watch for bushies bearing gifts

January 11th, 2007, Condelese Rice: accuses those who deal in diplomacy with Syria and Iran, or who suggest that the US should engage in talks with those countrys, were guilty of rewarding bad behavior and encouraging "not diplomacy" but "extortion".

Feb 8, 2007, Condi R to senate: "talking with Syria now about Iraq would have downsides for us in terms of Lebanon, in terms of what Syria would be looking for, in terms of how it would be perceived."

February, 26th, 2007 Condi again: she would meet with Iran only if "it will suspend enrichment and reprocessing."

Today, Rice changes her mind: "The government of Iraq is preparing for an expanded neighbors meeting," Rice said "Invitees would include Iraq's immediate neighbors."

"I don't know if they've accepted, but we certainly will be there."

Of course to make matters clear the whitehouse claimed, "theres no change in our policy." Huh?

My conspiracy riddled mind just wonders, is this a trap. A chance for the Bushies to insult Syria and Iran, or otherwise cause them to walk away from the table, then turn to the world and say "Well we tried diplomacy, see where it gets you."

They did the same with Nth Korea in 2002, under the bombast of John Bolton, they accused the Nth Koreans of simply lying whenever they opened their mouths. Of course the basis for their accusations are now slowly being revealed as utter trash (and that was known then), along the same lines as the WMD arguments of Iraq.

For nearly five years, though, the Bush administration, based on intelligence estimates, has accused North Korea of also pursuing a secret, parallel path to a bomb, using enriched uranium. That accusation, first leveled in the fall of 2002, resulted in the rupture of an already tense relationship: The United States cut off oil supplies, and the North Koreans responded by throwing out international inspectors, building up their plutonium arsenal and, ultimately, producing that first plutonium bomb. But now, American intelligence officials are publicly softening their position, admitting to doubts about how much progress the uranium enrichment program has actually made. The result has been new questions about the Bush administration’s decision to confront North Korea in 2002.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/washington/01korea.html?hp

So will this be the likely outcome of the Iran, Syria, Iraq and US love-in? Once again the Bush Whitehouse using the willful deceit of a failed diplomacy that was never intended to work to disguise their true intentions. Or is the result of 5 or 6 serving generals threatening to quit if an attack on Iran were launched? Or is this the outcome of the anticipated failure of the "surge", with Commander Patreaus already saying in wonderful Friedmanesq style, we have the next six months or we are stuck in a "vietnam like quagmire". Spin that little, Little Johnny.

"The politics of failure have failed, we need to get them to work again." Kodos.

reverse wedge: Seconds after parliament started at 9am today, Mr Garrett rose to move a motion challenging Coalition MPs to declare whether they'd allow a nuclear plant to be built in their electorates. The government used its numbers in the house to vote down the motion.
Labor's former environment spokesman Anthony Albanese was also silenced with a vote after shouting "shine the radioactive light on them".

You did say that nuclear energy was essential johnny, so now tell us where its gonna be. Or would that lose you too many votes, not that a man of principal such as yourself has ever cared for such paltry triflings as votes.

Hit piece on David Hicks from the Weekend Australian, the Liberals strike back, although the dead giveaway comes in the third paragraph, it doesn't stop the daily Murdoch/liberal party organ from the big smear....context plays a big absent part here, a statement written under duress/torture in order to A/get released from indefinte jail B/stop the "duress", gets released as a fact. Its the kind of evidence that will be allowed under the Military Justice System.

Hicks was al-Qa'ida's golden boy: inmate

In a signed statement made on October 20, 2004, Abbasi - who was arrested in Afghanistan in 2001 after being caught carrying a hand grenade in his underpants - repudiated his written account of Hicks in its entirety, describing the allegations made against the Australian as "ludicrous in their content (yet believed by dense investigators)".

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21278183-601,00.html