COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Mission Accomplished Update






Iraq attacks kill at least 48 in Baghdad and Baquba

BBC

At least 48 people have been killed and dozens injured in a wave of bombings and shootings across Iraq, police say.

The violence targeted predominantly Shia areas, in particular police officers and checkpoints.

In Baghdad, nine people died in two successive blasts in the central Karrada district. Outside the capital, at least two were killed in Baquba.

No group has yet said it was behind the violence. Attacks in Iraq have risen since US troops withdrew in December.

Tolls from other attacks around Baghdad include:


  • six dead after a car bomb in Shia-dominated Kadhimiya, norht of Baghdad
  • six killed by gunmen at a police checkpoint in the Sarafiya district of the capital
  • two dead and five injured in an explosion in the western al-Mansour district
  • two killed and 10 injured in two explosions in Dorat Abo Sheer, southern Baghdad
  • two killed and nine wounded in an attack by gunmen using weapons with silencers, targeting a police patrol in Saidiya, southern Baghdad
  • seven injured, most of them policemen, in a blast in al-Madaen, south of Baghdad
  • five civilians injured in a bomb explosion in Taji, north of Baghdad

There are also reports of bombings in the provinces of Salahuddin and Kirkuk.

The capital of Salahuddin province is Tikrit, the home town of former leader Saddam Hussein, who was executed in 2006.

There are fears the death toll from Thursday's violence could rise.

Last week, at least 18 people were killed in a suicide attack near the Iraqi police academy in the capital.

Shia targets have come under increasing attack since the government of Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki moved against senior members of the predominantly Sunni Iraqiya political bloc.

The day after US troops withdrew, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi, who is accused of financing death squads.

Mr Hashemi, who denies the charges, is currently in Iraqi Kurdistan, under the protection of the regional government.

The BBC's Rafid Jabbouri, in Baghdad, says al-Qaeda in Iraq said it carried out previous waves of attacks in December and January.

However, he says he spoke to a senior government official, who said the upsurge in violence since the withdrawal of US troops was politically motivated. The official blamed Mr Hashemi for planning and co-ordinating the attacks.

A

33 comments:

  1. More of the same from the crowd that saved us from the “blue-haired ladies” threat at the airport.

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  2. Remember when USA/NATO bombed the Serbian National TV station, killing more than a dozen journalists and staff there? Of course not, but the media want us in Syria because a US journalist got killed. A full invasion will be what is required, as Syria has a much more robust airdefence than Iraq. Assad has a 200,000 strong army including conscripts, who are defecting in small numbers, what are the implications? We only need to look at Iraq to see thestrong possibility that we go in as 'liberators' then get dragged into another decade long insurgency that costs more Syrian lives.

    Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich support the idea of arming the Syrian opposition.

    Romney said the United States needed to team up with allies to help the rebels. "We need to work with Saudi Arabia and with Turkey to say, 'You guys provide the kind of weaponry that's needed to help the rebels inside Syria,'" he said.

    Just hope neither of these idiots get elected, they had same rhetoric about attacking Iran and calling Obama “weak” on not dealing with it in a report yesterday. Like arming rebels going to solve the problem.

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  3. Like arming rebels going to solve the problem.

    Probably comes closer to solving the problem than sitting back in anonymity and calling two leading candidates idiots.

    Are you the same anonymous who blessed us with your faith in the ethics of science a little while ago?

    There are so many of you I need a program. Ya ought to have a number assigned.

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  4. Like arming rebels going to solve the problem.

    What problem? Some Alawites, allies of Iran and Russia, are killing Sunni Muslims, supported by the Christians. It's an Arab civil war. Seems to me the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia have a problem, but we don't.

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  5. Now that the 3 billion dollar annual direct deposit to Israel is safely in the bank, they are free to talk like this...

    Naftali Bennett, former Yesha Council director, said Israel should unilaterally assume full sovereignty on Area C, which constitutes 62% of the territory of the West Bank.

    "Israel should take an independent initiative and cement its vital interest – securing Jerusalem and the greater Tel Aviv area, as well as sovereignty over Israeli heritage sites," he explained.

    A really nice touch would be to do this annexation right after Netanyahu comes to the White House and in a joint announcement in the Rose Garden promises to build no more condos over the Green Line in exchange for some guarantees pertaining to the upcoming first strike on Iran.

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  6. ah the toilet flushes...

    Wasp said...
    Now that the 3 billion dollar annual direct deposit to Israel is safely in the bank, they are free to talk like this...

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  7. "Israel should take an independent initiative and cement its vital interest – securing Jerusalem and the greater Tel Aviv area, as well as sovereignty over Israeli heritage sites," he explained.


    wow what a concept!

    The western wall...

    city of david...

    masada....


    What gets me are arm chair jew hating assholes that have never ever been to a place they can comment on...

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  8. as the toilet flushed...


    A really nice touch would be to do this annexation right after Netanyahu comes to the White House and in a joint announcement in the Rose Garden promises to build no more condos over the Green Line in exchange for some guarantees pertaining to the upcoming first strike on Iran.



    Israel does not trust America to live up to it's signed agreements. Obama destroyed that sweetie.

    And in case anyone else is reading your shit? the issue aint condos.

    The green line aint a border.

    never has been.

    The issue is that the arabs, have 21 nations and want a 22nd one, they control 899/900th of the middle east and want to destroy Israel/

    israel sits on 1/900th of the middle east

    the fact that Israel IS is the problem.

    not condos.

    not the green line.

    not the settlements.

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  9. the interesting thing is....

    every month that ms t/wasp/zena/teresita's friends the fake nationalistic people who call themselves "palestinians" (remember they cant even say the name since there is no P in arabic) delay, cause terror and do not seek peace Israel GROWS.

    New sites are uncovered showing Jewish heritage sites.

    miles and miles of ancient roads..


    Mikvas, temples and cities that have laid under trash and dirt are being exposed!

    Building cranes litter the skyline...

    Construction in moslem villages INSIDE israel are booming...

    From one end of Israel to the other!

    the interesting thing is?

    last year thousands of africans and arabs crossed into Israel illegally... not to do violence but to LIVE in Israel.

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  10. Dumbass:
    Don't you get that she's a single issue voter???

    Palis, like the Iranian Mullahs LOVE Gays.

    Like they love Joos.

    Deal with it, asshole.

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  11. Meanwhile, back in the "world," as we used to say:

    Gasoline jumped to $3.61/gal.


    $0.42/gal higher than this time last year (which was an all-time record for Feb.)

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  12. President Obama’s new budget proposal calls for annual federal government spending to increase by $192 billion in 2012 and $928 billion by 2017. The budget documents show federal spending of $3,603 billion for 2011 growing to $3,795 billion in 2012 and $4,531 billion in 2017.

    Rassmussen

    -------


    Obama Campaign National Co-Chair Admits Giving Students Credit For Volunteering
    to Elect Democrats

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  13. Not to quibble but there is a place along the Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike where I can leave my car and go to a clay outcrop and in five minutes find chips of jasper that were made by Lenape Indians seven thousand years ago when they shaped arrow heads and jasper knives and other cutting heads.

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  14. WiO, there is something that puzzles me:

    You've said on numerous occasions that there is no and never has been a place called "Palistine" and the "Israel" has existed for centuries. The problem I have is that whenever I look up maps pre-1948 I see a place marked Palestine but never anything marked Israel. Could you please explain?

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  15. Some of the best engineers and scientists that I worked with were Israelis and Iranians. Greeks are more Middle Eastern than they are European. I have met Egyptian and Palestinian business men that were brilliant and served with some fine Turkish officers.

    They have one thing in common, they are all cursed by their religions.

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  16. Doug: Dumbass: Don't you get that she's a single issue voter???

    Hos before bros.

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  17. .

    You've said on numerous occasions that there is no and never has been a place called "Palistine" and the "Israel" has existed for centuries. The problem I have is that whenever I look up maps pre-1948 I see a place marked Palestine but never anything marked Israel. Could you please explain?

    Come on Ash, you are asking WiO to explain the history of WiOworld and you being an non-Jew couldn't possibly understand.

    Stick to your own history.

    .

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  18. The world turns, Miss T squats on the pot, Subliminal Thinker plops the perfect turd, asshole closing silently, Quirker issues gratuitous insults and life goes on....ho hum

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  19. Ash, have you been sucking on the helium mask again today? Your tee hee hee sounds a little more high pitched and meaningless than usual.

    ReplyDelete
  20. LOL quirk - the history, and ontology, of WiOWorld is, indeed, a strange and incomprehensible place!

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  21. ...and then there is boobie world...

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  22. .

    Your tee hee hee sounds a little more high pitched and meaningless than usual.


    Gee, I missed that tee hee hee somewhere along the way.

    But I know Bob wouldn't be 'issuing gratuitous insults' immediately after pointing out Quirker's failings.

    Not Bob. Not the philosopher.

    .

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  23. I have four or five insults I seem to need to get rid of each day, I spin the wheel and insult where ever the arrow points. Don't take it personally.

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  24. Lionel Hampton statue moved from his U of Idaho office to the Kibbie Dome by music students feeling that is where he always wanted to be, with the action. Jazz Festival continues through the weekend.

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  25. . And of course there's ethanol -- after four decades, tens of billions of dollars in subsidies, and draconian mandates that force it on unwilling consumers, ethanol was five percent of vehicle consumption (by volume) as of 2008.

    Obama Wants Algae For Fuel

    President Obama admitted today that he does not have a "silver bullet" solution for skyrocketing gas prices

    But wait, how about we drill, baby, drill, or at least build a pipeline down from Canada.

    Naw.....

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  26. Here is the proper reaction to the killing of our troops --

    PALIN DEMANDS AFGHAN APOLOGY FOR DEATH OF US TROOPS...

    -- instead of apologizing all over the place over some books.

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  27. Word on the front line is, the Q'u'r'a'n makes a good substitute for TP in the latrine if you crinkle a couple pages up good.

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  28. Gingrich picks up where Palin left off -

    SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Thursday a U.S. apology to Afghan authorities for burned Qurans on a military base was "astonishing" and undeserved.

    Gingrich lashed out at President Barack Obama for the formal apology after copies of the Muslim holy book were found burned in a garbage pit on a U.S. air field earlier in the week

    Obama's apology was announced Thursday morning. A few hours later, news organizations reported that an Afghan soldier had killed two U.S. troops and wounded others in retaliation for the Quran burning.

    Campaigning in Washington state, Gingrich said Afghan President Hamid Karzi owes the U.S. an apology for the shootings.

    "There seems to be nothing that radical Islamists can do to get Barack Obama's attention in a negative way and he is consistently apologizing to people who do not deserve the apology of the president of the United States period," Gingrich said.

    "And, candidly, if Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, doesn't feel like apologizing then we should say good bye and good luck, we don't need to be here risking our lives and wasting our money on somebody who doesn't care."

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