I was on Operation Swarmer as a Intel analyst and it was very far from a smoke screen. I’m assuming since you were all there like I was that you already know this though right? People like you make me sick. You honestly have no clue half the time when you open your mouths.

Problem is, folks ... we (our nation, the good ol’ USA) are building PERMANENT military bases in Iraq. These will require air power strategies to defend.

Anything of this nature has to be viewed with that in mind. Is this a tactical training mission that fits our future strategy? AND did it help give a positive twist to Bush’s current political thrust here at home? Or what else can we deduce from this action by trying to figure out why the distraction?

Remember, Cheney and Rumsfeld are not dumb. They may be whacko in the Dr. Strangelove sense, but they do not have Bush’s low level of intelligence or ability to connect the dots or ability to sort out the inconsistencies from one day to the next.

So, we have to believe they have some long-term strategy in mind. These two guy’s are Straussian Neocons ... and believe that if you don’t exercise the power you have you don’t deserve to have it. It’s all about power ... theirs.

(And believe me, they will not risk going to prison by having progressive Democrats elected to positions of power.)

Rather than a Potemkin Village metaphor, I would call it a shell game. From wikipedia we learn: “The term shell game is used more generally to describe a situation in which conspicuous actions are taken to cover up deception.”

And are both Senators Clinton and McCain saying we can solve this thing with more troops on the ground?

There is no doubt in my mind that the current power structure of our nation will not let anyone or any group take power that would not commit our full military might to protect their economic interests ... and those are not the same interests as ours, the ordinary citizens.

So, the air assault was a distraction ... now we have to figure out what it distracted us from ... and with Cheney and Rumsfeld, nothing is as simple as it first appears.

Anyway, some musings along the lines of, “What the hell was THAT all about?”

They claim that truth is the first casualty of war.

Since the US seems perpetually at war, it follows that we have a perpetual absence of truth.

I don’t know about you, but I feel almost physically ill to realize that if there’s anyone actually telling us the truth, about anything, he or she cannot be heard over the din of self-serving half-truths and outright lies we’re fed by “authorities.”

The worst of it is that TRUST dies with the lies.

Hmmmmm…

I used to think that the term “war games” was inappropriate for something so bloody and wasteful (lives and treasury).

It seems I was wrong.  This really is a “game” called “war”.

One can only hope that, as with all games, people tire of it.

So can we assume the story came from DOD?  The mystery remains, didn’t they realize the truth would out.  They must be really frazzled at DOD.  Expect Cheney to appear soon and tell us it really did happen, but, as usual, the media screwed it up. If this stuff wasn’t so tragic, it would laughable.  We continue to live in the Theater of the Absurd.

it makes sense, considering how our glorified leader lives on a potemkin ranch where he cuts cardboard brush & rides a bike with training wheels, yet still falls off & barks his shins

it was with a certain deja vu that i watched the rolling pictures used as ‘underlay’ while tv news illuminaries, such as cnn’s nick robinson, cheered on…oops, sorry…reported the excitement of the “largest air assault etc”.  not once did mr robinson point out to the viewer the on-screen words accompanying the pictures.  the words noted that all the pictures were provided by the defense department.  HELLO?!
any tv journalist worth his salt would have looked at the pictures and been able to see it was staged…much like the great ‘saddam statue falls down in firdos square’ event.  (an event that just happened to be staged outside the front door of the hotel the international press was hiding…oops, sorry…encamped)
i suppose we shouldn’t be surprised.  from the beginning, the american tv news media was brow beaten into collusion with the liars who dragged the world into this war. the american tv news media is indeed imbedded…so far up the the pentagon’s rear end, all that’s left is the bottom of their shoes.