With just over six months left before President Bush leaves office, the ugly idea of going after Iran has reared it's head.
According to the New Yorker, covert, US military operations are underway in Iran. The cost of these behind the scenes murky doings are four-hundred million dollars.
Tell The Truthiness ; He may only have six months left, but when you're as unpredictable as Bush and as powerful, it's plenty of time for plenty to happen.
We know a bit more know on the process of the release of info on the 'Iran stopped it's nuclear programme'. George Bush was told there was new information on Iran's nuclear programme several months ago.
However, it's then said that he didn't know what the information was. Plus it's not been confirmed whether the Director Of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell told the President that all previous intelligence could be considered invalid.
Tell The Truthiness ; So, did the President know? If he did, how long ago did he know? If the intelligence was faulty, was Mr Bush told this, or did he choose to continue ratcheting up the non-story on Iran in absence of any valid information? Mr Bush, you couldn't stop talking on Monday, want to talk out the answers to these questions? We're ready to listen.
President Bush went on TV this morning and decided to say that nothing has changed and that instead Iran is still a threat.
Despite the National Intelligence Estimate, parts of which were made public yesterday indicates that Iran shut down, of it's own accord, it's nuclear weapons programme.
So spin has taken over and the President has done his own revisionism of current events and has ignored yesterday's report.
Tell The Truthiness ; Have they been telling us the truth, or has the President and administration been determined to go into Iran as long as they've had the same wish about Iraq? So is the President lying, again?
A US intelligence report has today poured cold water on the chance that Iran has, is about to, or has stashed somewhere, nuclear weapons.
The National Intelligence Estimate says that Tehran stopped it's nuclear weapons program in 2003. Furthermore, if they did decide to restart work today, it would be 2009 before they gained anything worth lobbing to pierce anyone's armour.
Of course, the Bush administration had very little choice but to say the NIE was "positive", but they also stated how dangerous it would be if Iran got hold of a nuclear weapon. You know, in the same way you'd think about a five year old getting their fingers stuck in a wall socket.
Tell The Truthiness ; In both cases, the chance is there, but it's very small. So stop trying to stick the nation's fingers in the nearest socket Mr Bush.
The congressional hearing into the Blackwater shootings had a surprise chapter last week. After denying that he had any connection to the US military contractor, Howard Krongard, who was leading the hearing, made a phone call during a break to find some interesting family details.
On his return to the room, Krongard told the hearing that his brother, 'Buzzy' Krongard attended a Blackwater advisory board meeting. He recused himself and left.
Mr Krongard later said about his Blackwater brother, "we do not discuss our business with each other."
Tell The Truthiness ; We don't mind if you don't know everything about your brother. But when you don't know he's working for a firm that you are investigating for shooting members of the Iraqi public, you really do need some one-on-one time.
Democrats in the US House of Representatives are rounding up votes tonight for a war spending bill which stipulates for troop withdrawals from Iraq.
A reduction in troop numbers would have to start within thirty days of it's passage.
The symbolism is important if nothing else in the bill, since the White House has said the President will veto the bill if it gets passed.
Tell The Truthiness ; Democrats and those Republicans that have seen the light, symbolic actions are fine, but we need to see some real, physical ones to get actual change.
This report is last years UK ceremony of remembrance in London.
The parallels between what happens on the 11th of November in the US and other countries to honor the fallen war dead is telling, especially this year in 2007.
In the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and continental Europe the day is called Remembrance Day. People wear red poppies, a symbol of a fallen solider. The red flowers were the first things to grow on the muddy trenches in northern France after the end of the First World War. People stand for two minutes, at 11:00 in silence. In streets, offices, airports, stations, shops, squares, parks and government buildings. A chance to stop and think.
It is done in silence, with no speeches, no 'celebration', just diginifed, sombre reflection for the dead of past conflicts and those of the present day.
Those in charge of the Veteran's Day events in Long Beach California prevented those veterans taking part who are against the Iraq War because they didn't have the right "spirit".
Tell The Truthiness ; Anyone who's gone off to fight on our behalf and has been lucky enough to come back alive has earned the right to say whatever they like. Regardless of what they say, whenever they wish to say it, censoring them contradicts the very reason they go off to fight.
George Bush was recently playing video games with veterans, which gave his image a bit of a shake, just before Veterans Day, but away from the photo-ops, things are quite different.
He also said during his radio address that he will never forget what is owed to them.
The man is either deceptive or has a short memory. Because today he vetoed a Labor, Health and Education bill which would have included money for veterans support. More shocking are the results of a survey which shows that one in four of the number of people homeless are veterans.
Tell The Truthiness ; We'd forgive you for not playing video games with wounded troops in the future, as long as you give them the money they need when they come back home.
How many more people, of any rank in US government, are there left to be made to tow the line and prop up the President? Recent events indicate not that many.
Daniel Levin, the acting assistant attorney general in 2004, asked to experience the method of torture and reported that "torture is abhorent" in a memo, which was later leaked. He was later pushed out of his job by Alberto Gonzales. Now, Malcolm Nance, a former Navy interrogation instructor has told a house committee that waterboarding is torture.
Tell The Truthiness ; "Physical pain and sheer panic" described the marine in the reconstruction shown in the video of how waterboarding felt. Enhanced interrogation techniques equals torture, plain and simple.
Another gem from the Presidential News Conference was when Mr Bush was asked about Blackwater. He tried to spin the firm's record in Iraq by saying that they "provide a valuable service that protects people's lives".
Clearly Mr Bush hadn't heard about the people who were killed in Baghdad by the company and hadn't heard the Iraqi government's decision, following a report to "insist" Blackwater leave the country.
The US is conducting it's own investigation into the shootings and both reports will be reviewed by a joint Iraqi/US commission, after that, decisions will be made on Blackwater's future.
Something of note that may influence those decisions by the US side of that commission ; the US has paid Blackwater $830 million since 2004.
Tell The Truthiness ; Since most of the chiefs at Blackwater are former appointees of Mr Bush, we're totally sure the report from the US will be fair and balanced.
In today's Presidential News Conference, Mr Bush said a number of real zingers.
He said that dealing with Iran was important to prevent "World War Three."
Tell The Truthiness ; That's nice and reassuring then for a country which you have yet to prove poses a threat to the United States. You're not trying to talk up a war are you Sir?
The National Institute for Standards and Technology has been made to admit that the collapse of the twin towers cannot, after a lengthy study, be explained.
A 10,000 page report has revealed also that the temperature of the steel would only have reached, at the most 500 degrees, nowhere near the 1000 degrees needed to weaken and further still from the 1,500 degrees needed to melt it.
So the ability of the towers to collapse at freefall speed is not possible because of the fire. The only other option that has yet to be fully investigated is a controlled demolition using explosives.
The NIST has no word on World Trade Center Building 7, which collapsed at 5.20pm, at freefall speed also, which had minor fire damage and was hit by far less debris from the falling towers than other buildings which remain standing to this day. The NIST promised to look at controlled demolition for Building 7 in August 2006, but has yet to report. When it does, we will let you know the results.
Tell The Truthiness ; We need a new, broad investigation. And we needed it six years ago.
With everyone in the US government insisting they have no intention of attack Iran, the flip side is that every few days there's some White House talking point aimed at painting Iran as the primary cause of unrest in Iraq or a new emerging threat to US interests.
General David Petraeus, in an interview with CNN, said that the long-term threat for Iraq could be militias backed by Iran.
Tell The Truthiness ; Doesn't Mr Petraeus deserve a break? He's done enough of the White House's bidding in the last few weeks to make Bush seem lazy. If they are going to lie to us, we'd appreciate being lied to by the President than by someone he thinks will do a better job of it than him.
Iraqi civilian deaths have fallen by half during September, the lowest level for over a year.
The US military claims the fall in casualty numbers is due to the 30,000 extra troops and different strategies.
Tell The Truthiness ; Has the number of unreported deaths, which aren't included in these figures fallen as well? Could this be a turning point? We won't hold our breath to wait and see.
The level of force used by the US private security firm Blackwater has been strongly questioned by a congressional staff report.
They say that Blackwater's use of force has been "frequent and extensive" and that in 80 percent of cases, Blackwater employees fired first. This is despite Blackwater only being allowed to fire weapons to defend itself.
Tell The Truthiness ; We should get more details and possibly an admission of poor management tomorrow when Blackwater's CEO answer's questions on his company's conduct in Iraq.
Much has been made in the past few days on President Bush's meeting on climate change.
He did say that he took climate change seriously. But nearly all of the countries he invited oppose his wish for voluntary cuts in emissions, as they all believe mandatory cuts are the best option. With fifteen months left, many people are looking to the next government to achieve real traction on global warming and minimising it's effect.
Tell The Truthiness ; Bush said he took Osama Bin Laden seriously, well, we all know how that turned out.
Today we launch another thread to our coverage ; 'Road To Tehran'. Although there has been discussion of a war in Iran as not possible in the current climate, we all know how spin and repetition of an idea can change people's minds.
The Vice President has asked the Joint Chiefs to redraw plans for an attack on Iran. An initial attack would be by bombing of nuclear sites, military and infrastructure.
Tell The Truthiness ; If this is the next step in Bush's and Cheney's plan, how far will it be allowed to go and who will ultimately stop it?
A speech made by Vice President Dick Cheney has, like a stone, made it's way to the surface and shows how Mr Cheney defended not going after Saddam and 'finishing the job' after the Gulf War.
Tell The Truthiness ; What changed Mr Cheney? What altered your thinking from such (we can't believe this is about to be typed) a reasonable standpoint to get to the polar opposite within ten years? You cannot cite 9/11 as there wasn't, isn't and will never be a connection between them. Unless you just lie and insist there is. But you've already tried that.
So what caused that change? Who changed your mind?
In another example of why the US President is dangerous not only to his country, the World, but also the English language, a copy of his speech was released today.
The draft of his speech to the United Nations General Assembly includes notes on phonetics for World leaders and country names, Mauritannia - moor-EH-tain-ee-a, that he will cover during the talk.
