Paul's Page

I've never been a big fan of the "war on terrorism" and how it has been conducted. Seems odd to me that it rarely gets mentioned that the U.S. has been involved with most of the terrorists we are fighting. We gave money, training, and weapons to jihadists on the Afghanistan & Pakistan border. We support the dictatorshios in Saudi Arabia and Egypt that the jihadists are trying to overthrow. We created the chaos and destruction in Iraq that became a huge recruitment slogan for global terroris… Continue

From an article in the New York Times: "In July 2007, for example, Al Qaeda released more than 450 statements, books, articles, magazines, audio recordings, short videos of attacks and longer films. These products reach the world through a network of quasi-official online production and distribution entities, like Al Sahab, which releases statements by Osama bin Laden. But the Qaeda media nexus, as advanced as it is, is old hat. If Web 1.0 was about creating the snazziest official Web resource… Continue

One problem with the Bush Administration policies in Iraq is that they want the market to take care of everything and so they have not been very proactive (except in incredibly corrupt way) in terms of helping the Iraqi people. I'm not saying they have to create a socialist state, but there needs to be more of a bridge between the chaos and destruction of our invasion and the future Iraq being built. Where is the Marshall Plan that will help Iraq get on its feet? Why do so many Iraqis get poor… Continue

American oil companies are starting to pump the oil out of Iraq. The bold text in the following New York Times article is mine to emphasize what is going on here. Iraq represents one of the biggest oil prizes in the world. The oil in Iraq will generate enormous profits and enormous political power. The oil is the reason why we are in Iraq. "Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in t… Continue

Money has become one of the most important factors in our democracy. OpenSecrets.org is a nonpartisan guide to money’s influence on U.S. elections and public policy. See who all the money is coming from and where it is going. "...the candidates raised more than half a billion dollars in 2007. By some predictions, the eventual nominees will need to raise $500 million apiece to compete"