AQUAFINA water is tap water

American's spent about $2.17 billion on Aquafina last year, for nothing more than Toliet WATER! I wonder how much of that money is black folks money. Should black folks file a multi-billion dollar class action law suit against Pepsi cola? It pisses me off that i spent probably hundreds if not thousands of dollars on that water of the years.

If your interested in filing a class action law suit against greedy Pepsi for their selling bogus tap water, that we already paid for through our local taxes write me at:

AfricanAmericanPoliticalPundit@GMail.com






Yes, its "AQUIFINA" is TAP WATER the stuff you find in your all American Toliet!

The water you pay 1 and 2 dollars a bottle for. Plain old tap water.

- Pepsi-Cola announced Friday that the labels of its Aquafina brand bottled water will be changed to make it clear the product is tap water. The new bottles will say, "The Aquafina in this bottle is purified water that originates from a public water source," or something similar, Pepsi-Cola North America spokeswoman Nicole Bradley told CNN.

The bottles are currently labeled: "Bottled at the source P.W.S." Americans spent about $2.17 billion on Aquafina last year, according to Beverage Digest, an independent company that tracks the global beverage industry. The U.S. bottled water business in 2006 totaled roughly $15 billion, it said.

No timetable was available for when customers will see the label change on store shelves, another Pepsi spokeswoman, Michelle Naughton, told CNN.

The Pepsi company admits it's water comes from a public water source.



Hat Tip AgentX for the following link:

McCain is a Loser

It's getting lonely for one of the few people running for President who think Bush is doing a great job in Iraq. Everyone is leaving "old man McCain's team" including, Fred Davis.

To Leave McCain]">

The Designer of "Straight Talk" logo is latest defection. There will be more defection in the coming week's and month's as people come to the conclusion that McCain is a moron and a loser for blindly supporting Bus's Iraq policy, even though over 75% of the American people don't support the war. Do you agree with McCain is a loser? or are you into his Vietnam era bravado ?

More HERE

Impeachment Update

Democrats.com is now reporting Rep. John Conyers brushed off the heroic impeachment efforts of Cindy Sheehan, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Ray McGovern, Medea Benjamin, David Swanson, 300 dedicated impeachment marchers, 1 million petition signers, resolutions from dozens of cities and towns, and activists who called his office every 30 seconds.

His reasons? First, he doesn't have the support of a majority of the House (218 votes) to impeach Bush or Cheney. Second, FOX News would attack him.

Demcrats.com says it's "simply not acceptable reasons to allow George Bush and Dick Cheney to commit war crimes and shred the Constitution - and we're not going to accept them. Instead, we're going to fight harder than ever for impeachment."

Conyers doesn't have 218 votes today, but we can change that. Tell your Representatives to join the 14 sponsors of H.Res. 333, Articles of Impeachment for Vice President Cheney:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/88
Also call them at 202-224-3121 and demand co-sponsorship of H.Res. 333 now.

Conyers would be attacked by FOX News, but we can change that too. Let's boycott FOX News advertisers:
http://www.democrats.com/boycott-fox-news-advertisers

We must also give Conyers a backbone transplant. Let's flood Conyers and other House Judiciary Democrats with more emails than ever.

Read More HERE

Obama as Ronald Reagan?

The pundit's at Politico have lost their collective marbles. Maybe they need to employ some more black folk so they can get it right about Obama and his political strategy. These white guys and ladies can't truly think that Obama is using a Ronald Reagan strategy to get elected. But hey, they may have something there. Read MORE HERE

What do you think?

(composite image by Politico.com) Photo by AP

Reparations

Reparations for Enslavement

Hat Tip: Ray Winbush, Ph.D.

Some Key Dates in the Reparations Struggle for Afrikans©

1782 – Belinda’s Petition is the first recorded instance of an Afrikan in America seeking and receiving reparations from her former enslaver. Belinda petitioned the Massachusetts State Legislature and asks for “the just rewards for honest labor” stemming from half of century of enslavement by her enslaver, Isaac Royall. The legislators grant a lifetime pension for her and her daughter from Royall’s estate.

1803 – The Haitian Revolution puts in motion the simultaneous expansion of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase and the demise of Napoleon in the western hemisphere. The only successful slave rebellion in history that took control of a nation, Haiti will be punished for over 200 years by the white world for its successful rebellion against French enslavement.

1814 – The Tenth Article of the Treaty of Ghent which ends the War of 1812 states, ''. . . the traffic in slaves is irreconcilable with the principles of humanity and justice.''

1825 – Haiti begins paying reparations for land French slave owners “lost” during the Haitian Revolution. Total reparations paid: $20 billion.

1841 – Sengbe Pieh, aka "Joseph Cinque", wins the right to return to his homeland of Sierre Leone from the U. S. Supreme Court after successfully commandeering the Amistad which frees himself and his compatriots from enslavement.

1842 - President John Tyler on December 6, 1842 in his second State of the Union address quotes from the Tenth Article of the Treaty of Ghent, signed by the United States and Great Britain in 1814.

1865 – On January 16, 1865, W. T. Sherman issues Field Order No. 15 that promises “40 acres” to ex-enslaved Afrikans in portions of the Carolinas and Florida. Over the next few months, some 400,000 acres are distributed to the freedmen.

1867 – A bill introduced by Congressman Thaddeus Stevens in the 40th Congress calls for confiscating land from the former Confederate States and redistributing it to the freedmen.

1884-1885 – For three months in Berlin, the European powers carve up Afrika with total disregard for ethnic, linguistic and cultural differences in order to avoid European internecine warfare in the scramble for Afrika.

1890 – Callie House creates the Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Association which petitions the United States government for “pensions” (reparations) for the millions of ex-enslaved Afrikans. On trumped up charges of “mail fraud”, she will spend one year in federal prison. A brilliant organizer and Mother of the modern reparations movement, she gathers 600,000 signatures for redress against Amerikkkan enslavement.

1914 – Marcus Garvey establishes the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and advocates not only a “do for self” ethic but a “right of return” to Afrika by Afrikans in the Maafa. Garvey is considered one of the four great American Afrikan organizers of the 20th century, the others being Callie House, Elijah Muhammad and Martin Luther King.

1920s – Founding of Rastafarianism in Jamaica which provides a theological connection between Afrikans in the Maafa and the Afrikan continent. The religion will become global and has as its core theology the end of white rule (“Babylon”) and the reestablishment of an African world. It will stress repatriation to Afrika by Afrikans in the Maafa.

1930 – Founding of Nation of Islam, by Elijah Poole, aka Elijah Muhammad and W. D. Fard encases a Black Nationalist theology in the religion of Islam. The faith will produce Malcolm X who with Muhammad calls for a “repair” of the Black mind because of the damage done by white supremacy

1963 – Queen Mother Audley Moore presents a 1-million signature petition to President John F. Kennedy calling for reparations on the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

1968 – Founding of Republic of New Afrika (RNA) whose constitution calls for five states --- Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and South Carolina --- to be ceded to American Africans for the establishment of the RNA. Its founder Imari Obadele will be imprisoned and ultimately released as a result of the COINTELPRO of the FBI.

More HERE at: winbushreparations

Two Faces of Hillary Clinton

Can you trust this women?

As I watched the Youtube debates I wondered if I could trust a women, who it appears she is not even comfortable in her "own" skin.

Do you think it's important for her (Hillary) to look good as a candidate? Do people vote for the person, the surgery, the position, or a combo?

Is her plastic surgery important, or is her positions on the issues more important? Do you agree with Hillary about not meeting with key (what bush termed) AXIS of evil leaders? Can you trust this women?

Is she trying to out Republican, REPUBLICANS when it comes to US Diplomacy?

Sheehan to Run Against Pelosi

African American Political Pundit says:

American's are ready to shake up national politics and it's about time. I'm tired of the the worst President ever, Congressional Black Caucus, The Congressional White Caucus (Congress), The United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, War and the ripping of of the American Tax Payer - Are YOU? Hey at least Cindy Sheehan is standing for something!




Enter, Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, who as the Washington Post reports, was arrested Monday at the Capitol for disorderly conduct, shortly after saying she would run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the California Democrat's refusal to try to impeach President Bush.

Sheehan was taken into custody inside Rep. John Conyers' office, where she had spent an hour imploring him to launch impeachment proceedings against Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Conyers, D-Mich., chairs the House Judiciary Committee, where any impeachment effort would have to begin.

Now we need some grass root folks to run against those low life members of the Congressional FOX Caucus to really shake up the status quo. More HERE

Government Cover Up's Continue

Investigator: 'High-Value Targets' Imprisoned by High-Level 'Cover-up'

The CIA's secret prisons for the U.S. "high-value detainee" program existed because of the "secrecy, cover-up and dishonesty" of high-level European officials, Swiss Sen. Dick Marty said today.

"We have sufficient grounds to declare that the highest state authorities were aware of the CIA's illegal activities on their territories," Marty, who led the Council of Europe's investigation into the CIA's rendition program, said in the 72-page report .

Thirty current and former CIA and European intelligence officers provided overwhelming proof that the Szymany airport in Poland and the Air Force Base at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airfield in Romania served as the two locations for the CIA secret prisons, according to the report.

More HERE

Is there any question this and other acts warrant impeachment?

Al Qaeda

Have you noticed an erie summer calm before the storm in America? I have.

With Al Qaeda eyeing buildings for attack now the nation's top intelligence official today went further than ever before in outlining what he described as a heightened threat of an al Qaeda attack on American soil. "Their attempt is to cause mass casualties," said Adm. Michael McConnell, director of national intelligence, on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. "Second [priority] is political and possibly economic disruption."

ABC News reports, Just days ago, a new National Intelligence Estimate found al Qaeda has strengthened its ability to attack the United States. McConnell said al Qaeda is seeking the means to launch chemical, biological and possibly nuclear attacks. But the likeliest threat is harder to detect."

Thank the Republican and Democrats for getting us into this mess.

3 More Congress Members and Impeacment Begins?

John Conyers, House Judiciary Committee Chairman

Word on the street: House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyer's has said that if three more Congress Members get behind impeachment he will start the impeachment proceedings.

More HERE

Cornel West

Race: State of Affairs

Music-Infused Political Commentary

Cornel West

Scholar, Professor of Religion. Princeton University

Cornel West, Ph.D., renowned scholar and professor of religion at Princeton University, was online Tuesday, July 17, at 10:30 a.m. ET to discuss his upcoming socially conscious recording project, "Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations," to be released next month (Hidden Beach Forum, in partnership with "Black Men Who Mean Business") and which explores the issues of race, the use of the "N-word" in popular culture and hip-hop and the current state of the world.

Dr. West provides political commentary alongside a collection of artists including Prince, Andre 3000, Talib Kweli, Jill Scott, Rhymefest, hip-hop legend KRS-One, The Roots' Black Thought, Rah Digga and the late Gerald Levert.

Dr. Cornel West: This CD is a danceable education. It's aim is to keep alive the spirit and legacy of Curtis Mayfield. We want to bring together the spiritual and the social, the personal and the political. We want to contribute to an awakening in our culture, especially youth culture that begins with a deep sense of history that brings together the three dimensions of time: past, present and future.

_______________________

Baltimore, Md: Dr. West,

Do you feel that the recent Imus controversy and the burying of the N word will affect the consciousness of the rap stars of today?

Dr. Cornel West: I hope that rap musicians and hip-hop artists become more sensitive to the vicious history of the "N word." That I know that "nigga" as opposed to "nigger" is a term of endearment for some young people. But the history of "nigger" with its connotation of self-hatred and self-disrespect needs to be acknowledged, so the discussion of the "N word" on my CD that pits my dear brother Michael Eric Dyson who defends the word, against myself, with my dear brother Tavis Smiley moderating provides a forum for this crucial question.

_______________________

Monroe, Mich.: How do you feel about Michael Eric Dyson's uncompromising defense of hip-hop? Why has the Black intelligentsia endorsed and defended the violent and materialistic culture glorified by hip hop? This is most evident in Dyson's attacks against Bill Cosby's criticism of hip-hop culture.

Dr. Cornel West: Brother Mike Eric Dyson does not defend violence, sexism or homophobia in hip-hop. That any reading of his work reveals his critique and rejection of these. He rejects the demonization of hip-hop because he, like myself, knows there are progressive hip-hop artists like Common, Lupe Fiasco, KRS-One and others who are hip-hop to the core but also critical of violence, sexism and homophobia.

_______________________

Boston, Mass.: Do you agree or disagree with Chief Justice Roberts that the best way to stop discrimination based on race is to stop taking race into consideration?

Dr. Cornel West: No, I think Judge Roberts is wrong. That in order to confront the ugly legacy of racism you don't act as if we are color blind overnight. Such action is short-sighted and wrong-headed.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Many credit the quiet forums provided by the Internet and other social networking platforms with reducing the overall climate of protest and social activism, especially in today's youth. Do you think such events as the NAACP's burial of the "N" word are miscalculated and irrelevant to younger generations, or do you feel that a significant physical presence on a national stage is still necessary to invoke change and/or discussion?

Dr. Cornel West: That we need all progressive and effective strategies. The Internet is indispensable. So are symbolic gestures of burial for the "N word." Street demonstrations as in Seattle 1999 and reform within our corrupt political system.

_______________________

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Many credit the quiet forums provided by the Internet and other social networking platforms with reducing the overall climate of protest and social activism, especially in today's youth. Do you think such events as the NAACP's burial of the "N" word are miscalculated and irrelevant to younger generations, or do you feel that a significant physical presence on a national stage is still necessary to invoke change and/or discussion?

Dr. Cornel West: That we need all progressive and effective strategies. The Internet is indispensable. So are symbolic gestures of burial for the "N word." Street demonstrations as in Seattle 1999 and reform within our corrupt political system.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: What will be the impact of a black man being elected president to the African American community? Also, at the State of Black America you said that people need to know how Obama's campaign is financed to see who is pulling the strings. Given that fact that almost all of his money has come from normal people -- over 250,000 of them so far -- do you think that he is shaping up to actually be a different candidate, an agent of change?

Dr. Cornel West: First, it is important to engage in Socratic questioning of all candidates regardless of color or agenda. That's why I raised that question at Tavis Smiley's forum. At the same time I have endorsed Obama because I am convinced that he would not only be a progressive candidate but also he has the potential to be a great statesman. But we all must be part of the process to make him and other politicians accountable.

_______________________

Tokyo, Japan: According to prediction markets, Barack Obama is currently thought to have about a 2 percent chance of becoming the next president, second only to Hillary Clinton. He is also raising more money than other candidates. How important is this, and how important would it be if he actually won?

Dr. Cornel West: First, we must keep in mind that Hillary Clinton has been on the national scene for 15 years. Just as John Edwards has been running for president for five years. Obama began his race a few months ago. If his momentum continues, which I hope it does, and he wins, his presidency will be significant, not solely because it has shattered a racist barrier but more importantly he will have the vision and courage to change American policy with a focus on everyday working and poor people.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: What is the message in your project "Never Forget" and is this a CD that will be available commercially?

Dr. Cornel West: Oh it will be highly available commercially. The fundamental message of the CD with giants like Prince, Gerald Levert, Talib Kweli, KRS-One, Jill Scott and others is to provide a danceable education that highlights the need for an awakening, for political engagement for progressive politics and sheer fun.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Prof. West: You have blended your scholarship with pop/mass culture quite a lot over the past several years. Do you have any concerns that, unlike WEB Dubois, you are aligning yourself with lesser rather than greater cultural traditions, and that you are leading promising young black students to ignore more intellectually challenging art and music in favor of what they already frequently see on TV and hear on the radio?

Dr. Cornel West: I appreciate the question. I do not believe in an either/or approach between high culture and popular culture. Instead, I adopt a both an approach that highlights the John Coltranes, Stephen Sondheims, Beethovens and Ellingtons as well as Common, Lauren Hill, Chuck D and Talib Kweli.

_______________________

Albuquerque, N.M.: Do you believe that racial problems are more a reflection of class today, or do you believe that it is still only "skin deep"?

I ask because I am 30 with friends of many colors, and it seems to me that race is no longer an issue. It seems to be something older generations are "stuck on," and cannot get over.

Here's another question -- is either affirmative action in academics or racial profiling along I-95 appropriate? How are they different?

Dr. Cornel West: The race problem in America has always been, in part, a class problem and it remains both a matter of economic deprivation and color prejudice.

Affirmative action has never been solely a race matter. It included gender and in schools it also included region. I believe the issue of class or economic status is important in regard to affirmative action alongside race and gender and region.

_______________________

Anonymous : What is your response to Bill Cosby's position on the problems facing the Black community and how they should be fixed (e.g., speaking only "correct" English)?

Dr. Cornel West: Bill Cosby's gallant attempt to correct the attitudes and actions of young people is significant. I believe that the language of correction must be informed by a fundamental compassion that he must put his love and concern for young people at the forefront of his language of correction. Young people must become more multilingual.

_______________________

Mitchellville, Md.: I agree with much that's being said about refraining from the use of offensive language but I think that should be a personal choice by the "artist", not by others.

Do you believe that limits and guidelines can be established for an artistic genre (in this case hip-hop) and still allow artists to reach the depths of their creativity? If so, how?

Dr. Cornel West: I do not believe in censorship. Artistic freedom is essential in a democracy. There would be no Eugene O'Neill, Laurie Anderson or Tupac Shakur if we had censorship. But I do believe artists have a responsibility for what they say and do.

_______________________

washingtonpost.,com: This concludes our discussion with Dr. West today. He had to leave because of appointments. Please consult the Discussions schedule in the coming weeks for part two of our chat about race and society.

_______________________

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.

Black blogger(s) see handwriting on the wall

The Handwriting on the wall at VIACOM
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
(212) 258-6000

Shari Redstone, Vice Chairman
shari.redstone@viacom.com
sredstone@nationalamusements.com

RE: The Handwriting on the Wall at VIACOM

Dear Shari Redstone:

While everyone on Wall Street is licking their chops over the prospects of your leaving Viacom's board, we represent a voice of people who wish that you would stay. As a forward-thinking and progressive voice on the board, your views on performance-base compensation for corporate executives are long overdue.

Media giants, like Viacom and CBS, are dominated by old thinking. The values of old corporate executives are no longer the values of the general public. Shareholders should hold corporate executives accountable, not only for their performance, but also on the quality of their performance.

Let me remind you that the Association of National Advertisers have adopted a plan for Family Friendly Programming. Its mission is to support and promote the development of "family friendly" television across all programming genres between the hours of 8 and 10 p.m., when adults and children are most likely to watch television together.

Some media giants have not followed public desires but, instead, have set a bad public trend in television and radio programming. Look, for example, at Imus. Old media corporate executives have given the public an overdose of distorted reality programming, a la "As the World Turns" through the eyes of the "World According to Gorp". We are long overdue for some revolutionary changes.

SHARI: You probably already know best why there is discontent at Dream Works. But you may not know about the fire brewing at BET. The roll out of "Hot Ghetto Mess" and "S.O.B." on July 25th could very well be the BET's empire financial undoing.

Again, we will be looking to you for new thinking leadership against the stonewall executives who recognize no need for change. The cancer has reached critical mass. The handwriting is on the wall. Only you can determine its course.

Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin (BASG)

Hot Ghetto Mess

Black bloggers have united against BET and Viacom and are gaining traction. Now one of the nations leading newspapers The Washington post is following black blogger conversations on the issue.

African American Political Pundit says:

I agree with you Gina McCauley, creator of the blog What About Our Daughters?, "This is the POWER of Black bloggers in action. How many more of you need to be convinced that this is a new day in blogging activism in the African American community?"

-------

As Bloggers such as Gina McCauley, creator of the blog What About Our Daughters?,
Electronic village, the Afrosphere, Mirror on America, Bronze trinity, African American Political Pundit and hundreds of other black bloggers step up the effort to stop negative portrayals of blacks by the media, a recent media release provides more details:

Black Bloggers and Civil Rights Groups Unite to Topple BET's "Hot Ghetto Mess"

Austin, TX -July 19, 2007 - If Viacom's Black Entertainment Television goes through with its plans to air "Hot Ghetto Mess" next week, many people will be watching, but not for the reason BET wants. Realizing that mere online advocacy, was not going to be enough to topple "Hot Ghetto Mess" after she'd gotten advertisers to flee the show, Gina McCauley, creator of the blog What About Our Daughters? turned to a coalition of religious and women's groups including the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the National Coalition for Black Civic Participation, National Organization for Women, Rainbow PUSH, and the National Congress of Black Women.

The result is what may very well be the largest intergenerational collaboration between young online activists and their older offline counterparts in United States history. Their focus; to convince advertisers that buying ad time on BET's "Hot Ghetto Mess" just isn't worth it, despite the high ratings that the show is likely to bring if it airs.

On July 25, 2007, "Hot Ghetto Mess" watch parties are being scheduled in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Austin, the District of Columbia and the list of locations keeps growing. Those attending the watch parties will be recording which companies purchase advertisements during the show. The coalition then plans to target those businesses with possible boycotts or demonstrations.

Help Hunt Down Hot Ghetto Mess

Villagers, it is time to send the hunters into the jungle to bring down the jackal that has been stealing our dignity. The Electronic Village is joining What About Our Daughters blog, Eddie Griffin and other Black bloggers in the next phase of this quest to take Hot Ghetto Mess off the air.

Hot Ghetto' Leaves Some Blacks Cold

Ever since she started pumping her friends' snapshots of black people behaving badly onto her Web site, Jam Donaldson has been at the center of an uncomfortable cultural question:

Can African Americans publicly humiliate, satirize and otherwise shame other African Americans and not be called "race haters," "elitists" and "Uncle Toms"? More HERE

The War in Iraq -The Real Deal - Israeli and U.S. foreign policy

LA Times article exposed Israeli security and U.S. foreign policy goals even before the war.




It's always good to look backwards, in order to take positive steps forward. Here is a look backwards at a powerful article published back on December 1, 2002. About the Bush administrations efforts to redraw the map of the Middle East.

Please take the opportunity to read this article and let us know what you think about Israeli security and U.S. foreign policy goals

Beyond Regime Change

By Sandy Tolan and Jason Felch

LA Times

If you want to know what the administration has in mind for Iraq, here's a hint: It has less to do with weapons of mass destruction than with implementing an ambitious U.S. vision to redraw the map of the Middle East.

The new map would be drawn with an eye to two main objectives: controlling the flow of oil and ensuring Israel's continued regional military superiority. The plan is, in its way, as ambitious as the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement between the empires of Britain and France, which carved up the region at the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The neo-imperial vision, which can be ascertained from the writings of key administration figures and their co-visionaries in influential conservative think tanks, includes not only regime change in Iraq but control of Iraqi oil, a possible end to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and newly compliant governments in Syria and Iran -- either by force or internal rebellion.

For the first step -- the end of Saddam Hussein -- Sept. 11 provided the rationale. But the seeds of regime change came far earlier. "Removing Saddam from power," according to a 1996 report from an Israeli think tank to then-incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was "an important Israeli strategic objective." Now this has become official U.S. policy, after several of the report's authors took up key strategic and advisory roles within the Bush administration. They include Richard Perle, now chair of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board; Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense; and David Wurmser, special assistant in the State Department. In 1998, these men, joined by Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz (now the top two officials in the Pentagon), Elliott Abrams (a senior National Security Council director), John Bolton (undersecretary of State) and 21 others called for "a determined program to change the regime in Baghdad."

After removing Hussein, U.S. forces are planning for an open-ended occupation of Iraq, according to senior administration officials who spoke to the New York Times. The invasion, said Iraqi dissident Kanan Makiya, would be "a historic opportunity that is as large as anything that has happened in the Middle East since the fall of the Ottoman Empire." Makiya spoke at an October "Post-Saddam Iraq" conference attended by Perle and sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute. Any occupation would certainly include protecting petroleum installations. Control of the country's vast oil reserves, the second largest in the world and worth nearly $3 trillion at current prices, would be a huge strategic prize. Some analysts believe that additional production in Iraq could drive world prices down to as low as $10 a barrel and precipitate Iraq's departure from OPEC, possibly undermining the cartel. This, together with Russia's new willingness to become a major U.S. oil supplier, could establish a long-sought counterweight to Saudi Arabia, still the biggest influence by far on global oil prices. It would be consistent with the plan released by Vice President Dick Cheney's team in June, which underscored "energy security" as central to U.S. foreign policy. "The Gulf will be a primary focus of U.S. international energy policy," the report states. Some analysts prefer to downplay the drive to control Iraqi oil. "It is fashionable among anti-American circles ... to assume that U.S. foreign policy is driven by commercial considerations," said Patrick Clawson, an oil and policy analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, in an October talk. Rather, Clawson said, oil "has barely been on the administration's horizon in considering Iraq policy.... U.S. foreign policy is not driven by concern for promoting the interests of specific U.S. firms."

Yet Clawson, whose institute enjoys close ties with the Bush administration, was more candid during a Capitol Hill forum on a post-Hussein Iraq in 1999: "U.S. oil companies would have an opportunity to make significant profits," he said. "We should not be embarrassed about the commercial advantages that would come from a re-integration of Iraq into the world economy. Iraq, post-Saddam, is highly likely to be interested in inviting international oil companies to invest in Iraq. This would be very useful for U.S. oil companies, which are well positioned to compete there, and very useful for the world's energy-security situation."

More HERE

War, Blacks Bloggers and Politics

Jack Turner at Jack and Jill Politics has a great post regarding the Bush Iraq War and the lack of blogging by African American bloggers. check out his post; why black bloggers don't have much to say about the Iraq all-nighter. His post made me think even more about the war, and it's impact on American politics. Here are some of my thoughts regarding Jack Turner's Post.

As you read my response check out the most current news on Iraq:

Blast Reportedly Kills 5 Sunni Leaders in Iraq

U.S. Wants Iraqi Leaders to Reach 'Accommodation'

Aide to Iraq's Top Shiite Cleric Fatally Stabbed

African American Political Pundit says:

"This Senate action was a no brainer. The Senate is a multi-million dollars boys (and a few girls) club. It's a club of people that really could give a rat's a** about the death and killing in Iraq of for that matter the killing in the streets of urban America.

I salute those who follow, support, and/or report on the "ins and out's" of the United States Senate, but to tell the truth (my truth), :-) I'm feeling Bush is in many ways right.

Ouch! that hurt to say.

We may now have to stay in Iraq, because he as the "decider" (the Commander with a beef) against Saddam, decided to "Shock and Awe" Iraq into the stone age and Civil War.

The consequence of his actions are that the millions of Iraqi's and others are now prepared and eager to chase America for the next thousand years for its senseless incursion to Iraq, killing of Iraqi babies, children, fathers, grand fathers, daughters, cousins and mothers. If this happened to millions of your country men and women, what would you do?

Yes, they will follow Americans to the end of the earth. They will not forget the support of the United States Senate and House of Representatives gave to the president at the time. Shock and Awe, the rape of Iraq women.

The Senate Democrats with a few Republican supporters cannot clean their hands of the blood they created in Iraq by one action on the senate floor.

The chase has begun, It's up to the American people to stop this cycle of death against the Iraqi people.

Bush, Cheney and others need to be charged with war crimes.The American people need to elect a whole new crop of political leaders , including new leadership in the United States Senate."

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Am I wrong?