Start the Breathing--Stop the Bleeding

Rule number one in first aid when you find a victim -- START THE BREATHING -- STOP THE BLEEDING -- Right now the US is a wounded Bush victim...To complicate his victim's distress, Bush applies a rule that Stops the Breathing and Encourages the Bleeding.

After 9/11 Bush did his best to suppress the Congressional investigations and avoided most of their subsequent recommendations. In the aftermath of the Iraqi war, he attempted to cover WMD debacle by attacking Valerie Plame's covert CIA status -- so far over this issue VEEP Cheney's aid was indicted and President's brain... Carl Rove's head is still in a noose at this writing. Now we find out that GWB's "Mission Accomplished" was designed to mislead and entice other nations to join the coalition of the willing. Duplicity over the real situation in Iraq still contributes to the demise of the US worldwide status -- Italian and Spanish leadership that supported Bush's Iraqi war has been voted out of office -- Englishman Blair's days in power are numbered.

Perhaps the latest and most specious Bush argument to justify the Iraqi war is the imposition of democracy in the nation -- but nearly every time a key Iraqi is elected that the US can not control, he is undermined and replaced -- by the way have you cracked the code? Nation Building means Occupation...

Have you been watching the musical chairs in the Intelligence Community? Replaced Slam Dunk Tenet with Cheney loyalist Goss who with a vengeance purged the organization of much of its expertise -- now he has been fired by National Defense Chief Negroponte for incompetence -- Negroponte wants to fill the job with his deputy, Air Force General Hayden who was head of NSA and now is involved in eavesdropping issues inside the US -- General Hayden is a technocrat, an expert on signal intelligence, and trained to target installations -- in these disciplines there is very little transfer of training to covert intelligence that works with human resources -- according to spymaster novelist John le Carre -- professional spies do not use telephones -- so General Hayden brings a lot of unnecessary baggage to CIA -- a bad choice for the job -- but loyalty trumps competence in the Bush administration

Sometimes I think VEEP Cheney is America's Kamikazi pilot who always lands -- his conduct has driven approval poles to dip below 17 per cent. His latest sortie was launched from Vilnius, Lithuania where he flew into the miasma of Golden Horde -- Russia... It was as usual, one of his lunatic flights.

Terrorism, bloody Iraq, crazy Iran, illegal immigrants, $3.00 a gallon gasoline, port and border insecurity, leftist penetration of Latin American, North Korean nuclear weapons and containment of Red China are all expanding national security problems for the US. With all this gathering menace to the US, VEEP Cheney picks an open diplomatic fight with Russia.

Cheney accused the Kremlin of backtracking on democracy and using energy to blackmail former states. Best I can figure is that Cheney is pissed off over the blowup of US policy in the Ukraine, the compression of the Russian press and recapture by the government of Russian energy resources from foreign bankrolled interests. By any standards these are internal Russian affairs and involve countries in the Russian sphere of influence, on the Russian borders. Like it or not, Putin was elected democratically and he rejects US advise on how to run his country.

Russian reaction to Cheney's attack was sharp. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov replied that Cheney's criticism was unfounded... that the US VEEP was misinformed and that Moscow expected to be respected as an equal partner -- Russian analysts and media characterized Cheney's speech as the opening shot of a new cold war.

Yesterday Putin added his view to the VEEP's remarks -- he suggested that the United States puts its political interests above the democratic ideals it claims to cherish. "Where is all this pathos about protecting human rights and democracy when it comes to the need to pursue their interests? Here, it seems everything is allowed, there is no restriction whatsoever"

Putin said in the defense of Russian national interests: "We are aware what is going on the world " and "Comrade wolf knows whom to eat; he eats without listening, and he's clearly not going to listen to anyone"-- Another way to say in Russian SCREW YOU MR. CHENEY.

This a major diplomatic failure. Our Secretary of State Condoleezza professes to be a Russian expert -- she should limit her expertise only to working in a Russian bookstore...

In about two weeks Mr. Bush meets with Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia -- wonder if Mr. Bush will look into Mr. Putin's KGB heart and again come up with mellow thoughts about him -- for whatever reason, Bush has decided to come out against Russia in these perilous times -- just what the US needs: another enemy -- this one has nuclear teeth.

During holidays, in the old days, long after Lenin's death, the Soviet regime would display barrage balloons, illuminated at night with search lights, tethered near Red Square, having Lenin's picture and the words, LENIN LIVES. Cheney of Vilnius has just taken steps to resurrect the dead demon. Robert E Bartos Colonel USA Ret