Right Side of The Rainbow

1:57:59 PM EST

President George W. Bush has been named TIME magazine’s 2004 Person of the Year.

“For sticking to his guns (literally and figuratively), for reshaping the rules of politics to fit his ten-gallon-hat leadership style and for persuading a majority of voters this time around that he deserved to be in the White House for another four years, we name George W. Bush as TIME’s Person of the Year for 2004,” writes managing editor Jim Kelly in a letter to readers.

Bush has “had his highs and lows, with approval ratings at one point hitting 90% and then sinking to 46% as the war in Iraq kept claiming American lives. Even some of his strongest supporters never considered him the odds-on favorite to win a second term. But in the end, George W. Bush prevailed,” Kelly writes.

TIME’s double issue on newsstands for two weeks beginning Monday, Dec. 20th.

Oval Office Interview: In an interview with TIME’s Matt Cooper, John Dickerson and Nancy Gibbs in the oval office, Bush says he thinks “More highly” of all his White House predecessors. He says, “I’ve got a much better appreciation of what they’ve been through, some more than others. My appreciation for Lincoln has grown immeasurably. He is a President who was a visionary for the good of the country. I’ve got his painting right there. And he’s there because he had this great vision about a United States of America in incredibly difficult times.”

Bush tells TIME, “Baseball now must get its act cleaned up (in regards to steroids). And they’ve heard a warning signal from Senator John McCain that said, “Clean it up in a meaningful way, or we will.” My hope is that they do. But I will sign legislation if McCain can get it to my desk.” The full interview transcript is available on TIME.com.

Interview with Former President and First Lady: “Michael Moore’s got to be the worst for me,” former President George H.W. Bush tells TIME’s Hugh Sidey when asked about the low point of this last term. “I mean, he’s such a slimeball and so atrocious. But I love the fact now that the Democrats are not embracing him as theirs anymore. He might not get invited to sit in Jimmy Carter’s box (at the Democratic Convention) again. I wanted to get up my nerve to ask Jimmy Carter at the Clinton thing (the opening of Bill Clinton’s library), ‘How did it feel being there with that marvelous friend of yours, Michael Moore?’ and I didn’t dare do it.” See separate press release.

The Bush Dynasty: TIME’s Matt Cooper examines how the Bush family has endured and who’s next in line.

The Strategist: Karl Rove: TIME profiles Bush adviser Karl Rove who talks about his relationship with his boss and discusses his own mother’s suicide in 1981. He tells TIME’s Karen Tumulty, “It’s hard to figure out. You can speculate on what demons she just wasn’t able to overcome, but she couldn’t. And it’s very sad for my sisters, who were very close to her.” Rove recalls that Bush “was a certain way in 1988, and he was significantly different by 1990, 1992, 1994. I think it’s his own life experience, waking up and saying ‘I’m not going to drink because it saps my energy and drains my focus.’ I think it’s the freedom of being, ironically, his own self in the aftermath of his father’s defeat in ’92. I don’t know. You could psychoanalyze it. Clearly, he’s always had incredible abilities, (but) he had a stronger focus and a discipline. He brought all of his many talents to bear after he went through—I suspect like all of us do—something that changed his center of life,” Rove tells TIME. See separate press release.

TIME Poll: In the first TIME Poll since November’s election, just under half of Americans (49%) approve of President George W. Bush’s performance, about the same as before the election. Bush’s election victory also has not brightened the nation’s outlook, according to the latest poll numbers. Half of Americans (50%) still think that the country is headed in the wrong direction, not much changed since the pre-election period. Only 40% see the country on the right track. See separate press release.

JOE KLEIN: The Benetton-Ad Presidency: In his column, TIME’s Joe Klein writes, “In a way, President Bush is the beneficiary of 40 years of Democratic policy—not just affirmative action, which helped create a broader, deeper pool of successful nonwhite college graduates, but also the Democratic Party’s historic support for civil rights legislation, the feminist revolution and the easing of strict immigration policies in the 1960s, policies long opposed by many Republicans. But the Bush Cabinets have also been very much a reflection of who George W. Bush is and always has been.” See separate press release.

The Filmakers: Mel Gibson and Michael Moore: While former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich says that the ongoing struggle for the definition of America can be described as “Michael Moore vs. Mel Gibson.” It isn’t quite that simple, of course, writes TIME’s Richard Lacayo. Just ask Moore, who says that his film, too, resonates with Christ’s message. The Passion of the Christ emphasized Christ’s final hours and, for the most part, left out scenes of his ministry. “But my film dovetails with the rest of Jesus’ life,” Moore told TIME last week. “It connects to his message about questioning those in authority, of being a man of peace, of loving your neighbor.”

Power Line Named Blog of the Year: TIME also names Power Line its Blog of the Year. “Before this year, blogs were a curiosity, a cult phenomenon, a faintly embarrassing hobby on the order of ham radio and stamp collecting. But in 2004, blogs unexpectedly vaulted into the pantheon of major media, alongside TV, radio and, yes, magazines, and it was Power Line, more than any other blog, that got them there,” writes TIME’s Lev Grossman. See separate press release.

Power Line is the brainchild of two Minneapolis-based lawyers John Hinderaker and Scott Johnson and Washington, D.C.-based lawyer Paul Mirengoff. “My view,” Johnson says, “is that the mainstream media has acted as a means to obscure, as a kind of filter, a lens that makes it impossible to understand what’s going on in reality. We try to provide something that brings people closer to reality,” he tells TIME.

The Insurgent: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: TIME’s Romesh Ratnest looks at how Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi transformed the Iraq insurgency into a holy war and became the world’s most dangerous man.

TIME’s extensive Person of the Year package also includes a six-page photo act of exclusive, behind-the-scenes photos of Bush visiting wounded soldiers at Bethesda Naval Hospital last week, a roundtable of presidential historians commenting on Bush’s presidency, and a closing essay by TIME contributor Andrew Sullivan. The Bethesda Naval Hospital photos were taken by Christopher Morris. TIME’s cover illustration is by Daniel Adel.

People Who Mattered: TIME’s ‘People Who Mattered’ package includes exclusive photos of Nancy and Ron Reagan, Jr. in the first photo published of them together since the former president’s death and behind-the-scenes photos of Senator John Kerry and Apple CEO Steve Jobs by TIME’s Diana Walker.

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5:25:27 AM EST

Former Homeland Security nominee Bernard Kerik not only engaged in violations of the federal criminal law, he also is now engaged in lying and a cover-up. And the cover-up is, in many cases, more reprehensible than the original infraction.

Kerik's misdeeds were originally two – employing an illegal alien as a nanny and not paying the Social Security taxes due on her salary. Now his troubles are growing. One ugly story involves allegations of his having two mistresses while married with two children. The others include violating city regulations by allegedly accepting unreported gifts when he was New York City's police commissioner and earlier the city's corrections commissioner. It is alleged that he was friends in the latter capacity with a racketeer who provided him with gifts.

But the final outrage, at least for me, was when I heard Kerik say on CNN that it was “Late Wednesday evening I became aware of a problem.” What trash talk on his part. Most people who can afford a nanny know what questions to ask to determine if she is able to legally work in the U.S. Even if he were not the smartest cop on the beat – and Giuliani appointed him police commissioner – he had to know it was illegal on his part not to pay Social Security taxes on her employment.

But instead of admitting his transgressions, he chose instead to opine that his kids loved their nanny. If kids don’t love their nanny, the nanny should be replaced immediately. He went on to describe her as a lovely lady. Aren’t they always. This lovely lady was also a very cooperative lovely lady who went back to Mexico recently and permanently and now can’t be interviewed about her employment.

Kerik has disgraced himself.  Didn’t he employ a nanny when he was New York City’s corrections commissioner and subsequently as police commissioner?  Was he honest with thecity in his interviews at those times? Shouldn’t the city now release those reports? Shouldn’t someone ask for their release? What Social Security taxes does Kerik owe from those earlier periods, if any?  If there is money owed, shouldn't he be called upon to immediately pay it (including late fees and penalties)?

Just asking...

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12:33:28 PM EST

 <----Tax evader and treasonist Mark Rich.

Bill Clinton left the White House Saturday January 20, 2001, but not before pardoning or commuting the sentences of 140 convicts -- some of whom are profiled below. To understand why Clinton would set a record for pardons, consider another record set by his administration: 33 Clintonistas have been convicted of criminal activity, while 122 have pleaded the Fifth Amendment or fled the country to avoid testifying.

Of the pardons, Clinton said, "The word 'pardon' is somehow almost a misnomer. You're not saying these people didn't commit the offense. You're saying they paid, they paid in full."

A prime example of someone who paid in full is billionaire Mark Rich, whose former wife gave $1.3 million to the Clintonistas after her husband fled to Switzerland to escape his conviction on 50 counts of wire fraud, racketeering, trading with the enemy and evading more than $48 million in income taxes -- crimes that could have earned him more than 300 years in prison. (Just think, Rich's back taxes -- if only collected -- could have paid for Robert Ray's investigation of Clinton!)

And speaking of his Lie-brary, Clinton has refused, repeatedly, to release the names of major donors. It is now being reported that Ms. Denise Rich, former wife of pardoned fugitive financier Marc Rich, contributed about $400,000. (It should be noted here that the Rich's divorce is as much a fraud as the Clinton's marriage.) Yesterday, the same Ms. Rich exercised her Fifth Amendment rights not to testify before congressional investigators looking into the quid pro quo between such "donations" and Mr. Rich's pardon.

(Perhaps Ms. Rich could ante up another $1.5 million to offset the $1.5 million a year Clinton is billing taxpayers to rent an abandoned Oldsmobile dealership in a Little Rock low-rent neighborhood to store 76 million documents awaiting completion of his Lie-brary.)
[Source: The Federalist Digest - February 09, 2001]

 From the "Quid Pro Quo" Files, U.S. News & World Report, in an article on Clinton shakedowns, says, "Clinton fundraisers pressed [Denise Rich] for...as much as $25 million for [his] library fund. The wealthy benefactor of the library and longtime Democratic contributor said fundraisers had suggested a donation of at least $10 million." After Ms. Rich asserted her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination last week, congressional investigators are considering granting her immunity in order to force her testimony concerning the relationship between her financial support of Clinton and company, and Clinton's pardon of her (ex)husband, Marc Rich.
[Source: The Federalist Digest - February 16, 2001]

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3:26:00 PM EST

Failed presidential candidate John Kerry and his ketchup heiress wife Teresa paid an emotional visit to Iowa on Friday, where comments by the might-a-been first lady provoked supporters to urge her husband to run again in 2008.

At a private reception at a Des Moines hotel, Kerry insisted the only reason for his return to Iowa was to thank supporters. But according to the Associated Press, the focus soon turned to the future when Teresa announced, "Whoever's up in '08 will not be running against the president, which is a blessing."

That's when the crowd erupted with chants Kerry's name.

Shifting into campaign mode, the Massachusetts Democrat said, "If they want to talk about values, let's talk about them," arguing that the real values are good-paying jobs and health care.

He made no reference, however, to his proposal for a new cabinet-level agency to be called "Department of Wellness," an idea first floated by Mrs. Heinz last winter.

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6:29:36 AM EST

  Race baiter, bigot, con man, and oh yes, Democratic presidential candidate, the Rev. Al Sharpton received a $35,000 check from the John F. Kerry campaign for "political consulting." 

This "political consulting" consisted of Sharpton leading the cheers for Kerry to mainly black potential voters in black churches and other largely black institutions.   

The other former white presidential candidates who campaigned for Kerry before presumably mostly white audiences were not paid for their help.  

Hmmmm. 

So does this prove that John F. Kerry is a racist because he doesn't pay whites for the same work he pays blacks?   And while this campaigning in black churches does prove that Democrats have some religion, will the ACLU now file a suit demanding the removal of the tax exempt status of those churches because religion mixed with politics?  

Just asking.

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7:52:24 PM EST

 A picture is worth a thousand words!

I saw this on the Jim Geraghty's excellent Kerry Spot. It's a snippet from Michael Moore's 2003 book Dude, Where's My Country?, from the chapter entitled "Horatio Alger Must Die":

[Horatio] Alger was one of the most popular American writers of the late 1800s. Alger's stories featured characters from impoverished backgrounds who, through pluck and determination and hard work, were able to make huge successes of themselves in this land of boundless opportunity. The message was that anyone can make it in America, and make it big.

We're addicted to this happy rags-to-riches myth in this country. People elsewhere in other industrialized democracies are content to make a good enough living to pay their bills and raise their families. Few have a cutthroat desire to strike it rich. If they have a job that lets them go home after seven or eight hours of work and then gives them the standard four to eight weeks of paid vacation every year, they're relatively happy. And with their governments providing health care, good free schools, and a guaranteed pension to live well in old age, they're even happier...

They live in reality, where there are only going to be a few rich people, and you are not going to be one of them. So get used to it...

Listen, friends, you have to face the truth. You are never going to be rich. The chance of that happening is about one in a million. Not only are you never going to be rich, but you are going to have to live the rest of your life busting your butt just to pay the cable bill and the music and arts classes for your kid at the public school where they used to be free.

Doesn't it seem strange that a multi-millionaire like Moore who is himself a skilled entrepreneur (and opportunist) would be throwing wet blankets on the hopes and dreams of those who would like to live the American dream? Of course, being rich isn't everything. Money doesn't buy happiness. My net worth is an infinitesimal fraction of Moore's millions and I wouldn't trade places with him. But Moore's hypocracy runs deep.

Notice the phrase Moore uses when describing Europeans: "Few have a cutthroat desire to strike it rich". Of course. Only the ignorant rubes in America desire to live well, those cut-throats. Enlightened elites like Michael Moore are rich too but they never really meant for it to happen, and surely they deserve it, being the splendid people they are.

It's rare to see the liberal vision of life expounded so plainly. "Don't try to get ahead. The mediocrity of the European-style social welfare that we, the elites, will provide for you, will be enough."

At least Moore speaks plainly the vision of the left in this country. For that we can be thankful.

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10:13:00 AM EST

I wonder sometimes whether liberals have taken leave of their senses, not just here in America but around the world. Here is an excerpt from a column by Andrew Johnston in yesterday's Toronto Star. Johnston, who--appallingly enough--teaches American history at the University of Western Ontario and is a co-director of the university's Centre for American Studies, was commenting on President Bush's recent visit to Canada:

The other intellectual wellspring for the neo-conservatives is widely believed to be political philosopher Leo Strauss.

The Bush administration is awash in Straussians (Leon Kass, Zalmay Khalilzad, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Bill Kristol, and Robert Kagan, to name a few) who, among other things, believe that true statesmanship entails overriding constitutional democracy and using Machiavellian instruments of deceit and autocracy to maintain all measure of social inequities.

I assume that liberals don't actually believe the drivel they write. But what possesses them to write such nonsense with a straight face is beyond me.

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6:59:31 AM EST

The United Nations wants to build and renovate in New York City, but it needs to take over land from a city park, and it needs about $600 million. It had hoped to get the State of New York to sell some bonds, offering a vague and legally unenforceable commitment to repay the bonds with dues from its member states.

Given the fact that UN diplomats-with-immunity currently owe New York City $195 million in unpaid parking fines, why should any sane government entity borrow money and put its own taxpayers on the hook?

The New York State Assembly will have nothing to do with it, and three cheers for them. This New York Sun article (below) provides lots of colorful detail.

It also suggests that Democrats like John Kerry, who think the United States should rely on UN multilateralism are backing a very unpopular institution. For a blue state, New York has a mighty poor regard for the United Nations. New Yorkers are not known for stupidity.

N.Y. Lawmakers Deal a Blow to U.N. Expansion

BY MEGHAN CLYNE - Staff Reporter of the Sun
December 3, 2004

New York State legislators turned back United Nations real-estate expansionists yesterday as the Senate decided against taking up a proposed U.N.-expansion bill next week, with the majority leader citing "tremendous community opposition" to the plan and one assemblyman declaring: "Let them move to Mozambique!"

The setback comes as three members of the New York congressional delegation - Reps. Peter King, Sue Kelly, and Vito Fossella - added their voices yesterday to the growing chorus of politicians asking Secretary-General Annan to resign.

Had it been adopted in a special session planned for next week, the U.N.-expansion legislation would have permitted the U.N. to continue with plans to erect a new building on what is currently a park next to the U.N. complex.

In his announcement, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno cited "tremendous community opposition" to the U.N.'s expansion plan, plus a lack of financial accountability, as reasons for blocking the bill.

According to Mr. Bruno's press release, the U.N. Development Corporation was expected to provide $600 million in bonds to finance the expansion. Fees collected from U.N. member nations would pay for the debt service on the bonds, but there would be no oversight of the finances by the state Public Authorities Control Board.

"Without any state oversight or review of the project's financing through the PACB, it is difficult to determine exactly who would be liable to pay off the debt, should there be a default. It certainly should not be State or City taxpayers," said Mr. Bruno. He questioned whether the U.N. could be trusted to pay off its debts, considering that U.N. representatives from roughly 200 countries already owe more than $195 million in city parking fines.

Kevin Quinn, a spokesman for Governor Pataki, told the Associated Press that "while the governor supports keeping the United Nations in New York City for the economic benefit, he does strongly believe they need to cooperate with congressional investigators regarding the oil-for-food scandal." Mr. Pataki, according to a wire dispatch, had earlier said he would sign the legislation that would have allowed the U.N. to use the playground land.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Democrat of Brooklyn, was pleased with the decision.

"I was gratified to have the opportunity in Albany to work on the Assembly side to organize people against the U.N.'s doing anything in New York," Mr. Hikind said. "I'm so delighted, on behalf of my community and New Yorkers, to tell the U.N. to go to hell, plain and simple. They want to expand? Forget it!" he added. "Let them move to Mozambique, or Paris, or God knows where."

State Senator Martin Golden of Brooklyn was quoted by the AP yesterday as saying that Americans "have been insulted by the U.N. repeatedly since September 11, 2001, as we have sought to defend ourselves from terrorism. This is hardly the time to assist the United Nations with expansion efforts on American soil."

And state Senator Serphin Maltese, a Republican from Queens, also weighed in on the embattled U.N.: "It has evolved intoan anti-Israel, anti-Semitic group of petty, sniping bigots whoare pursuing an anti-freedom, antidemocratic, anti-American agenda. To authorize an expansion of their headquarters would be a slap in the face of American citizens."

Stymied real estate expansion plans were not the U.N.'s only New York problem yesterday.

The clamor of calls for Mr. Annan's resignation - and for disciplinary action against the U.N. - grew louder yesterday when three Republican representatives from the New York congressional delegation joined in. Reps. King, Kelly, and Fossella urged a change of leadership at Turtle Bay.

At a press conference held across the street from the U.N. building, they also announced their support for legislation that would withhold 10% of assessed contributions to the U.N. in 2005, and another 20% in 2006, until President Bush confirms that the U.N. is cooperating with Senate and House investigations into the oil-for-food scandal. America's annual contribution to the U.N. is $1.12 billion, or roughly one fifth of total contributions the organization receives.

The three legislators were frustrated by the lack of U.N. cooperation and transparency in investigations into possible corruption at the U.N. Mr. Fossella said in a press release yesterday that "[Saddam] Hussein and diplomats conspired to rob the Iraqi people of $21 billion while leaving them hungry, penniless and merciless against the brutality of the regime. Despite the overwhelming evidence of fraud and abuse, the U.N. continues to stonewall a truly independent investigation of the alleged criminal activity."

"This travesty cries out for action," Mr. Fossella added. "The world has a right to learn the full extent of the mismanagement, corruption, and sweetheart deals. Anyone who illegally profited from the oil-for-food program must be tried and, if found guilty, punished for his crimes."

Mr. Fossella was also highly critical of Mr. Annan.

"Under [Mr. Annan's] stewardship, the U.N. seems to be going in the wrong direction. If this is not criminality, it is certainly bordering on criminality." He added that, under Mr. Annan's watch,the U.N. has "lost its moral compass," and said that if Mr. Annan "really believes in the U.N.'s mission, he should step down."

Of a similar mind-set was Mr. King, who criticized the U.N. for "shielding the truth" and said that if Mr. Annan "did know what was going on, it was criminal. If he didn't know, it's criminal negligence." "The time has come for [Mr. Annan] to step down," Mr. King said.

According to a spokesman for Ms. Kelly, the congresswoman also believes that "changes in leadership at the top would help the U.N. begin to repair its image to the world. If Mr. Annan stepped aside, there would be greater transparency and openness at the U.N."

These statements came on the heels of calls for Mr. Annan's resignation within the U.S. Senate. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece on Wednesday, Senator Coleman, a Republican of Minnesota who is leading one of the investigations into the oil-for-food scandal, called for Mr. Annan to step down.

Also on Wednesday, Senator Shelby, a Republican of Alabama who serves with Mr. Coleman on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, urged Mr. Annan to resign. In an interview on MSNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Matthews, Mr. Shelby said, "For many reasons I think [Mr. Annan] should go. The no. 1 reason is you look at the U.N., the U.N. is in dire need of reform everywhere. And it starts at the top. He is the secretary-general."

Mr. Shelby added, "What I would like to see...is real, meaningful audits of all the U.N. accounts. Let them appear on the Web sites. Let the American people and the world...know what the U.N. is doing, who is running the U.N., how short they are in various areas, and I believe this calls for new leadership. I agree with Senator Coleman. He's right on."

Mr. Shelby also criticized Mr. Annan in the wake of a New York Sun report last week. Mr. Annan's son, Kojo Annan, the Sun disclosed, turned out to have been receiving payments as recently as early this year from a key contractor in the oil-for-food program, Cotecna Inspection Services SA.

This is one of several reasonscited by a bevy of magazine and newspaper editorial pages as justification for Mr. Annan's resignation. The New York Sun, National Review, the New Republic, the New York Post, and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review have called for Mr. Annan's resignation, as has New York Times columnist William Safire.

Critics have also questioned whether the U.N. is withholding evidence and failing to cooperate with congressional investigations. But the fact that Mr. Annan stood by while a program intended to help the Iraqi people instead profited key U.N. member nations - and perhaps went to fund Palestinian terror and the insurgency against American troops in Iraq - is cause enough for his removal, some have said.

According to the Associated Press, however, many U.N. member states - including Russia, Britain, and other members of the Security Council - have rejected these calls for Mr. Annan's resignation.

President Bush said yesterday that he looks forward to "the full disclosure of the facts, [to getting] an honest appraisal of that which went on. And it's important for the integrity of the organization to have a full and open disclosure of all that took place with the oil-for-food program."

Mr. Bush remained noncommittal on the matter of whether Mr. Annan ought to resign.

Some local political figures remained either supportive of, or agnostic toward, Mr. Annan and the U.N. At a press conference yesterday, Senator Clinton said that "there is an ongoing investigation headed by a very distinguished American, Paul Volcker, who I think everyone has great confidence in. I understand his report is going to be available early in January. I want to wait and see what it says."

Rep. Charles Rangel, the Harlem Democrat, said that he didn't see how senators could be calling for Mr. Annan's resignation.

"It seems to me that no country has the right to tell the U.N. what to do," he told the Sun. "This is the first time that I've heard that American politicians are calling for [Mr. Annan's] resignation. That means that we could have politicians in countries all over the world demanding things."

A spokesman for Mr. Rangel, George Dalley, added that he thought it was "another opportunity for right-wing attacks on the United Nations," as part of "a tendency to disparage the U.N. under any particular guise."

To Mr. Hikind, however, the "U.N. is a cesspool." He declared, "It's the most corrupt organization if the history of the world. Why any of us in New York would want to support this organization's being here, on principle, is beyond me."

"The U.N. is evil, it is racist, it is anti-American," he added. "New York will do very, very well without them."

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1:13:01 PM EST

To the Mothers and the Fathers
Of United States Marines
Who have fought and bled and died
So that freedom’s bell still rings
 
From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
From the alleys of Fallujah
To the frozen Yudam-ni
 
From the sands of Iwo Jima
To the hills around Khe Sanh
From the smoky hell of Belleau Woods
Your Son fought and won
 
Your Son battled dictatorships
Communism and tyranny
God’s Son died to make men holy
Your Son died to make men free
 
There is a debt we owe Your Son
That we can never repay
We owe Your Son more than platitudes
Heard on Veterans or Memorial Day
 
Your Son is a son of America
One of the Proud and the Few
Your Son volunteered to do the things
Other men would not or could not do
 
Your Son was Semper Fidelis
Always Faithful to the end was he
Your Son was a shining example
Of what a man is supposed to be
 
Now Your Son has been reassigned
To stand guard on Heaven’s streets
And when my tour of duty is over
I know that we will meet
 
I’ll thank Your Son for my freedom
For keeping terror on a distant shore
I’ll thank Your Son for our way of life
And the sacrifice he bore
 
So tonight when you cry out to God
While praying on your knees
Know that He’s a loving God
Who will listen to your pleas
 
To lose Your Son for freedom’s cause
God truly understands
God sent His Son to die for us
So you can see Your Son again

Written by Gene E. Blanton

"Not as lean, not as mean,

STILL a Marine!"

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1:07:45 PM EST

In the waning hours of the presidential campaign Kerry and the legacy media, particularly the New York Times, alleged that the Administration had failed to guard the sealed IAEA  weapons caches, allowing the insurgents to steal the very dangerous stocks of HMX. Many have argued that it was an error for Kerry to have made this an issue, contending it only focused attention on defense issues, Bush's strong suit. And there was a well-founded suspicion that it was ElBaradei, the head of the IAEA, who had purposely leaked this story to affect the election.
 
New details in today's Independent indicate the whole story may have been false, that the HMX was stolen by Saddam before we had control of these weapons and that, ironically, it may have been used in the attack on the UN headquarters. 
 
As American forces closed in on Baghdad last year, senior members of Saddam Hussein's government devised a plan to send suicide bombers in vehicles packed with devastating high-energy explosives that were under UN safeguards.

The disappearance of the explosive, known as HMX (high melting explosives), in mysterious circumstances at the end of the war caused a few nasty moments for President George Bush's presidential election campaign last month.

A letter to Saddam from Dr Naji Sabri, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, five days before the fall of Baghdad, suggests taking the HMX from underground bunkers, where it had been kept under seal by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and giving it to suicide bombers.

He wrote: "It is possible to increase the explosive power of the suicide-driven cars by using the highly explosive material [HMX] which is sealed by the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] and stored in the warehouses of the Military Industry Departments."

The Iraqi regime took credit for several suicide bombs towards the end of the war. After the fall of Saddam, one of the worst attacks - which killed 22 UN workers and the special envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello, in August 2003 - had an explosive force that could only have come from military grade explosives.

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