Read the text of Howard Dean’s speech at George Washington University on the future of the Democratic party here. Great stuff!

-----------------

Read about what a hack and total sleazeball that Bob Novak is here.

Disclaimer: I’ve only scanned this article and haven’t read Washington Monthly, before (so, if you know that it’s owned by a cult, please let me know).

-----------------

Elections in Iraq

Right, so you know its going to be a Parliamentary system, don’t you? That the whole country will be considered one large "district." So, based on the percentage of votes a “party” receives (list of groups that belong to a "party"), that’s how many members (percentage wise) that party will have in the Parliament (275 total members).

Great.

Now, let’s do some math. Shi’as make up about 60% of the population. Kurds make up about 20%. The Sunni are boycotting the election (20%). Now, the Shi’a do not want a secular government. They want an Islamic state.

Now, hold on! I’ve got nothing against Islam that I don’t have against any other form of organized religion. However, the Iraqi Shi’as are beholden to what other Shi’a Islamic state in the neighborhood? If you answered IRAN, you are correct.

What does this mean? It means that GWBush is ramming elections through that are all but guaranteed to put into power a group of people that are obliged to IRAN.

IRAN.

<paranoia tag>

But wait, there’s more: The Kurds don’t want to be part of a *secular* IRAQ, much less an Islamic IRAQ. In addition, they also have the only functioning army inside IRAQ besides the US. They have been fairly autonomous for about 13 years. I wonder how they will react to this change.

Still more: TURKEY shares a border with IRAQ (check out the map). And that border is FULL of Kurds. TURKEY really doesn’t want the Kurds of IRAQ to get their independence. That will just incite the TURKISH Kurds to join the former IRAQi Kurds.

So, check this out: elections in January. Six weeks for the Kurds to declare their independence. The NEXT day TURKEY invades the newly formed Kurdish Republic and the Islamic State of IRAQ *IF WE ARE LUCKY* asks the US to defend its borders against the TURKS (our NATO ally).

If we aren’t, the new Islamic state of IRAQ asks the SYRIANS and IRANIANS to help them defend their borders (check out that map, again).

</paranoia tag>

But, I’ve been predicting that TURKEY will get involved in this for a couple of years.

I also have this theory that Ayatollah Khomenei (sp?) is laughing his arse off in whatever afterlife he believed in. They kidnapped our people at the embassy. They got weapons in exchange for the release of those hostages. And though we supported IRAQ in their wars against IRAN (again, supplying the IRANIANS with weapons to fight the IRAQIS), we ended up removing Saddam and are about to install a government friendly to the IRANIANS.

Irony: Not just for barefoot women in the kitchen, anymore.