UNDERNOURISHED IRAQI CITIZENS FORCED TO PARTAKE OF TOXIC STRAW WITH RICE

[Jeffersons Ghost]

ON their own Rice and Straw are fairly innocuous but when served together become quite distasteful.

As an ever-expanding civil war heats up, U.S. Secretary of State, Condo Rice and her British equivalent, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, are pushing the allegedly autonomous government in Iraq to name a leader. Does anyone want this job? It's only slightly safer than going quail hunting with Dead-eye Dick!

Rice, Straw Urge Formation of New Iraqi Government

By Borzou Daragahi, Times Staff Writer
9:29 AM PDT, April 3, 2006

BAGHDAD -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her British counterpart, wrapping up a brief visit today, heaped praise on Iraq's highest-ranking Shiite cleric, spoke of the Shiite majority's longtime suffering and reiterated the power of the Shiite bloc to choose the nation's top official in an apparent attempt to soften the blow of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari's possible fall from power.

Jafari, who seeks to retain his post for the next four years, gained the Shiite coalition's nomination by a single vote in February thanks to the support of radical cleric Muqtada Sadr. But he has failed build a governing majority with the necessary support of Kurdish and Sunni blocs, leading Rice on Sunday to publicly question his leadership.

Officials and ordinary Iraqis worry that the political deadlock in creating a new government following Dec. 15 elections has created a political vacuum. They fear it has contributed to ongoing violence, which included a massacre of a Shiite family in southern Baghdad late Sunday night that left at least four dead.

The U.S. military also announced today that three Marines and a sailor were killed in hostile action on Sunday in Iraq's western Al Anbar province. The military statement gave no other details.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-040306iraq_lat,0,2743587.story?coll=la-story-footer

In other related news:

According to a recent CNN report -- One day after Condoleezza Rice said the United States made possibly "thousands" of tactical mistakes in the war against Iraq, the secretary of state says she was speaking "figuratively, not literally."



according to the BBC:

Iran deserves better, says Foreign Secretary Jack Straw

Mr Straw's speech may mark a shift in Britain's approach to Iran

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has appealed to the Iranian people - saying he wants to help them have a freer and more prosperous future.

In a speech in London Mr Straw said the Iranian people "deserved better" than their current government. International agencies should publish more reports in Farsi on the internet to help reach the Iranians, he said.

The UN Security Council is to discuss Iran's nuclear programme but Mr Straw says military action is inconceivable. If Iran is developing a nuclear weapons capability it would very seriously destabilise the Middle East.

He refused to comment directly when asked by the BBC's Frank Gardner about contingency plans being drawn up by US military chiefs about possible strikes on Iranian targets.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4800276.stm

I've read His Royal Chimpness stakes his historic claim to fame on bringing Democracy to Iraq. If he's betting all the marbles on this Mid-East fiasco I bet Native Americans like seeing him in their casinos. If he attempts to hedge his bet by moving some chips into Iran, his loses will be bigger but not as great as the losses America will face. I bet gambling is less spooky when you are betting with public funds.

[MrMonk]

1. Please use a smaller font

The large font makes it too difficult to read your post.

[AirmensMom]

2. You beat me to it.

I don't know why he's yelling at us -- I get a headache trying to read it.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. you should see a Dr maybe a Psychiarist if large type gives you a headache

as for using for the size of headlines if you go to the "HTML look up table" you'll find that

this is headline 1

this is headline 2

and

this is headline 3

none of these are considered YELLING, WHICH IS OFTEN SHOWN BY USING ALL CAPS ONLINE.

[AirmensMom]

4. I don't need an education on the html lookup table.

Neither do I need your insults. The point is that your font is way too big to be read comfortably. Perhaps you didn't notice the dismal response to your post. It may have been a good one, but people don't like to have to struggle to read a post. Yes, I know yelling is often shown by using all caps. Note your use of the word "often." If it is perceived by the reader as yelling, perhaps you should try to learn from the comment. You certainly didn't get clue when the only responses to your post were that the font is too big.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. Frankly I DID learn from the CONSTRUCTIVE criticism by Mr Monk

I was content to let the thread slip from the message board, if REASONABLE individuals found it challenging to read.

Then, you decided to get more personal but I didn't insult anyone. If reading large type somehow gives you a headache, I strongly urge you to seek medical attention. Driving a car must be a real challenge for you, with all those signs featuring large letters all in caps.

Just as Mr Monk showed me something about myself, YOU showed the rest of DU something about yourself. Did you think your shot at me would be ignored because I respected the reasonable criticisms by Mr Monk?