US generals "will quit" if Bush orders Iran attack

From The Times in London:

SOME of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources.

Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.

“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”

A British defence source confirmed that there were deep misgivings inside the Pentagon about a military strike. “All the generals are perfectly clear that they don’t have the military capacity to take Iran on in any meaningful fashion. Nobody wants to do it and it would be a matter of conscience for them.

Bits of Tid: February 23, 2007

Third day of Lent. Hope to see some of you at the convention tomorrow.

• Trailing three other Democrats in his home state, and lacking sufficient funds to continue his campaign, Tom Vilsack is out of the running. The first candidate to drop out of the 2004 Democratic competition, Bob Graham, didn't do so until that fall.
• State Senate Democratic Leader Mark Schauer is wondering whiat I've been wondering: Where's the GOP plan for fixing the state's budget situation?
• Dick Cheney says Nancy Pelosi wants to "validate" Al-Qaida's strategy. If you think Bush is bad, he's a saint compared to the man who's just one heartbeat away from the presidency (no pun intended). Oh well, only 697 days until Bush and Cheney are gone.
• Again, so much for the GOP supporting our troops, past and present. Things are also bad at Walter Reed; more on that in a few days.
• Former state Sen. Gary Peters (D) - who briefly ran for governor in 2001-02 before dropping out of that race to instead run for Attorney General (a race he lost to Mike Cox by oh, so few votes) - may run for Congress against Joe Knollenberg in Michigan's 9th District.
• Not really a single-state recession, huh MIGOP?
• Former US Reps. Arlen Erdahl (R-MN, 1979-83) and Michael Forbes (D-NY, 1995-2001) are coming to CMU on Monday.
• CMU's student paper has the latest on a couple of recent fires in Wheeler Hall, the most populous residence hall on campus. I lived on the eighth floor of Wheeler last year.

Iraq and Iran - a few things you can do

If you're feeling helpless about the situation in Iraq and Iran, I have a few quick things you can do to voice your opinion.

• Senator Barack Obama – who opposed going to war in Iraq back in 2002 (though he was only a state senator back then) – has introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act.

  The Iraq War De-Escalation Act makes U.S. policy crystal clear. It stops the escalation now and begins a redeployment to bring U.S. combat forces out of Iraq by March 31, 2008.

  You can become a 'citizen co-sponsor' by signing the petition here.


• Wes Clark, meanwhile, has started a new website, StopIranWar.com.

  Cannot the world’s most powerful nation deign speak to the resentful and scheming regional power that is Iran? Can we not speak of the interests of others, work to establish a sustained dialogue, and seek to benefit the people of Iran and the region? Could not such a dialogue, properly conducted, begin a process that could, over time, help realign hardened attitudes and polarizing views within the region? And isn’t it easier to undertake such a dialogue now, before more die, and more martyrs are created to feed extremist passions?

  Please join the Iraq War veterans at VoteVets.org and me and sign the petition to President Bush today. Military force against Iran is not the solution now, and if we adopt the right strategy, perhaps it need never be. Urge him to work with our allies and use every diplomatic, political, and economic option at our disposal to deal with Iran. War is not the answer.

• You can also sign a petition at John Edwards's site demanding that Congress not fund the escalation.
• And be sure to check out Joe Biden's PlanForIraq.com and NoMoreTroops.com.

For the sake of our troops and our country, please take a few minutes to make your voice heard regarding the situation in the Middle East. America is depending on us.

My brother was hit by a car earlier today.

I don't know many of the details, except that he will be okay.

Mom got a call earlier today from a hospital in Oregon (where he lives), saying that Dereck was hit by a car. He was released a couple hours ago after they had performed some tests. He was slowly starting to walk again, but he's in immense pain.

Please keep Dereck in your thoughts and prayers.

Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day returns (albeit in New York)

Last fall the U-M College Republicans were chided for their "Fun with Guns" (where people can shoot cardboard cutouts of Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and the like) and "Catch an Illegal Immigrant" (where players try to find people throughout campus who are labeled 'illegal immigrants'). Well now it has arrived on the campus of New York University.

"They're making a mockery out of immigrants and immigration issues, when you've had thousands of people die at our borders," said protestor Chester Asher of Transform America. “To make a game out of that is sheer mockery.”

The Republican Club says they just want to spark debate amongst students about illegal immigration.

“Sometimes it feels that the only way you can get people out is to ruffle some feathers and give people something to shake their fists at,” said Laska. “Now this is not a politically correct event, but it is not racist. It is not that offensive.”

But what does Republican New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg think about it?

“I think we spend too much time worrying what college kids do, but this is distasteful and downright stupid. That's the nice way to put it,” said Bloomberg.

Wesley Clark is headed to CMU!

CMU scores big:

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark will be speaking on campus April 2.

The Speaker Series Committee had narrowed its selection to three candidates in
January, with Clark as its top choice.

"Gen. Clark has a very broad and impressive background," said Martha Logsdon, political science professor and Speaker Series committee chairwoman. "It seems to us so many people are interested in world affairs."

BTW: Don't forget to check out WesPAC.

ELECTION NOTICE: February 27 local elections

Some communities and school districts in Michigan will be holding elections next Tuesday, February 27. Click here to find out if you are in one of them. (For those of you in Kent County, this only applies to you if you live in the Wyoming School District.)

If you need an absentee ballot, be sure to apply for one ASAP!

You must have been registered to vote at your current address by January 29. If you are reading this, you probably voted in November, but if this is your first time voting, you must do one of the following in person: 1) Register to vote at the clerk's office; 2) Request an absentee ballot in person; or 3) Vote at your voting place on Election Day.

Every election is important. Every vote counts... and it counts even more when fewer people vote. So if you have an election where you live next week, take these next several days to find out what will be on your ballot, inform yourself on the issues, and of course, vote between 7AM and 8PM next Tuesday.

(Incidentally, my first vote was to renew a school district sinking fund, and that took place a year ago.)

Bits of Tid: February 18, 2007

I have an exam, a presentation, and a big paper due all this coming Wednesday. And I'm helping out with Ash Wednesday services at church. Wish me luck. In the meantime:

• Eye on Ehlers is even more prominent now: It is now mentioned on the Stakeholder, the official blog of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
• Something to look forward to: Sometime next week I'll post a couple items about a couple lesser-known reasons why the Democrats' victories last November are beneficial to us come 2008.
• Now look who supports government waste.
• And look who opposes war profiteering.
• So much for the GOP supporting the troops.
• Nirmal at Capital Viewpoint found an interesting piece about web tools for college students. I currently use Wikipedia and Google Docs, and will probably look into some others.
• Got myself a Polaroid a500 digital camera. Maybe I'll post some pictures soon.
  

Countdowns:

• 6 days until the MDP Spring Convention
• 11 days from Spring Break
• 49 days from Easter (BTW: Lent is actually 46 days, not 40. The 40 days comes from teh fact that the Catholic Church doesn't count the six Sundays as part of Lent, even though it is during the Lenten season.)
• 245 ays until I turn 20
• 625 days until Election 2008
• 702 days until the world is liberated from the Bush Administration.

Ehlers refuses to oppose Iraq escalation

Congressman Vern Ehlers was one of 182 members of Congress who voted to oppose standing up to President Bush's plan to escalate the war in Iraq. Congressman Fred Upton of St. Joseph was one of 17 Republicans to join almost every Democrat in supporting the non-binding resolution, but Ehlers just didn't have the gumption to say yes.

A full text of Ehlers's speech to the House can be found here.

Black History Month

We are halfway through Black History Month, and admittedly I haven’t been updating you on tributes to African-Americans as much as I should.

The Democratic National Committee has a section on its website dedicated to this month, featuring bios of prominent African-Americans, among other things.

The future of this country, like the inextricable threads of history, is linked to the condition of its entire people. As we commemorate and celebrate and look to the contributions of African-Americans, Democrats will continue to work to fulfill the unfinished promise and ensure that the rights and privileges and opportunities of our nation are accessible to all Americans. We honor the accomplishments of our great African-American innovators and challenge the world to remember, daily, that black history is American history.

Here's a blurb from Mark Brewer and the Michigan Democratic Party:

“It is vitally important to remember the struggles of the past to thrive in the future. While the United States has made great strides since Black History Month was first celebrated, we must not go backwards,” said MDP Chair Mark Brewer. “Unfortunately, Michigan took a step backwards last November by passing Proposal 2. This month is the perfect time to reflect on civil rights accomplishments and on a strategy to overcome Michigan’s current challenges.”

Michigan has had many civil rights pioneers and prominent African American leaders throughout its history. From civil rights icon Rosa Parks to the first African American in Michigan to hold statewide office, Secretary of State Richard Austin, to current leaders such as Congressman John Conyers, Chair of the Judiciary Committee, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick, Congressional Black Caucus Chair, and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

The importance of black history has been recognized annually since 1926 when "Negro History Week" was instituted. Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard scholar, is recognized as a primary reason “Negro History Week” came into existence. Woodson was a man who devoted his life to furthering the knowledge of Black people as a participant in history as opposed “to a lay figure.” He chose the month of February because it contained the birthdays of Fredrick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. “Negro History Week” later evolved into “Black History Month.”