Saddam paid every family of a suicide bomber $10,000. Though he wasn’t the largest supporter of terrorism he certainly backed them.
He was the easiest target to beat and save American lives by making Iraq the catalyst for political change throughout the Middle East.
A free Iraq with all Iraqi citizens receiving their fare share of oil revenue checks (as in Kuwait) will destabilize the Iranian government causing a thereat from within their own country.
Destabilizing Iran automatically weakens the foundation of the Syrian government.
These are the 2 largest contributors to terrorists. This has been the strategy from day one but the current administration cannot come right out and speak these words.
This will cause the monies flowing like a river to Al-Quaeda, Hezbollah, and Ham mas to be reduced to a dripping faucet.
The war in Iraq has been about undermining the terrorist supporting countries of the entire Middle East and is a logical step to end the source of money to terrorist organizations.
Once again…a free Iraq is their worst nightmare.
God Bless

09/03/07 Xinhua: Suicide car bomb attack kills two security members in western Iraq
A suicide car bomb attacked an Iraqi security checkpoint on highway near the city of Ramadi inthe western province of Anbar on Monday, killing two security members and wounding three others, a provincial police source said.
09/03/07 WaPo: Bush, Advisers Make Surprise Visit to Iraq
?On the eve of major administration decisions on U.S. strategy in Iraq, President Bush, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top U.S. military leaders including the senior U.S. commander in Iraq…
09/03/07 Reuters: Roadside bomb kills 1, wounds others in Dujail
A boy was killed and three of his brothers were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their house in the town of Dujail, 90 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, the Joint Iraqi-U.S. Coordination Centre said.
09/03/07 Reuters: Militant killed, four others wounded in clashes in Dujail
Clashes erupted between al Qaeda militants and residents of a Shi’ite village near the town of Dujail, leaving one militant dead and four others wounded, the Joint Iraqi-U.S. Coordination Centre said.
09/03/07 Reuters: Suicide bomber kills 2 policemen, wounds 13 near Ramadi
A suicide car bomber targeting a police checkpoint killed two policemen and wounded 13 other people, including six policemen, in the al-Jazeera area near Ramadi, 110 km (70 km) west of Baghdad, police said.
09/03/07 Reuters: 2 killed, 2 wounded by car bomb in Baghdad
At least two people were killed and two others wounded when a parked car bomb exploded in central Baghdad, police said.
09/03/07 Reuters: Four civilians wounded by IED in Kirkuk
Four civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
09/03/07 Reuters: 2 policemen wounded by IED in Kirkuk
Two policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol in Kirkuk, police said.
09/03/07 Reuters: 13 bodies found in Baghdad on Sunday
The bodies of 13 people were found in different districts of Baghdad on Sunday, police said.
09/03/07 Reuters: 2 Iraqi soldiers killed in Taji
Gunmen killed two Iraqi soldiers and wounded eight on Sunday when they attacked their checkpoint in the town of Taji, 20 km (9 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
09/03/07 Reuters: 2 bodies found in Mussayab
The bodies of two people were found shot in the town of Mussayab, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, on Sunday, police said.
09/03/07 Reuters: U.S. forces detained 5 suspected insurgents in Tikrit
U.S. forces detained five suspected insurgents during operations to disrupt al Qaeda activities in Tikrit, Baghdad and Baiji, the U.S. military said.
09/03/07 Newsweek: Baghdad’s New Owners
Thousands of other Sunnis like Kamal have been cleared out of the western half of Baghdad, which they once dominated…The surge of U.S. troops—meant in part to halt the sectarian cleansing of the Iraqi capital—has hardly stemmed the problem.
09/03/07 KUNA: Shiite violence threatens to overshadow gains
Rivalries and violence between Shiite factions are threatening to overshadow progress US forces have made against Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other extremists just weeks before the top American commander and diplomat in Iraq report to Congress.

please provide with sources; thank u

I saw an interview with a republican strategist yesterday, where in his main focus was to point out, that “Reporters” are everyone with a cell phone, a Vid Cam, or access to the internet… that in fact “No Media” source was credible in this age of “Gorilla” and “Gotcha” journalism…
Now if you can read between the buzz words and epithets so gratuitously used by political pundits, what that really does in the minds of the willing, is create a sense of “Real People against a false media”
Has this strategy been effective ?

Success in Mathematics
Tips on how to study mathematics,
how to approach problem-solving,
how to study for and take tests,
and when and how to get help.
————————————–…
Math Study Skills
Problem Solving
Studying for a Math Test
Taking a Math Test
Getting Assistance
————————————–…
Math Study Skills
Active Study vs. Passive Study
Be actively involved in managing the learning process, the mathematics and your study time:
Take responsibility for studying, recognizing what you do and don’t know, and knowing how to get your Instructor to help you with what you don’t know.
Attend class every day and take complete notes. Instructors formulate test questions based on material and examples covered in class as well as on those in the text.
Be an active participant in the classroom. Get ahead in the book; try to work some of the problems before they are covered in class. Anticipate what the Instructor’s next step will be.
Ask questions in class! There are usually other students wanting to know the answers to the same questions you have.
Go to office hours and ask questions. The Instructor will be pleased to see that you are interested, and you will be actively helping yourself.
Good study habits throughout the semester make it easier to study for tests.
Studying Math is Different from Studying Other Subjects
Math is learned by doing problems. Do the homework. The problems help you learn the formulas and techniques you do need to know, as well as improve your problem-solving prowess.
A word of warning: Each class builds on the previous ones, all semester long. You must keep up with the Instructor: attend class, read the text and do homework every day. Falling a day behind puts you at a disadvantage. Falling a week behind puts you in deep trouble.
A word of encouragement: Each class builds on the previous ones, all semester long. You’re always reviewing previous material as you do new material. Many of the ideas hang together. Identifying and learning the key concepts means you don’t have to memorize as much.
College Math is Different from High School Math
A College math class meets less often and covers material at about twice the pace that a High School course does. You are expected to absorb new material much more quickly. Tests are probably spaced farther apart and so cover more material than before. The Instructor may not even check your homework.
Take responsibility for keeping up with the homework. Make sure you find out how to do it.
You probably need to spend more time studying per week – you do more of the learning outside of class than in High School.
Tests may seem harder just because they cover more material.
Study Time
You may know a rule of thumb about math (and other) classes: at least 2 hours of study time per class hour. But this may not be enough!
Take as much time as you need to do all the homework and to get complete understanding of the material.
Form a study group. Meet once or twice a week (also use the phone). Go over problems you’ve had trouble with. Either someone else in the group will help you, or you will discover you’re all stuck on the same problems. Then it’s time to get help from your Instructor.
The more challenging the material, the more time you should spend on it.
————————————–…
Problem Solving
Problem Solving (Homework and Tests)
The higher the math class, the more types of problems: in earlier classes, problems often required just one step to find a solution. Increasingly, you will tackle problems which require several steps to solve them. Break these problems down into smaller pieces and solve each piece – divide and conquer!
Problem types:
Problems testing memorization (”drill”),
Problems testing skills (”drill”),
Problems requiring application of skills to familiar situations (”template” problems),
Problems requiring application of skills to unfamiliar situations (you develop a strategy for a new problem type),
Problems requiring that you extend the skills or theory you know before applying them to an unfamiliar situation.
In early courses, you solved problems of types 1, 2 and 3. By College Algebra you expect to do mostly problems of types 2 and 3 and sometimes of type 4. Later courses expect you to tackle more and more problems of types 3 and 4, and (eventually) of type 5. Each problem of types 4 or 5 usually requires you to use a multi-step approach, and may involve several different math skills and techniques.
When you work problems on homework, write out complete solutions, as if you were taking a test. Don’t just scratch out a few lines and check the answer in the back of the book. If your answer is not right, rework the problem; don’t just do some mental gymnastics to convince yourself that you could get the correct answer. If you can’t get the answer, get help.
The practice you get doing homework and reviewing will make test problems easier to tackle.
Tips on Problem Solving
Apply Pólya’s four-step process:
The first and most important step in solving a problem is to understand the problem, that is, identify exactly which quantity the problem is asking you to find or solve for (make sure you read the whole problem).
Next you need to devise a plan, that is, identify which skills and techniques you have learned can be applied to solve the problem at hand.
Carry out the plan.
Look back: Does the answer you found seem reasonable? Also review the problem and method of solution so that you will be able to more easily recognize and solve a similar problem.
Some problem-solving strategies: use one or more variables, complete a table, consider a special case, look for a pattern, guess and test, draw a picture or diagram, make a list, solve a simpler related problem, use reasoning, work backward, solve an equation, look for a formula, use coordinates.
“Word” Problems are Really “Applied” Problems
The term “word problem” has only negative connotations. It’s better to think of them as “applied problems”. These problems should be the most interesting ones to solve. Sometimes the “applied” problems don’t appear very realistic, but that’s usually because the corresponding real applied problems are too hard or complicated to solve at your current level. But at least you get an idea of how the math you are learning can help solve actual real-world problems.
Solving an Applied Problem
First convert the problem into mathematics. This step is (usually) the most challenging part of an applied problem. If possible, start by drawing a picture. Label it with all the quantities mentioned in the problem. If a quantity in the problem is not a fixed number, name it by a variable. Identify the goal of the problem. Then complete the conversion of the problem into math, i.e., find equations which describe relationships among the variables, and describe the goal of the problem mathematically.
Solve the math problem you have generated, using whatever skills and techniques you need (refer to the four-step process above).
As a final step, you should convert the answer of your math problem back into words, so that you have now solved the original applied problem.
For Further Reading:
George Pólya, How to Solve It,Princeton University Press, Princeton (1945)
————————————–…
Studying for a Math Test
Everyday Study is a Big Part of Test Preparation
Good study habits throughout the semester make it easier to study for tests.
Do the homework when it is assigned. You cannot hope to cram 3 or 4 weeks worth of learning into a couple of days of study.
On tests you have to solve problems; homework problems are the only way to get practice. As you do homework, make lists of formulas and techniques to use later when you study for tests.
Ask your Instructor questions as they arise; don’t wait until the day or two before a test. The questions you ask right before a test should be to clear up minor details.
Studying for a Test
Start by going over each section, reviewing your notes and checking that you can still do the homework problems (actually work the problems again). Use the worked examples in the text and notes – cover up the solutions and work the problems yourself. Check your work against the solutions given.
You’re not ready yet! In the book each problem appears at the end of the section in which you learned how do to that problem; on a test the problems from different sections are all together.
Step back and ask yourself what kind of problems you have learned how to solve, what techniques of solution you have learned, and how to tell which techniques go with which problems.
Try to explain out loud, in your own words, how each solution strategy is used (e.g. how to solve a quadratic equation). If you get confused during a test, you can mentally return to your verbal “capsule instructions”. Check your verbal explanations with a friend during a study session (it’s more fun than talking to yourself!).
Put yourself in a test-like situation: work problems from review sections at the end of chapters, and work old tests if you can find some. It’s important to keep working problems the whole time you’re studying.
Also:
Start studying early. Several days to a week before the test (longer for the final), begin to allot time in your schedule to reviewing for the test.
Get lots of sleep the night before the test. Math tests are easier when you are mentally sharp.
————————————–…
Taking a Math Test
Test-Taking Strategy Matters
Just as it is important to think about how you spend your study time (in addition to actually doing the studying), it is important to think about what strategies you will use when you take a test (in addition to actually doing the problems on the test). Good test-taking strategy can make a big difference to your grade!
Taking a Test
First look over the entire test. You’ll get a sense of its length. Try to identify those problems you definitely know how to do right away, and those you expect to have to think about.
Do the problems in the order that suits you! Start with the problems that you know for sure you can do. This builds confidence and means you don’t miss any sure points just because you run out of time. Then try the problems you think you can figure out; then finally try the ones you are least sure about.
Time is of the essence – work as quickly and continuously as you can while still writing legibly and showing all your work. If you get stuck on a problem, move on to another one – you can come back later.
Work by the clock. On a 50 minute, 100 point test, you have about 5 minutes for a 10 point question. Starting with the easy questions will probably put you ahead of the clock. When you work on a harder problem, spend the allotted time (e.g., 5 minutes) on that question, and if you have not almost finished it, go on to another problem. Do not spend 20 minutes on a problem which will yield few or no points when there are other problems still to try.
Show all your work: make it as easy as possible for the Instructor to see how much you do know. Try to write a well-reasoned solution. If your answer is incorrect, the Instructor will assign partial credit based on the work you show.
Never waste time erasing! Just draw a line through the work you want ignored and move on. Not only does erasing waste precious time, but you may discover later that you erased something useful (and/or maybe worth partial credit if you cannot complete the problem). You are (usually) not required to fit your answer in the space provided – you can put your answer on another sheet to avoid needing to erase.
In a multiple-step problem outline the steps before actually working the problem.
Don’t give up on a several-part problem just because you can’t do the first part. Attempt the other part(s) – if the actual solution depends on the first part, at least explain how you would do it.
Make sure you read the questions carefully, and do all parts of each problem.
Verify your answers – does each answer make sense given the context of the problem?
If you finish early, check every problem (that means rework everything from scratch).
————————————–…
Getting Assistance
When
Get help as soon as you need it. Don’t wait until a test is near. The new material builds on the previous sections, so anything you don’t understand now will make future material difficult to understand.
Use the Resources You Have Available
Ask questions in class. You get help and stay actively involved in the class.
Visit the Instructor’s Office Hours. Instructors like to see students who want to help themselves.
Ask friends, members of your study group, or anyone else who can help. The classmate who explains something to you learns just as much as you do, for he/she must think carefully about how to explain the particular concept or solution in a clear way. So don’t be reluctant to ask a classmate.
Go to the Math Help Sessions or other tutoring sessions on campus.
Find a private tutor if you can’t get enough help from other sources.
All students need help at some point, so be sure to get the help you need.
Asking Questions
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Any question is better than no question at all (at least your Instructor/tutor will know you are confused). But a good question will allow your helper to quickly identify exactly what you don’t understand.
Not too helpful comment: “I don’t understand this section.” The best you can expect in reply to such a remark is a brief review of the section, and this will likely overlook the particular thing(s) which you don’t understand.
Good comment: “I don’t understand why f(x + h) doesn’t equal f(x) + f(h).” This is a very specific remark that will get a very specific response and hopefully clear up your difficulty.
Good question: “How can you tell the difference between the equation of a circle and the equation of a line?”
Okay question: “How do you do #17?”
Better question: “Can you show me how to set up #17?” (the Instructor can let you try to finish the problem on your own), or “This is how I tried to do #17. What went wrong?” The focus of attention is on your thought process.
Right after you get help with a problem, work another similar problem by yourself.
You Control the Help You Get
Helpers should be coaches, not crutches. They should encourage you, give you hints as you need them, and sometimes show you how to do problems. But they should not, nor be expected to, actually do the work you need to do. They are there to help you figure out how to learn math for yourself.
When you go to office hours, your study group or a tutor, have a specific list of questions prepared in advance. You should run the session as much as possible.
Do not allow yourself to become dependent on a tutor. The tutor cannot take the exams for you. You must take care to be the one in control of tutoring sessions.
You must recognize that sometimes you do need some coaching to help you through, and it is up to you to seek out that coaching.
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY
June 1993

“Pessimist” Realism
a self-interest strategy to achieve the maximum power in a highly anarchic international system. This approach has been adopted for at least 500 years
Political struggle among humans is probably inevitable because people have an inherent dark side. Hobbes’ Leviathan and Morganthau’s Politics among Nations are two major sources of inspiration for this school.
Realists focus on the nature of the human kind as the main cause of the anarchic world system.
Neorealists emphasis the competition among sovereign states (that answer no higher authority) as the main cause of the anarchic world system because every state has to adopt a self-help strategy to survive and flourish
“Optimist” Idealism
It is a long-term altruistic trend that condemns the pursuit of short-term self-interest and takes a more cooperative globalist approach. The nuclear weapons, deterioration of environment and overpopulation mean that the traditional path of world politics.

THE 9/11 ATTACKS – WHAT WE KNOW:
The Bush administration was comprised of a group of people who had published a radical foreign policy. Elements of this policy include what is now known as the Bush preemptive doctrine. When Paul Wolfowitz first created this policy for the George H. W Bush administration it was dismissed as insane. This group of people created an agenda and a strategy to advance it. This group openly stated ”Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor. Domestic politics and industrial policy will shape the pace and content of transformation as much as the requirements of current missions.“ The Bush administration was comprised of people who had a clear and public MOTIVE for creating or enabling the attacks of 9/11. This is a issue that should be addressed by our media, our lawmakers, our citizens and the rest of the world.
Every procedure that was in place to deal with domestic hijackings was ignored on the day of the attacks.
Why did the Secret Service feel that there was no need to protect George W. Bush?
George Bush resisted an official inquiry into the worst national disaster since Pearl Harbor for 18 months. Any reasonable person would want to know what happened and they would want to make sure that there were no traitors in our mists. It was reasonable to consider the possibilities that the people who planned an attack like this had inside help. A president would want this checked out. George W. Bush wanted no investigation. He already had an official story and was quickly passed on to the press.
Every bit of evidence at Ground Zero and the Pentagon was confiscated and destroyed, and not preserved as crime scene evidence. This in itself is a crime. No need to look further. This is not in dispute. The George W. Bush is responsible for ordering or allowing the destruction of crime scene evidence.
There is not a shred of evidence that a 757 hit the Pentagon. All films from security cameras at the scene were confiscated and never seen again. The few frames of video from the Pentagon security camera were leaked to the public from an anonymous source in the Pentagon. When information is leaked from the Pentagon during a heightened state of emergency it is cause for concern. Neither the administration or the press question this breech of security. This is a clear indication of an intentional leak designed to sell the official story. If a 757 had hit the Pentagon they would have released the videos that were confiscated.
The hole made in the Pentagon crash is far too small for a 757 to have made.
Dozens of bin Laden family members were hurried out of the country without FBI interrogation immediately after the attacks.
None of the alleged hijackers was on any passenger list of the hijacked planes.
Eyewitness accounts describe a windowless, blue plane hitting the WTC.
Someone placed ‘put’ orders on the two hijacked airlines before the attacks, and stood to net huge stock market profits.
The Twin Towers both collapsed at free fall speed in the manner of a planned demolition, with visible explosions occurring in sequence on floors never hit by the planes.
The owner of the WTC admitted that Tower 7 was ‘taken down’ (intentionally demolished) by the Fire Department. THIS IS A CONFESSION! DO WE NEED MORE EVIDENCE?
Condoleezza Rice lied under oath to the Kean Commission about the warning memo that stated bin Laden was targeting the US.
Condoleezza Rice lied when she claimed that no one could have imagined an attack using airliners as weapons. NORAD had drilled for such events 2 years before the Bush White House claimed that they never could have imagined it.
George Bush claimed he saw the first plane hit Tower One, when no photos of the crash had been shown on any television screen.
George Bush sat silently in a classroom for seven full minutes after being informed that a second plane had hit the WTC. Why did George W. Bush react to the attacks differently than every other person in the nation? While every American jumped into emergency mode, George W. Bush did not flinch. He was not worried about his own safety or about the security of the nation. Why not?
NORAD did not send up a single interceptor jet despite knowing that four hijackings were taking place.
FBI agents and bomb sniffer dogs went through trash bins in both WTC Towers for weeks prior to the attacks. They were suddenly removed prior to the attack. Some people in our government were trying to do their job, others might have been trying to prevent the job from being done.
Dick Cheney was in charge of a series of drills held on the morning of September 11th, simulating attacks by hijacked airliners on the WTC.
No one in the US government is willing to investigate any of these and hundreds more concerns about this terrible event.
THE WARS AGAINST AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ – WHAT WE KNOW:
Members of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) occupy or had occupied many important positions in the present Bush administration.
PNAC explained the need for wars against Iraq and Afghanistan in papers published in the late 1990’s.
PNAC urged President Bill Clinton to invade Iraq, but was turned down.
PNAC member, Paul Wolfowitz, ADMITS that it was about OIL! HE ADMITTED IT! THE PRESS IGNORED THIS!!! ARE YOU LISTENING! DO YOU NEED MORE PROOF THAN A CONFESSION FROM ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF THE WAR??? ARE YOU LISTENING???
The PNAC thesis “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” stated that Americans would not accept pre-emptive wars against Iraq or Afghanistan unless there was a ‘catastrophic event like a New Pearl Harbor’ inside the country. Again we establish motive for complicity in the events of 9/11.
The Bush administration was trying to negotiate an oil pipeline deal with the Taliban before 9/11. They promised the leaders of Afghanistan a ‘carpet of bombs’ should the deal fall through. The deal fell through.
Deputy Director of the FBI, John O’Neill, quit his job in protest over this threat. O’Neill died in the attacks on the WTC on September 11th.
The attack on Afghanistan was explained as retaliation against the Taliban for not turning Osama bin Laden over to American authorities.
Both Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powel stated prior to 9/11 that Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction and that he was unable to pose a threat to his neighbors or the US.
George W. Bush came into the White House intent upon removing Saddam Hussein from power.
Donald Rumsfeld stated that the response to 9/11 should be an attack on Iraq because that’s where the targets were.
The UN inspectors were given unfettered access to sites Iraq, and requested more time to complete their task.
Everyone in the Bush administration with access to the media stressed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction capable of killing millions of Americans.
A totally false connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein was fabricated and repeated at every possible opportunity.
In October, 2002, George W. Bush lied to the Congress of the United States about the imminent threat posed by Saddam Hussein. In a brazen and impeachable act, he manipulated intelligence information in order to procure Congressional approval for his war against Iraq.
Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld spent months assuring the American public that their lives were in great danger unless the US waged a preventive war against Iraq. There was no doubt about the accuracy of their information, they said. No doubt at all. Mushroom clouds were on the horizon.
In January, 2003, George W. Bush lied to the nation in his SOTU speech about nuclear material obtained by Saddam. His unrelenting terror tactics and repeated references to Iraq’s WMD’s paved the way for public acceptance for a war he had planned for years.
In February, 2003, Colin Powell lied to the UN on two separate occasions in a futile attempt to convince the Security Council of the immediate threat presented by Iraq.
Despite UN inspectors’ statements to the contrary, George Bush told the nation that Saddam Hussein was not in compliance with the UN resolution requiring open inspections.
In March, 2003, boasting of a bombing strategy named ‘shock and awe,’ George Bush invaded Iraq.
More than 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died in George Bush’s war. Nearly 1700 American troops have lost their lives. Nearly 200 coalition forces are dead. Untold thousands are maimed. The carnage continues and civil war is imminent.
The minutes of the Downing Street meeting between George Bush and Tony Blair revealed an agreement to attack Iraq months before the invasion itself.
George W. Bush violated international law by waging a preventive war on a non-threatening, sovereign nation. That illegal war continues to this day.
THE ABUSE AND TORTURE OF PRISONERS – WHAT WE KNOW:
On May 7th, 2002, the US officially withdrew from the International Criminal Court (ICC). The US now has immunity from the court for US citizens suspected of atrocities. US soldiers serving overseas are immune from prosecution in the court, while politicians and US officials, including CIA operatives, can claim diplomatic immunity.
Shortly after 9/11, WH legal counsel, Alberto Gonzalez, drafted a memo in which he virtually changed the rules of prisoner treatment. The memo declared the war on terror to be conflict against a vast, outlaw, international enemy in which the rules of war, international treaties and even the Geneva Conventions did not apply. Alberto Gonzales was subsequently appointed US Attorney General.
In January, 2002, the WH legal department issued another memo concluding that neither the Geneva Conventions nor any of the laws of war applied to the conflict in Afghanistan.
In February of 2002, George Bush signed a secret order authorizing the CIA. To set up a series of secret detention facilities outside the United States, and to question those held in them with unprecedented harshness.
•The Bush administration then began to send terror suspects to other countries for interrogation, thereby absolving the US of blame for torture applied elsewhere.
In 2003, Abu Ghraib was formally handed over to tactical control of military-intelligence units for the expressed purpose of extracting information from detainees.
As an outcome of regular inspections, the International Commission of the Red Cross broke its rule of secrecy by publicly complaining of the systemic abuse of prisoners, in Iraq and Afghanistan, detailing methods of abuse that were in clear violation of international law.
In 2004, hundreds of photographs and video tapes were released that revealed shocking methods of abuse and torture of detainees in Abu Ghraib prison.
Despite many complaints about abuse, no investigation of prisoner treatment was held until it was clear these photographs were about to be leaked to the media.
Many civilian contractors were employed to carry out ‘interrogations’ of detainees.
Many of the detainees had committed no crimes, but had been arrested in huge sweeps of Iraqi men intended to secure information about insurgent attacks.
Interrogations were conducted and supervised by military intelligence operatives who ordered that prisoners be ‘softened up’ for questioning.
Abuses often were sexual in nature, preying upon the cultural sensitivities of Moslem men regarding nudity and public sexual acts.
Abuses were systemic throughout Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.
Hundreds of other photos and videos were kept secret by the Pentagon, and have recently been ordered released to the public.
The Bush administration attributed the abuse to the work of a few ‘bad apple’ underlings, and denied any knowledge or approval by anyone in the administration.
Reports of Koran desecration at Guantanamo were corroborated by the Pentagon.
To date, civilian aircraft continue to fly terror suspects to other countries for harsh and illegal interrogation methods.
To date, no one in the Pentagon or the White House has been held accountable for the widespread abuse and torture of prisoners. To date, only enlisted personnel have been charged with any abuses or torture. To date, further investigations have been dropped.

We are luanching www.sharkwaters.com and looking to target hardcore gamers. This is a skilled gaming website, legal in the US, headed by the former chief UK Gambling Regulator. We have a small ad budget and need to use it efficiently. The challenge: Players are our content, and we are creating a marketplace, so the first sign ups are tough.
Our Strategy: White labeling with current gamer sites, offering them a new source of revenue. Any other odeas?

“Hillary Sells Own Tears on eBay: In a bold strategy to raise funds for her cash-strapped presidential campaign, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that she was selling her own tears on the popular auction site eBay.
After lending her campaign $5 million dollars of her own money prior to the Super Tuesday primaries, Mrs. Clinton’s resources were reportedly tapped out, leading her to auction off vials of her own tears with a suggested opening bid of $10,000.
While the posted eBay description of her tears does not attribute any healing properties to them, it does claim that their historic value could be priceless.
Mrs. Clinton’s decision to auction off her own tears, while admittedly an unorthodox strategy, was not nearly as unusual as some of the other fundraising ideas floated by her campaign in recent days, sources said.

China’s economy will overtake that of the United States in one long generation if current trends continue. (Goldman Sachs predicted in 2003 that Chinese GDP would surpass that of the U.S. in 2042.) India, starting later and growing slightly slower, will not reach the same milestone for a further decade or more, but both Asian giants will be nipping at America’s heels long before that. And economic power is the source of most other kinds of power.
Per capita income in China and India will still be much lower than that of the United States, but it will not be that low: Goldman Sachs predicts a Chinese per capita income in 2042 comparable to that of Western Europe today. Combine this wealth with populations that will be three or four times bigger than that of the United States in the 2040s, accept that there is unlikely to be any remaining innovation gap, and Washington will be facing a formidable pair of strategic rivals.
Most people are not panicked by this future because they assume that there will no longer be a Communist regime in China 35 years from now, and they know that India is a democracy already. There is nothing in either country’s history or current behavior to suggest that they would behave less responsibly than the existing great powers have done (though admittedly the bar has not been set very high). But seeing the United States reduced to only one great power among others cannot be a prospect that appeals to American strategic thinkers of a traditional bent – so what is their grand strategy for averting it?
They must have one. Paramount powers facing relegation always have one, although it rarely stays the same for long and it never, ever works.
In the past four centuries we have observed three other “sole superpowers” of the age slide down the slope of (relative) decline – Spain, France and then Britain – and none of them even came close to solving the problem: economics trumps everything else in the long run.