jobs

NBC is reporting:

In a guest column in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal President Bush addressed a range of issues. On Iraq he said he'll reveal his new strategy in the coming days.

Administration officials tell NBC News it will involve sending some 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq.

The plan is being called surge and accelerate: take control over violence in Baghdad, then speed up the handover of territory to Iraqi forces.

The plan would also turn over more money to Iraq for reconstruction and a jobs program.

Bush also said in this op-ed piece that he would discuss his plan with Congress. Discuss? He will be taking his same old imperialistic meme of "this is what I am doing, accept it or else". Time to get these hearings going. The security of our nation and the lives of our brave soldiers are at stake here.

Bush will do whatever it takes to protect his rich buddies:

The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts of their fortunes to their children and others.

The administration plans to cut the jobs of 157 of the agency's 345 estate tax lawyers, plus 17 support personnel, in less than 70 days. Kevin Brown, an I.R.S. deputy commissioner, confirmed the cuts after The New York Times was given internal documents by people inside the I.R.S. who oppose them.

The Bush administration has passed measures that reduce the number of Americans who are subject to the estate tax - which opponents refer to as the "death tax" - but has failed in its efforts to eliminate the tax entirely. Mr. Brown said in a telephone interview Friday that he had ordered the staff cuts because far fewer people were obliged to pay estate taxes under President Bush's legislation.

Yes - because we all know the wealthy are always the ones who are so honest on their tax returns.

This reminds me of Bush sending his staff to their ethics training last year, following the indictment of Scooter:

A top US commander in Iraq has ordered combat troops to be trained to abide by moral and ethical standards on the battlefield.

The move is an apparent reference to allegations Marines killed civilians last year.

The commander of US combat troops in Iraq, Lieutenant General Peter W Chiarelli, said: "Of the nearly 150,000 coalition forces presently in Iraq, 99.9 per cent of them perform their jobs magnificently every day".

"Unfortunately, there are a few individuals who sometimes choose the wrong path," he said.

I highly doubt the problem with Marines shooting people is that they forgot about ethics and moral standards. I would say the problem lies in them being forced into 3 and 4 tours of duty and extending their stays with things like "stop loss". The problem is our military is now broken because Bush chose this war with Iraq and the ones that are paying the price for it are our troops and the people of Iraq. That really strengthens our stance in the war on terror as a whole.

When Rumsfeld addresses Iraq he talks about their military 'standing up'. The opposite appears to be more true according to CNN:

The only Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support has been downgraded to a level requiring them to fight with American troops backing them up, the Pentagon said Friday.

The battalion, made up of 700 to 800 Iraqi Army soldiers, has repeatedly been offered by the U.S. as an example of the growing independence of the Iraqi military.

The competence of the Iraqi military has been cited as a key factor in when U.S. troops will be able to return home.

Article continues here.

So here we are just weeks away from entering out 3rd year in this war and what progress we were told was being made has now been taken away. The current leadership if guiding an utter failure and they are in a bad case of deniability because of this. The only way to get us back on the right track is for the administration to realize their mistakes and come up with a new plan. You can't help but feel sorry for our troops. They are trying everything to get the mission done right but when the plan their leaders have given them is on a direct course for failure it makes their jobs that much harder.

According to

CNN, the three New Orleans police officers charged with beating a 64 year
old man have all pleaded not-guilty to the charges. They are due back in court
on January 11, when the trial is set to begin. Until then all the officers are
getting a mandatory vacation without pay from their jobs.