In a CBS interview Tuesday in which John McCain told one lie by insisting that the Sunni awakening occurred after the surge and not before, as discussed in rogereaton's dairy, this interesting exchange also occurred between Katie Couric and John McCain:

Couric: You have said, quote, "I know how to win wars." Which war, Sen. McCain, are you referring to?

McCain: Bosnia. Kosovo. First Gulf War. The conflict in Iraq. To name a few. I've been engaged in every single one of them, and in a decision making process as one of the senior members of the Armed Services Committee. And engaged in the debates on the floor of the United States Senate. And involved in the Armed Services Committee. I know those wars. I know conflicts. And I hate war. No one hates war more than the veteran who feels most plainly the loss of a veteran. And I know how to win wars.

Well, John, time for a little "straight talk."

Ever since it became clear in March that Obama would be the Democratic nominee for President, there has been much speculation over who would be Obama's running mate.  Earlier in the campaign, this speculation focused almost entirely on a so-called "dream ticket" consisting of Obama and Clinton.  Many still believe that an Obama/Clinton ticket would be unbeatable, while many others have suggested that Clinton brings very to the ticket other than making sure that her supporters don't angrily defect to McCain.  The Obama campaign needs to make sure they don't rush into selecting Clinton as Barack's running mate, because they'll miss the candidate who I believe to be the best possible running mate for Barack Obama:  Retired General Wesley Clark.

It’s not just the U.S. military, and it's not just Iraq. The U.K. has also used depleted uranium in both Iraq and Afghanistan; NATO forces have used it in Kosovo, and Israel allegedly used it in Lebanon and on the Palestinians.

The use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions by the U.S. military may lead to a death toll far higher than that from the nuclear bombs dropped at the end of World War II.

A waste product from the enrichment of uranium, DU, contains nearly one-third the radioactive isotopes of uranium that occurs naturally. DU is generally used in armor-piercing ammunition; despite its classification as a weapon of mass destruction, and subsequent banning by the United Nations.

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I oppose the support US gave to known terrorist organization called Kosovo Liberation Army. Yes, it those bunch of insurgents that were using US weapons and trainings under Clinton administration and were conducting acts of terrorism to "validate" the need of NATO invasion of the Serbia.

To violate Serbs more we even created special tribunal presumably to investigate war crimes done in the former Yugoslavia. For some "lucky" coincidence, mostly Serbs were prosecuted so far. There were reports that complains from the Serbs were ignored, witnesses to their side of the story dismissed and many facts simply ignored. Presumably it was done to gain some political scores or something like that.

Now we may know a little bit more about whole story of this conflict...

How many lies does it take before a presidential candidate is no longer viable for the presidency?

  1?
  2?
  12??????

1. Hillary Lied about her being against the Columbia Trade Deal:

Clinton Aide Met on Trade Deal:

Hillary Clinton's chief campaign strategist met with Colombia's ambassador to the U.S. on Monday to discuss a bilateral free-trade agreement, a pact the presidential candidate opposes.

Clinton's top aide pushing trade deal she claims to oppose:

This is a pretty remarkable act of hypocrisy: during the past month, Hillary Clinton has repeatedly and falsely attacked Barack Obama on NAFTA, claiming that his top economic adviser told the Canadian government to ignore Obama's anti-NAFTA rhetoric. Now her chief strategist is working with the Colombian government to enact a trade deal she claims to oppose?

It's unbelievable -- literally.

More below the fold....

When George W. Bush famously went "looking" for WMDin the Oval Office, his audience laughed along with him but the ultimate consensus was that this was an exercise in really poor taste.  What was generally overlooked was that the entertainment presented a literal truth.  The weapons of mass destruction that were supposed to be located in Saddam Hussein's Iraq were, truth be told, a figment of the imagination, created out of whole cloth by the occupant of the oval office.  So, that's where the WMDs were and the comedic schtick was a distraction from that truth.

It was a gloomy Thursday morning in Washington, and I was exhausted.  The sun was beginning to rise over the Capitol, and I was just getting into bed in the White House after returning from a daring combat mission smuggling suitcase nukes out of Chechnya.  Bill was snoring.

I took off my fatigues and cleaned the camouflage makeup off my face.  My muscles ached.  I hadn’t slept since Thursday, when I woke up in a dank sweaty fallout shelter in Kosovo next to guitarist Dan Fogelberg and prop comic Carrot Top.

I heard Obama's wondering why Hillary was offering him the VP spot when he's the front-runner.  My first thought was – well why isn’t he acting like the front-runner then?

He's whining about things like her tax returns (when there are already 20 years worth of disclosures out there), intimating that White Water’s still alive and well in the world of scandals, and making silly mistakes like offering up the 5th explanation of NAFTA-Gate.  This after a week where his top foreign policy advisor called Hillary a monster & told the BBC that his plan to get us out of Iraq was just a best case scenario, and another top advisor (Susan Rice) admitted that he’s not ready to take that 3 am call.

And when Rice was asked about Obama’s foreign policy experience, she pointed to his work on ethics reform

Hmmm... with all that bad news out there I wonder if it’s time for them to manufacture some more of that outrage he’s oh so good at.  Oh wait – he is!

I’ve seen a lot of posts challenging some of what I and others have written about Hillary’s vast experience when it comes to foreign policy.  So I thought I’d post some facts about what she’s done to help those caught in two areas of the world that have seen conflict and misery – Kosovo and Northern Ireland.

For anyone who might doubt Hillary's connection to Northern Ireland, take a look at this recent picture of her with two of the particpants in those peace talks in the mid-90s, (Big) Ian (blood & thunder) Paisley (DUP), and Martin McGuinnes(Sinn Fein).  They used to hate each other (hell maybe they still do) but are now serviing as the top two members of the Belfast government.  They came over to DC on a trip to promote investment in Northern Ireland and stopped by to visit their old friend, Hillary.

No one has heard from Sinbad in 10 years. I certainly can't remember the last time he's made a public appearance. The last time I remember seeing him was in "A Different World". But lately there seems to be a lot of overstated "rumors" going on about him. And now he is finally stepping up to state the facts.

As showne in chumley's post, "Chicago Tribune investigates Hillary's "experience"", Obama's home town paper too a look. Now the NYT has printed an AP wire feed that has done the same. It came to the same conclusion as the Trib - her resume is overstated, at a minimum.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...

Hillary Clinton had no direct role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland and is a "wee bit silly" for exaggerating the part she played, according to Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former First Minister of the province.

Ouch that has to hurt.  Finally people calling the former "But I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express Last Night" First Exaggerator in Chief on her BS.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but there are an unusually high number of hotspots around the globe on the brink of all-out war today.

Check out who below the fold...

Samantha Power has a powerful new essay in the latest issue of Time in which she projects some light on her vision of foreign policy problems in the future. I am stretching it here, but I'm going to write a diary in order to glean from her article some insight into how she might advise Obama's foreign policy. I realize Obama has other advisers such as Susan Rice. But I'm focusing on Power because I consider her a fascinating figure because of her work for genocide recognition and humanitarian intervention. I last cited her in my multiple diaries on the Armenian Genocide on Daily Kos.

On the flip

There's a recent article about the dust up over Kosovo's declaration of independence:

UNITED NATIONS -- The international split over Kosovo grew more ominous Friday as Russia raised the spectre of using force to back its Serb ally's bid to retain the territory.

Washington Gets a New Colony in the Balkans: Kosovo’s "independence." by by Sara Flounders

Russia on Kosovo: We've Not Ruled Out Force

Russia -- which has not recognized Kosovo's sovereignty -- said it has not ruled out using force to resolve the dispute over the territory if NATO forces breach the terms of their U.N. mandate.
"If the EU works out a single position or if NATO steps beyond its mandate in Kosovo, these organizations will be in conflict with the U.N., and then I think we will also begin operating under the assumption that in order to be respected, one needs to use force," Moscow's ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said, in comments carried by Russia's Interfax news agency.

A spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry also warned that Kosovo's declaration would have a "negative impact."

"What happened in Belgrade yesterday is regrettable. But we would want to draw your attention to the fact that the forces that supported the unilateral recognition of Kosovo's independence should have realized the effects of the move," spokesman Mikhail Kamynin told Interfax.

Eep.

Just two days ago, I documented George W. Bush's hilarious - and pathetic - history when it comes to Kosovo.  Now with Serbian rioters storming the U.S. embassy in Belgrade, Bush's dubious grasp of the implications of an independent Kosovo doesn't seem so funny any more.