
Scarecrow's exceptional post this morning about the idiocy that was Doug Feith's cook-the-intel-books Office of Special Plans shop lays out, in all its glory, the efforts to re-write reality to suit the Bush Administration's pre-fab plans for Iraq. The WaPo article lays all of this out in clear language. And the Senate Armed Services Committee will no doubt get to the details of the IG's report today.
The NYTimes adds another layer of accountability onto this story, which I think deserves not only a mention, but also a whole lot of sunshine. To wit:
...In a rebuttal to an earlier draft of Mr. Gimble’s report, Eric S. Edelman, the under secretary of defense, said the group’s activities were authorized by Mr. Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul D. Wolfowitz. They did not produce formal intelligence assessments, and they were properly shared, the rebuttal said.In a statement issued Thursday, Mr. Feith, who left the Pentagon in 2005, made similar points. Mr. Rumsfeld did not respond to telephone messages seeking comment.
According to Congressional officials, Mr. Feith’s statement and the policy office’s rebuttal, the report concluded that none of the Pentagon’s activities were illegal and that they did not violate Defense Department directives.
But the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, said in a statement that because the inspector general considered the work of Mr. Feith’s group to be “intelligence activities,” the committee would investigate whether the Pentagon violated the National Security Act of 1947 by failing to notify Congress about the group’s work....
The Senate Intelligence Committee, meanwhile, is completing work on its own investigation into the use of intelligence by policy makers in the months before the Iraq war. Under Republican leadership, it had delayed an examination of Mr. Feith’s activities pending the outcome of the inspector general’s report.
The Pentagon’s rebuttal vehemently rejected the report’s contention that there was “inappropriate” use of intelligence by Pentagon civilians and said the effort to identify links between Saddam Hussein’s government and Al Qaeda was done at the direction of Mr. Wolfowitz, who was deputy defense secretary at the time.
Describing the work as a “fresh, critical look” at intelligence agency conclusions about Al Qaeda and Iraq, the Pentagon rebuttal said, “It is somewhat difficult to understand how activities that admittedly were lawful and authorized (in this case by either the secretary of defense or the deputy secretary of defense) could nevertheless be characterized as ‘inappropriate.’ ”
The Feith operation dates to shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when the Pentagon established a small team of civilians to sift through existing intelligence with the aim of finding possible links between terror networks and governments. Bush administration officials contended that intelligence agencies were ignoring reports of collaboration between Iraq and Al Qaeda.
By the summer of 2002, the group, whose membership evolved over time, was aimed at identifying links between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq.
The inspector general’s report criticizes a July 25, 2002, memo, written by an intelligence analyst detailed to Mr. Feith’s office, titled, “Iraq and al-Qaida: Making the Case.”
The memo said that, while “some analysts have argued” that Osama bin Laden would not cooperate with secular Arab entities like Iraq, “reporting indicates otherwise.”
The inspector general concluded that the memo constituted an “alternative intelligence assessment” from that given by the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies and that it led to a briefing on links between Al Qaeda and Iraq that was given to senior Bush administration officials in August 2002, according to excerpts of the draft inspector general report quoted by Mr. Edelman.... (emphasis mine)
Two points here. One, the OSP may have been operating with the imprimatur of Vice President Dick Cheney, then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and then Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. But, last I checked, the President of the United States was using their skewed intel to not only "evaluate" information in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, but also to sell this festering, chaotic mess to the American public.
So the President is either (a) just as responsible and as much of a promoter of lies as everyone else with their fingers in the OSP pie or (b) an easily led moron who does whatever Dick and Rummy tell him is the right thing to do, regardless of the basis or lack thereof in reality and truth. You choose.
Second, and this is the point which gives me the most pleasure in the whole article: the Dick Cheney/David Addington/neocon unilateral executive theory of Presidential superiority wherein the laws are declared to be for the little people? Well, ooops, guess that's not so true. The National Security Act of 1947 is a long and detailed set of requirements for the operation of any and all intelligence activities within the United States government. It was put together after WWII by the Truman Administration and the Congress as the foundation for the CIA and other intelligence agencies, specifically to ensure certain ground rules and uniformity, and to expressly provide for Congressional oversight of any and all of the vast power of intelligence gathering that the Executive Branch might deem necessary for national security purposes.
Guess which group did not bother the follow the law and failed to do proper notification to the Intel committees in Congress? Say hello to Mr. Oversight and Ms. Accountability. And let the sun shine in...because it is way past time for a whole lot of festering secrets from the George, Dick and Rummy Intel Chop Shop to be dragged out into the open.
In case you were wondering, this is one of the many reasons we worked so hard to get Democrats elected last Fall. Congressional oversight and checks and balances -- it's a beautiful thing.
And while we're all asking questions, let's throw this one out there: how do we know that all the intel that is being thrown around regarding Iran isn't coming from yet another one of these cobbled together, secret, intel chop shops within the bowels of the Pentagon or the Vice President's office? Hmmmm? Isn't it about time we all started asking the hard questions of this Administration and requiring that they provide proof of each and every claim they make?
Ultimately, every national security matter these days comes down to the following: do you trust George Bush's judgment to make the right decision based on complete, honest, and real information? Because for me, that answer is decidedly: no. How about you?
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Fitz!
Christy!
That’s the whole point. They no longer care what is ‘illegal’ since they feel their actions are above the law.
The OSP debacle underlines why we need to have accountability and that having one party rule this country is very dangerous to every American.
EPU-d on last thread:
From the Wonderful Folks Who Brought You Iraq
The same neocon ideologues behind the Iraq war have been using the same tactics—alliances with shady exiles, dubious intelligence on W.M.D.—to push for the bombing of Iran. As President Bush ups the pressure on Tehran, is he planning to double his Middle East bet?
http://www.vanityfair.com/poli.....ntPage=all
QUICK!!! New shiny thingy over here!!!
Some “serial numbers and shell markings.” “Pretty good evidence.” Sufficient for, say, attacking.
_
Thanks, scarecrow and Christy for your excellent posts this a.m. Your work is SO important - and it gives me hope that if my young son is drafted in five years, that the war he fights will have been openly debated more than this administration has permitted in the past.
Keep up the great work and we’ll keep doing our parts here!
Nan
It’s time for some of these bastards to pay for all the lives they’ve destroyed and the world chaos they caused. Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Feith should be prosecuted!!!!!!
“So the President is either (a) just as responsible and as much of a promoter of lies as everyone else with their fingers in the OSP pie or (b) an easily led moron who does whatever Dick and Rummy tell him is the right thing to do, regardless of the basis or lack thereof in reality and truth. You choose.”
Well, this just isn’t fair at all..
Can’t we choose both?
But with the second option as the first choice, and the second option as a logical conclusion.
Here’s the complete sentence, and it sums it all up.
“The President is an easily led moron who did whatever Dick and Rummy told him to do, so he is just as responsible and as much a promoter of the lies as any of them.”
How’s that for concision?
Wow. Great post, Christy!
And nice one-two punch from WaPo and NYT today, no? Will be interesting to see how much this story gets reflected in the selection of talking heads this weekend.
Yep, they’re pushing to attack Iran. Apparently they think all those countries are alike, and Iran is as easy to push over as Iraq.
Gates: U.S. Can Prove Iran’s Iraq Role
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
6:03 AM PST, February 9, 2007
SEVILLE, Spain — Serial numbers and markings on explosives used in Iraq provide “pretty good” evidence that Iran is providing either weapons or technology for militants there, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asserted Friday.
Offering some of the first public details of evidence the military has collected, Gates said, “I think there’s some serial numbers, there may be some markings on some of the projectile fragments that we found,” that point to Iran.
At the same time, however, he said he was somewhat surprised that recent raids by coalition and Iraqi forces in Iraq swept up some Iranians.
I didn’t know serial numbers identified the country they were shipped from, or when they were imported. The whole thing looks like ‘bright silver thong’.
“So the President is either (a) just as responsible and as much of a promoter of lies as everyone else with their fingers in the OSP pie or (b) an easily led moron who does whatever Dick and Rummy tell him is the right thing to do, regardless of the basis or lack thereof in reality and truth. You choose.”
Well, this just isn’t fair at all..
Can’t we choose both?
But with the second option as the first choice, and the first option as a logical conclusion.
Here’s the complete sentence, and it sums it all up.
“The President is an easily led moron who did whatever Dick and Rummy told him to do, so he is just as responsible and as much a promoter of the lies as any of them.”
How’s that for concision?
Morning Christy.
Here’s Joe Conason in Salon, on another one of Bush Administration authoritarian moves to expand executive power for partisan purposes:
Last year, there was an excellent profile of Douglas Feith in the New Yorker, by Jeffrey Goldberg, the same person who wrote the recent “Lorax” profile of Joe Lieberman.
I highly recommend it - a very interesting, and timely, read.
Here’s a link to the Douglas Feith profile:
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/.....509fa_fact
Oh boy, Pat Robertson just got a woody.
This place is the flashpoint for all of the fundies, Christian, Jewish, Muslim.
-GSD
There are a few hundred other questions, like
a) do you trust a president who has shown no interest in finding “complete, honest & real information” on which to base his decisions;
b) do you trust an Administration which will do ANYTHING, including a litany of illegal and even treasonous activities, to achieve their goals;
c)and so on.
But the most important question is:
what are you doing, each and every day, to end this rape of our country, this robbing of our treasury, and this murder of our young?
…the effort to identify links between Saddam Hussein’s government and Al Qaeda was done at the direction of Mr. Wolfowitz
As well as the effort to identify links between personal hygiene and a mouthful of head lice.
Gates at it again is he? The guy who made his bones by screwing up intelligence for political purposes is at it again. Says he has evidence- so WHERE THE FUCK IS IT? What are the markings? Let’s see the photos- let’s see the serial numbers- why wouldn’t he be parading em all over the place? Got the evidence from Israel or what?
“Serial numbers and markings on explosives used in Iraq provide “pretty good” evidence that Iran is providing either weapons or technology for militants there, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asserted Friday.”
Is it a fact that most of the IED’s are made from mortar rounds WE sold the Iraqis? And how much of it came from the enormous ammo dump our first troops found, ignored and lost completely on their joyride to Bagdad?
I would guess there’s been more than one case of American serial numbers showing up after an explosion, but that doesn’t mean we should go to war with Texas.
Do we punish the entire Iranian population for their rogue elements? Just like we did in Iraq?
A quick OT re the real player links at capitolhearings.org: if you get an error message saying can’t open because rtsp protocol is not recognized, or similar (I’m using firefox), open Real Player, click tools–> preferences–>content–> media types–>click manually configure and hit select–> scroll to other media, check real time streaming protocol, then click OK. Should be good to go (may have to restart browser).
I noticed some people last thread had some trouble, me too.
Nice work, Christy, you and Scarecrow ham-and-egg it so nicely.
Mr.JJ — isn’t that Vanity Fair article by Craig Unger great!! Timely, too. Thanks for posting the link.
BTW, CHS, there already is a group like OSP and WHIG working on Iran…but I am now so oversaturated in scandal overload that I can’t think of the name.
And Rendon Group, Lincoln Group and SyColeman are still plugging away at the stuff the former OSI was supposed to handle, supporting the OSP. They may well be the source of the so-called intel we see on Iran.
Here’s my favorite part of the New Yorker profile of Douglas Feith:
“One day, I asked Feith to describe the importance to him of Lincoln. He admires Lincoln, he said, for many reasons, but in particular for the stalwart way that Lincoln confronted evil. When I suggested that Feith might also admire Lincoln because Lincoln shifted the rationale for his war in the middle of the fighting, Feith replied, with enthusiasm, “I never thought of that. That’s right.”
[snip]
The next morning, Feith telephoned. He had evidently been thinking about his answer, because he had searched out a better one. He found it in an article by Nicholas Lemann, published in this magazine shortly before the beginning of the war, in which Feith was quoted as saying: “When you can think that if we do things right, and if we help the Iraqis, and if the Iraqis show an ability to create a humane representative government for themselves—will that have beneficial spillover effects on the politics of the whole region? The answer, I think, is yes.”
He read this to me and added, “I must say, I’m damn proud of that sentence. That was right on the nose.”
Feith, though, had left out part of what he told Lemann. “Would anybody be thinking about using military power in Iraq in order to do a political experiment in Iraq in the hope that it would have positive political spillover effects throughout the region?” he asked Lemann. “The answer is no.” He continued: “What we would be using military power for, if we have to, would be the goals the President has talked about, particularly the elimination of the chemical and biological weapons, and preventing Iraq from getting nuclear weapons.”
I pick (b.) easily led moron. One caveat - Dubya’s innate child-like fascination with destruction and needy ego/Napoleon Complex make him an easy mark for Cheney, Rummy, Rove, Scooter, Feith, Perle, Wolfowitz and the other higher-minded evil geniuses.
ccmask @ 3
So which governmental office or house do you want to give the Republiscams when a Democrat (hopefully, Gore) is elected President? My point is, be careful what you wish for. OTOH, I’m with you. I just can’t decide which house to give up…although I know it won’t be the WH.
“Do we punish the entire Iranian population for their rogue elements? Just like we did in Iraq?”
…like some kind of clumsy, blind giant, swatting at fleas with a baseball bat, and breaking our own bones in the process.
The circle closes. We still need to go back to the 16 words about the uranium in the SOTU. Bush practices the speech perhaps hundreds of times prior to the delivery. Therefore he read the 16 words over and over again. There are only 2 possibilities, 1) He never saw them before or 2) He knew all about them. This then begs these questions: If he didn’t know about them, and didn’t ask about them, and delivered them without any knowledge of them then he has no business taking us into war because he doesn’t know enough. Conversely, if he didn’t know about them and asked about them, and he was told the truth, then he is a liar and mass murderer. If he asked about them and was lied to, then he had no business taking us into war because he had a rogue staff and he is incompetent by virtue of the fact they were his people. And finally, if he knew about the 16 words and thought they were true, or knew they were false, the above still applies. In either event he failed as a leader and may have likely committed treason. The significance of the OSP and the 16 words, and the Libby trial is the reinforcing of the likelihood that the President is a criminal and has committed treason and by extension crimes against humanity. We should keep this in mind. We have elected evil into the most powerful position in the world. It is a blueprint for the Anti-Christs’ ascendency.
I was always curious why Bush has never shown up at any funeral of the soldiers he has had sacrificed. Could it be that somewhere in that small brain there is actually a conscience that feels a small amount of guilt because of all the lies?
Bad
Conscience? Naw- I’d look for another explanation- his black suit is at the cleaners.
I know we got Libby, lets hope we can only continue these trials with Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Elliot Abrams, Dov Zakheim, David Wurmser, Donald Rumsfeld and many others, to expose the real crime of the century. These men intentionally mislead a paranoid White House that Iraq, not al Qaeda, was the main threat to the US. This group pushed our country to war, not to protect the American people from terrorism, but to be an active participant in a dream for a greater Israel. When this war in Iraq is done, over a million Iraqis will have perished, thousands of Americans will be dead with tens of thousands more wounded, lets pray that justice will be served to these traitors.
It’s the 1930’s all over again. This time, let’s stop these people. Where is Congress? Why aren’t they taking real action. It is impossible that they are all complicit or would want the type of outcome toward which we are heading. What can we do as citizens that would have real impact to ensure accountability before it is too late. While it is all so frightening and depressing, we can’t take this lying down. We are fighting them here.
Well now, The neocons have been soooo busy dickin’ the country around, and NOW, they are going to be busy covering their asses from all the oversight.It’s like kicking an ants nest.And yes, Virginia, there is an oversight committee.And, yes, Virginia, it was illegal activity.
P J Evans @ 11
Funny,
Iran couldn’t smuggle a bb gun into Iraq until we invaded it…
Is it shock and awe time in good old Persia? Don’tcha just love the smell of blood and cordite in the morning? Clusterfuck does- men’s cologne!!
EPU’d below…
So-o-o-o, according to Feith, ’twas just a “criticism of the consensus of the intelligence community,” perhaps “inappropriate” but certainly, heaven forbid, “not unlawful”!?!
… and we are to believe our “Commander in Chief” simply kept pedaling his little bike, totally oblivious to everything, other than pride in his low heart rate…
Two words. No, make that three, or seven:
Incompetence
Treason
High Crimes and Misdemeanors
Impeachment
Levin just said in the Armed Services hearing that any shortfalls in previous investigation will be “made up for in this committee.” Go Team Levin :) Hearing is really heating up…
Here’s Cheney on June 17, 2004:
Propelled by the momentum generated from all the dirty little secrets falling out on the floor at the Scooter Libby trial, Firedoglake moves forward on related fronts where heretofore BushCo stonewalling has kept the country in the dark about its corrupt and sometimes criminal machinations…
Murtha just smacked Rep. Frelinghuyser for asking leading questions at the army supplemental spending meeting. Rep. Frelinghuysen asked Schoomaker what he thought about the “surge”.
It’s great having dems in charge.
How about (c) both? I don’t see anything in Article II that exempts the President from accountability for either the actions of his subordinates or for his abuse of information they provide on the grounds of abject stupidity. Besides, Bush may be stupid, but it’s a mean kind of stupid.
Clusterfuck was so fuckin proud of his “shock and awe” experience- death rainin down from the sky- half the fuckin country blown ta rubble in a matter of days..
Nice goin Clusterfuck!! Ya really SHOWED em- and then three days later ya started spending american money to rebuild all the shit ya blew ta hell- but yer rich fuckin campaign contributors were more interested in takin taxpayer cash than in building anything in Iraq- so ya just gave em the money for doin nothin.
What a worthless worm you are Clusterfuck!!
Cupcake @ 8
I certainly believe I’ve seen enough to constitute high crimes and misdemeanors from virtually every single high official in this administration. An if incompetence was a high crime or misdemeanor, it would go alot farther. Now if only our newly elected Democratic majority would also see them for what they are, maybe we could get the government we truly deserve, because I don’t believe we’ve achieved that yet.
One of the reasons the US reportedly snubbed overtures from Iran in 2003 was that their intelligence told them Iran was on the brink of collapse and revolution.
They gotta stop listening to Ledeen, his sources are the Persian versions Johnny Knoxville and Kevin Federline.
-GSD
Rummy and Darth Cheney are veterans of the “If the President does it, it is not illegal” Nixon Cabal. They are just running the same game. This time they have Charlie McCarthy (is the reference too old?) instead of Tricky Dick.
Clusterfuck should be serving a life sentence in Sing Sing—3,000 american troops died for his lies.
JEP @ 25
That’s a good one. That’s us - one nation under Bush since the year 2000. Budw*iser Nation.
I think they have Mortimer Snerd!
And here’s Bush in September 17, 2003:
Damn, I wish I’d have thought of Mortimer first! Good one!
Here’s Seymour Hersh on the stovepiped intelligence apparatus in the adminstration from October, 2003:
http://www.newyorker.com/print.....027fa_fact
And here’s James Risen’s NYT article on Feith’s intel work from April, 2004:
http://www.commondreams.org/he.....428-07.htm
joel @ 29 I know we got Libby, lets hope we can only continue these trials with Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Elliot Abrams, Dov Zakheim, David Wurmser, Donald Rumsfeld and many others, to expose the real crime of the century. These men intentionally mislead a paranoid White House that Iraq, not al Qaeda, was the main threat to the US. This group pushed our country to war, not to protect the American people from terrorism, but to be an active participant in a dream for a greater Israel. When this war in Iraq is done, over a million Iraqis will have perished, thousands of Americans will be dead with tens of thousands more wounded, lets pray that justice will be served to these traitors [and war criminals].”
G.W. Clusterfuck has managed to lose even the British Conservative Party with his ham-fisted knucklehead moves.
We’re down to Israel, lame dick Tony Blair, and the Marianas Islands for allies.
Nice work.
Seems they don’t like getting lied to and stonewalled about a friendly fire incident…..what uppity jerks those Brits are.
-GSD
It’s past all understanding why years ago these people were not run out of town on a rail. The Democrats should have been screaming “Impeachment” as soon as it was known we went into Iraq based on total fabrications. And still they dither, and dither, and dither. Why?
Gosh, you mean the “Coalition of the Bribed” is falling apart, GSD?
OT - Obama’s Presidential announcement tomorrow @ 11AM eastern
Badwater @ 27
The president does not attend funerals for the same reason he does not allow coffins returning to the United States shown. He’d rather hide the death that he has caused.
it will be a beutifull thing when people start being held to account
for instance, why is rumsfeld STILL in the pentagon, palosi KNOWS he’s there and he should have been tossed out IMMEDIATELY
these hearings are great but it will be beutifull when something happens with the results
As super-rich folks go, Jay Rockefeller seems like a genuinely sweet guy. And I like his wife. But I’m skeptical about any investigation of OSP he might lead. We’ll see . . .
You know what is beautiful?
That the Bush administrations efforts to cover up their failed intelligence with revenge tactics against Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame have resulted in multiple investigations, both legal and journalistic, aimed directly into the heart of the lies that they told.
Ironically, the attempt at achieving a coverup through a revenge exposure of a CIA agent became a red-flag that will draw ever increasing scrutiny from the press, the congress, the courts, and last but not least, the progressive blogosphere to the very issue that the administration sought to hide.
Ann in AZ @ 24
For the next 20 years, none to the Republicans. But the Dems weren’t angels in this mess either. I’m also with you :))
Republicans were bitching about how much money a plane for Speaker Pelosi would cost.
How much money is Donald Scumsfeld still getting?
-GSD
The “Conspiracy Theory” of 9/11 and all of the events that have followed are not necessarily theories. We have to have real investigations and prosecute accordingly, and we have to do it now. In light of where we are today and the motivations of those who are leading us down this self-destructive path; the possibility that 9/11 was the planned enabling event is real. It is unthinkable that members of our government would participate in planning events that involve the premeditated sacrifice of our citizens (one has only to look at the Iraq pre-war intelligence that they’ve already done exactly that) but consider that the actions of the German government were unthinkable to the citizens of Germany and the world as well. Humans are capable of these kinds of actions. Let’s not hide our heads in the sand and allow history to repeat itself. Allowing a build-up of taxpayer funded, contractual private mercenary soldiers such as (Blackwater), is asking for a situation in the future where those entities could be paid to turn on the American citizens themselves. Not only is Iraq in a dire situation, America is in a dire situation. IMHO
rwcole @ 44
I wonder if the administration who added “aggressive interrogating” to suspects would mind submitting to those questioning techniques
Goopers must wander for forty years in the desert to purify their souls so that they can re enter the Holy Land where the milk and honey flow.
Sen. Roberts was oh-so-smart in delaying the investigation of the Feith group until after the Nov 06 election. But this plan is backfiring, because the unthinkable happened and the Democrats took control of the Senate. Now Sen. Levin will ensure that the matter gets taken seriously. Ooops!
If the Republicans had only done one of their CYA not-even-half-assed investigations when they were in control of the entire government, they may have kept this fiasco buried.
BTW, isn’t a blatant and ongoing violation of the Nat Sec Act of 1947, in a way that has had disasterous consequences for the country, an impeachable act? You’d think so.
NPR
Libby’s Defense to Begin Monday
by Nina Totenberg
LINK
And here’s Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on the IG Report:
Goopers have milk and honey runnin all over their faces- up their noses- out their ears..
The Milk and Honey crowd—they got their NOSES caught in the trough.
If you want to attend a soldier’s funeral, go here for the “Bitterfruit” essay. Beautifully done. In November 2003, Fusco began his essay on the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and traveled to 27 different cities. At the lionk, you will hear “Taps” and the next page hit play. Highly worthwhile photographic essay. While you are there, check out the Katrina one.
http://inmotion.magnumphotos.c.....fruit.aspx
Neil at 65: Seriously, is the Libby Trial ever off topic?
Let’s see, Operation Mesopotamian Shitstorm hasn’t started yet and yet we have:
*6 helicopters downed in 20 days.
*US troop death rates of 4 a day.
*US friendly fire killing 5 Kurdish Peshmerga in northern Iraq.
God help the US troops and the Iraqi civilians.
-GSD
Libby’s defense
Now the judge says that my client can’t claim that he forgot unless he gives up his constitutional right to keep his fuckin mouth shut- so I’m gonna defend him here-
“Now I ain’t sayin that he FORGOT- but LOOK at him- he’s stupid as a bowling ball on a saturday night in Gun Barrel City, Texas!! How’s a guy like that gonna keep all this shit straight?”
Badwater @ 27
Nope. The one and only reason is that Bush doesn’t do consequences. That’s pretty much the running theme of his entire life.
Doesn’t “Surge” sound like it ought to be a cola or an energy drink?
As always with the Bush administration, it’s important to remember that evil vs. incompetent is not an either-or questions.
Clusterfuck’s gonna hire a replica ta go ta Iraq and lead the charge- wearing the presidential battle crown::
“Surge you fuckers- SURGE!”
JPL @ 55
And specifically, because it would be bad for him politically. He doesn’t feel a twinge of guilt because he doesn’t care about anyone but himself.
NCBlueneck @ 73
Surge
Biodun @ 36
Here’s Cheney again:
“I have not suggested there’s a connection between Iraq and 9/11.”
Dick Cheney
October 5, 2004
Vice Presidential Debate
Cleveland, Ohio
Welcome to the Office of Special Plans, Firedoglake/dKos Division. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, help ensure that your elected representatives insist that any and all talking points, memes, demagoguery and pontification regarding Iranian support for Iraqi “insurgents” or “terrorists” are supported by reliable intelligence and verifiable evidence.
As always, if you are caught or criticized, your fellow posters and commenters will have your back.
“New Surge! Now fortified with miracle ZR7!”
Welcome to the Office of Special Plans, Firedoglake/dKos Division. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is help ensure that your elected representatives insist that any and all talking points, memes, demagoguery and pontification regarding Iranian support for Iraqi “insurgents” or “terrorists” are supported by reliable intelligence and verifiable evidence.
As always, if you are caught or criticized, your fellow posters and commenters will have your back.
Welcome to the Office of Special Plans, Firedoglake/dKos Division. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to help ensure that your elected representatives insist that any and all talking points, memes, demagoguery and pontification regarding Iranian support for Iraqi “insurgents” or “terrorists” are supported by reliable intelligence and verifiable evidence.
As always, if you are caught or criticized, your fellow posters and commenters will have your back.
BobbyG @ 6
Webb was on Ed Schultz a couple of days ago and compared the situation with Iran and the Iraq war to China and the Korean war. He pointed out that every weapon that was used against us in Korea came from China, it was a war fought on their border, they had nuclear weapons and were arguably a “rogue state,” and we still negotiated with them.
Let us all resolve to keep the spirit of Fitzmas in our hearts every day of the year!
From the Wonderful Folks Who Brought You Iraq
snip
By now, the story of how neoconservatives hijacked American foreign policy is a familiar one. With Vice President Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld leading the way, neocons working out of the office of the vice president and the Department of Defense orchestrated a spectacular disinformation operation, asserting that Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction posed a grave and immediate threat to the U.S. Veteran analysts who disagreed were circumvented. Dubious information from known fabricators was hyped. Forged documents showing phony yellowcake-uranium sales to Iraq were promoted…
http://www.vanityfair.com/poli.....ntPage=all
I am sorry for the triple post. I was trying to correct typos and grammatical errors, but instead just kept posting edited dupes. How does one actually edit an already posted comment?
“provide proof of each and every claim they make?”
Like you said not long ago Christy, with this bunch they need to show us the PROOF > of the PROOF > of the provided proof of each and every claim they make.
Even then, even if in triplicate from triplicate sources, anything they produce are suspect.
These last two threads have reminded me once again we need a FDL Wiki to keep it all straight.
probably reported here already, but if not, this comes from raw story
WASHINGTON (CNN) — I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s lawyers are debating whether to call Libby’s former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, to the stand, a source with knowledge of the lawyers’ discussions told CNN on Thursday.
Some in the defense team believe the prosecutor’s presentation has been strong and persuasive and therefore would open both Cheney and Libby up to a grilling when they were cross-examined, which would not help sway the jury, the source with knowledge of the discussions said.
in other words, cheney could only help put libby deeper in trouble, and himself at the same time
in addition, the entire notion might have been nothing more then a shiney object…a method to get the fitz team to expend it’s limited resources preparing for a cheney cross when he wouldn’t even be called
in any event, cheney probably by now realizes he is a pariah and any appearance from him can only hurt
litigatormom @ 86
If you’re using IE, you’ll find that the edit feature doesn’t work. Better to use previews and spell checks so the errors don’t get into the post the first time.
EvilDrPuma at 89 — Actually, I’m using IE and the edit function works fine for me. Just FYI.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 90
I see. So it’s just me that Bill Gates has it in for. I’ve been wondering.
OT–Meanwhile, the US Army criticizes the show “24″:
Joe Klein(I know, I know) with an ally oop. Hagel infers that Traitor Joe Lieberman is in the words of Daffy Duck, DITH-PICABLE:
In the initial debate on Iraq war resolutions last week, Lieberman was at it again. The notably mild Warner-Levin resolution of disapproval would “discourage our troops and hearten our enemies,” he said. A day later, I asked Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska about politicians–not Lieberman specifically–who made such statements. “They’re despicable,” he said, in a decidedly unsenatorial tone. “Those sorts of statements are the last refuge of a scoundrel. They suggest a lack of patriotism on the part of people like me and John Warner and Carl Levin. They hurt our democracy.”
Why is Joe Lieberman hurting our democracy?
-GSD
Biodun @ 36
well, to be fair, there clearly was a relationship
the relationship was as so;
they were enemies
and his statement that the evidence was overwhelming is true also
the evidence was overwhelming that alqaeda and saddam were enemies
so what’s the problem with what he said?
And to think these goobers were supposed to “…bring back honor and integrity to the White House.” What a hoot! “The grown-ups are in charge.” ROTFLOL…
NCBlueneck @ 95
Yeah, right. They brought it back with the rest of the loot and put it in Cheney’s safe. Never to be seen again.
OT: Republican state senator feeds the trolls…film at eleven.
Dumbass.