stray bullets

Preparing the Battlefield - The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran. Clandestine operations against Iran are not new. United States Special Operations Forces have been conducting cross-border operations from southern Iraq, with Presidential authorization, since last year. These have included seizing members of Al Quds, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and taking them to Iraq for interrogation, and the pursuit of “high-value targets” in the President’s war on terror, who may be captured or killed. But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which involve the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), have now been significantly expanded, according to the current and former officials. Many of these activities are not specified in the new Finding, and some congressional leaders have had serious questions about their nature.

I have a bad feeling about this. I know this will be all over the web presently and better minds than mine will mull over these words, but I had to put in my piece.

First of all, it seems like we need to learn that trying to destabilize the folks from that part of the world never seems to work out too well, in the long run. The usually re-emerge in a heightened state of anger and resolve. We might have seriously damaged the current terror machine, but if recent history is any gauge, a new one will emerge. Unless of course, you continually brutally blast the shit out of them, one after the other, for all of living eternity. And they'll still keep coming. Maybe a somewhat more cerebral approach is in order.

Secondly, are we due for some sort of surprise from the Bush administration between now and November? These next few months could prove to be very interesting, in a Chinese proverb sort of way.

Finally, after reading the above article and a few others, it seems to me that the military-industrial complex is in the Middle East to stay and won't let anyone like Barack Obama mess up their plans. There could be some strange battles and deals coming up after the election. I'd wager that when we're still in Iraq in 2010 the grumbling and disillusionment will commence. I hope I'm wrong and that this guy will wave his wand and make it all better, but history and personal experience and objective observation are against it. I am an optimist and I believe fervently that we need to shift our priorities from killingry to livingry and I will chip away at this until the day I die, but I have to be realistic.

Baghdad's walls keep peace but feel like prison Rows after rows of barrier walls divide the city into smaller and smaller areas that protect people from bombings, sniper fire and kidnappings. They also lead to gridlock, rising prices for food and homes, and complaints about living in what feels like a prison. (via)

plus 12 Ways to Save Money on Your Electric Bill This Summer (via); The 10 worst property investments ever (via); Free Quizzes, Widgets, Gadgets and other impossibly cool things to stick on your blog (actually cool) (via); Baraka sequel in production. (nice, they're due) (via); Volkswagen- Sized Catfish (we're gonna need a shitload of fryers!)