“The Finding was focussed on undermining Iran’s nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change,” a person familiar with its contents said, and involved “working with opposition groups and passing money.” The Finding provided for a whole new range of activities in southern Iran and in the areas, in the east, where Baluchi political opposition is strong, he said.

The upshot? We've covertly invaded Iran. Oops part deux.

Annals of National Security: Preparing the Battlefield

Iraqi lawmakers say the United States is demanding 58 bases as part of a proposed "status of forces" agreement that will allow U.S. troops to remain in the country indefinitely.

Gee, who didn't see this coming? I love that they were originally called "enduring bases" so it wouldn't trigger the same connotations at permanent, but they are, and always have been. It's a good thing Georgie is doing his farewell tour of Europe now while he's still in office, if he tries to go back as an ex-head of state, he'll probably find himself in a jail cell.

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 06/09/2008 | U.S. seeking 58 bases in Iraq, Shiite lawmakers say

"It is a serious error on the part of Sen. Obama that shows naivete and inexperience and lack of judgment to say that he wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country who says that Israel is a stinking corpse," McCain said.

Let's apply that logic to some past events then. Nixon goes to China. Reagan calls the USSR the "evil empire" and proceeds to work on START. Reagan sells weapons to the Iranians to fund the contras. The infamous Rummy shaking hands with Saddam Hussein picture. The current 6 way talks concerning North Korea. Detente. I could go on, but you get the point.

So who don't we talk to now? Chavez, Hamas, Morales. Who have we pulled numbers on or tried to? Allende, Mossadegh, Ortega. What do they all have in common? Welcome to democracy. They all won control of their countries or areas (in the case of Hamas) by popular acclaim.

Not understanding the idea that "To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war" is a failure. It doesn't mean you give up or make deals that make no sense (the failure of Neville Chamberlain, who looked into the eyes of Adolph Hitler and got a "sense of his soul," to borrow a phrase about a different botch). It means you use the brain you were given to see if there is another route other than to blow the crap out of things indiscriminately. Sometimes you end up making with the war-war, but ignoring the jaw-jaw part is a "miserable failure," which Google searches quite correctly. (It no longer goes directly to W, all the links however still talk about it)

Dems fire back at Bush on 'appeasement' statement - CNN.com

Nobel Peace Prize winner and international symbol of freedom Nelson Mandela is flagged on U.S. terrorist watch lists and needs special permission to visit the USA. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls the situation "embarrassing," and some members of Congress vow to fix it.

This is the sort of thing that should have been fixed years ago, and the only reason it seems it's getting fixed now is that someone outside state noticed it? Let me explain something simple. When you are in government and see this sort of thing happening, it's your job to fix it. That's what "and justice for all" means.

U.S. has Mandela on terrorist list - USATODAY.com

This administration, everyone keeps talking about the legacy of this administration, well their legacy is mind-boggling, unbelievable, breathtaking, incompetence and stupidity. That is going to be the legacy of the Bush administration. Thank god that Congressman Dingell and Stupak are leading the way on this issue. I mean my — how in the heck can a secretary of the Department of Energy, Samuel Bodman, even get up in the morning and think he has done anything but waste some of God’s protoplasm if he can’t run that department better than he is.

Complete with video! I do so love C&L.

Crooks and Liars » Lou Dobbs Rails At White House Incompetence For Funding Nuclear Technology That May End Up In The Hands Of Iran

"There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967. The agreement must establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people, just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people. These negotiations must ensure that Israel has secure, recognized, and defensible borders. And they must ensure that the state of Palestine is viable, contiguous, sovereign, and independent."

Well this is a stunner. I wonder how long it will take before this gets spun into something completely different from that statement. If he actually sticks with it and pushes it hard, W could get something in the plus column. Unfortunately given his history, that's about as likely as Nixon coming back from the grave and saying what was really in those lost 18 1/2 minutes of tape.

Bush Offers Peacemaking Checklist

India's tourism minister said Thursday that the dollar will no longer be accepted at the Taj Mahal and other national tourist sites.

We were already disliked as a country, now our paper is getting short shrift too? Please unplug the fan, there's a world of shit coming fast.

Dollars no longer accepted at Taj Mahal - Yahoo! News

A delegation of Lakota leaders delivered a message to the State Department on Monday, announcing they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States, some of them more than 150 years old.

Ummm... I don't know where the hell this one is going to go, but it could be damn interesting.

AFP: Descendants of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse break away from US

A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.

I wonder what the response of the Brits will be when this gets tried and is screwed up? At this rate, we won't have to worry about securing US borders, every other country in the world will be working to secure theirs against the US.

US says it has right to kidnap British citizens - Times Online

In a stunning reversal of Bush administration conventional wisdom, a new assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies concludes Iran shelved its nuclear weapons program over four years ago.

"We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program," reads a declassified version of the National Intelligence Estimate key findings.

See? They have a nuclear program, therefore we need to bomb them!

Political Radar: NIE Report: Iran Halted Nuclear Weapons Program Years Ago