Personally, Zarqawi has always reminded me of this little ditty:

“They seek him here, they seek him there.
Those Frenchmen seek him everywhere.
Is he in Heaven? – Is he in hell?
That damned annoying Pimpernel.”
(from The Scarlet Pimpernel)

I still wish someone would whack Zargawi. :)

Holy wiretap, Batman! WeÂ’re being lurked by FiredogLake readers at the Pentagon!

This is our SiteMeter report for Visit Number 10,292:
—————–

Domain Name: pentagon.mil (Military)
IP Address: 141.116.80.#
(Army Information System…

well, that leads to things like coverup of simmering civil war (blame it all on al-Qaeda) and cover up of intrinsic failure of government and security forces, and failure to use forces and resources to address the actuall sources of many of the problems, and it also put US soldiers side by side with what may well be sectarian militia forces, sharing information with them, training and equipping them, letting them identify targets, providing supply and protection information etc.

IOW, to justify the “terrorist connection” to Iraq, you disinform not only AMericans at home, but soldiers on the ground about the types and kinds of forces and resistance and loyalites of those they are fighting for and against.

But… how could it harm our soldiers? I guess I don’t understand.

Of course, also I think the guy they have on trial looks a lot more like one of Saddam’s four doubles than Saddam himself, in fact I think he looks like the guy they ruled out as being Saddam early in the war when he was out greeting people in a neighborhood.

I’m just saying. Not that our leaders would pull a stunt like that…

http://www.intelligence.gov/0-natsecact_1947.shtml

Under the National Security Act, the President is not allowed to authorize all kinds of covert actions, there are supposed to be limits:

Sec. 503 (f) No covert action may be conducted which is intended to influence United States political processes, public opinion, policies, or media.

If you do not identify the Govt’s participation in the preparation of the statements, that pretty much seems to meet the covert part.
e) As used in this title, the term “covert action” means an activity or activities of the United States Government to influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad, where it is intended that the role of the United States Government will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly, but does not include.

Actually, the No Child Left Behind endorsement payoffs probably qualified, but Congress hasn’t done anything. 503 also has notification requirements vis a vis Congress, not that any of that matters these days.
Apparently, this violations of Section 503 are also, according to AG Gonzales, bc Congress is not allowed to create “tension” for the President. If it does, his remedy is a lot like the divorce remedy in parts of the Middle East: He twirls on tiptoe thrice around, reciting once neener, twice neener, THRICE NEENER Film at 11:00.

Gonzales Refuses to Answer Whether Bush Can Authorize Illegal Covert Domestic Propaganda
From Think Progress, February 6, 2006

Alberto Gonzales was asked today by Sen. Dianne Feinstein whether President Bush had the authority to engage in illegal covert propaganda within the United States. Gonzales stonewalled

FEINSTEIN: Can the president suspend, in secret or otherwise, the application of Section 503 of the National Security Act, >/b>which states that no covert action may be conducted which is intended to influence United States political processes, public opinion, policies or media? In other words, can he engage in otherwise illegal propaganda?

GONZALES: Senator, this will probably be my response to all of your questions of these kind of hypotheticals. Questions as to whether or not — can Congress pass a statute that is in tension with the President’s constitutional authority? Those are very, very difficult questions, and for me to answer those questions sort of off the cuff, I think would not be responsible.

So, if it has been done, and is not a hypothetical, isn’t that an awful lot like his “truthy” statements to Congress, Feingold and Durbin in particular, prior to confirmation? And his “truthy” statements about domestic wiretaps? After his represenations that he is, after all, the President’s lawyer, with no duties to Congress to advise them or comply with, much less protect the laws of this Country, as long as the President tells him not to,ISN’T IT TIME FOR A NEW, TRUTHFUL AG?

Let’s start the impeachment process at the office that should have drawn the line in the sand – and didn’t. First impeach Gonzales, and refuse confirmation of anyone who doesn’t have minimum amounts of integrity. Also, any top military counsel that went along with preparation and dissemination of Domestic Propaganda, and if that just so happens to include the Gen Counsel for the Pentagon, and the man who keeps giving Rumsfeld his get out of jail free card, so be it.

Impeachment doesn’t have to start at the top, and this President has no legs to stand on his own. As his insulators are peeled off and if Congress requires competent people with integrity to fill the slots, the worst of what he is doing will implode and in the end, whether he is impeached or not will not be as important. Although, you kind of feel like it is almost inevitable.

Puppethead 35 — Swopa 43

The Boogeyman has always been a useful tool. There’s a great depiction of him at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogeyman

What struck me as funny is the various things the students who questioned him were studying for. I could almost see the thought bubble above his head: International Energy Analyst? What the heck is that?
Maybe he thought, “Wow. These kids are so young and so smart, so driven, so accomplished.” And maybe he felt humbled.
Or not….