Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: Secretary of State Colin Powell has privately confided to friends in recent weeks that the Iraqi insurgents are winning the war, Salon.com quoted Newsweek as having reported.
The insurgents have succeeded in infiltrating Iraqi forces “from top to bottom,” a senior Iraqi official told Newsweek in its Monday’s issue, “from decision making to the lower levels”.
This is a particularly troubling development for the US military, as it prepares to launch an allout assault on the insurgent strongholds of Fallujah and Ramadi, since US Marines were counting on the newly trained Iraqi forces to assist in the assault.
Newsweek reported that “American military trainers have been frantically trying to assemble sufficient Iraqi troops” to fight alongside them and that they are “praying that the soldiers perform better than last April, when two battalions of poorly trained Iraqi Army soldiers refused to fight.” “If the Fallujah offensive fails, the American president will find himself in a deepening quagmire on Inauguration Day,” Salon.com quoted Newsweek as saying.
Nov 1 2004
TONY Blair has privately admitted that he wants Democrat John Kerry to win tomorrow's US election.
The Prime Minister has acknowledged to at least two confidantes that a Kerry win would be a 'lifeline' for his own political future.
If Kerry does triumph, the result will undoubtedly help draw the poison out of the Iraq debate in Britain in the run up to a general election It would mean Blair could focus on the future of Iraq - not the disasters of the past.
And it may also soothe fractured relations within the Labour Party.
This is the last day that I'll be hosting F 9-11. Even though Michael Moore said we could pirate his movie - I believe that really means only till the election. By tomorrow about 50,000 people will have downloaded it directly from my server. Additionally other sites have sprung up that are also hosting it. So I became the site that showed the world that it was OK to do this. So I wouldn't be surprized if hundreds of thousands of people got to see the movie.
I put it up and no one asked me to take it down. Thus it appears that Micheal Moore's offer to share his work for free was genuine that with the blessing of all interested parties. And - I fantasize that if Kerry wins by a small number of votes - that I will be the one who put him over the top.
I was interviewed by Wired Magazine and was asked if I was aware of any right wing sites doing the same thing. I said that I wasn't - and that it would be illegal if they did. You see - Michael Moore gave it away for free - but the greedy Republicans didn't so I have the advantage over them. I'm not breaking the law - but they would be. Kerry might get elected because Democrats are more generous than Republicans.
font color=red>OBL message was directed at Kerry
Trying to put all my partisan biases aside - what does the OBL tape really mean? OBL had a message - but what is he really trying to say and accomplish?
After giving this careful thought it looks to me like he is NOT trying to affect the outcome of the election in spite of the fact that it comes just days before the election. There are so many elements that both hurt Bush and help Bush that I have to say it's neutal.
Let's look at the facts and see if there is a big picture here. We all know that OBL was behind 9-11. And we all now know that he's free and apparently doing well. And I think that one of the missing pieces of the puzzle is - that Bush and Osama have made a deal. And the deal is - you don't kill me - and I won't attack America.
Over a year ago the Times of India ran an article suggesting that Bush and OBL made a deal. Bush doesn't want Packistan to capture OBL. Then when Bush hd OBL at Tora Bora - he let him get away on purpose. But the think that really points to a deal is that Bush has actively downplayed the importance of capturing OBL. He has made many statements like, “I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run.” He described bin as “marginalized” and said, “I just don’t spend that much time on him.”
So - for those of you who are wondering why America hasn't been attacked - it's not the Patriot Act - the Jailing of Martha Stewart - or the deportation of Cat Stevens. Bush made a deal with OBL and as a result - we have a small wondow of security in exchange for OBL prospering in the middle east. I for one think its a bad deal.
So - now we are on the verge of an election and OBL appears on TV. Why? Because he has a message for Kerry. OBL can see that Bush is about to lose and if Bush loses - the deal goes away. So OBL is reacking out to Kerry to continue the deal. That is the message and that's why OBL made it.
Look at his change in demeanor. For the first time he is well dressed and groomed. He is not shown carrying a gun. He is going out of his was to be charking rather than threatening. As if he is preparing the American public that his deal - "you don't attack usd and we won't attack you" is something that is acceptable. And at some point Bush is going to have to break it to Kerry that there is a deal or the message will get to him through the Saudi embasy.
Making the deal with OBL is a serious mistake. Its a short term fix but the kind of fix that will get us into trouble in the long run. America has a history - mostly under Republican presidents - of getting into bed with the wrong people. OBL has now joined the club with Saddam Husein, the Shaw of Iran, Marcos, Franko, Noreiga, Pol Pot, Charles Taylor, Pinochet, and others. This is a mistake - and it will end under Kerry - I hope.