getting a lot of 'bang', but it's not worth the 'buck'.

Until we change the monetary equation...war will always come first and diplomacy second. The Department of State NEEDS to receive more funds...not the Department of Defense. Change that equation..you change the fate of the world.

Same Players. Different Scandal.

Video: Bush on Cheney: "The dark force is near"

The dark force is near...Bush feels it's presence...

Video: Biden on Giuliani.."all he mentions is a noun, a verb, and 911"

Same Players. Different Scandal.