Thur Oct 6 2005 Hits: Sept 2.49 Million • Aug 3.32M • July 2.34M • June 2.48M

My new KTSA airshift is 11am 'til 1pm

 

Bush: don’t ban cruel treatment
Senate voted 90-9 for an amendment which would ban use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" against anyone in United States government custody.

Bush takes on Iraq war critics today
President Bush is stepping up his defense of his Iraq policy as he faces declining public support for the war.

Begin 9:08 a.m. -- my contemporaneous notes on his speech:

• Began war-related remarks with reference to 9-11 (as though that was connected to the Iraq war. The neverending spin goes on...)
• Mentioned terrorist attacks on London, said various apparently-random acts of terror are tied together. Extremists "deny all religious freedom" .. Islamic radicalism "is more like a loose network" sharing an ideology .. Want to end U.S. involvement in Middle East "because we stand for democracy and freedom" .. U.S. leaving Iraq would "create a vacuum" to be filled by extremists .. Terrorists "regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity"
• Zarkawi has vowed "victory over the human race" .. a militant network "thrives on the suffering of others" ..
• On our presence in Iraq "triggering the rage of radicals" he reminds us that the U.S. wasn't in Iraq on 9-11 (there it is again. Dr. Propaganda Is IN) .. "No act of ours invited the rage of the killers" "They target nations whose behavior they believe they can change through violence!"
• "We will never accept anything less than complete victory!" (FIRST appplause from crowd)
• "Militants are the enemies of humanity." (applause #2)
• Listed example after example of the intentions of militants .. put in a pitch for women's equality (Hey big buddies in Saudi Arabia, hear that?) ..
• We're reorganizing to emphasize Homeland Defense, revamping intelligance agencies here, cooperating with other countries .. we have captured nearly everyone responsible for 9-11 .. "have disrupted at least 10 serious al Qaeda plots" including 3 in the United States ..
• 9:32 - Syria and Iran "have a long history of collaboration with terrorists" and are among enemies of civilization which must be held to account .. Miitants want Iraq to be "a haven for terror" and we will defeat them. We are clearing terrorists from Iraqi cities and "leaving Iraqi units to make sure they don't return."
• "The Iraqi military is gaining new capabilities and new confidence with every passing month." More than 80 battalions are actively fighting .. Democracy "is not a fragile flower. It is a healthy, sturdy tree."
• Some Americans feel we should cut our losses and leave. "It is a dangerous delusion."
• 9:40 - "The enemy is never tired..." "We will keep our nerve and we will win that victory." If the people in that reqion are free to choose their own destiny "the flow of violent radicalism to the rest of the world will slow, and eventually end." Another call for equal rights for women ..
  9:44 - (I had to turn it off and drive to the station)

add 11:31 a.m. Here's how cable is reporting the speech
CNN - Bush: Iraq crucial in global war on terror
Fox - Bush Outlines Global Terror Threats
MSNBC - Bush vows to stay course in Iraq

Indian women attack and kill lemon-tossing barber as sorcerer

Jesus playing poker at Last Supper not really good billboard idea

Everglades python and alligator in mighty-confusing battle with pix

Man rigging gun-trap to protect his pot plants is shot by it

Three plead guilty in counterfeit Zig-Zag papers scheme