I cannot emphasize enough how ill-advised I feel the continued use of contractors in our national security is. This article is one of several you need to read so you can be aware of this issue. - Larry

Outsourcing the War by Jeremy Scahill

When Napoleon Hill wrote Think and Grow Rich , he told his readers that there was a secret of wealth and success hidden within the contents of his book and invited them to try to find that secret. Similarly, I feel there is a secret to understanding this conflict we are in now and what course of actions are now required in one of these letters. See if you can discover what it is. - Larry

Iraq Generals to President: You've Failed Us—From National Security Network

I disagree with the author’s premise. Our Generals have given good advice to this administration. Their advice has been ignored. - Larry

US Officer Blasts Generals’ Handling of Iraq War

Divide and Rule: America’s Plan for Baghdad

Inside the Belly of the Blackwater Beast

McCaffrey: Military ‘In Peril'

The Democrats' Special Forces Fetish

No Good Military Options in Iran

Our Mercenaries in Iraq

Chuck Hagel for President

Preparing Us for War with Iran

Report from American Enterprise Institute:  Choosing  Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq  The rationale behind the “surge”.

Good Reasons to Leave Iraq by Bruce Bartlett

If not Iraq, Then When, Where, and at What Cost?

President Bush's Interview on “Sixty Minutes” January 14, 2007

Major Bill Edmonds—A Soldier's Story

Bush's New Way Forward Is Into Quicksand by Joseph L. Galloway

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1214-29.htm

Link to the Iraq Study Group report:

Costs of Prolonged War

Joint Statement Supporting Pay As You Go Rules in Congress

US Heading for Financial Trouble? (Also see our link to the Concord Coalition on the Resources Page)

Dollar's Skid Puts a Glow on the Euro

WSJ Says US Army Out of Money

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121706Z.shtml

Income Inequality Worsens

Small Towns Bear Biggest War Death Burden

Greetings from Rancho Mirage by Ben Stein

Legislators Vote for Gay Unions in NJ

An Insider Reveals Faith Based Manipulation at the White House

Faith and Politics, a new book by Senator Jack Danforth

Capital Hill Faces People Party Revolt on Trade and Health Care by David Sirota

When the Class War Goes Local by David Sirota

This monumental documentary is available for you on the PBS website. Be sure to watch it. - Larry

Devastating Moyers Probe of Press and Iraq

One of the things that keeps us from actually solving our problems is the hypocrisy of inconsistency. We have too many people whose outlook is based solely on the fact that they have chosen to identify with one side/party or the other instead of identifying with a standard of performance. Everything their side does, therefore, is OK and everything the other side does is wrong. This article, combined with some other recent events (the firing of Don Imus and the dismissal of charges against the Duke Lacrosse players, offers an instructive example of this thought. - Larry

Pot (Burton) Calls the Kettle (Waxman) Black

Conservatives for the Constitution

Tougher Tactics Deter Migrants at US Border

Military Wants More Civilians to Help in Iraq

Funding an Energy Alternative

Quantity or Quality by Tom Philpott

Six Brutal Truths About Iraq

From the Patriot Post—Leaders and Clerks

Victory Is Not an Option by LTG Odom

January 8, 2007, Another Confused Conservative (from the Bruce Bartlett Blogs) Sub-Theme: Why you can be both conservative and anti-Bush

A Parable for our Times by Bill Moyers

The Election and the Investigatory Powers of Congress by George Friedman