Ok I know what I said yesterday about the election being 6 weeks away, but really today it is 6 weeks away, but where are we in the discussion of the issues during this campaign? Well I can tell you, with much regret, that a majority of us, thanks to our wonderful corporate media, are still rolling in the CBS document-gate scandal, and the swift boat vets lies, and whether the new reduced sugar Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal is really as good as the original(A: No!!).

Now lets jump into some relevant discussion. Today shrub went to the UN to discuss the Iraq war and terrorism. Quite unusual for this president to be doing diplomacy, but then when you read what he had to say, you realize that he was making no apologies to the international community, no concessions, no trying to appeal to them to help us out, but rather the same old challenge to the international community to suck it up and do your duty and come and do something. Not the way to win over these peoples' views.

Anyways. So since most of the mainstream media refuses to cover John Kerry's speeches on the matter of the Iraq war, or any other pressing election issues, than I shall.

AlterNet: Election 2004: Kerry's Plan on Iraq

"The following is excerpted from a speech John Kerry delivered in New York on Sept. 20.

...National security is a central issue in this campaign. We owe it to the American people to have a real debate about the choices President Bush has made… and the choices I would make… to fight and win the war on terror.

That means we must have a great honest national debate on Iraq. The President claims it is the centerpiece of his war on terror. In fact, Iraq was a profound diversion from that war and the battle against our greatest enemy, Osama bin Laden and the terrorists."

This is exactly my point. We MUST return the discourse of this election to the issues that are REALLY important to our nation. And we must do this NOW! The media are doing us a great disservice and they will be dealt with soon(Yes that is a threat). I realize I risk looking like an extremist, but I assure you I have much reason to be disgusted with our media, often called the fourth branch of our government(chew on that for awhile).

"In June, the President declared, “The Iraqi people have their country back.” Just last week, he told us: “This country is headed toward democracy… Freedom is on the march.”

But the administration’s own official intelligence estimate, given to the President last July, tells a very different story.

According to press reports, the intelligence estimate totally contradicts what the President is saying to the American people.

So do the facts on the ground.

Security is deteriorating, for us and for the Iraqis.

42 Americans died in Iraq in June - the month before the handover. But 54 died in July... 66 in August... and already 54 halfway through September."

You know what I could just quote this entire speech right here, but I ask that you read the full speech, and I will limit the quotes I put here to what I really want to highlight.

"Residents of Baghdad are suffering electricity blackouts lasting up to 14 hours a day.

Raw sewage fills the streets, rising above the hubcaps of our Humvees. Children wade through garbage on their way to school.

Unemployment is over 50 percent. Insurgents are able to find plenty of people willing to take $150 for tossing grenades at passing U.S. convoys."

Just a couple more.

"The President also failed to level with the American people about what it would take to prevail in Iraq.

He didn't tell us that well over 100,000 troops would be needed, for years, not months. He didn't tell us that he wouldn't take the time to assemble a broad and strong coalition of allies. He didn't tell us that the cost would exceed $200 billion."

..."This President’s failure to tell the truth to us before the war has been exceeded by fundamental errors of judgment during and after the war."

I really have to add this long quote too, sorry.

"This President was in denial. He hitched his wagon to the ideologues who surround him, filtering out those who disagreed, including leaders of his own party and the uniformed military. The result is a long litany of misjudgments with terrible consequences.

The administration told us we’d be greeted as liberators. They were wrong.

They told us not to worry about looting or the sorry state of Iraq’s infrastructure. They were wrong.

They told us we had enough troops to provide security and stability, defeat the insurgents, guard the borders and secure the arms depots. They were wrong.

They told us we could rely on exiles like Ahmed Chalabi to build political legitimacy. They were wrong.

They told us we would quickly restore an Iraqi civil service to run the country and a police force and army to secure it. They were wrong.

In Iraq, this administration has consistently over-promised and under-performed. This policy has been plagued by a lack of planning, an absence of candor, arrogance and outright incompetence. And the President has held no one accountable, including himself."

Well where does this leave us?

"Can anyone seriously say this President has handled Iraq in a way that makes us stronger in the war on terrorism?

By any measure, the answer is no. Nuclear dangers have mounted across the globe. The international terrorist club has expanded. Radicalism in the Middle East is on the rise. We have divided our friends and united our enemies. And our standing in the world is at an all time low...

...Let me put it plainly: The President’s policy in Iraq has not strengthened our national security. It has weakened it."

And what do we do now?

"First, the President has to get the promised international support so our men and women in uniform don’t have to go it alone. It is late; the President must respond by moving this week to gain and regain international support."
....
"The President should convene a summit meeting of the world’s major powers and Iraq’s neighbors, this week, in New York, where many leaders will attend the U.N. General Assembly. He should insist that they make good on that U.N. resolution. He should offer potential troop contributors specific, but critical roles, in training Iraqi security personnel and securing Iraq’s borders. He should give other countries a stake in Iraq’s future by encouraging them to help develop Iraq’s oil resources and by letting them bid on contracts instead of locking them out of the reconstruction process."
....
"Second, the President must get serious about training Iraqi security forces.

Last February, Secretary Rumsfeld claimed that more than 210,000 Iraqis were in uniform. Two weeks ago, he admitted that claim was exaggerated by more than 50 percent. Iraq, he said, now has 95,000 trained security forces.

But guess what? Neither number bears any relationship to the truth. For example, just 5,000 Iraqi soldiers have been fully trained, by the administration’s own minimal standards. And of the 35,000 police now in uniform, not one has completed a 24-week field-training program. Is it any wonder that Iraqi security forces can’t stop the insurgency or provide basic law and order?"
....
"Third, the President must carry out a reconstruction plan that finally brings tangible benefits to the Iraqi people."
....
"One year ago, the administration asked for and received $18 billion to help the Iraqis and relieve the conditions that contribute to the insurgency. Today, less than a $1 billion of those funds have actually been spent."
....
"Fourth, the President must take immediate, urgent, essential steps to guarantee the promised elections can be held next year."
....
"This is what has to be done. This is what I would do as President today. But we cannot afford to wait until January. President Bush owes it to the American people to tell the truth and put Iraq on the right track. Even more, he owes it to our troops and their families, whose sacrifice is a testament to the best of America."

And FINALLY I promise.

"George Bush has no strategy for Iraq. I do.

George Bush has not told the truth to the American people about why we went to war and how the war is going. I have and I will continue to do so."

Ok now if only the media would cover this as well.