The Supreme Court rejected the Bush administration's claim that the President can make the rules in an unconventional war. While this may not help any innocent prisoners get out earlier, it does at least slow down the ability of the administration to use 9/11 to increase the power of the executive branch. Guantanamo Bay, surveillance of phone calls and bank transactions may very well be necessary in the war against terrorism but the way the administration carried them out shows a disregard for laws and the separation of power between the branches of government.

The wiretaps could have been done legally by simply getting warrants. The warrants can be obtained retrospectively if the government had to act before there was time to reach a judge. By putting in new rules that allow the NSA to bypass the court at will doesn't help fight terrorism. It was just an act of arrogance. The same with the bank transactions. It would be easy to get approval from Congress and the courts to make everything legal. By not going through the legal channels, the administration is trying to make the executive branch much more powerful than the other two branches.

By not giving the prisoners at Guantanomo American justice or justice according to the Geneva convention, it will lead to more terrorism against us. It is a lot easier for the bad guys to recruit people when they can point to Muslims that America only believe in justice for their own people. There are bound to be many prisoners who were not guilty of terrorism who are still detained without trials after several years. The long length of their incarceration will be used as a recruiting tool against us. Even if they had some connection with Al Qaeda, their usefullness as an information source is nil by now. If this is "24" they would be released long time ago and followed to see if they go back to their organization. (I watch too much t.v.) I think the administration does not have enough evidence to convict most of these people and they don't want to lose in court so they want to just keep them in prison until the war on terrorism ends. Of course the war of terrorism has no ending. Eventually, I believe, most of these prisoners will be released and Guantanomo will be closed after a new president takes office. It will be a black eye in the history of America justice.

Yesterday, June 22nd, the LA Times had a article about different religious groups plotting the so-called exit strategy, hastening the end of the world. This means the arrival of the messiah for their particular religion. You have the Christian, Muslim and Jewish groups all believing the end of the world as we know it is near. Now I don't know who is right but I know they all can't be right. Obviously everybody can believe what he wants to believe, but some of the contradictory statements made by religious leaders strike me as being illogical.

The President of Iran, Ahmadinejad, hopes to welcome the messiah Mahdi to Tehran in 2 years. If he thinks the messiah is going to come so soon and convert everyone to Islam then why is he worrying about building nuclear weapons for the future? The Jews, meanwhile, are rebuilding the Holy Temple destroyed by the Romans, before the coming of their messiah. Gershon Solomon of the Jerusalem's Temple Institute remarked that when the temple is built "Islam is over." The Christians are helping Israel as they believe that they will be judged by how they treat the Jews. So the Christians are strong lobbyists for Israel. Of course they also believe that the Jews who do not convert to Christianity will be condemned to hell. This is a concept that shock the Jews. Gershon Solomon, when asked about the Christian belief, said "What kind of religion is it that expects another religion will be destroyed?" Of course that is exactly what he thought would happen to Islam. It is also what Muslims think will happen to Jews and Christians.

So they all think they are smart enough to know their religion is the right one. I guess I am not so smart. Read back to my blog on 9-26-05 and you will see that I have no idea who is the true God. All I know is that the true God will be more forgiving than us, not less. For example, if Mother Teresa believed in the wrong God, would the true God condemn her to hell? If your religion teaches you that good people from different religions than yours are going to hell, I don't think you have found the true religion.

The Republican majority passed resolutions in the Senate and House which defeated the call for a timetable for withdrawl from Iraq. The resolutions were just political ploys because they included a call for support of the troops. So if one votes for a timetable then the Republicans can use it against him in November by saying that he voted against the troops. Dennis Hastert even called this a vote for freedom. This is an insult to the intelligence of the American people. There are reasonable arguments for not having a timetable but if you believe that this is a vote to support freedom and the troops then you are a moron, the exact type of people the Republicans are trying to convince.

These symbolic votes show how inept our political leaders are. All they are doing to trying to figure out how best to win the next election. The Republicans know that the war is going badly but figure that by keep yelling "stay the course" they can still beat the democrats in November. The Democrats blame the Republicans but have no alternative policies of their own. Now that most congressmen voted to support our troops, what strategy do they have to bring them home?

There seems to be very little celebration with the death of Zarqawi. Even President Bush cautions that a lot more fighting is ahead. There was none of the claims of victory as after Hussein was captured. This is because we have learned that the insurgency is very resilent and that the loss of one leader will not mean its end. There is question of whether Zarqawi is all that important or even competent as a leader. However, this is an opportunity to use his death to our advantage, although given Bush's reaction he does not seem to see the opportunity.

This is the time now to save face and get the hell out of Iraq. Bush keeps saying that we will stay course until the work is completed. But what is the end point? Does anyone believe that any government can stablize the country in less than 10 years? Certainly not any government that is supported by the U.S. Somewhere down the line the country will be either split into Shiite and Sunni and Kurdish regions via civil war or the Shiites become dominant with the help of Iran and overwhelm the others. I believe one of these scenarios will play out no matter how long we stay in Iraq. If there is any chance for it to turn out differently, it would require us to get out as soon as possible. It is easier for insurgents to recruit as long as there are Americans occupying the country. Sunnis can point to Americans as helping the Shiites to kill them. Shiites can say that if not for American interference, they would have put down the Sunnis already. There maybe a slim chance that without Americans to blame, some moderate leaders can unite the country. Well, at least after several moderate leaders are assassinated first.

What about the argument that we did not finish the job and that would look bad for us in the future. Well, we already lost lot of credibility by invading Iraq in the first place. But everybody still knows that we can kill them. We just can't occupy them. But who else do we want to occupy? Iran and North Korea know that we can't occupy them but so what? They know that we can destroy them. If we leave Iraq they will make fun of us for awhile, but so what? We can claim victory now by saying that the head of the insurgency is dead. The enemy is headless. The Sunni leadership of Hussein and now Zarqawi are gone. The Shiites can run the country with a democratically elected government. It is all up to the leaders of Iraq now. This is what we set out to do. Of course, everybody in the world know that is a lie. But so what? This is the way to save face on the international stage. At least no more soldiers will be killed for no reason and we can spend money on other things that will improve our lives and keep us safer. Bring the troops home now.