Results tagged “war” from The Daily Nugget

According to a recent poll, half of Americans still believe that Iraq had WMDs.

Reports say that the U.S. is lagging in its efforts to evacuate 8,000 Americans from Lebanon. Additionally, the State Department is coming under fire for asking Americans to reimburse the government $150 for their passage. Frankly, I am sure people will gladly pay the money to get picked up. The problem is that if Hurricane Katrina is any indication, these poor Americans in Lebanon will be blown to smithereens long before they are evacuated.

After two days, Israel is still bombing the crap out of Lebanon and the Lebanese people are caught in the middle. Israel seems determined to destroy the Hezbollah leaders at all costs and wants the Lebanese government to cooperate. They have already destroyed the Beirut Airport as well as most of the major highway between Beirut and the Syrian capital of Damascus. When the violence will end is unclear since both the Lebanese and the Israeli governments have no plans to back down. Stay tuned.

U.S. soldiers have found $656 million in hundred dollar bills behind a false wall in Baghdad. Damn! I got excited once when I had a $21,000 cashier's check in my hands once (from a settlement), I can only imagine what $656 million in tightly wrapped hundred dollar bills looks like. The U.S. Secret Service is going to verify the validity of the bills before they try and figure out where they came from. I don't know where they came from, but I bet I know where they're going--into the pockets of our troops. Hell, it may have been $700 million before they got there! Those large mountains of cash will shrink bigtime, don't doubt it--whether the bills are real or not.

Saddam Hussein was shown on Iraqi TV walking through crowds in the streets of Baghdad, proving that he's still alive. Saddam was reported to have said (translated), "Yo, I'm alive and out hea representin' fo' shizzle. Let's give mad props to ma dog, the farmer that shot down a copter with a raggedy-ass old bazooka. Much love, dog."

The White House released this statement, "We still don't know if Saddam is alive or dead, despite today's tape--perhaps a music video would change our minds."

A Washington Post reporter added that weeks before the war Saddam Hussein grabbed a microphone and proceeded to diss every major-label MC in a freestyle that left those present flabbergasted. "I didn't know Saddam could rhyme at all," declared the reporter. "He's got mad skills, no doubt. It will be interesting to see if he makes a music video to silence his critics. Stay tuned."

Well, I am sure this comes as no surprise. But, really, the twenty-four hour news coverage is enough to drive a sane person crazy. The truth of war is seeping through the permeable mesh of American optimism. People are starting to realize that this war could potentially last for months, at least that is what the Washington Post reported. Neutralizing Saddam Hussein isn't as easy as launching a couple of missiles at palaces in the cover of darkness. It's going to take a lot more effort and time. While we wait, people die, the longer this takes, people die. That's the reality of war. It's depressing, but I guess we better get used to it.

The marines out in Iraq look like they are in bad episode of Cops. Bad boys, bad boys, watcha gonna do!? It already seems like a bunch of Iraqi soldiers are heeding the leaflets of doom and surrendering to American and allied forces. I bet they already have a couple of hundred mofos in custody. Now if we could only find Saddam and take him out everybody could pack up and go home.

I got some hate mail because I was opposed to the war. Let me clarify something, I was against the war before it started: I went to the protests on the weekends (when it didn't affect traffic), I signed petitions against the war, I wrote letters to my congressman. I did all those things.

However, now that the bombs are dropping and the political shit has hit the proverbial fan, I support our troops even if I disagree with our President. I want us to kick ass as quickly as possible to minimize the loss of human life and have our troops come home safely.

That being said, it's true I have liberal views, but I welcome opposing viewpoints. We have the freedom to express our views and can agree to disagree. Let's collectively hope that the Iraqis will be able to do the same someday.

Warning: This is a fucking rant.

Everyone that knows me knows that I am opposed to this war because I believe that "real" diplomatic efforts may have yielded a peaceful outcome. I went to the organized anti-war rallies in the city that were held on the weekends leading up to the deadline and I am sympathetic to the anti-war movement. However, what does stopping traffic in downtown on a weekday have to do with being against the war? This kind of shit just pisses people off, lowers productivity, harms our economy, and proves that most people have no clue how America works.

I heard one of them yell, "We'll teach these corporations who's boss!" Huh!? Have you ever had a job? We can't get to work, dumbass! It doesn't hurt the corporations, it hurts the peeps. Let me break it down for you. Doing this won't encourage any corporations to hire lobbyists to speak out against the war. Historically, corporations benefit from the extra government spending that takes place during war time. Also, since most large corporations do a really good job in diverting tax liability, they pay very little taxes. In short, they are making more money because of the spending and they are not paying for the war. Who pays? The American middle class pays for the majority of the war, since we pay the most taxes.

It would behoove the protestors to garner as much sympathy from the middle class--you know, those people that are trying desperately to get to work in the morning--than to alienate them. The protests should be aimed at gaining positive public opinion--not negative opinion. If you want to stop traffic in a place that will make a difference, buy a ticket to Washington D.C. If you can't afford to go, don't fuck it up for the rest of us. That's my two cents.

Allied forces have dropped millions of leaflets over the Iraqi troops as part of the psychological campaign in Iraq. I saved the leaflets locally because they are some of the funniest things I've ever seen.

The U.S. attacked Iraq at around 6:30PM PST, 5:30AM in Iraq, in an attempt to decapitate Iraq by killing Saddam and his top aides. At around 7:30AM local time, Iraqi TV began to air an announcement that is losely translated as follows:

"The president, leader, fighter, Saddam Hussein--may god protect him in his victory--will give an important address shortly."

However, the announcement has continued to air over and over again intermingled with commercials, according to CNN. It sounds to me that Iraq officials are attempting to locate Saddam--I don't think they know where to find him. He may already be adios amigos.

I guess those that voted in the poll earlier today were right, the war started between 5:00PM and 9:00PM PST. Daily Nugget readers, all six of them, are very wise indeed!

Addendum:
Saddam addressed Iraq at 9:40AM local time and called referred to Bush as "the junior bush." It's good to see that barely getting out of a building alive hasn't hurt Saddam's sense of humor.

Saddam did the announcement as if to say, "Hey, motherfuckers, you missed." I think that taking him out is going to be a lot harder than the U.S. ever imagined--I hope I am wrong.

President Bush gave Saddam 48 hours to get the hell outta dodge or get lit up like a Christmas tree. His speech was short and sweet--only 13 minutes. Bush essentially said that Saddam and his kids must leave Iraq within 48 hours to avoid military action. The Iraqi foreign minister already has said that Saddam would not comply with the request. He then went on to say that President Bush "is a crazy man and should consider stepping down." C'mon!? Bush isn't crazy, he's dumb as a stump, but he's not crazy. Saddam is the one that is crazy not to leave Iraq--that Mother Of All Bombs looks like it could do some serious damage. Stay tuned.

On Saturday, people protested against war in a march from the Civic Center to Jefferson Park and Alamo Square. This morning, additional people protested by slowing down the wheels of commerce in the financial district--laying down in front of cars and blocking the intersections. The U.N. has just ordered staff to leave Iraq--it's not looking good. I think we have reached the point of no return and can expect "bombas" dropping in the next three days.

A lawyer was arrested late Monday at a public mall in New York after refusing to take off a T-shirt advocating peace that he had just purchased at the mall. What the fuck!? Is this the end of the world as we know it!? Do you want a mall security guard making judgments regarding the First Amendment!? I didn't think so. If this guy sees prison time, I am going to get on a plane to Iraq and sign up to become a human shield. This is crazy.

An 80-year-old man in London was called up by the Ministry of Defence to help the U.S. fight the upcoming war in Iraq. This is proof positive that Tony Blair is so far up Dubya's butt he can't see sunlight. More importantly though, it also means that the powers that be know that war is definitely coming. We'll see what happens.