US troops 'to fight' in Philippines
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2786109.stm

"Defence officials in Washington say that hundreds of US troops are to join national forces on combat missions against rebels in the Philippines.

Special forces soldiers - supported if needed by marines - will be used in an offensive against the rebel Islamic group Abu Sayyaf on the southern island of Jolo, the officials said.

The issue is sensitive in the Philippines, a former US colony, whose constitution bans foreign troops from fighting on its soil. "

The government of the Phillipines is spin doctoring the deal by insisting that (blah blah yak yak) the 'constitution is still in effect' and that the troops, while they are fighting on Phillipine soil are actually not fighting on Phillipine soil because although they are involved in armed combat on Phillipine soil they actually are not involved in armed combat on Phillipine soil due to the technical reason that they are 'advisors' who while giving advice also just happen to be fighting combat on Phillipine soil. Understand. Good. Well I am glad the Phillipine government got everyone straightened out about that one, and now, confident that the Phillipine constitution is still every bit as much in effect now as it ever was, those American troops can enter into combat on Phillipine soil, just so long as they remember to give some advice to someone while they are doing it.

Anyone over the age of fifty or sixty might remember how the American troops arrived in Vietnam to 'give advice' to Vietnam. Next the American troops did some combat while at the same time giving more advice to Vietnam. Then, since Vietnam, like the Phillipines, is also a jungle, and all those high tech gadgets only work really well on a flat empty desert, well it became neccesary for more Americans to give advice in Vietnam, and then some more, and then as the situation became steadily worse, and more Vietnamese were attracted to joining the war because of the advice the American's were giving, well more and more American's went to Vietnam, and pretty soon the Vietnam war became America's war until finally main street America decided that it was not and they had to pull out of there. Once again, I don't recall main street America giving their thumbs up for having America fight wars in the Phillipines, while still being embroiled in Afghanistan like the Russians before them, and while plotting against Iraq.

And while also engaging in combat in Africa. My, my, one has to wonder how long it is going to be before they bring back the draft as the American armed forces begin to find themselves stretched a little thin.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2783717.stm

America has opened seven new fronts in the war on terrorism in Africa, launching attacks on, yes, you guessed it, Muslims in seven African countries. You might ask the average American if they realize that right now America is getting involved in 10 wars all at the same time, and just see if they knew that, because I doubt if they do.

All this is happening as those 'don't tax and then spend' Republicans have just finished giving trillion dollar tax cuts to their rich friends, which is where the greater part of those tax cuts went, leaving the operation of the country to now be run on their American Express Card. They will need to send away for a Mastercard to fund these ten wars of theirs (that I know about, their could be more) and should the conflict escalate, and thus get even more atrociously expensive, well then I guess they will just have to bankrupt the nation, first slashing every single program in America in order to make the atrociously expensive interest payments on their second ballooning deficit (with the Republicans once again leaving in their wake record breaking annual deficits, each one bound to break the record of the one before - not to mention breaking the bank).

I say it is the second time the Republicans ruined the nation in exactly this way, because the first time was under the Reagan administration where their 'don't tax and then spend' economic policy changed America from the world's largest creditor to the largest debtor nation on earth in the space of just two Republican administrations. Even though the country still has not recovered from the abuse it took the last time, the Republicans are subjecting the nation to multiple blows at the same time, cutting taxes for the rich, creating massive deficits for the military, while plotting further cuts to such things as food stamps, education, and whatever else at home, so that they can at the very least make their interest payments on the ballooning debt of the world's largest and ever expanding creditor nation, the true and lasting legacy bequeathed to the nation by the American Republican party, a little something everyone can remember them by in the future, especially if they find themselves in hard times and wind up pestering people on street corners for nickels and dimes, not being able to get food stamps or welfare after all, leaving them to pester what one can only hope will be compassionate conservatives, neighbours helping their neighbours so Washington won't have to, and lending a helping hand out in their communities, since Washington doesn't intend to do so itself. Let's just hope it all works out as well in real life as does on paper and in those supposedly inspiring speeches.

Iraq like conditions develop in the U.S.

The possibility of Iraq like conditions developing in the continental United States increases greatly, as the massive snow pack from the President's day blizzard combine with flooding rain fall to create the second state of emergency in the U.S. in less than a week.

A large swath of eastern - central United States is under flood watch for Friday, Feb. 21st, 2003, with the flooding forecast for Saturday along the East Coast.

The President's day snow blizzard is about to become the President's day flood, soon to unleash another state of emergency over a large swath of the Eastern United States this weekend, after causing states of emergency to be declared in the East only days ago. Flooding rain is about the release the massive amounts of water stored in this snow pack. Flood warnings are already in effect over a large swath of the mid-east with heavy rains forecast hit the Eastern coastal states tomorrow.

The flood statement for the mid-section of the nation states that "Another storm system will push across the area today through Saturday night ... The ground is already saturated from recent rains and only a small amount of additional rainfall is needed to create widespread flooding problems." The rain is forecast to be heavy.

The flood watch for the state of New York indicates that the heavy rain is about to combine with the President's day snow blizzard to create a double flooding problem. "This heavy rainfall will cause a significant portion of the saturated snowpack to discharge its stored water. ... many local streams and rivers are at least partially ice covered. When river levels start to rise... ice jams can form which can intensify flooding along their banks. Those areas most susceptible to urban flooding include Long Island... New York City... northeast New Jersey."

Judging from the large area of the continental United States now facing the threat of flooding, its quite possible that all peace protests can be called off, as the Republicans call of the war against Iraq, to save enough money to clean up the mess in the eastern United States. Though it is not mentioned in the weather forecasts the possibility of Iraq like conditions developing in areas of the United States are quite great, given that when you get flooding, you can also get your water infrastructure knocked out, leaving American residents with the problem of figuring out how to get a drink without running the risk of killing themselves, as well as figuring how to go to the toilet without killing themselves and everyone else around them with cholera. As well, although it is not mentioned in the weather forecasts, it seems to me a good idea to put out another Iraq Warning, given that the cold front pushing through increases the chance of freezing rain, thus knocking out the power infrastructure, causing some Americans to endure further Iraq-like conditions, much like taking a visit to Baghdad without ever leaving the (dis)comfort of their own homes.

Americans should be vigilant for any signs of further Iraq like conditions and warnings that may be issued, making sure to have on hand some bottled water, candles, and maybe some of that blue powder in case the sanitation system gets knocked out by the flooding, just like it was knocked out in Iraq, leaving American's with no choice but to crap in a bucket and throw some of that blue powder in to kill the smell until emergency workers can get everything back from third world Iraq like conditions to something once again resembling a modern day society. Emergency workers should also take precautionary measures to ensure that the homeless do not drown in the flooding, much like they freeze in the winter every year in American cities.