"The war came so suddenly. We didn't have enough information to challenge the assumption that there were WMDs.

Does anyone feel like the war came "suddenly"?

To me it feels like the war was anticipated for months, while most of the world was pleading for more time as the inspectors were trying to determine the truth.

The administration was hell-bent for war, and wanted no part of any campaign that could disrupt their plans.

Since the war was being planned as early as Jamuary of 2001 and since there were masses of GIs twiddling their thumbs in the Arabian peninsula it is hard to swallow the notion that the war came suddenly. From all I have read plans were written and discussed well before the 18 months hiatus between Afghanistan and Iraq.

I suppose CIA operatives find it hard to stop lying. Just as much as the current administration finds it hard to start telling the truth

David: "HUBRIS and The Nation article, citing CIA sources, reveal that she was in covert operations and that--ironically--she had spent two years trying to find proof of the administration's claims that Iraq posed a WMD threat. She and the Joint Task Force on Iraq, of course, came up empty-handed."

IF Plame was `covert' as David discloses, then why did this little ?fact? did NOT surface earlier? Smells a little like Armitage (not coming forward) for years.....while Bush critics & backers argue over something that certainly could've been easily established!

Also, IF she was Covert, could there been a Conspiracy among the Bush critics? with Armitage staying silent & Plame's status purposely left vague but logically appearing to be NON-covert? Hmmmm....

As for Plame coming up "empty-handed", that figures for the CIA of the time! like Joe on Saddam's attempt to source uranium in Niger! She couldn't even find the 500 or so 1991-vintage chemical weapons recently found! Saying there were no WMD in Iraq is just flat out wrong! Old chemical weapons may or may not be potent but they are what they are! A rusted pistol is nevertheless, a pistol, Get It?

I still don't understand why anyone and everyone, including LooseLips Armitage, didn't commit treason by outing someone working to protect us against "rogue nations", regardless of the reason.

Treason: Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies. A betrayal of trust or confidence.

Bush Aims to Kill War Crimes Act
By Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith
The Nation
Tuesday 05 September 2006

The US War Crimes Act of 1996 makes it a felony to commit grave violations of the Geneva Conventions. The Washington Post recently reported that the Bush administration is quietly circulating draft legislation to eliminate crucial parts of the War Crimes Act. Observers on The Hill say the Administration plans to slip it through Congress this fall while there still is a guaranteed Republican majority-perhaps as part of the military appropriations bill, the proposals for Guantánamo tribunals or a new catch-all "anti-terrorism" package. Why are they doing it, and how can they be stopped?

American prohibitions on abuse of prisoners go back to the Lieber Code promulgated by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The first international Geneva Convention dates from the following year.

After World War II, international law protecting prisoners of war and all noncombatants was codified in the Geneva Conventions. They were ratified by the US Senate and, under Article II of the Constitution, they thereby became the law of the land.

Wishing to rebuke the unpunished war crimes of dictators like Saddam Hussein, in 1996 a Republican-dominated Congress passed the War Crimes Act without a dissenting vote. It defined a "war crime" as any "grave breach" of the Geneva Conventions. It thereby advanced a global trend of mutual reinforcement between national and international law.

The War Crimes Act was little noticed until the disclosure of Alberto Gonzales's infamous 2002 "torture memo." Gonzales, then serving as presidential counsel, advised President Bush to declare that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to people the United States captured in Afghanistan. That, Gonzales wrote, "substantially reduced the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act."

Noting that the statute "prohibits the commission of a 'war crime' by or against a US person, including US officials," he warned that "it is difficult to predict the motives of prosecutors and independent counsels who may in the future decide to pursue unwarranted charges." The President's determination that the Geneva Conventions did not apply "would provide a solid defense to any future prosecution."

More.

**************************************

It's all so, so, what's that word I'm looking for? Oh, yeah. It's all so quaint.

IMPEACH THE BASTARDS. THEN LOCK THEM UP FOR LIFE.

Bush Declares Eco-Whistleblower Law Void for EPA Employees
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Monday 04 September 2006

Stealth repeal of Clean Water Act Protections by invoking "sovereign immunity."

The Bush administration has declared itself immune from whistleblower protections for federal workers under the Clean Water Act, according to legal documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As a result of an opinion issued by a unit within the Office of the Attorney General, federal workers will have little protection from official retaliation for reporting water pollution enforcement breakdowns, manipulations of science or cleanup failures.

Citing an "unpublished opinion of the [Attorney General's] Office of Legal Counsel," the Secretary of Labor's Administrative Review Board has ruled federal employees may no longer pursue whistleblower claims under the Clean Water Act. The opinion invoked the ancient doctrine of sovereign immunity which is based on the old English legal maxim that "The King Can Do No Wrong." It is an absolute defense to any legal action unless the "sovereign" consents to be sued.

The opinion and the ruling reverse nearly two decades of precedent. Approximately 170,000 federal employees working within environmental agencies are affected by the loss of whistleblower rights.

More.

***************************************

How's that for a Labor Day Present. Fuck Federal Employees and the nation's environment as a twofer.

IMPEACH THE BASTARDS. THEN LOCK THEM UP FOR LIFE.

Condi uses Civil War to slap Iraq critics

Secretary of State Rice compared the Iraq war with the American Civil War, telling a magazine that slavery might have lasted longer in this country if the North had decided to end the fight early.

"I'm sure there are people who thought it was a mistake to fight the Civil War to its end and to insist that the emancipation of slaves would hold," Rice said in the new issue of Essence magazine.

"I know there were people who said, 'Why don't we get out of this now, take a peace with the South, but leave the South with slaves?'" Rice said.

Rice also bristled at the notion that the Bush administration's slow response last year in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was because of the race of the majority of the victims.

"I resented the notion that the President of the United States, this President of the United States, would somehow decide to let people suffer because they were black," Rice told the magazine.

"I found that to be the most corrosive and outrageous claim that anybody could have made, and it was wholly and totally irresponsible."

Asked if she felt personally accountable, Rice said, "The government did its best. People aren't perfect, and this response was not perfect. You know, I do foreign policy, I don't run Homeland Security. I don't run FEMA. I do foreign policy." She added, "I did what I could to coordinate the international response."

**************************************

"I did what I could to coordinate the international response." "You know, like make sure the Cubans didn't send any doctors or supplies, and especially the Venezualens who could have provided fuel." "We can't have any of that." "No siree."

"I did what I could to coordinate the international response."

Like buy shoes.

Most frustrating about the WMD dabacle is the deafening silence on the disconnect between purported "faulty" intelligence and the "leaves no doubt, but can't reveal the details" Bush delivery of the message to not only the public, but to congress as well.

The underlying "intelligence" that supposedly convinced Tenet, Bush, Powell, Cheney et. al. has now been revealed to be nothing more than hearsay testimony from people with names like Curveball, photographic and technical evidence that was far from conclusive and subjective judgements from nameless analysts who had obvious motivation to lean toward the stated desired conclusions that Rumsfeld and Cheney had already arrived at about Iraq, long before 9/11.

It is the ultimate wink wink policy. Bush has acknowledged "mistakes were made" but lets his stated opinion that we had "darn good" intelligence stand, and even gave Tenet the Medal of Freedom for his silent complicity in the scam. Anyone working at any level in the intelligence community can take away the lesson that if you make either collosal errors that lead to false conclusions that agree with the administration or you secretly "fix" the intelligence around the policy, there are not only no punishments, but there are obvious rewards!

Did the Curveball handler, the Niger forgeries analyst, the aluminum tubes as centrifuges expert, the Chalabi associate contact agents get named and run out of their jobs for coming up with garbage? No, but the few agents who had the stones to speak out about mistakes being made or political agendas being imposed got cold shouldered.

The same MO is apparent as we speak with Iran and the Bushies are full speed ahead creating the twisted reality. By the time the truth catches up with the Iran threat being pedalled now, it won't matter, because it will be some maverick reporter fighting to disclose the slow to materialize real facts to a public that views it as yesterday's news.

Most frustrating about the WMD dabacle is the deafening silence on the disconnect between purported "faulty" intelligence and the "leaves no doubt, but can't reveal the details" Bush delivery of the message to not only the public, but to congress as well.

The underlying "intelligence" that supposedly convinced Tenet, Bush, Powell, Cheney et. al. has now been revealed to be nothing more than hearsay testimony from people with names like Curveball, photographic and technical evidence that was far from conclusive and subjective judgements from nameless analysts who had obvious motivation to lean toward the stated desired conclusions that Rumsfeld and Cheney had already arrived at about Iraq, long before 9/11.

It is the ultimate wink wink policy. Bush has acknowledged "mistakes were made" but lets his stated opinion that we had "darn good" intelligence stand, and even gave Tenet the Medal of Freedom for his silent complicity in the scam. Anyone working at any level in the intelligence community can take away the lesson that if you make either collosal errors that lead to false conclusions that agree with the administration or you secretly "fix" the intelligence around the policy, there are not only no punishments, but there are obvious rewards!

Did the Curveball handler, the Niger forgeries analyst, the aluminum tubes as centrifuges expert, the Chalabi associate contact agents get named and run out of their jobs for coming up with garbage? No, but the few agents who had the stones to speak out about mistakes being made or political agendas being imposed got cold shouldered.

The same MO is apparent as we speak with Iran and the Bushies are full speed ahead creating the twisted reality. By the time the truth catches up with the Iran threat being pedalled now, it won't matter, because it will be some maverick reporter fighting to disclose the slow to materialize real facts to a public that views it as yesterday's news.

Watch the MSM and conservative bloggers ignore this scoop. After all, Byron York may have to apologize for all his smears of Valerie Plame.

As usual, bush makes no fkn sense, while again he tries to pull the wool over American's eyes. He strikes fear with "al Qaeda" and "9/11", and yet everybody sees that he took us to Iraq instead of fighting the real war on terror.
Now, check out AOL's latest poll. His b/s isn't playing so well anymore.

Bush Defends National Security Record
White House Releases Anti-Terrorism Update

WASHINGTON (Sept. 5) -- President Bush used terrorists' own words Tuesday to battle complacency among Americans about the threat of future attack, defending his record as the fall campaign season kicks into high gear.
---
---
=============================
scroll down just a little and add to the poll...

Do you think the nation is safer now than it was before 9/11?
No 64%
Yes 30%
Not sure 6%
Total Votes: 6,058

Which party do you trust more on national security?
Democrats 67%
Republicans 33%
Total Votes: 5,918

Who is winning the war on terrorism?
The terrorists 71%
The United States 29%
Total Votes: 3,169

How concerned are you about terrorism?
Very 46%
Somewhat 37%
A little 11%
Not at all 6%
Total Votes: 3,306

American Soldiers and American Contractors

The ratio is five to one. For every five soldiers who are killed there is one contractor killed.

3,658 American soldiers and American contractors have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his lies.

Bush is his name and murder is his game!

Even if the signs indicated that bush and his boyfriends were plotting their War of Choice on Iraq for quite some time, I can understand how CIA-types might feel that the war came "suddenly."

The war hawks knew that the cover story (WMD) for their war was that close to being totally exposed so they did, indeed, "hastily" start the bombing and the invasion -- suddenly, they saw the handwriting on the wall that their flimsy, fabricated casus belli was unraveling rapidly.

It's a matter of semantics, I guess, but "suddenly" doesn't seem like an unreasonable choice of words to describe bush's hastily-commenced war.

Arianna will have a new section on her blog called Becoming Fearless it seems to offer interesting reads.

Now I'd direct your attention to bush's failure in Afghanistan with this article from the NYTimes. Here's more proof that misdirecting our attention to Iraq was a major mistake.

An Afghan Symbol for Change, Then Failure

Helmand’s descent symbolizes how Afghanistan has evolved since the initial victory over the Taliban into one of the most troubled fronts in the fight against terrorism.
=============================
I honestly don't know of one thing these neocons have done right, nothing! They know how to lie to get elected, and that's it. That and lying to STAY elected.

Rove is preparing Warmonger Bush's legacy and library. Warmonger Bush is preparing to take down the Clinton Library with a submarine missile. Will Warmonger Bush's library cost several billion dollars of taxpayer's money.

At Bill library, Bush sounds sub-versive

President Bush and top strategist Karl Rove (l.) took a trip to the Clinton Library to seek inspiration for W's own legacy-building.

President Bush once daydreamed about blasting Bill Clinton's presidential library to smithereens, according to a new book.

In "How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime," former Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal recounts a November 2004 visit by Bush and his political guru Karl Rove to the William J. Clinton Library in Little Rock, Ark., on the banks of the Arkansas River.

"Bush appeared distracted and glanced repeatedly at his watch," Blumenthal writes about a presidential tour during the library's dedication. "When he stopped to gaze at the river, where Secret Service agents were stationed in boats, the guide said: 'Usually, you might see some bass fishermen out there.' Bush replied: 'A submarine could take this place out.'"

The author muses: "Was the President warning of an Al Qaeda submarine, sneaking undetected up the Mississippi, through the locks and dams of the Arkansas River, surfacing under the bridge to the 21st century to dispatch the Clinton Library? Is that where Osama Bin Laden is hiding? Or was this a wishful paranoid fantasy of ubiquitous terrorism destroying Clinton's legacy with one blow?"

Blumenthal, who attributes his account to two anonymous eyewitnesses, adds that "Rove showed keen interest in everything he saw, and asked questions, including about costs, obviously thinking about a future George W. Bush library and legacy.

"'You're not such a scary guy,' joked his guide. 'Yes, I am,' Rove replied. Walking away, he muttered deliberately and loudly: 'I change constitutions, I put churches in schools.'"

Amen to that.

Merton and Gandhi

In commemoration, some 50 of us will gather this week for a retreat at a Hindu temple in Louisville, Kentucky, and then on to the Abbey of Gethsemani near Bardstown, where Thomas Merton lived the monastic life. We'll set off from Merton's hermitage Friday morning, Sept. 8, and make a 52-mile peace pilgrimage by foot to Louisville. Our destination: the downtown corner where Merton had his storied revelation, recorded in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. He wrote:

In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers.

It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.

In honor of both, Merton and Gandhi, we'll gather where Fourth and Walnut once stood, on the afternoon of Sept. 11, and profess a vow of nonviolence. We'll commit ourselves to the lifelong pilgrimage of Gospel nonviolence towards God's reign of peace.

What a difference? Rove, the smear agent for the government, and Bush, the butcher of Baghdad, versus Merton and Gandhi, lovers of people and non-violence!!!

So the rightwing spin that Fred Rustman said she was not is untrue? Then again - didn't Rustman leave the CIA in 1990? David - be careful. A troll named Patrick R. Sullivan will likely hammer you with all sorts of Byron York-like nonsense.

*a funny from a right-wing friend

Roswell Incident

Many will recall that on July 8, 1947, witnesses claim an unidentified object with five aliens aboard crashed on a sheep and cattle ranch just outside Roswell, New Mexico.

This is a well known incident that many say has long been covered up by the US Air Force and the federal government.

However, you may well NOT know that in the month of March 1948, exactly nine months after that historic day, Albert Arnold Gore, Jr.; Hillary Rodham; John F. Kerry; William Jefferson Clinton; Howard Dean; Nancy Pelosi; Dianne Feinstein; Charles E. Schumer; and Barbara Boxer were born.

That piece of information has now cleared up a lot of things.

Counterproliferation Division

what is that the anti-saddam's mushroom cloud dept?

America at War: Killiing People in Order to Free Them?

by Dave Lindorff

http://www.opednews.com

Here's a headline you won't see in your local paper:

"U.S. Accused of Using Cluster Weapons Against Civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan"

We all saw the headline about the State Department investigating Israel's use of US-made cluster weapons in Lebanon, because they had been dropping these deadly and indiscriminate munitions in civilian areas of southern Lebanon, with the prospect of killing large numbers of non-combatants including children. This allegedly violated restrictions placed by the U.S. on how the weapons could be used by the Israeli Defense Force.

It turns out, though, that there are no such restrictions on how these same munitions can be--and are being--used by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

According to a number of sources including military documents and reports from organizations like Human Rights Watch, the U.S., which has refused to sign an international treaty that outlaws cluster weapons, does not even restrict the use of cluster weapons in urban or populated areas. Army and Air force generals have blocked efforts to ban cluster weapons where there are large numbers of civilians present, claiming such a restriction would just lead enemy combatants to locate themselves among civilians.

Well, duh!

Their argument could pretty much be used to oppose restrictions on any kind of weapon in civilian areas. And guess what? That pretty much is the way the U.S. wages war: The hell with civilians! If they happen to be in the way when we drop our bombs, so much the worse for them.

In fact, back in early 2003, when the Australian government agreed to send some troops to join Bush's "Coalition of the Willing" in Iraq, it first had first to assure the troops and the people of Australia that Australian soldiers would not participate in American actions that involved the laying of mines or the use of cluster weapons.

Shock and Awe, the initial aerial bombardment of Baghdad and other cities of Iraq at the start of the U.S. invasion, reportedly led to tens of thousands of civilian casualties, and one reason was the heavy and indiscriminate use of cluster weapons, which disperse hundreds of little fragmentation bombs over a wide area, many of which explode when a person disturbs them. The Christian Science Monitor, which investigated civilian deaths in the first year of the Iraq War, found that the U.S. was killing Iraqi civilians at the astonishing rate of 30 for every enemy fighter. That's a civilian slaughter that would have made even Hitler's SS envious. One reason for this high "collateral damage" kill rate was almost certainly the use of cluster weapons, some of which spread hundreds of their little bomblets over a 20-acre area, with between 5-30 percent of these secondary weapons failing to explode on impact.

There are a number of reports suggesting that the U.S. used cluster weapons extensively later on in carpet bombings that preceded assaults on Al-Qiam, Ramadi, Tal Afar and of course Fallujah, all cities where the civilian casualties were horrific.

So where is the outcry against this criminal U.S. use of cluster weapons? Most Americans don't even know about it. The media have largely blacked the story out. The Pentagon won't talk about it. When Agence France Presse back in April 2003 ran photos of US cluster weapons stockpiled for use in Iraq, no major media outlet in the US picked them up. The only report on cluster weapons at the time in Amnerica came from CNN reporter Peter Arnett. But of course, the Iraqis and the Afghanis know all about it.

It seems particularly inappropriate for the U.S. to be using such munitions in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, where we are supposedly there to help the people of the country against alleged "terrorist" forces within their borders. Killing the people of the country you are "helping" would seem to be operating at cross-purposes. But it does explain why every time there is some "mistake" reported, where the U.S. bombs a wedding or an innocent town square, the death toll is so astoundingly high.

It also helps explain why the resistance forces in both countries seem to keep getting stronger, even as we keep killing them at a prodigious rate. Cluster weapons, besides killing lots of civilians, also inevitably make lots of enemies.

http://www.thiscantbehappening.net

IF Plame was `covert' as David discloses, then why did this little "fact" did NOT surface earlier?

Posted by: Happy post-Labor Day at September 5, 2006 02:31 PM

You cannot be serious.

The issue of Plame's status at the agency has been debated by the dissemblers in BushCo and right wing media outlets as well as left wing journalists AND by people on this blog for years.

BushCo, Byron York, LBH, Factchcker, ETC and everyone else on the right has said for YEARS now that Plame was not covert. People on the left reported and argued that her status was CLASSIFIED and that she was under non-official cover (NOC), also known as undercover or covert agent.

It amazes me that you challenge the fact David reports in today's thread as being incredible because no one asserted it before now. What's wrong with you?

September 4, 2006 at 11:19:42

George W. Bush's lies cost lives

by Kirk Muse

http://www.opednews.com

Guest Column: George W. Bush's lies cost lives

By Kirk Muse Back

Just over 10 years ago, Adm. Jeremy Michael Boorda, then the Chief of
Naval Operations and our nation's highest-ranking naval officer, died of
an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He began his career in the
Navy as a seaman recruit and was the only enlisted man in the history of
the U.S. Navy to work his way through the ranks to become the Chief of
Naval Operations.

Mike, as he was known to his close friends, committed suicide because a
reporter for Newsweek magazine accused the Admiral of wearing a valor
award that he had not earned on the battlefield.

Admiral Boorda, along with every other U.S. military officer, was taught
the code of conduct that says, "I will not lie, cheat or steal nor
tolerate anyone who does."

Obviously, Adm. Boorda lived by this code. Obviously, Adm. Boorda lived
and died by another code: Death before dishonor.

Yet, what Boorda was accused of doing, wearing a valor award that was
not earned on the battlefield, is a very trivial, picayune matter
compared with what President George W. Bush has done.

Nobody died because Adm. Boorda may have worn some ribbon that he was
not entitled to wear. On the other hand, thousands of American soldiers
have died because of the lies of George W. Bush. Thousands of innocent
Iraqi civilians, perhaps more than 100,000 innocent civilians, including
women, children and even babies, have died because of the lies of George
W. Bush.

Because of the lies of George W. Bush and his administration, we have
lost the respect of the world community.

George W. Bush seems to take no personal responsibility for any of his
actions. Psychopathic personalities assume no personal responsibility
for any of their actions; they blame others instead.

I suggest the readers do a Google search for: "Bush and psychopath." Or
go to this Web site: www.portland.indymedia.org/en/2001/10/4188.shtml

I highly recommend the book Bush on the Couch by Justin Frank, M.D., a
clinical professor of psychiatry at George Washington University Medical
Center. If you don't have the time to read this outstanding book, a
Google search for Bush on the Couch will produce several reviews and
brief summaries of this outstanding book.

America's grandmother, Barbara Bush, the mother of George W. Bush, is
also the woman who did not attend the funeral of her own mother, nor the
funeral of her then 3-year-old daughter Robin, who died of leukemia.

The day after Robin Bush died of leukemia at the age of 3, George H. W.
Bush and Barbara Bush played a round of golf. There was no funeral for
Robin Bush, and she was buried in New York-not transported back to
Texas, where the Bushes lived at the time.

Then-7-year-old George W. Bush didn't even know that his sister was sick
until after she had died. George W. was not allowed to grieve for his
sister. Those who cannot grieve cannot feel compassion. The compassion
that George W. Bush pretends to feel and show seems rehearsed and acted.

The only true friend George W. Bush appears to have is Karl Rove. Karl
Rove experienced a very similar childhood background emotionally. The
person Karl Rove called his father turned out not to be his father. And
his mother committed suicide.

This is the type of background that you would expect of a serial killer,
serial rapist or mass murderer. And this is the background of our
President and his closest adviser.

America: We have a problem.

24 A good example of how BushCo's media operation and lack of ethics regarding honesty can create great confusion among a less than nimble populace.

Nope, the US never uses cluster munitions prior to a ground assault. Can't have our boys walking over their own mines can we? After wards to deny access to the territory that little GI Joe has walked over and then abandoned is quite possible, it is just that we don't have too many of them bullet stoppers to waste with submunitions.

People on the left reported and argued that her status was CLASSIFIED and that she was under non-official cover (NOC), also known as undercover or covert agent.

This is true, but it wasn't just "people on the left," either. Larry Johnson, a counter-terrorism expert formerly of the CIA and State Department, came to Plame's defense early in the game and scoffed at claims that she wasn't a NOC agent.

This whole wingnut charade of pretending that Joe Wilson is some kind of rabid lefty is asinine. The man is a center-right realist diplomat. He and his wife were attacked because he realized the lunatics had taken over the asylum and he said so, no more, no less.

By the way, Johnson has his own blog, No Quarter.

Just Peace by Mattie Stepanek, February, 1998

If I could change
One thing in this world,
It would be war.
Instead of war - peace.
But I especially don't want
World War Three,
Because we would
Blow up the earth.
If I could change
One thing in this world
We would have no weapons.
No knives or swords.
No guns or bombs.
Just peace.
Just peace.

DAVID CORN's piece in The Nation -- What Valerie Plame Really Did at the CIA -- is at truthout.org

Every bit of publicity can boost book sales...

Be amazed, Cornuts! Gas prices can actually GO DOWN despite those evil oil companies that control but a pittance of the global oil supply! Ain't it something! Those waiting to buy oil stocks, be alert for my `Buy' signal!

U.S. Retail Gas Prices Hit 5-Month Low
Tuesday, September 05, 2006

WASHINGTON, Calif. - U.S. retail gasoline prices hit a five-month low, with the cost at the pump falling 11.8 cents over the last week to an average $2.73 a gallon, the government said on Tuesday.

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline is down 34 cents from a year ago, according to the federal Energy Information Administration 's weekly survey of 800 service stations

In TomDispatch today, Tom suggests changing the name from 'Republicans' to 'Republicants'. His guests details some public health reasons why...

Isn't it great that Ahmadinejad did NOT call for a purge of non-Muslims, non-Persians, Gays, Lesbians, the old, and the handicapped Teachers? Furthermore, this terrorist didn't say "Convert to Islam or Die"!

Iran's Ahmadinejad Calls for Purge of Liberal Teachers
Tuesday, September 05, 2006

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Tuesday for a purge of liberal and secular teachers from the country's universities, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported in another step back to 1980s-style radicalism.

"Today, students should shout at the president and ask why liberal and secular university lecturers are present in the universities," the agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a meeting with a group of students.

Ahmadinejad complained that changes in the country's universities were difficult to accomplish, but said, "The job for such a change has begun."

David Corn has Valerie working out of the Athens embassy where every foreign intelligence service would assume she was CIA. THEN LATER, she becomes a deep cover NOC!

No wonder the CIA never gets anything right; they do things backwards. Such as letting Valerie rise to head the Iraq secret operations group where she'd know all the plans, and then letting her travel to Jordan (as a Brewster-Jennings energy analyst?) where she would be vulnerable to being captured by hostiles. Tortured, drugged, made to reveal everything she knows.

Sure, David.

Yes, Patrick, it is actually the AIC, which stand for...

'Come the spring of 2001, she was in the CPD's modest Iraq branch. But that summer--before 9/11--word came down from the brass: We're ramping up on Iraq. Her unit was expanded and renamed the Joint Task Force on Iraq. Within months of 9/11, the JTFI grew to fifty or so employees. Valerie Wilson was placed in charge of its operations group.'

The above would seem to contradict Joe Wilson's claim that Valerie had nothing to do with his being sent to Niger. If she headed the group, wouldn't she be the one to authorize such a mission.

IF Plame was `covert' as David discloses, then why did this little "fact" did NOT surface earlier?
Posted by: Happy post-Labor Day at September 5, 2006

IF Plame was covert? You cannot be serious. It amazes me you challenge the fact David reports today as being incredible because no one asserted it before now. What's wrong with you?
Posted by: O'Reilly at September 5, 2006 04:40 PM

it wasn't just "people on the left," either. Larry Johnson, a counter-terrorism expert formerly of the CIA and State Department, came to Plame's defense early in the game and scoffed at claims that she wasn't a NOC agent. This whole wingnut charade of pretending that Joe Wilson is some kind of rabid lefty is asinine. The man is a center-right realist diplomat. He and his wife were attacked because he realized the lunatics had taken over the asylum and he said so, no more, no less.
Posted by: Don at September 5, 2006 05:17 PM

We'll wait Happy. We'll wait for your considered response.

Somehow I knew many weeks ago that V. Plame was NOC. Also other details of her career. Don't remember where I read it, but it was somewhere that publishes credible stuff...

Wow! Tough crowd. Hard to believe even one of them can read, much less construct a coherent sentence! What is it about these Christian Supremacist, Neofascist, right-wing war criminals that allows them to discount only the facts, and to cleave only to the spin and the lies? What is it? Perhaps they smell the slow erosion of personal freedoms and the corporate takeover of government as a fresh opportunity to make money, and no number of intellectuals, social progressives, gays, women, or Special Prosecutors are going to get in their way. These people live and breath the 14 pillars of NeoFascism: a powerful and continuing nationalism, disdain for the recognition of human rights, identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause, supremacy of the military, rampant sexism, controlled mass media, obsession with national security, religion and government intertwined, corporate power protected, labor power suppressed, disdain for intellectuals and the arts, obsession with crime and punishment, rampant cronyism and corruption, and fraudulent elections. These are the "traditional family values" that the Buscists and their ilk would live by. And these are the same values that buoyed Hitler, and Mussolini and Marcos and Suharto in their rise to absolute power. Don't worry about the terrorists; the real enemy are the NeoFascists like Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith, Hadley, Rove and, yes, Bush (who like to be called NeoConservatives) and the police state that they're fashioning out of the good ol' US of A. Good night, and Good luck.
PS. sorry about the rant. It's just that the odor from Washington, DC is getting so disgusting and nauseating that a person with even a smattering of conscience gets madder and madder.

Another Scoop from 'Hubris':
Plame Was Working on WMD
By E&P Staff

Published: September 05, 2006 2:25 PM ET

NEW YORK Two weeks ago it was an excerpt from the just-published book "Hubris" in Newsweek that outed Richard Armitrage as the key source for columnist Robert Novak in the Plame/CIA leak case. Now another scoop from the book, this time at the Web site for The Nation magazine, posted this afternoon, unravels the surprising mystery of exactly what Valerie Plame Wilson was working on at the CIA before she was outed by Novak.

By revealing her identity, Armitage, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby harmed her career and put vital intelligence at risk, suggests co-author David Corn of The Nation. The book is also written by Newsweek's Michael Isikoff.

Here is how Corn describes the latest revelation in an e-mail:

"She was operations chief of the Joint Task Force on Iraq, a unit of the Counterproliferation Division of the clandestine Directorate of Operations. For the two years prior to her outing, Valerie Wilson worked to gather intelligence that would support the Bush White House's assertion that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was loaded with WMDs.

"This means that Armitage--as well as Karl Rove and Scooter Libby--leaked classified information about a CIA officer whose job it had been to look for evidence of Saddam's WMD programs. During this part of her career, Valerie Wilson traveled overseas to monitor operations she and her staff at JTFI were mounting. She was no analyst, no desk-jockey, no paper-pusher. She was in charge of running critical covert operations.

"Some Bush-backers have dismissed the CIA/Plame leak as unimportant and claimed that Valerie Wilson was an analyst and not truly an undercover CIA officer. In an October 1, 2003 column, Novak reported she was 'an analyst, not in covert operations.'

"'Hubris' and The Nation article, citing CIA sources, disclose that she was in covert operations and that--ironically--she had spent two years trying to find proof of the administration's claims that Iraq posed a WMD threat. She and the Joint Task Force on Iraq, of course, came up empty-handed. 'Hubris' and The Nation piece also report new revelations that undermine the charge that Valerie Wilson sent her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, on his trip to Niger."

In the article, Corn writes, concerning that latter point: "In an interview with the authors, Douglas Rohn, a State Department officer who wrote a crucial memo related to the trip, acknowledges he may have inadvertently created a misimpression that her involvement was more significant than it had been."

The Nation site is at www.thenation.com.

(link)

Isikoff Continues His Lies, This Time In League With David Corn
PipelineNews.Org
no byline

August 31, 2006 - anyone at this point in time thinks that Michael Isikoff is anything but a pathological liar and a hack is beyond us, but his latest attempt to resuscitate what's left of his image certainly will fail, that is if we can assume his latest piece in Newsweek accurately represents his and David Corns' new book which we are not going to plug here.

Since giving Isikoff any more than a rudimentary amount of ink offends our sensibilities, let's just concentrate on one small point by way of unraveling Isikoff's latest fantasy in his most recent installment, "The Man Who Said Too Much, " where Isikoff continues the ruse that Plame was covert [not to mention the ever more ridiculous appearing assertion that "officials at the White House also told reporters about Wilson's wife in an effort to discredit Wilson.." when it has been determined by the Senate Intelligence Committe that Wilson lied - something Isikoff will not touch - and as a result it was incumbent upon the adminstration to present the factual basis for Wilson's otherwise inexplicable trip to Niger].

"...Armitage himself was aggressively investigated by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, but was never charged. Fitzgerald found no evidence that Armitage knew of Plame's covert CIA status when he talked to Novak and Woodward..."
No Mike, Joe the Liar's wife Valerie Plame was not covert and you know it, had that been the case, Armitage and everyone else suspected of "outing" Plame would have been prosecuted under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.

Of course that didn't happen, even at the hands of the left's favorite overzealous prosecutor.

In a Feb 13 piece in Newsweek you went to the extraordinary length of attempting to establish that case, but of course failed miserably because that fable is untrue.

"But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done "covert work overseas" on counterproliferation matters in the past five years, and the CIA "was making specific efforts to conceal" her identity, according to newly released portions of a judge's opinion. (A CIA spokesman at the time is quoted as saying Plame was "unlikely" to take further trips overseas, though.)
On July 15 AP reported:

"Wilson acknowledged his wife was no longer in an undercover job at the time Novak's column first identified her. "My wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity," he said."
AP's source for this information is none other than the - usually lying lips of Joe Wilson - in this case as broadcast by the liberal's news source of choice, CNN:

"In an interview on CNN yesterday before the latest revelation, Wilson acknowledged his wife was no longer in an undercover job at the time Novak's column first identified her. "My wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity," he said." - July 15, 2005, Seattle Times, "Report Says Rove Got Name Of Agent from Journalist"
Isikoff is a reprehensible liar, he has used the Plame affair to tar the administration from the inception of the case.

In a piece he authored for the April 17, 2006 edition of Newsweek, "Leaker in Chief" he defames both Libby and his boss, Mr. Bush mischaracterizing the administrations legitimate right to factually correct the record while suggesting that because Libby was doing Mr. Bush's bidding in this matter that the assumption that he leaked Plame's identity to Bob Novak was not out of character. Of course Mr. Isikoff never told his readers that the President of the United States has the authority to declassify documents, hence airing a portion of this "intelligence document" is eminently legal and defensible.

"According to a filing from the prosecutor in the Valerie Plame leak investigation, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, who has been indicted for lying in the case, told a grand jury that President Bush specifically authorized him to leak from an intelligence document on WMD in Iraq..."
Since books a plenty are coming out of DC these days we are not going to write one here, regardless it's important to note that Isikoff is emblematic of the MSM, he is a partisan hatchet man who pretty much used up what remained of his rep with his infamous Koran-flusher expose, which inflamed the easily inflammable, stuck in the 7th century Muslim fanatics to the point of getting people killed, not to mention materially harming the United States during war time.

Isikoff is a character assassin who uses innuendo, half-truths, mischaracterizations and outright falsehoods to pillory people he disagrees with politically. He has consistently been wrong on the so-called Plame affair and now is trying to convince whomever will still listen to him that he is relevant.

Isikoff is the face of today's journalism, that he continues to represent Newsweek says much about both, none of it very flattering.

?1999-2006 PipeLineNews.org, all rights reserved.

(link)

The Plamegate Hall of Shame
Yahoo! News - 1 hour ago
... Wilson's harrumphing, bought the line that the White House "leaked" Plame's name to ... doing so violated a federal law against unmasking a covert operative." The ...

The Plame Blame Game's Real Culprits
CBS News, New York - 4 hours ago
... Wilson's harrumphing, bought the line that the White House "leaked" Plame's name to ... doing so violated a federal law against unmasking a covert operative." The ...

(links)

What Valerie Plame Really Did at the CIA
The Nation., NY - 6 hours ago
... Valerie Plame was recruited into the CIA in 1985, straight out of Pennsylvania State University. After two years of training to be a covert case officer, she ...

(link)

Should We Appoint A Special Prosecutor? Never Again
The Conservative Voice, NC - Sep 4, 2006
... now everyone remotely connected with the investigation knew who outed Valerie Plame, if in fact she was outed. Thereís no evidence she was a covert agent of ...

------
Well, at least not until there's a Democrat in the Oval Office or (s)he lies about sex. Seriosly, Clinton was impeached for lying about sex, felatio to be specific.

Most recent news coverage of HUBRIS (link)

PRS: If she headed the group, wouldn't she be the one to authorize such a mission.

File that one under Wildly Desperate Speculation.

I will give you wrong-wingers credit for persistence, but it just gets really tiresome after a while.

Face it: On everything from Iraq to Katrina to trickle-down "economics," you were wrong and have always been wrong. You bet big on Snakeoil at Pimlico and you lost your shirt. Do the right thing and admit it. All these gassy protestations just make you look even sillier.

It's going to be fun watching the spin cycle as revelations from the book about the run-up to the war in Iraq hit the news.

...meanwhile as bush ratchets up another snake-oil tour, Pakistan surprises the bejeezes out of the WH...

By Haji Mujtaba

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Pro-Taliban militants and the Pakistani government reached a peace deal on Tuesday under which the militants agreed to stop attacks in both Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan, negotiators said.

Hundreds of Pakistani troops and militants have been killed in the Waziristan region as the government has attempted to push its authority into semi-autonomous tribal lands on the Afghan border as part of efforts in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

"The agreement will pave the way for permanent peace in the region," said Malik Shahzada, a member of a tribal council that has been overseeing the negotiations with the rebels.

The agreement was signed on a dusty football ground at a college in Miranshah, the main town of the North Waziristan region.

Scores of members of the tribal council, most in turbans and with long beards, watched as a Pakistani army commander, Major General Azhar Ali Shah, embraced representatives of the militants after the pact was signed.

Many members of the al Qaeda network and the Taliban fled to Waziristan after U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in Afghanistan in late 2001.

President Pervez Musharraf, who is due to visit Afghanistan soon, has said no group could use Pakistan as a springboard to launch attacks on other countries. He has also vowed to clear foreign militants from the Pakistani side of the border.

But Tuesday's agreement said foreigners could stay in Waziristan, as long as they kept the peace.

According to a copy of the agreement obtained by Reuters, the militants agreed that all foreigners would have to leave but those unable to do so would have to respect the peace deal.

Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding out somewhere along the Afghan-Pakistani border but security analysts doubt he is in Waziristan, given the security forces' focus on the area.

Several of bin Laden's Arab lieutenants have been killed in North Waziristan and U.S. drone aircraft have carried out missile strikes on al Qaeda targets from across the border in Afghanistan.

Security officials say some central Asian militants are also in the area.

Republican Campaign Strategy Revisited:

MUSHROOM CLOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yet another 9/11 hijack 'suspect' is alive and well

good thing that we attacked afghanistan in retaliation for 9/11 thus increasing the opium production to record levels!

"This means that Armitage--as well as Karl Rove and Scooter Libby--leaked classified information about a CIA officer whose job it had been to look for evidence of Saddam's WMD programs. During this part of her career, Valerie Wilson traveled overseas to monitor operations she and her staff at JTFI were mounting. She was no analyst, no desk-jockey, no paper-pusher. She was in charge of running critical covert operations."-DAVID CORN

A couple of questions for the Corn-nutters:
1-If she was running covert operations, why would she allow her husband to write and OP-ED about the things that were directy involeved with what she was working on?
2-If in her professional capasity she found out that, "There was no intelligence to find on Saddam's WMDs because the weapons did not exist."
why would she allow her husband to speak openly about what she had to go "undercover" for.
3-Why did all of these DEMOCRATS lie to the American people about Saddam and his WMD programs in 1998?!

"As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." -- Nancy Pelosi, December 16, 1998
"Iraq is not the only nation in the world to possess weapons of mass destruction, but it is the only nation with a leader who has used them against his own people." -- Tom Daschle in 1998
"The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998

"(Saddam) will rebuild his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and some day, some way, I am certain he will use that arsenal again, as he has 10 times since 1983" -- National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Feb 18, 1998
"Saddam's goal ... is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed." -- Madeline Albright, 1998
CORN-NUTTERS CANT STAND THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!

A couple years ago I proposed to a few on-line authors an alternative to the task of trying to find out who exposed Plame. Eventually we would find the culprit(s), I suggested, and they would pay a price. People talk, you know.

I also suggested that the usual suspects (Rove, Libby, Cheney) were not stupid, that they would not casually flirt with possible federal prosecution by exposing a CIA operative.

UNLESS there was information held by Plame considered by the Bush Gang to be potentially so damaging that the risk was worth it.

Now we know, thank you Mr. Corn and Mr. Isikoff, what that information was: no WMDs. It was worth the risk to expose her in an effort to protect that information. Expose her, discredit both Wilsons to plant the seeds of doubt, and keep the secret. Knowing that the Wilsons could not disclose her CIA involvement and that the fear of further exposures would keep her fellow agents silent, the Gang probably thought they had, to use a term familiar to them, a slam dunk.

Excellent, critical work, Mr. Corn and Mr. Isikoff. Thank you, again.

53-"no WMDs"

If there were not WMD's did all of the DEMOCRATS-Nancy Pelosi, Tom Daschle, Bill Clinton,Sandy Berger, Madeline Albright lie in 1998?

"As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." -- Nancy Pelosi, December 16, 1998

"Iraq is not the only nation in the world to possess weapons of mass destruction, but it is the only nation with a leader who has used them against his own people." -- Tom Daschle in 1998

"The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998

"(Saddam) will rebuild his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and some day, some way, I am certain he will use that arsenal again, as he has 10 times since 1983" -- National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Feb 18, 1998

"Saddam's goal ... is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed." -- Madeline Albright, 1998

38

We'll wait Happy. We'll wait for your considered response.

Posted by: O'Reilly at September 5, 2006 07:20 PM
===============================================
Ms. Plame's `Covertness', or lack of, is a paler version of the arguments over whether Saddam had WMD. The Left insists no WMD in Iraq despite actual physical WMDs found (since 2003). The Right, at the very, very least, is correct in Ms. Plame's not being Covert at the time of Novak's article. The undeniable fact, like Saddam's having WMD (old they maybe), is that no indictment came out of almost 3 years of pussyfooting by Fitz.

For the hell of it, let's suppose Ms. Plame was officially and continuously `Covert', and such status is a life-and-death issue. What does that say about Joe Wilson very Overtly mouthing off in a NYT Op-Ed? Either the most devious or the most insanely stupid person our our time!

While I am at, can anyone argue the also the indisputable fact that for almost 5 years (knock on wood), there has been no attacks in the USA; yet somehow, the Left insists we are no safer! Sorry, your position on `Less Safe', don't compute!

55
minor clarification: The undeniable fact, like Saddam's having WMD (old they maybe), is that no indictment for `outing' Ms. Plame came out of almost 3 years of pussyfooting by Fitz.

The earth is flat, Val Plame was not a covert agent in the CIA, Joe Wilson lied, and da Nile is only a river in Egypt.

Posted by: Tre Beloc at September 5, 2006 09:48 PM

Tre. Call your mother.

"As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." -- Nancy Pelosi, December 16, 1998

"Iraq is not the only nation in the world to possess weapons of mass destruction, but it is the only nation with a leader who has used them against his own people." -- Tom Daschle in 1998

"The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998

"(Saddam) will rebuild his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and some day, some way, I am certain he will use that arsenal again, as he has 10 times since 1983" -- National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Feb 18, 1998

"Saddam's goal ... is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed." -- Madeline Albright, 1998

Good to see that you are still an ignorat coward Happy!

Ignorance is a CORN-HOLE named Happy, and that is a whole lot of Bliss!

You can slander my mother as much as you want but, i bet you wouldnt say it to my face, the internet was made for cowards like you,BE-ITCH!

The Right, at the very, very least, is correct in Ms. Plame's not being Covert at the time of Novak's article.

Posted by: Happy to be Right at September 5, 2006 10:41 PM

Huh? Please site a source, any source and try to square it with what David Corn reported.

You cannot wrap your brain around the fact that you've been misled by your president, George Bush, the RNC apparatus and the conservative media.

And know, you choose to be misled. There's a name for people who choose to believe what is not true rather than face overwhelming facts to the contrary. Delusional.

I don't think you're delusional. I think you're happily ignorant.

53
.....
UNLESS there was information held by Plame considered by the Bush Gang to be potentially so damaging that the risk was worth it.

Now we know, thank you Mr. Corn and Mr. Isikoff, what that information was: no WMDs. It was worth the risk to expose her in an effort to protect that information. Expose her, discredit both Wilsons to plant the seeds of doubt, and keep the secret. Knowing that the Wilsons could not disclose her CIA involvement and that the fear of further exposures would keep her fellow agents silent, the Gang probably thought they had, to use a term familiar to them, a slam dunk.

Posted by: Bob at September 5, 2006 10:28 PM
==============================================
Bob, I'm so sorry that your logic left you sometime ago! Yep, `exposing' Ms. Plame will keep the Wilsons' `Quiet'! Way to go with critical thinking! Or, maybe you just forgot about Joe's rather LOUD Op-Ed piece that started this Made-in-the-CIA-Gate .....

i bet you wouldnt say it to my face

Posted by: Tre Beloc at September 5, 2006 10:53 PM

Tre. Call your mother.

As the most spoofed name on the Corn blog this year, I'll share some thoughts on this phenomenon. At first, it did annoy/bother me, as Regular posters know. Guess what? I've `grown' and adapted; life traits I've been blessed with to have achieved above-average success in all life endeavors.

Spoofing IS an interesting & complicated blog phenomenon! I believe it reveals/represents many personal/psychological traits of the spoofer; none are positive.

What kind of person would resort to this subterfuge and repress/hide-from his own identity? Is this type of a person you would look up to or want on your team for serious above-board work?
(I know who the the current dimwit Happy is, he misspelled the same words in his original identity...but I'll keep this to myself for now.)

Isn't spoofing a rather crude attempt to Discredit your opposition whose superior arguments have bloodied the spoofer's original handle? (Hint: Who has been `beaten up' by me recently?)

Isn't spoofing also meant to confuse the casual audiences in order to further the spoofer's agenda?

Isn't the spoofer's threshold for fun rather low-class and juvenile?

Boiled down, spoofing is just one of the Dirty Tricks such spoofer has picked up, latched on and almost certainly, used such Dirty tactics over and over in his personal & business life? If such spoofer had the big-name diplomas, he would be the Jeff Skillings and Andrew Fastows of the world.

To the Cornuts: I suspect many of you, like me, know who the spoofer is....since among you, you exchange off-blog emails, photos, visit each other, etc...Your silence, other than Panty's warning, tells me, my fellow Conservative posters and regular Readers, all we need to know about the hypocrisies of the Extreme Left.

Some may not believe me, but I'm amused to see my spoofed self acting like a jackass and at times, like my 21-yr old son who has been in liberal Austin, TX too long! The only folks I hope will not confuse me w/my spoofers, are my fellow Conservative posters and Mr. Corn himself! I'm a Conservative and I DON'T FLIP-FLOP!

64- don't think you're delusional. I think you're happily ignorant

That is a funny line comming from you,Nappy!
I think you are DELUSIONAL and HAPPILY IGNORANT, NAPPY!

Bob, it's a interesting theory. You have to wonder why they'd do it.

I hope David's book reports on the motives of Libby and Rove, and maybe Armitage too.

What were they doing calling calling six reporters and trying to discredit Joe Wilson for his op-ed, which called into question war rationale, and discolosing CLASSIFIFIED information by identifying a COVERT CIA NOC, Valerie Plame? These things don't happen by accident. There was a motive.

Maybe HUBRIS offers some insight.

Well,
Well,
Well,
All this information is a kick in the rear for the Bush administration.
So what's happening in the upper mississippi valley? Gas prices are down and expected to go down further. Bush is telling us that we are safer now than before.

I predict that gas prices will go up to about 4 dollars a gallon after the election. I suspect businesses as well as the average person just said we're done. The oil companies can go to hell.

Bush needs to tell New Orleans that we are safer. Bush couldn't protect the nation from a drizzle. He needs to tell the cities where crime is up because the poverty rates are up that it is safer. Bush needs to tell the soldier in Iraq and the mothers of Iraq that we are safer.
Bush needs to tell the unemployed and underemployed and those without insurance that they are safer. There is nothing safe about bankruptcy or medical catastrophe.

66-Thanks for the reminderI already did, NAPPY. She told me to tell you hello.

The fact remains that you have no answer for what the DEMOCRATS had to say in 1998. Funny how after the 2000 elections all of the WMD's disappeared and then an investigation was needed to see if Hussen had WMD's

67 Can't you come up with a new diatribe about spoof posting Happy 1? You posted that exact post before.

George Bush was against leaks until he authorized them.

69-What were they doing calling calling six reporters and trying to discredit Joe Wilson for his op-ed,

I think it was the reporters calling the White House not the other way around.

Hope all of the CORN-NUTTERS hide all of the knives when "Path to 9/11" comes on next week.

So Valerie Plame and her group were trying to find WMDs, probably, maybe, risking their life to do it and finding none. The Bush administration exposed her and put her life at risk. Still was no WMDs. They started a war in Iraq anyway and risked soldiers lives for what?

All for what?

How can anyone justify these actions?

# 70 Jeanne, I think the American people are getting pretty damned tired of the bushevik scare tactics and are pissed that bush has paid no attention to issues that have an effect on their everyday lives.

Safety? The chance of losing their lives from a terrorist attack is pretty remote. But, the chances of losing their "livelihood" are a clear and present danger under the bush regime.

bush's scare tactics have worn thin, down to a nub. General Rove must have a BIG ONE in mind.

There was less than a 1% chance Saddam had a nuclear weapon. There was a 0% chance Saddam could deliver it to the USA. Why then did the US initiate an aggressive war against Iraq, when even under Cheney's new policy, the 1% solution, the criteria was not met?

The president's approval rating is the same percentage as the percentage of people that do not believe we went to war on false pretenses.

Jeanne,

What do you have to say about #58 - #62?

Any expination for those quotes?

The busheviks are having "planning" stratergy meetings on "determining the right balance of scare tactics" -- they say, "we want to keep the American people scared, but we don't want to scare them so much that they think we're not doing enough to keep them safe."

Kitchen tables issues? Fergitaboutit!

I think it was the reporters calling the White House not the other way around.

Posted by: Tre Beloc at September 5, 2006 11:19 PM

Who initited the phone call is immaterial. Who raised the subject and offered the classified information (about a covert CIA employee who states was a NOC) is what counts. Libby told Judy Miller. Rove told Matt Cooper and confirmed it when Bob Novak called and asked for confirmation.

Tre, your Mom called her. I told her I'm too tired tonight. She said she hasn't heard from you.

"A couple of questions for the Corn-nutters:"

Tre Beloc-

A couple is two, not three. Your questions about Ms. Plame-Wilson's control of her hasband are totally pointless and inconsequential.

Mr Wilson did what he did - he cast doubt on Bush's integrity while selling the war. You do realize Bush admitted that the Niger claim should NOT have made it into the SOTU speech don't you? What does it matter if your spin on what Ms Plame-Wilson would have "allowed" him to do seems even totally illogical, it's a plain fact he did it right? It was in the New York Times.

His wife was what she was -- an under cover CIA employee whose status as such was classified. You do realize that her status as a CIA operative was classified, don't you?

Your third question is a ridiculous excursion into the past. Let's for a moment assume all of your quotes were absolutely meant exactly as you wish them to be percieved -- They are quotes from people whose opinions you have absolutely no regard for right?

Why do you need the thoughts and ideas of people you think are unworthy of governing to bolster your argument? What if Bush the first told you the reason he broke his "read my lips" pledge to not raise taxes was because Carter agreed with him? Would that alone have made him right to raise taxes in your eyes? If not then you would have no reason to think Democrat's agreement with Bush's Iraq assesment alone would make it a "good" asessment. Can you give us just one fact aside from some random Democrats corroboration that made you believe Bush's Iraq WMD assesment was sound at some point before it was proven totally baseless?

A policy takes on orders of magnitude more importance when a leader acts on it by putting US armed forces in harms way, wouldn't you agree? Your man is the one that ultimately pulled the trigger, can't you defend that decision based on actual facts and results rather than old Democrat quotes that you yourself know had no actual sway in the Republican Comander in Chief's decision?

BTW, are you going through some kind of self doubt anxiety period? Lurking on the message boards of people you disagree with politically and quoting their own parties leaders back to us in some kind of "gotcha" game seems a bit desperate. Get into a program.

Another fatal day

The real reason of the increasing violence in the Middle East is the return to imperial control and foreign occupation half a century after the European colonial empires were broken up. This is the fuel for Islamic militancy. This is why fanatical but isolated Islamic groups can suddenly win broader support. Governments allied to the US and Britain have no legitimacy. The attempts by America and Britain to crush Islamic militancy across the Middle East are making sure it will become stronger.

#58-62

Yup. They said those things (even though some of those quotes are taken out of context). Then they did what was necessary to try to ensure the worst scenario didn't happen -- with no assistance from the Repugs in Congress, who thwarted Clinton at every opportunity.

Thank goodness that in 1998 they were cognizant of what Saddam would like to have accomplished -- at least on Clinton's watch they were not asleep at the wheel as happened on bush's watch.

bush and his boyfriends are total failures.

Lurking on the message boards of people you disagree with politically and quoting their own parties leaders back to us in some kind of "gotcha" game seems a bit desperate. Get into a program.
Posted by: johnd at September 5, 2006 11:30 PM

Bwaaaa haaaaa haaaaaa

yet another 9/11 hijack 'suspect' is alive and well

Here we go again. Why are you bringing up 5 year old articles that have been debunked a looooooong time ago? That's worse than the 'Israelis' story your fellow wacko brought up yesterday!

Also, unfortunately for the "still alive" stories, there are reports that the BBCs Waleed is indeed an entirely different person called Waleed A Al Shehri.

to worse

Bob got summoned for jury duty and he's PISSED. Big editorial spread in the Detroit Free Press about jury duty and what they're trying to do to make it better for jurors. NOT ONE MENTION ABOUT LOSING YOUR PAY CHECK! Nada, nothing. All the out of touch people in charge think about is making it more interesting. Not ONE word about leaning on employers to pay employee's salaries while they're "doing their civic duty". If you get chosen for a trial in Michigan you get a whopping $40 a day and 10¢ a mile. Off topic, but I just HAD to complain.

81-Mr Wilson did what he did - he cast doubt on Bush's integrity while selling the war. You do realize Bush admitted that the Niger claim should NOT have made it into the SOTU speech don't you? What does it matter if your spin on what Ms Plame-Wilson would have "allowed" him to do seems even totally illogical, it's a plain fact he did it right? It was in the New York Times.

Firs of all since we are nit picking, Husband is spelled so, not "hasband".

Well I beg to differ that the question is "pointless and inconsequential" . I think if my wife was a "under cover CIA employee" I would be worried that my Op-ed piece could lead to my wife's cover being blow, in the first place the fact that my "under cover CIA employee" wife would suggest me to do some of her dirty work is questionable, what was the Demorcatic catch phrase after Katrina hit "nepotism" ring a bell.

You got one thing right Mr and Mrs Wilson had one goal in mind,"cast doubt on Bush's integrity ", no matter how many lies they had to tell.

81-"Why do you need the thoughts and ideas of people you think are unworthy of governing to bolster your argument?

FYI I did think that the above people were "worthy of governing" as I voted for Billy Cinton, and I belived them when they said those things about Saddam!

The fact remains that you have no answer for what the DEMOCRATS had to say in 1998. Funny how after the 2000 elections all of the WMD's disappeared and then an investigation was needed to see if Hussen had WMD's

Watch "Path to 9/11" and you will see who is telling the truth and who is a CORN-LIAR

From bad

I faliled to link the first time.

"to worse" did not link. I found the article on buzzflash.com, "OBL gets a free pass."

I misspelled failed. FAILED!

It would be so obnoxious that Tre corrects everyone's spelling mistakes if he wasn't so wrong about the substantive issues. . . but he is and it is.

On a personal note, Tre your mom called back and asked me to tell you to call her.

BTW, are you going through some kind of self doubt anxiety period? Lurking on the message boards of people you disagree with politically and quoting their own parties leaders back to us in some kind of "gotcha" game seems a bit desperate.

Good post at #81 John. And you didn't even have to bring up the 'box' that Saddam was contained in. He wasn't a threat to anybody, much less us so far away. There were weapons inspections since all those quotes too, but that's wayyyy too much info for a bushbot.

#87 carol, I know someone who told the judge that if he is selected for jury duty, he probably find the person not guilty. He no longer trusts law enforcement and the judicial system. The judge excluded him from jury duty.

Watch "Path to 9/11" and you will see who is telling the truth
Posted by: Tre Beloc at September 5, 2006 11:44 PM

What makes you think it'll tell a story favorable to your position?

81-Can you give us just one fact aside from some random Democrats corroboration that made you believe Bush's Iraq WMD assesment was sound at some point before it was proven totally baseless?

"random Democrats corroboration"?

Bill Clinton- was the President
Sandy Berger- was National Security Adviser
This was not some ruty-poot random Democrats corroboration these were the leaders of the UNITED STATES and They were the ones who officaly adopted the platform of "Regime change in IRAQ" as the US policy, and I agreed with them at the time!

I didnt change my mind with the changing of the Presidency in 2000, although i believe some Corn-nutters did!

9/11 Miniseries Is Criticized as Inaccurate and Biased (link)

By JESSE McKINLEY
Published: September 6, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 5 ? Days before its scheduled debut, the first major television miniseries about the Sept. 11 attacks was being criticized on Tuesday as biased and inaccurate by bloggers, terrorism experts and a member of the Sept. 11 commission, whose report makes up much of the film?s source material.

The six-hour miniseries, ?The Path to 9/11,? is to be shown on ABC on Sunday and Monday. The network has been advertising the program as a ?historic broadcast,? which uses the commission?s report on the 2001 attacks as its ?primary foundation.?

On Tuesday, several liberal blogs were questioning whether ABC?s version was overly critical of the Clinton administration while allowing the Bush administration off easy.

In particular, some critics ? including Richard A. Clarke, the former counterterrorism czar ? questioned a scene that depicted several American military officers on the ground in Afghanistan. In it, the officers, working with leaders of the Northern Alliance, the Afghan rebel group, move in to capture Osama bin Laden, only to allow him to escape after the mission is canceled by Clinton officials in Washington.

In a posting on ThinkProgress.org, and in a phone interview, Mr. Clarke said no military personnel or C.I.A. agents were ever in position to capture Mr. bin Laden in Afghanistan, nor did the leader of the Northern Alliance get that near to his camp.

?It didn?t happen,? Mr. Clarke said. ?There were no troops in Afghanistan about to snatch bin Laden. There were no C.I.A. personnel about to snatch bin Laden. It?s utterly invented.?

94-

Watch and learn. The truth and facts are on my side. I was and am a political junkie who voted democrat untill 2000, and I know what was going on in the 90's because I was paying attention!

Yeah, Gerald, when I posted early this evening @ #49 I was referring to this development, but the Reuters story wasn't as "finely tuned" as ABC News' take on this.

"What this means is that the Taliban and al Qaeda leadership have effectively carved out a sanctuary inside Pakistan," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, the former White House counter-terrorism director.

The agreement was signed on the same day President Bush said the United States was working with its allies "to deny terrorists the enclaves they seek to establish in ungoverned areas across the world."
++++++
bush looks more foolish and inept everyday....

from Gerald's article at #86...

"What this means is that the Taliban and al Qaeda leadership have effectively carved out a sanctuary inside Pakistan," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, the former White House counter-terrorism director.

96-It didn?t happen,? Mr. Clarke said. ?There were no troops in Afghanistan about to snatch bin Laden. There were no C.I.A. personnel about to snatch bin Laden. It?s utterly invented.?

Oh,is it? "Path to 9/11" uses the 9/11 Pannel Report as its script!

You are such a liar, I talked with my mom,and she said that she does not accept collect calls from conviced pedophiles!

That's worse than the....story your fellow wacko brought up

are you starting in with the name calling again?
blow me you bitch

97 The truth and facts are on my side.
Posted by Tre Beloc at September 5, 2006

Tre, I'm embarrased for you.

ABC said it planned to run a disclaimer with the broadcast, reminding viewers that the movie was not a documentary.

"As we were watching, we were trying to think how they could have misinterpreted the 9/11 commission?s finding the way that they had," Mr. Ben-Veniste said. "They gave the impression that Clinton had not given the green light to an operation that had been cleared by the C.I.A. to kill bin Laden," when, in fact, the Sept. 11 commission concluded that Mr. Clinton had.

No wonder Tre likes it.

I think if my wife was a "under cover CIA employee" I would be worried that my Op-ed piece could lead to my wife's cover being blow(sic),

Better watch the picking at people for misspelling. You don't get an "A" in that catagory either. I'd guess none of us do, so why mention mistakes??
Now mr. bushbot, Joe Wilson's article had not a thing to do with his wife's work. It was totally about his mission to Niger. That Dumya's mention of those 16 words in the SOTU speech shouldn't have been allowed was admitted by this misadministration should be a wake-up call for you bots. They lied to you dude, and they are still lying to you.

Tre,

Come to grips with reality - you keep saying stuff like > when the fact that she was is not in dispute.

And you say "Funny how after the 2000 elections all of the WMD's disappeared" When it's now a proven fact that there never were any WMD's in Iraq since the early '90's.

How can it be funny that things that were proven to have never been there disappeared? How does Democrats saying 8 years ago they thought there were WMDs in Iraq make the always non-existent WMDs something that Democrats need to explain and not the guy who took us to war over them have to answer for?

You agree that Wilson was casting doubt on Bush's integrity selling of the war, then you quickly disparage him as a liar but offer no examples of any premeditated falsehoods. (And what lies did Valerie tell earned her your liar title?). Well if it takes a "liar" to release facts that get a President to admit an otherwise uncorrected mistake in his State of the Union speech, then we need more of those kind of liars.

They lied to you dude, and they are still lying to you.
Posted by: Alan at September 6, 2006 12:15 AM

Yep.

If it takes a "liar" to release facts that get a President to admit an otherwise uncorrected mistake in his State of the Union speech, then we need more of those kind of liars.

Posted by: johnd at September 6, 2006 12:16 AM

Yep.

Tre,

Come to grips with reality - you keep saying stuff like "if my wife was a under cover CIA employee" when the fact that she was is not in dispute.

And you say "Funny how after the 2000 elections all of the WMD's disappeared" When it's now a proven fact that there never were any WMD's in Iraq since the early '90's.

How can it be funny that things that were proven to have never been there disappeared? How does Democrats saying 8 years ago they thought there were WMDs in Iraq make the always non-existent WMDs something that Democrats need to explain and not the guy who took us to war over them have to answer for?

You agree that Wilson was casting doubt on Bush's integrity selling of the war, then you quickly disparage him as a liar but offer no examples of any premeditated falsehoods. (And what lies did Valerie tell earned her your liar title?). Well if it takes a "liar" to release facts that get a President to admit an otherwise uncorrected mistake in his State of the Union speech, then we need more of those kind of liars.

Hey folks! Remember The Path to 9/11 is a DOCUDRAMA -- by definition and genre, it is NOT routinely an accurate historical depiction of known facts, but is usually a mix of facts and speculation. Docudramas do not mark the distinctions between established facts and hypotheses! Docudramas are entertainment!

Also, docudramas tend towards demonization or hagiography, depending on the writer/producer/$$$$/politics POV and are often simplistic to the point of being insulting to thinking people .

Docudramas should be viewed cum grano salis! (If viewed at all.)

You will find more truth in "Path to 9/11" than the Rubbish that is "HUBRIS".

#98 #99

Jinx Alan!

108-Docudramas should be viewed cum grano salis!

Kinda like "Fahrenheit 9/11"

You haven't seen the docudrama nor have you read the book. You are full of shit.

#96
Why was money used to make a movie that was so removed from reality? Who's going to watch it? It's crap. Really who wants to relive those moments anyway and why would you want to live Bush's version of it?

103-Better watch the picking at people for misspelling. You don't get an "A" in that catagory either. I'd guess none of us do, so why mention mistakes?

I could care less about the spellng, but if the Corn-nutters want to go there with me, i can go there with them.

109 don't capitalize Rubbish.
100 convicted has a "t"

Tre, read my post @ 108. It's the truth whether you like it or not.

are you starting in with the name calling again?
blow me you bitch

hahaha Don'tcha hate it when you feel like a fool? Makes you lash out, doesn't it?
It's the same old tag I've hung on you before, so it's nothing new.

A wacko is as a wacko does. LOL

*take your medz

109 You will find more truth in "Path to 9/11" than the Rubbish that is "HUBRIS".

Posted by: Tre Beloc at September 6, 2006 12:23 AM

There's no learnin this moron nothin'

While I am at, can anyone argue the also the indisputable fact that for almost 5 years (knock on wood), there has been no attacks in the USA;

That's a short memory you have there, Hapless.

Idiot.

You haven't seen the docudrama nor have you read the book. You are full of shit.

Once again, dont have to see the movie, I didnt start folling politcs in 2000, youngster! Dont have to read the "Rubbish" book because Corn can only speculate to what happened, and everything he has written on the subject to date has proved to be false or a liberal pipe dream.

"Rove to be Indited!"-Still hasnt happend Corn-holes

118-There's no learnin this moron nothin'

Posted by: Emily at September 6, 2006

Your right i dont speak moron, cupcake. Now go back to you trailor with the brass pole!

120 Right Tre Beloc, and the nazis didn't murder milions of jews, gypsies and homosexuals. You got yer head up yer ass.

#100 Tre, you'd better quit before you get thoroughly stomped on your idiotic claims -- Oh,is it? "Path to 9/11" uses the 9/11 Pannel Report as its script!

I don't know who started correcting spelling and grammar, but because we're pointing out errors tonight -- Do you know what a script is for goshsakes?

BTW, on another error of yours -- it's spelled P-A-N-E-L

LBH and Butt Head by any other name:

Your right i dont speak moron, cupcake. Now go back to you trailor with the brass pole!

Posted by: Tre Beloc at September 6, 2006 12:34 AM

Blocking Bolton

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote Thursday on John Bolton's nomination as U.N. Ambassador; the nomination then moves to the full senate. BoltonWatch contributor Scott Paul says the commitee vote "is up in the air," but that Bolton opponents "have the votes to prolong debate and block Bolton's confirmation" in the full senate.
----------
Sweet music

107-How can it be funny that things that were proven to have never been there disappeared? How does Democrats saying 8 years ago they thought there were WMDs in Iraq make the always non-existent WMDs something that Democrats need to explain and not the guy who took us to war over them have to answer for?

Corn-Nutters are funny, tell all of the dead KURDS that he didnt have any WMD, and by the way why was the UN in IRAQ to "verify" that he got rid of his WMD if he never had any? If I was 19-20 you might be able to pull the wool over my eyes but when i read the papers i read all of the sections not just the comics and sports.

I would rather have errors in Spelling than errors in Logic,Facts,and History!

"The truth and facts are on my side. I was and am a political junkie who voted democrat untill 2000, and I know what was going on in the 90's because I was paying attention!"

Why were you a Democrat in '94, '96 and '98? Do tell. You should have clued the rest of us into your premonition of Bush as 9 months late terrorist warrior / nation builder / debt exploder, economy flattener, affluent citizen wealth protector back in '99. Do you think you could have convinced enough of us to switch with you so he may have actually won that election fair and square?

127 I would rather have errors in Spelling than errors in Logic,Facts,and History!
Posted by: Tre Beloc at September 6, 2006 12:40 AM

We would rather you take your lame ass posts elsewhere.

#122 Actually, Emily, Saladin is skeptical about that too -- better watch who you accuse.

"tell all of the dead KURDS that he didnt have any WMD, and by the way why was the UN in IRAQ to "verify" that he got rid of his WMD if he never had any?"

None of the Kurds that Saddam killed back around when Rumsfeld was pressing his flesh in tacit approval of his chemical weapons use would hear me.

In your late night world of reading and typing you employ an interesting selective translator - "since the early 90s" becomes "never".

It's also interesting how you determine from an untold distance sections of the newspaper I read, and how proud of your own newspaper reading habits you are. Do you have any concerns about Bush's newspaper reading habits?

It's true. My dad was in the 82nd Airborne. He saw it with his own eyes. On that day, they all knew what they were fighting for.

"tell all of the dead KURDS that he didnt have any WMD, and by the way why was the UN in IRAQ to "verify" that he got rid of his WMD if he never had any?"

None of the Kurds that Saddam killed back around when Rumsfeld was pressing his flesh in tacit approval of his chemical weapons use would hear me.

In your late night world of reading and typing you employ an interesting selective translator - "since the early 90s" becomes "never".

It's also interesting how you determine from an untold distance sections of the newspaper I read, and how proud of your own newspaper reading habits you are. Do you have any concerns about Bush's newspaper reading habits?

Tre left without saying good night.

I aint gone, party aint over untill 6 in the morning!

I will continue to visit enjoyed the reading thanks

129-

NOPE

Gee Tre,

You jumped right on my slip of saying never when I clearly said on the same post that Iraq posessed WMD into the early nineties. Ouch! got me.

Now what about Bush attacking a country "to disarm it" when it actually had no arms?

122
120 Right Tre Beloc, and the nazis didn't murder milions of jews, gypsies and homosexuals. You got yer head up yer ass.

Never said that, but i do know that fundamentalist Muslims aint to fond of jews, gypsies and homosexuals,and AMERICANS either1

ABC is clearly feeling some heat over their fictionalized drama, ?The Path to 9/11,? set to air on September 10th and 11th. After pulling the public blog from the movie?s web site and stonewalling progressive and liberal bloggers late last week and through the holiday weekend about requests to preview the movie?for which Rush Limbaugh?s been breathlessly cheerleading?ABC flaks seem to be unwilling to allow bloggers onto a conference call scheduled today with Thomas Kean.

Along with Limbaugh, Kean, who is the Republican co-chair of the 9/11 Commission, has been publicly shilling for this movie. Conspicuously absent from this project is the Democratic co-chair of the Commission, Lee Hamilton. Also conspicuously absent? A truthful representation of 9/11 Commission report, as Sheldon Rampton documented here yesterday. And today we learn from ThinkProgress that Richard Clarke is refuting a key scene in the movie.

One might wonder on what sources screenwriter Cyrus Nowrasteh has based his movie, if not the actual 9/11 Report, or on interviews with those who were actually, um, there. From the sounds of joy emanating from the right-wing blogosphere over this movie, one might possibly conclude the docudrama is ripped straight from the pages of the Weekly Standard. (h/t Dave Meyer)

ABC entertainment prexy Steve McPherson told Variety, "Some things you do for commerce and some things because they are the right thing to do.? McPherson and others have been cloaking this docudrama wolf in non-partisan sheep?s clothing, despite having no Democrats prominently involved with the project, and allowing only right-wing partisan blogs and mainstream media outlets to preview the film?no left-wing or progressive blogs.

They?ve also plastered images of the 9/11 Commission Report itself all over the promotional materials, despite offering up a movie that directly contradicts the report. With avowed conservatives like Cyrus Nowrasteh and David Cunningham at the helm of this thing, it begs the question of what kind of political motivations lie at the heart of this project. Cuz they sure ain?t blowing truly non-partisan smoke in the public?s face with this so-called public service.

McPherson has said this project was conceived two years ago, and the network has certainly thought a lot about outreach for this Republican airbrushing of 9/11. They?ve even created lesson plans with the help of Scholastic, to pump America?s children full of Nowrasteh?s take on this American tragedy.

There are a few questions I?d like to ask Thomas Kean on that media conference call today, but ABC seems unwilling, as I write this post, to comply with my request to be on the call. So, I guess I?ll ask them here and ask for your help in circulating these and your own questions for ABC and Kean to members of the anointed media.

(link)

That picture of Rummy shaking Saddam's hand as an envoy for ronnie ray-gun was rummy telling Saddam he was free to use the chemical starter kit that preceded rummy's visit.
So yeah Tre, Saddam had WMD's back then because that asshat reagan gave them to him.
Now, all you have to sink into your kool-aid drinking brain is... weapons inspectors were verifying he didn't have them anymore. Think dude. Why was bush in a hurry to get the inspectors out of Iraq? So they wouldn't spoil his lying excuse to attack. The inspectors were still in Iraq right up until March before 'shock and awe' started. Remember bush lying, saying Saddam wouldn't let inspectors in? Earth to Tre... it was yet another lie.

Questions for ABC:

? Why, if this is a non-partisan project, is only the Republican co-chair of the 9/11 Commission being asked to front this project?

? Why were many of the principals of this film, like Richard Clarke, not shown relevant scenes from the movie early on, so that research and scenes could be vetted?and corrected, if misrepresented?

? Why did you provide the movie to only right-wing bloggers and mainstream media in your advance outreach for this project, and not to left-wing bloggers and media?

? Was it the network?s or the PR firm?s idea to reach out in advance only to right-wing blogs, and to exclude left-wing blogs?

? If you were truly intending to provide a non-partisan public service to the American public, why not produce and air a true documentary actually based on the 9/11 Commission Report and vetted by both Democrats and Republicans?

? Did you know about Cyrus Nowrasteh?s and David Cunningham?s extreme conservative views?

? Will you consider pulling scenes proven to be false?

? Will you consider removing the ?based on the 9/11 Commission Report? imprimatur from promotional materials, and from the miniseries itself on the air dates?

? Will you consider giving Richard Clarke and/or prominent Democrats, who disagree with this airbrushing of the 9/11 story, the opportunity to point out the movies flaws on network time?

? Will ABC News report on the controversy over this project in the one-hour news special scheduled to air on September 11, following the movie?

128-Why were you a Democrat in '94, '96 and '98? Do tell

In my communtiy, there were no republicans.

141-The inspectors were still in Iraq right up until March before 'shock and awe' started

In name only, Saddam was blocking access to "Presidental Palaces". He had kicked out the inspectors, or they left due to lack of coperation, in 98 and they returned as we were preparing for war. It was a half hearted attemt by SADDAM.
"Saddam's goal ... is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed." -- Madeline Albright, 1998

141-The inspectors were still in Iraq right up until March before 'shock and awe' started

In name only, Saddam was blocking access to "Presidental Palaces". He had kicked out the inspectors, or they left due to lack of coperation, in 98 and they returned as we were preparing for war. It was a half hearted attemt by SADDAM.
"Saddam's goal ... is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed." -- Madeline Albright, 1998

107-Come to grips with reality - you keep saying stuff like "if my wife was a under cover CIA employee" when the fact that she was is not in dispute.

Then why has no one been indited for "reverevealing" Mrs Wilson?

144 Saddam was blocking access to "Presidental Palaces".
Posted by: Tre Beloc at September 6, 2006 01:23 AM

- - - - - - - - -

THE SECURITY COUNCIL, 27 JANUARY 2003:
AN UPDATE ON INSPECTION

Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC, Dr. Hans Blix

Iraq has on the whole cooperated rather well so far with UNMOVIC in this field. The most important point to make is that access has been provided to all sites we have wanted to inspect and with one exception it has been prompt. We have further had great help in building up the infrastructure of our office in Baghdad and the field office in Mosul. Arrangements and services for our plane and our helicopters have been good. The environment has been workable.

Our inspections have included universities, military bases, presidential sites and private residences. Inspections have also taken place on Fridays, the Muslim day of rest, on Christmas day and New Years day. These inspections have been conducted in the same manner as all other inspections. We seek to be both effective and correct.

- - - - - -

(link)

It was the Moose!
Winter Twilight Productions, in association with Bored at Work, presents :

Moose Change

144. Hey political junky, where do you get your facts?

Hans Blix, the head of weapons inspection in Iraq, said they had access to "universities, military bases, presidential sites and private residences."

On what authority do you claim "Saddam was blocking access to Presidental Palaces."

144. Hey political junky, where do you get your facts?

Hans Blix, the head of weapons inspection in Iraq, said they had access to "universities, military bases, presidential sites and private residences."

On what authority do you claim "Saddam was blocking access to Presidental Palaces."

Sadam signed a cease fire agreement in 91 that called for inspections to verify that he get rid of his WMD. All throuth the 90's he played the shell game with inspectors untill they left in 98'. I felt that Clinton should have restarted the war then, as he violated the terms of the cease fire. Here is what the Leaders of America at the time had to say about Saddam-

"As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." -- Nancy Pelosi, December 16, 1998

"Iraq is not the only nation in the world to possess weapons of mass destruction, but it is the only nation with a leader who has used them against his own people." -- Tom Daschle in 1998

"The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998

"(Saddam) will rebuild his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and some day, some way, I am certain he will use that arsenal again, as he has 10 times since 1983" -- National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Feb 18, 1998

"Saddam's goal ... is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed." -- Madeline Albright, 1998

The Administration never did anything to Saddam, and he started to pay poor Palastinans to blow themselfs up to kill Jews.
9/11 happens and Bush puts Saddam on notice and then he act like he wants to let inspectors in , the way i remember it, there were several stops and start with the inspections.

What happened Between 98 and 2002 when democrats said that he had WMD- then the inspectors left and were gone for 4years and all of a sudden you democrats beleve that the wepons were destroyed. I wish that Clinton had whent to War with Saddam, then you folks would be supporting the war in IRAQ.

What happened Between 98 and 2002 when democrats said that he had WMD

I will answer my own question, BUSH was elected!

"Then why has no one been indited for "reverevealing" Mrs Wilson?"

Because revealing classified information isn't always an indictable offense when it comes to the very narrow intelligence identities protection act. Try to keep up. The leaker must have also known he/she was outing an agent and must have been doing it with the intention of harming the US. Don't you read the newspapers?

You might want to at least check and see if anyone at all is still claiming that Plame was not under cover before tirelessly arguing a point that almost no one ever seriously contested.

The only claims ever made by any real jounalists concerning the classified status of her identity were attempts to soften up the offense: that "it was widely known" or that "her name wasn't used", hardly denials that she was undercover. Can you point to even one serious jounalist who states unequivically that he or she has information proving Plame's employment status was NOT classified when Novak, Libby and Rove discussed it with jounalists?

You might ask yourself why Fitzgerald (a Republican) undertook the investigation or why Libby "left out" parts of his story for almost a year if outing Plame was so obviously legal?

149
144. Hey political junky, where do you get your facts?

http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2002_10/iraqspecialoct02.asp

1991-

On April 3, the Security Council adopts Resolution 687, mandating that Iraq eliminate all of its biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons programs as well as all of its ballistic missiles capable of traveling more than 150 kilometers. The resolution requires that the United Nations establish a special commission, UNSCOM, to verify that Iraq’≥ biological, chemical, and proscribed missile programs are eliminated, and the IAEA is charged with doing the same for Iraq’≥ nuclear weapons program. Pledging to review the situation every 60 days, the Security Council declares that the sanctions imposed on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait will remain in effect until the country complies with its disarmament obligations.

Iraq accepts the terms of this resolution three days later and provides initial declarations on the extent of its proscribed programs April 18, although it will revise all the declarations several times when confronted with evidence discovered by inspectors disproving its claims.

Iraq ignores the demands, and in September it temporarily blocks UNSCOM’≥ use of helicopters in the inspection process

1992

Weapons inspections and destruction activities continue without Iraq’≥ full cooperation, leading the Security Council in February to charge Iraq again with being in material breach of its obligations

While actively obstructing inspectors, Baghdad seeks to preserve a veneer of compliance between May and June by submitting separate Ҧull, final and complete disclosuresӠon its relevant weapons programs. Each declaration is subsequently found to be incomplete, particularly the biological weapons disclosure, in which Baghdad claims to have had only a ҤefensiveӠprogram. Iraq will eventually revise all disclosures several times.

1993

At the beginning of the year, Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM aircraft to fly into the country, an action the Security Council deems a material breach and threatens might result in ҳerious consequencesӠfor Baghdad. Iraq also steps up military activities along the Kuwaiti border and in the two no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq that the United States and its allies imposed on Iraq after the Persian Gulf War.

1995

Under increasing pressure from some countries, particularly China, France, and Russia, to ease the sanctions imposed on Iraq to address worsening humanitarian problems in the country, the Security Council on April 14 unanimously approves the so-called oil-for-food program, which permits Iraq to sell up to $1 billion of oil every 90 days to buy food, medicine, and other civilian goods

Confronted by evidence uncovered by weapons inspectors, Iraq admits for the first time on July 1 that it had an offensive biological weapons research and development program, but it denies having ever produced actual weapons.

Through a combination of Iraqi declarations and analysis of the recovered documents, weapons inspectors learn that Iraq had weaponized biological agents, had a more advanced indigenous ballistic missile program than previously believed, had produced more chemical weapons than disclosed earlier, and had initiated a crash program in 1990 to try to acquire a nuclear weapon in less than a year. In addition, an ongoing covert Iraqi operation to obtain banned missile gyroscopes is exposed in November.

1996

In March, Iraq delays weapons inspectors’ visits to five different sites, drawing condemnation from the Security Council. Three months later, Iraq again denies weapons inspectors access to sites they want to inspect. The Security Council responds June 12 by passing Resolution 1060, which demands yet again that Iraq provide inspectors unhindered access but which stops short of authorizing or threatening the use of force to support the inspectors. Iraq blocks another inspection the following day, leading the Security Council to criticize Iraqi cooperation again, even though some Security Council members are beginning to voice reservations about what they consider UNSCOM’s confrontational tactics.

1997

After a three-month standoff, Iraq allows UNSCOM to remove destroyed missile parts from the country for outside analysis in March. The following month, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright asserts that the United States opposes automatically lifting the sanctions on Iraq once it has been disarmed of its weapons of mass destruction. She clearly implies that the United States will work to keep sanctions in place until Saddam Hussein no longer rules Iraq, effectively removing the only inducement for Iraqi cooperation with weapons inspections. Albright’s declaration contradicts Resolution 687, which states that the sanctions will be reviewed every 60 days and lifted once Iraq disarms.

Baghdad soon steps up its obstructionist activities. Iraqi officials in June jeopardize the safety of weapons inspectors by grabbing at the controls of UNSCOM helicopters while they are airborne, and Iraq blocks access to several sites. The Security Council responds June 21 by adopting Resolution 1115, which condemns Iraqi actions. In order to punish Iraq, the resolution also suspends the council’s usual 60-day review of sanctions........

There are more facts where that came from!

As you can clearly see Saddam had a crediablity problem and never quite lived up to his part of the bargin. Inspectors left in 98 and you want me to belive that he did what the UN asked him to do after he kicked us out for 4 years?

When Bush repeated all of the thinks that the Cinton administration said, HE became the one you liberals distrust?

152-Don't you read the newspapers?

Well if no crime was commited why all of the fuss? By the way i read the David Corn blogg and there was a headline that i saw once,

ROVE to be INDITED soon!

Still wondering how Saddam was a threat in 98 when the inspectors were kicke out, but was no threat in 2002?

You might ask yourself why Fitzgerald (a Republican) undertook the investigation or why Libby "left out" parts of his story for almost a year if outing Plame was so obviously legal?

Fitzgerald undertook the investigation because DAVID CORN implied that a law was broken, but there have been no inditments for that cause, do you think there was enought evedence to convict Billie Clinton for perjury?

perjury  [pur-juh-ree]

the willful giving of false testimony under oath or affirmation, before a competent tribunal, upon a point material to a legal inquiry.

It must depent on what the meaning if "IS" is.

You might ask yourself why Fitzgerald (a Republican) undertook the investigation or why Libby "left out" parts of his story for almost a year if outing Plame was so obviously legal?

Posted by: johnd at September 6, 2006 02:40 AM

May I pay you a compliment? You are knowledgable and a skilled analyst and writer. Nice job presenting that facts and your pov in a way that Tre might be able to absorb, if he were so inclined. I have concluded he is not.

Fitz announced in his press conference, when he indicted I Lewis Libby for lying to the FBI and the grand jury under oath, that he is not a registered member of any party. Your beliefs about Fitz conservatism are also true.

152-Try to keep up

Let me slow down so that i can "keep up" with you jd

"Saddam's goal ... is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed." -- Madeline Albright, 1998

Uh-- Madeline Albright, although a Democrat by affiliation is a Neocon by all other measures, and speaking of bonehead Albrightisms, she was I believe the US envoy who advised Saddam before the Iraq invasion of Kuwait that the US "had no particular policy" toward Kuwait, presumably with full approval of the Bush I team.

You see it wasn't until the Kuwaitis hired the PR firm that trotted out the princess posing as pauper into the US Congress throwing around never proven accounts of babies being stripped from Kuwait hospital incubators that we had any problem at all with everybodies favorite villiain - Saddam Hussein.

Please, please, please Tre. Just one piece of evidence that might have made Mr Rumsfeld say stuff like: "We know where the WMD is, it's in the area of Tikrit." In 2002, when we now know that not only was there no WMD there in 2002, but there was absolutely no evidence of any being there either. He said "he exagerated for emphasis" his quote not mine. I think you recognize people who exagerate for emphasis on this board, you even have a word for them beginning with the letter L don't you?

Boyd is all on jd's nutter-sac

MAX CLELAND (D), FORMER GEORGIA SENATOR: I don’t agree with a damn thing the attorney general said. It is al Qaeda, stupid. It is Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre that must be killed or captured, period. If we don’t have high government officials in Washington who understand that, we need new high government officials.

That, and other clips almost as good, are at Crooksandliars.com.

Fitzgerald undertook the investigation because DAVID CORN implied that a law was broken
Posted by: Tre Beloc at September 6, 2006 02:52 AM

You think the Justice Department takes orders from David Corn? You give him too much credit.

The CIA asked Justice to investigate if a crime had been committed when the CLASSIFIED identity of their COVERT CIA agent, under non-offical cover (NOC), Val Plame was published in the Chicago Tribune by Robert Novak.

Armitage told Robert Novak and Rove confirmed it. Rove also told Matt Cooper.

Libby told Judy Miller and then told Fitz that some other reporter, whose name he couldn't remember, told him first. But Fitz knew where Libby learned the info. He learned it from Dick Cheney, his boss.

So who do you think Libby is lying for?

I have given you all the proof that i need and you have not refuted it yet, all of the democrats who were in power in 1998 said that he had wmd.

Do you think that 4 years of unsupervised time is enought to hide any WMD's he would have? What about the 6 to 9 monhts that we gave Saddam to move the weapons,as we danced another dance withe the Corrupt UN? What about the OIL FOR FOOD PROGRAM abuses, where FRANCE-RUSSIA-CHINA-GERMANY were paying kick backs to Saddam,and he was not feeding his citizens?

I wonder how many drug dealers we would catch if they knew an approx time that the DRUG RAID would occur?

161 -You think the Justice Department takes orders from David Corn? You give him too much credit.

Was he not the first one to yell FIRE in the crowded theater?

161 -The CIA asked Justice to investigate if a crime had been committed when the CLASSIFIED identity of their COVERT CIA agent, under non-offical cover (NOC), Val Plame was published in the Chicago Tribune by Robert Novak.

Obviously there was no crime as no one has been indited!

161-So who do you think Libby is lying for?

That depends on what the meaning of the word "IS" is.

You've proven only that you're firmly attached to your beliefs and nothing will change them, includng facts with probative value.

Why bother posting here? You've got nothing Tre Beloc.

158-You see it wasn't until the Kuwaitis hired the PR firm that trotted out the princess posing as pauper into the US Congress throwing around never proven accounts of babies being stripped from Kuwait hospital incubators that we had any problem at all with everybodies favorite villiain - Saddam Hussein.

If America had not kicked Saddam out of Kuwait, he would be in controll of the largest supply of oil in the world, just think how many Palistinians could blow themselfs up in ISREAL with that type of $.

Is Bob Novak Channeling TPMmuckraker?
By Justin Rood - September 5, 2006, 10:31 AM

For the second time in a month, a news item first reported by TPMmuckraker has shown up in the work of conservative columnist Bob Novak.

The first appearance of a TPMm item in Novak's column came on Aug. 14, you'll recall; Novak mentioned that Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) hadn't reported a subpoena to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), as House rules require. On Aug. 2, we were the first -- and until Novak, I believe the only -- outlet to note Harris' flaunting of the obscure rule.

Now, Novak has noted in his Sept. 3 column the difficulty Texas Republicans will have in "writing in" the name of candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs in the TX-22 congressional race, which will choose Tom DeLay's successor. This pithy item was first probed and written about in detail on Aug. 22 by my colleague, the sharp-eyed and indefatigable Paul Kiel.

To be fair, we cover a broad swath of waterfront, so some subject overlap with Novak isn't surprising. But in both cases, the tidbits have been obscure. In fact, on both items Paul and I conferred about whether more than a handful of our die-hard readers would care. (On both, we decided it didn't matter, we simply thought they were kind of funny.)

So Mr. Novak, if you're reading us, let us know! Send us a fan e-mail. At least let's get our stories straight before Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald gets to us.

164
You've proven only that you're firmly attached to your beliefs and nothing will change them, includng facts with probative value.

Why bother posting here? You've got nothing Tre Beloc

That is where you are wrong, I am willing and able to change my mind, but none of the arguments that have been promoted so far jive with what i know at this time. No one can tell me how Saddam who was a threat from 91 to 98 with the inspectors...they leave untill 2002/2003 when he is no longer a threat?

I post here because an open debate is the American way, and plus im a sucker for a good debate.

FOX Campaign To Discredit Patrick Fitzgerald Begins

Reported by Deborah - September 4, 2006

Mort Kondracke and Fred Barnes made the most of the news that Richard Armitage leaked Valerie Plame's identity to Robert Novak.By the time they finished their scenario, on The Beltway Boys,9/2/06 of what really happened, there was no leak or conspiracy to discredit Joseph Wilson and Patrick Fitzgerald told Armitage to " shut up" after hearing his testimony in front of a Grand Jury.

In the weekly ups and downs segment, Richard Armitage got a down because according to Barnes he" let Karl Rove and Scooter Libby twist in the wind" for 3 years adding that it wasn't a nice thing to do.The news that Armitage outed Plame to Novak somehow proves in the new scenario that there was no conspiracy to discredit Wilson. In fact, it somehow proves that Wilson outed his wife himself by writing the piece in the New York Times making everyone wonder how he got to go to Niger and then remembering his wife arranged it.

Then Kondracke acting as if he really had the inside dope told viewers what Armitage should say if he ever goes public. According to Kondracke, Armitage went to his Boss, Colin Powell, who called Will Taft at the State Department. Then Taft called the White House and spoke to Alberto Gonzales, who asked no further questions, Kondracke added as if he actually knew, that they didn't offer any information.Then after Armitage told Patrick Fitzgerald, he testified in front of a Grand Jury and Fitzgerald told him to " shut up and not talk to anyone about this."

Kondracke and Barnes wrapped it up with an attack on the media for using the story to hammer Bush. Barnes called Wilson a charlaton and claimed the story had dissolved and the press wasn't reporting it.

Comment: This plan to discredit Fitzgerald and the various distortions being thrown around are documented on The Libby Defense Fund site. There is also a very informative piece by Larry Johnson making this point about the selfish, short sighted behavior of the Bush Administration.

" Today the Bush Administration is once again trying to manufacture a case for war. They are calling critics of its policies on Iran and Iraq "appeasers" and decrying the lack of intelligence on Iran. It is deja vu all over again to quote Yogi Berra. They whine about a lack of intelligence on Iran but refuse to accept responsibility for their own role in destroying Valerie Plame's undercover work, which was focused on monitoring the flow of nuclear technology to Iran. They may not have fully understood what Val was doing because of her cover status. But that's the point. They don't think these things true. Their only goal is political survival."

You might ask yourself why Fitzgerald (a Republican) undertook the investigation or why Libby "left out" parts of his story for almost a year if outing Plame was so obviously legal?

Fitzgerald undertook the investigation because DAVID CORN implied that a law was broken, but there have been no inditments for that cause, do you think there was enought evedence to convict Billie Clinton for perjury?

perjury  [pur-juh-ree]

the willful giving of false testimony under oath or affirmation, before a competent tribunal, upon a point material to a legal inquiry.

It must depent on what the meaning if "IS" is.

Why ask my opinion about the perjury conviction when it was the decision of the majority Republican congress not to bring the impeachment process to trial?

I think it had something to do with no Republican statesman wanting to ask Mr Clinton on the stand to fully explain his testimony that he did not have sex with Lewinsky, but that's just a hunch.

I was rather looking forward to this exchange:

Q: Mr Clinton you testified that you did not have sex with Ms Lewinsky, correct?

A: That's right, I did not.

The next line of questions would have to include some interest by the questioner in the whereabouts of Mr Clinton's johnson and/or genetic material with Mr Clinton answering simple yeses and nos while the questioner would have been forced to get progressively more pornographic.

I wish that happened because my bet was the Republicans were going to be entering page after page of sex talk questions into the congressional record while Clinton just sat there answered yes and nos and appeared disgusted by the whole spectacle. That would have been the funniest thing since the Anita Hill hearings.

What exactly does that have to do with the current situation anyway?

Oh and please let me know which up and coming conservative commentators can "imply" that an obscure law has been broken and force a Democratic administration to conduct a long investigation of itself.

I'm sure when Fitzgerald was assigned the job he called the CIA and they said, nope her status and identity weren't classified, so there's no possibility that a crime took place, but go ahead and send out tjose sobpoenas to Rove, Libby and all the rest of those top officials, afterall David Corn "implied" they may have been a crime.

Alternet.org

" The Bush administration continues to bypass standard intelligence channels and use what some believe to be propaganda tactics to create a compelling case for war with Iran, US foreign experts and former US intelligence officials have said.

One former senior intelligence official is particularly concerned by private briefings that Vice President Dick Cheney is getting from former Office of Special Plans (OSP) Director, Abram Shulsky.

"Vice President Cheney is relying on personal briefings from Shulsky for current intelligence on Iran," said this intelligence official.

Shulsky, a leading Neoconservative and member of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), headed the shadowy and secretive Department of Defense's OSP in the lead-up to the Iraq war -- helping to locate intelligence that would support the Bush administration's case for war with Iraq.Several foreign policy experts, who wish to remain anonymous, have expressed serious concern that much like the OSP, the ID is manipulating, cherry picking, and perhaps even -- as some suspect -- cooking intelligence to lead the U.S. into another conflict, this time with Iran.

"Cheney distrusts the information being disseminated by CIA on Iran," said one former senior intelligence official. "The reports assembled by the Iranian Directorate at the Pentagon differ significantly from the analysis produced by the Intelligence Community. The Pentagon Iranian Directorate relies on thin and unsupported reporting from foreign sources."

You've got nothing Tre Beloc.

Wrecking Patrick Fitzgerald
By Larry Johnson

Looks like Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney charged with investigating the leak of that identified Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA officer, has hit a real nerve and is on the verge of dropping a new legal bomb on the Bush Administration. How else to explain the sudden surge of criticism directed against Mr. Fitzgerald? A story in today's New York Times by David Johnston is the latest salvo in what looks like a coordinated assault on the steely-eyed prosecutor. Plameologist EmptyWheel has a terrific post at The Next Hurrah dissecting Johnston's shoddy attempt at journalism. His piece, at best, is speculative analysis. Unfortunately, it is uninformed analysis.

Now, I'm up front about my bias in this case. Valerie Wilson is an old friend and colleague who was an excellent case officer until Robert Novak, citing Bush Administration sources, flagged her as a CIA employee. Until that day in July 2003, her husband and her friends (who were witting of her true employment status) protected her cover. She was in the process of shifting from "non-official cover" status to "official cover". Both types of cover are protected under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.

It was the Bush Administration--Richard Armitage, Scooter Libby, and Karl Rove--who spread the lie that Valerie sent her husband, Joe Wilson, to Africa as part of an elaborate conspiracy to damage the credibility of the Bush Administration. In 2003 there was publicly speculation that the Bush Administration lied to the American people about the case for going to war in Iraq. Today, the evidence of the lies is overwhelming. The question about Iraq's alleged efforts to buy uranium from Niger was one of the critical foundations of the Administration's effort to rally public support for the war. When Joe Wilson started contacting Journalists in early 2003, after the President lied in the State of the Union Address about Iraq's efforts, Dick Cheney and his minions began collecting ammunition to attack Wilson and try to destroy his credibility.

Which brings me to Patrick Fitzgerald.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald came to this case with no bias. He is a man above reproach and unafraid to take on politically sensitive cases. On the eve of the indictment of Scooter Libby last October (2005) there was a weak attempt by Republican operatives to smear Fitzgerald. They encountered several obstacles:

Unlike Kenneth Starr, who investigated President Bill Clinton, Fitzgerald has not played politics with his investigation, by leaking stories to buddies in the media;
Unlike Starr, who spent millions of dollars in the pursuit of Clinton, Fitzgerald is a tightwad.
It is tought to tar a prosecutor who is frugal, focused, and aplotical. Nonetheless, the Bush/Cheney defenders and their media buddies are ramping up a campaign to smear Fitzgerald. The Johnston NY Times piece is prima facie evidence. Johnston notes that in the wake of a report that Richard Armitage was one of Novak sources that:

the question of whether Mr. Fitzgerald properly exercised his prosecutorial discretion in continuing to pursue possible wrongdoing in the case has become the subject of rich debate on editorial pages and in legal and political circles.

So, attention to detail, a refusal to try the case in the news media, and insistence on bringing charges based on evidence suggest improper "prosecutorial discretion"? Nope. I don't buy that. The facts show that Fitzgerald is keeping his cards close to his vest, which certainly has Dick Cheney and Stephen Hadley crapping their pants. Their role, particularly Cheney's, in directing the campaign to discredit Ambassador Wilson, has become clearer in the last year thanks to court filings in the case against Scooter Libby. For example, we now have Cheney's notes that became the basis for RNC talking points in attacking Ambassador Wilson.

I am not privy to Fitgerald's plans or thinking; but, given the nature of the offensive now directed against the Wilsons and Fitzgerald, it appears that Mr. Fitzgerald may be on the verge of asking the Grand Jury to indict Dick Cheney and Stephen Hadley. Karl Rove is no dummy and would be derelict and incompetent to not prepare for this contingency. He know that if Fitz drops a new legal bomb before the November elections on someone in the Administration that the Republican ship of state will sunder. When it comes to hanging on to power in Washington all is fair, regardless of job performance and competence. And, when it comes to poltical survival for the discredited Bush Administration, trashing a courageous, honest prosecutor is okay.

On September 4, 2006 - 8:35pm Greg Roach said:

I have a personal acquaintance with someone who was successfully prosecuted by Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald and his Chicago office were the definition of integrity and decency. This case was an absolute slam-dunk. Instead of grandstanding and capitalizing on a very easy white-collar conviction, Fitzgerald offered a tough but fair plea agreement.

Fitzgerald could have ensured that this man never ever worked again aside from washing dishes. He could have made sure that this guy's wife and kids couldn't go to the 7-11 without hanging their heads in shame. Fitzgerald, instead handled this cookie-cutter middle-class embezzlement case much the same way that he has handled the CIA leak.

The similar approaches to discretion and candor in both these cases leads me to believe that those who think Fitzgerald is scoring points for one side or the other of full-of-it.

Plame headed WMD search, says new book

Julian Borger in Washington
Wednesday September 6, 2006
The Guardian

Valerie Plame, a covert CIA agent whose identity was leaked by the Bush administration at the height of a political feud with her husband, was in charge of operations aimed at finding out if Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, according to a new book.

The Plame affair has dogged the White House since July 2003, when her cover was blown, but the nature of her job had been unknown. In Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal and the Selling of the Iraq War, two Washington journalists, Michael Isikoff and David Corn, say she was the chief of operations of the CIA's joint taskforce on Iraq.

According to an early extract, it was her job to recruit informants who might give insight into Saddam's arms programmes. By the time the war began in 2003, her unit had failed to find evidence and was sceptical about the information from Iraqi defectors. Her identity seems to have been leaked because her husband, the former ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticised the invasion of Iraq. A former chief of staff to the vice-president is due to go on trial next year for lying to investigators. But the first official to mention her job to a journalist was a state department moderate apparently unaware of the sensitivity.
Writing in the online edition of The Nation magazine yesterday, Mr Corn quoted a CIA officer as saying: "The war came so suddenly. We didn't have enough information to challenge the assumption that there were WMDs."

169-What exactly does that have to do with the current situation anyway?.....

Oh and please let me know which up and coming conservative commentators can "imply" that an obscure law has been broken and force a Democratic administration to conduct a long investigation of itself.

I'm sure when Fitzgerald was assigned the job he called the CIA and they said, nope her status and identity weren't classified, so there's no possibility that a crime took place, but go ahead and send out tjose sobpoenas to Rove, Libby and all the rest of those top officials, afterall David Corn "implied" they may have been a crime.

Thats right,"David Corn "implied" they may have been a crime." If there had been no investigation then the Liberals would have been up in arms's and then another conspiracy theory would be born...TOO LATE.

Here is a lesson in circular reasoning....Plame works for the CIA...She sends her husband to "disprove" the WMD charges.....the husband sips sweet tea and then lies about there being no proof of the attempt to buy yellow cake and his wife's role in sending him to Africa...the word gets out from "no partisan gun slinger" that it is true that his wife did send him and....the special prosecutor asks the CIA if an a crime has been committed...they say yes....but no one is prosecuted for the alleged crime....right were we started...the CIA attempting to discredit the GW Bush administration.

Here is what Clintons lie has to do with the current situation. Bill Clinton was testifying in the Paula Jones case where he was accused of abusing his power to try to achieve sexual gratification with an underling. Paula's Lawyers attempt to prove a pattern of behavior and have discovered some information on and intern that Billie Clinton had done the same thing to MONICA LEW....He lied on the stand after putting his hand on the Bible and swearing to tell the truth. Now his job is to enforce the law of the land, but he was breaking the law at the sometime he was supposed to enforce it. If it was BOYD-JD-or TRE BELOC on the stand we would all go to jail, but he didn’t! What he did was wrong and to see the democrats justify all that he did made me sick, the President is not above the law, even if he is a democrat.

ON the other hand Democrats are quick to call Bush a liar. They call him a liar when he says the same things about Saddam that all the democrats said when they were in power, but when he says it he is the liar!? A scripture comes to mind...how can you tell you brother that he has a splinter in his eye when you have a beam in your own (my paraphrase). If the Democrats had stood up and said that Clinton was wrong then I would see them as intellectually honest, but they are not. Finally, I think that most Republicans are liars too, I think most politicians are liars and crooks out for our money, but so are most of the world governments.

An Israeli minister, Yaakov Edery, said to the German newspaper Thuringer Allgemeine yesterday, that an attack on Iran is ineviteble. "The sooner President George W. Bush decide to attack, the better" said Edery. He said that such an attack will be limited, and that the main target will be to destroy Irans Nuclear program. In Edery's mind, he think that an attack will occure before Bush leaves the WH in 2009.

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

Irans president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, might be shouting his mouth a lot, but at least Iran is willing to negociate on the issue. Attacking Iran might trigger a widespread conflict throughout the entire World.

176-"Attacking Iran might trigger a widespread conflict throughout the entire World.

Sorry, Erling Krange, you must have missed the memo!

Israel, Gaza and Lebanon -- Muslims verses Jews. Kashmir -- Muslims vs. Hindus. Kosovo/Bosnia -- Muslims vs. Serbian Orthodox. Nigeria, the Sudan -- Muslims versus Christians. Indonesia -- Muslims vs. Christians. Myanmar -- Muslims vs. Buddhists. The Northern Caucuses -- Chechen Muslims against Russia Orthodox, and so on.

Inquiring minds want to know why the Religion of peace can behave peaceably with any other religion.

It's not my intention to but in on your domestic issues, but Boyd, keep up the good work!

#177 Tre B.
I don't claim that Islam is a Religion of peace, and I don't claim that Christianity is a Religion of peace either. I'm not hooked up to any Religion, and I think that give me a wider perspective of what's going on around the world. If you have studied history, you must have seen that various Religions have fought each other ever since they emerged. What's happening to day, is that it's not so much Religion behind the conflicts, though many people hide behind it in doing crazy things. In the world today, with all sorts of communication between us, the reason for conflicts is more likely based on social and cultural differences, than on Religion. The world Religions has more in common than what's dividing them. Still, in the long run, I claim that talk between nations and different cultures is the best way to solve problems, not force.

Didnt mean to put words into your mouth, but the point is there is already a world conflict going on now. I fully agree with you that no one reilgion has the market cornered on fundimentalism, but the fact is that Islamic fundimentalism right now is on the war path. I also agree that talk is good, when both sides are willing to listen,and work together. I would point out that talking was useless against Hitler, and Imperial Japan. Isreal talked with the PLO and was willing to give them 98% of what they were asking for and the Palistanians chose war. I really dont believe that the Fundamentalist Muslims want to talk right now, they want war....NOT ALL MUSLIMS, the Fundamentalist Muslims. I would also disagree that CHRISTIANITY is a religion of peace, there is no HOLY JIHAD in CHRISTIANITY...now the CRUSADES on the other hand..........

How does Joe Wilson speaking out necessarily expose his wife as a CIA agent? The troll in here is losing a grip. Occam's Razor anyone?

I enjoyed reading HAPPY POST LABOR DAY's note #3. It is axiomatic that to him/her that Saddam's WMD arsenal, though useless, is an arsenal nonetheless. All those rocks in my back yard are a reminder that anytime now I might just blow up my neighbor's home or attack Canada. The rocks may not be useful in that endeavor but they prove that I can attack and blow up anyone, anywhere in the world because the stockpile of rocks proves that I am intent on doing evil. I can't deliver those rocks anywhere but they are still weapons. Is there no depth of inanity that conservatives will not sink to? Is no useless weapon ever no longer a threat?

tre beloc,

I was afraid that you might be outgunned, but there are only fifteen or twenty Cornuts posting against your logic, and you have their heads exploding.

Your logic versus their emotion. Logic wins every time.

182
K,
I believe The WAR ON TERROR is an open-ended scam which has no real objectives other than to consolidate power and wealth in the hands of the military industrialists and oilmen for whom the Bush-Cheney admin work.

"American fascism will not be really dangerous, until there is a purposeful coalition among the cartelists, the deliberate poisoners of public information...with a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power."

Henry Agard Wallace
Vice President
United States of America
1944

Cerebral Cud:

Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. Benito Mussolini

Fascism is capitalism in decay. Vladimir Lenin

GIVEN WHAT WE KNOW, IS IT ANY WONDER RUMMY AND THE RIGHT IS USING ISLAMOFACSISM TO DESCRIBE THE OTHER. SORT OF LIKE A GEOPOLITICAL "GOT YOU LAST" WHILE THE TEACHER'S BACK IS PROPERLY DISTRACTED.

The world would do well to remember the lesson of Israel's raid on the Osirik reactor in Iraq. I watched a documentary titled "The raid on the Reactor" last week and it sent chills up my spine. There are many parallels with our present-day situation re: Iran and their quest for the bomb.

Just as Saddam Hussein did years ago, Iran today claims that their intentions are only peaceful and that they are not persuing the goal of making nuclear weapons.

Well, we now know that Saddam was intent on making at least three devices to provide the "final solution" re: Israel. We know that Saddam's intentions were always to develop nuclear weapons. It is truly eerie to watch this show and the included news clips from that time! They are almost identical in words and context as Iran's words today!

My friends, we should be THANKING Israel for taking out Iraq's reactor BEFORE it could be brought on line. The reason they did it themselves is that the rest of the world would not act. Israel judged rightly that they simply could not wait until Saddam possessed the capability to a wipe out their major cities and bring down their country!

To those of you who say there's nothing wrong with Iran or N. Korea or any other despotic regime obtaining the bomb, I say you are fools and simply do not understand the world as it is or the history of nations who ignore clear and ominous threats.

Doremus,

Your a fkn idiot. I hope you are present at the next "scam" perpetasted by your friends, the Islamists of Al Qaida!

Arrrgggh... fingers are moving faster than my brain this morning. Of course I meant to say PERPETRATED.

Yes, Doremus, you are truly a fool if you believe that tripe you just posted. Why don't you just pack up and move over to Afghanistan and look up your friends. Maybe you could smoke a peace pipe with them. Geez.

So what will we and the other Western nations do, ignore the stated purpose of Iran to wipe Israel off the map? Will we allow yet another despotic, terrorist regime to develop nuclear weapons?

Why do you think the U.S. is testing and perfecting nuclear-tipped bunker busting bombs, hmmmmm?

#172
Boyd,
As I read the article by Larry Johnson 'Wrecking Patrick Fitzgerald', I was curious as to the date. I'm going to link the article so that people know the date and the can read the comments section. Very interesting.

Wrecking Patrick Fitzgerald
-----------
I can't find the date on the article but it is evident in the comments section.

So we are now at war with Islamic fundamentalists in a global war to the finish. 20 years ago Oliver North and Reagan supplied Osama and the Jihadists weapons to fight the Russians who were trying to impose a secular regime, and combat Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan. 3 Years ago, Bush invaded Iraq to depose Sadam and get rid of one of the most secular regimes, one that was continually killing fundamentalists, had with our support invaded Iran. Do we know which side we are on, or should be on. Or is the goal really continuous war.

What happened to the latest "scary scam?" All it did was distract everyone from the lieberman fiasco for a few days and make flying a major pain in the ass. Waiting for the Oct. surprise, I bet it will be a humdinger.

Tre, good try but these lemmings will follow Mr. Corn-hole over the cliff. After the Wash.Post laughed at your book, you'll be calling them bush-backers. As a conservative I will admit the ABC movie will probably be more fiction than truth, unlike a lib who believes Farenheit 9/11 is the bible and Moore is the second coming.

Cornposters,

Maybe if we could all just sit around singing "Kumbayah", the world would be a safe place. I still have some daisies I placed in the National Guard gunbarrels.

Just think - we could all get along. Cornposters hate wars; ergo, by wishing, they would all be eliminated (the wars, not the Cornposters).

Let's do like Steppinwolf says - send all the guns and the bombs into space.

Nirvana!! The Age of Aquarius!!

Or not.

We need more warriors and fewer wusses.

"It's time to start killing them [Muslims] in large quantities"
-factchecker

Reporters will reveal what outed CIA officer did for agency

John Byrne
September 5, 2006

A detailed accounting of the work of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson -- the outed agent at the center of the CIA leak scandal -- could break open as soon as today in The Nation, according to an individual familiar with the story.

The 'Plame' scandal, which resulted after a conservative columnist outed Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA officer in the wake of her husband's critique of the Bush Administration's Iraq WMD intelligence, has embroiled the Administration in a two-year public relations battle to assert that the outing was not connected with her husband's critique.

I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney's erstwhile chief of staff, was indicted last fall for covering up his role in the affair. Karl Rove, Deputy White House chief of staff, faced five appearances before the grand jury investigating the case but was not charged.

RAW STORY previously revealed that Plame had been working in the counterproliferation of nuclear materials in Iran. Our story, published in February, suggested a new level of seriousness to Plame's work at the CIA, which was written off by skeptics as a desk job.

The source would not give any specific details of the nature of the story, but characterized it as significant. The story comes from the new book, Hubris, a tell-all about the lead-up to the Iraq war written by Newsweek's Michael Isikoff and Nation Washington editor David Corn.

Isikoff and Corn revealed last week that former Colin Powell Deputy Richard Armitage had been a source for the original story outing Plame, written by Robert Novak.

The new story may appear online at The Nation as soon as today. Hubris is scheduled for public release on Friday.

TEXT

Cornposters,

"For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag who gives that protester the freedom he abuses to burn that flag.

But don't waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my Party today. In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.

They don't believe there's any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.

It is not their patriotism -- it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking.

They claimed Carter's pacifism would lead to peace -- they were wrong.

They claimed Reagan's defense buildup would lead to war -- they were wrong."

Zell Miller - 2004

Book: Plame Worked Iraq Pre-War WMD
By Justin Rood - September 5, 2006, 4:11 PM

Outed CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson held a senior position in the CIA's intelligence-gathering group tasked with nailing down the details of Saddam Hussein's WMD programs, a new book says.

From spring 2001 until Bush Administration officials leaked her identity to reporters, Plame -- her maiden name, which was used to out her -- was an undercover operative placed in charge of the operations group for the agency's Joint Task Force on Iraq. She oversaw clandestine programs to acquire inside knowledge of the Hussein regime's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs, report David Corn and Michael Isikoff in their new book, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War."

Some, including the National Review's Jonah Goldberg, claimed Plame had been "a desk jockey" before her outing. Bob Novak, who played a key role in revealing her identity, called her an "analyst."

Corn and Isikoff note that at the time of the outing Plame was "in the process of changing her clandestine status. . . to official cover, as she prepared for a new job in personnel management," Corn writes on the Nation Web site today. "Official cover" means an operative acknowledges they work for the U.S. government, although not necessarily the CIA. The book says she planned to return eventually to undercover work.

From the JTFI, the two men report Plame ran a network of U.S. residents of Iraqi descent with relatives who worked in the Iraqi government's scientific operations. That operation was first disclosed in New York Times reporter James Risen's recent book, "State of War."

According to both accounts, the CIA encouraged the residents to ask specific questions of their relatives about Saddam Hussein's weapons development programs. Risen reported that 30 men and women went to Iraq and met with relatives ("Hubris" counts only a "few"); they all returned with the information that no such programs existed.

Earlier this year, news outlets reported that Plame was working on tracking Iranian nuclear efforts when her cover was blown. Outing her caused "severe" damage to the efforts, one reported. In his Nation online piece, Corn notes only that Plame had "assisted operations involving Iran and WMDs."

TEXT

Boyd,

No, them is the third-person plural objective pronoun referring to "Islamofascists". Please show me where I referred to peaceful Muslims, if you believe differently.

And, yes, I believe in killing large numbers of Islamofascists. I also believe that the killing of large numbers of Germans and Japanese in World War II, British and Hessians in the Revolutionary War, Mexicans at San Jacinto and the Alamo, Southerners in the Civil War, etc., was also critical to the winning of those wars.

Or does that offend your tender sensibilities?

With the progress of modern weaponry (i.e. limited nuclear capabily that the right espouses), how long do you think it will be before we have MAJOR blowback?

I do think the US needs to be real with our use of force. I would kill the enemy (and a lot of them) if I COULD BELIEVE MY GOVERNMENT!! I would say, kill bin Laden and those actually responsible for 911 with overwelming force, make a statement and stop chasing ghosts.

Again, are the personal attacks really necessary component to your argument, or are you just a nasty rightwing ideologue?

With the progress of modern weaponry (i.e. limited nuclear capabily that the right espouses), how long do you think it will be before we have MAJOR blowback?

I do think the US needs to be real with our use of force. I would kill the enemy (and a lot of them) if I COULD BELIEVE MY GOVERNMENT!! I would say, kill bin Laden and those actually responsible for 911 with overwelming force, make a statement and stop chasing ghosts.

Again, are the personal attacks really necessary component to your argument, or are you just a nasty rightwing ideologue?

Go David Corn! Thanks for dig dig digging! Now we have one more group of professional insiders added to the list of people that were unable to confirm the Bush administration's relentlessly repeated pre-invasion mantra "Iraq posesses WMD'S".

Valerie's findings put her on the Iraq has NO WMD's bus with Iaea's Han Blix, Iaea's Mr. El Baradei, David Kelly (remember Bush sent this guy over to Iraq), the Duelfer report, and Scott Ritter.

Damn I hope Patrick Fitzgerald takes Cheney out.

On the topic of accountability it certainly appears that this Republican controlled congress requires LIES having to do with a BLOWJOB to thoroughly investigate in house criminal activities that have "allegedly" threatened our National Security. The pre-invasion INTELLIGENCE SNOWJOB shoved down the throats of the American people is just not serious enough for this Republican controlled congress..

(R) Senator Patrick Roberts should be required to step down if he continues to roadblock, divert and delay the investigation of the false pre-war intelligence. These delays have left the door open for those (Ledeen, Feith, Hannah, Wurmser, Bolton and others) who "cakewalked" (lied) our nation into Iraq to run free and set the stage and push hard for pre-emptive military strikes in Iran.

What is the status of Phase II of the SSCI (Senate Select Committee on Intelligence) ?
Will Senator Reid have to call for a special session again?

"Kill without checking the facts," the bushbot motto. "It's fun to shoot some people." General James Mattis

Lies about a blow job lead to impeachment.

Lies about intelligence used to justify an agressive war lead to....

Blair will step down as PM next July, report says Sep. 6, 2006. 01:00 AM PETER GRAFF REUTERS NEWS AGENCY

LONDONTony Blair will leave office next July 26, Britain's Sun newspaper reported today, as the increasingly unpopular prime minister faced growing pressure to quit from within his own Labour party.
The report comes a day after a top political ally said Blair would probably leave office within a year.
The Sun said Blair would step down as head of the Labour party on May 31, less than a month after his 10th anniversary in office.
He would resign as prime minister eight weeks later, after an election to choose a successor as party leader, expected to be his finance minister, Gordon Brown.
Blair, winner of a record three consecutive elections for Labour, has already said he will not stand for a fourth term. His popularity has plunged after a series of government scandals over sleaze and mismanagement, as well as controversy over the Iraq war.
Blair's office declined to comment on the Sun story.
==============
No doubt there will be a very profitable book deal and a nice, cushy job with the world bank or BP to compensate him for his loss.

It's time to start killing them in large quantities based on drummed up facts.

Plame Over?
By Sonia Smith
Posted Monday, Aug. 28, 2006, at 6:31 PM ET

Bloggers are pondering Richard Armitage's role in the Plame debacle and wondering whether or not to be offended by Conan O'Brien's poorly timed plane-crash skit at the Emmys.

Plame Over? In this week's Newsweek, Michael Isikoff drops the bombshell that former Colin Powell deputy Richard Armitage. a notorious trafficker in Washington gossip, served as Bob Novak's original leak of information regarding Valerie Plame. Armitage learned of Wilson's identity from a classified State Department memo, one that did not mention Plame's maiden name or that she was a covert operative. This information comes a week in advance of the publication of the book Isikoff co-authored with David Corn, Hubris.

Liberals are still suspicious, and some doubt Armitage was the only leaker. Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly's Political Animal writes: "Whether his gossiping was innocent or not — about which I remain agnostic — the fact remains that several other people were also aggressively talking to multiple reporters about Plame's role at the same time. If Armitage really didn't have any malicious intent, it's a helluva coincidence that he happened to be gossiping about the exact same thing as a bunch of other people who did have malicious intent," he writes.

Fact or fantasy? "It's fun to shoot some people."

Fred Barnes still busy spinning

The Plamegate
Hall of Shame
Instead of Cheney or Rove or Libby, the real culprits are favorites of the Washington elite and the mainstream press.
by Fred Barnes
09/11/2006,

The rogues' gallery of those who acted badly in the CIA "leak" case turns out to be different from what the media led us to expect. Note that we put the word "leak" in quotation marks, because it's clear now there was no leak at all, just idle talk, and certainly no smear campaign against Joseph Wilson for criticizing President Bush's Iraq policy. It's as if a giant hoax were perpetrated on the country--by the media, by partisan opponents of the Bush administration, even by several Bush subordinates who betrayed the president and their White House colleagues. The hoax lingered for three years and is only now being fully exposed for what it was. Let's start at the top of the rogues' list:

at Weekly Standard

#87, Carol,

$40 a day,(for jury duty consider yourself lucky. California is $5 a day, the first day not included...

Back to the comments...

How Much Does It Cost Your Household for War?

Lew Rockwell

...Take a blind guess what the percentage of the US Federal budget is allotted to war making? Ten percent? A third of the federal budget? Guess again, could it be half of the annual federal outlays? Seems impossible, but it may be so.
Really, military spending is much greater than the 49% figure because this percentage is calculated on federal outlays, not revenues. The expense budget includes money that was borrowed to fund war. When calculated as a percentage of revenues only, not counting borrowed money, the percentage rises even higher.
There is another way defense spending is minified. Federal funds (from taxes) and Trust Funds (from Social Security and Medicare) are lumped together (so-called Unified budget) so the human needs portion of the budget looks bigger, the war budget relatively smaller.
One of the other ways the federal accounting practices diminish the size of war spending is to compare it against the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), rather than the total revenues in a year. Or restated, defense spending is often calculated as a percentage of total earnings in the entire population rather than a percentage of taxes paid to government. ItÔøΩs a ruse. So military spending in 2004 was said to be only 3.9% of GDP. This makes it sound like hiring security guards costs less than 4% when it actually costs about half of the federal revenues.
No wonder the federal government has to hide the largesse of its war machine. Bankers love wars funded by debt so they will gain perpetual interest on their money.
=============
A very good article on govt. accounting shenanigans. If we don't get rid of every one of these war mongering, bank worshipping traitors we can kiss all our social safety nets goodbye. This is why they will revive the push to privatize SS, they know the money will soon be spent on this war machine. Butler was right, war IS a racket.

Katherine Harris Wins Fla. GOP Senate Nomination Source: Associated Press
U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record) overcame a campaign ridiculed even by her own party to claim the GOP nomination for the Senate on Tuesday, and Rep. Jim Davis held a narrow lead in the race for the Democratic nomination to succeed popular Gov. Jeb Bush.
With 48 percent of the precincts reporting, Harris had 50 percent of the vote against three relative unknowns. Attorney Will McBride ran second at 30 percent, and retired Navy admiral LeRoy Collins had 15 percent.
Davis led state Sen. Rod Smith 46 percent to 41 percent.
State Attorney General Charlie Crist held a big lead in the race for the Republican nomination to replace Bush, who must step down because of term limits. Crist had 64 percent of the vote to 34 percent for Tom Gallagher, the state's chief financial officer.
As Florida secretary of state six years ago, Harris oversaw the recount that gave George W. Bush the White House. She was expected to win the primary even though her campaign was widely ridiculed as spectacularly inept, even by her own party.
===============
HOORAY!! Now the ailing citrus groves can be healed! What is that Menchen quote about the voters eventually getting the moron they deserve?

The 10 Most Brazen War Profiteers
By Charlie Cray, AlterNet. Posted September 5, 2006.

Halliburton has become synonymous with war profiteering, but there are lots of other greedy fingers in the pie. We name names on 10 of the worst.

********************************

And did we tell you the name of the game, boy, we call it riding the Gravy train.

********************************

Key Points: President's National Strategy For Combating Terrorism (GOV'T TO GO AFTER CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND MISINFORMATION?) Source: Washington Post

Today, The President Released His Updated National Strategy For Combating Terrorism (NSCT), Which Outlines The United States Government Strategy To Protect And Defend American Interests At Home And Abroad From Terrorism. In the years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States, along with our partners, have waged a relentless war against the terrorists using all elements of national power and influence. We have made substantial progress in degrading the al-Qaida network, killing or capturing key lieutenants, eliminating safehavens, and disrupting existing lines of support.
Defeating Terrorism In The Long Run Requires That We Diminish The Underlying Conditions In Society That Terrorists Seek To Exploit By Advancing Effective Democracy: * Terrorists Exploit Political Alienation. Democracy gives people an ownership stake in society. *
Terrorists Exploit Grievances To Blame Others. Democracy offers the rule of law, the peaceful resolution of disputes, and the habits of advancing interests through compromise. *
Terrorists Exploit Misinformation And Conspiracy Theories. Democracy offers freedom of speech, independent media, and a marketplace of ideas to expose and discredit falsehoods. *
Terrorists Exploit An Ideology That Justifies Murder. Democracy offers a respect for human dignity and rejects the targeting of innocents.
=============
I love that last line, rejecting the targeting of innocents, what a hoot!! Thank you bush for saving me from the terror of misinformation and conspiracy theories! I feel safer already. He is fucking deranged.

Robert, riding the gravy train, that pretty much sums it up. Pink was always in the know!

Y'all come to the Busheviks' Fear Fest Source: Online Journal

Yes, George and Dick and Don and Karl are rounding up the party favors for the mother of all Fear Fests, which will run from Sept. 11 through Nov. 7 (and maybe a bit longer if the vote isn't fixed their way).
What we have seen and heard so far is just the warm-up for the fun to come. You know, those hilarious speeches about us being the fascists, terrorist sympathizers (Bush is really over the edge if he thinks we sympathize with him and his criminal gang), defeatists, ad nauseum.
There will be a lot of flag-waving and prayers. Must not forget the prayers -- especially the ones that ask the deity to smite all us fascists, terrorist sympathizers, defeatists, godless liberals and whatnots. Maybe some witch-burning and stoning, too.
Jews, beware or you may end up at the stake with the rest of us evildoers. After all a new book, The Architect: Karl Rove and the Master Plan for Absolute Power, according to RAW STORY, alleges George told a reporter that when he got to Israel he was going to tell Jews "they're all going to hell." Israel couldn't have a better friend, right? Then all George needs Israel for is to play its assigned Book of Revelation role in bringing Armageddon on. But we're getting ahead of ourselves . . .
George and Dick and Don and Karl will regale us with how evil Osama, at the urging of Saddam, sent 19 goons, armed with box cutters, to hijack commercial airliners and fly them into buildings, as ABC-TV's propaganda docudrama, blaming Bill Clinton for 9-11, fills our television screens. (Whoa, was Clinton in cahoots with Osama and Saddam? The Busheviks can't have it both ways, can they?)
Yes, George has gotten the Osama doll out of the box . . . cave . . . undisclosed location and dressed him up as a combination of Hitler and Stalin. Scary, huh? Condi will do her "mushroom cloud" act, with George and Dick and Don and Karl singing, "If we don't fight them over there, we'll have to fight them here, doop, doop." (Too bad we're heading into autumn or they could sing and dance to Mel Brooks' lilting "Springtime for Hitler.")
There also will be continuous showings of al-CIAduh's latest hit: The Jewish Adam Pearlman again playing Muslim Adam Gadahn, this time inviting (warning?) "all Americans and unbelievers" to convert to Islam. Hmm . . . the "or else" seems to be missing.
Are you shivering yet? Do you feel icy fingers running up and down your spine? No?
Would a guest appearance by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), doing a reprise of his faceless terrorists who "drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night," raise your fear level, give you goose bumps? How about make you clamor for ID cards, DNA sampling, random strip searches and travel permits (all to keep you safe from "terrorists")?
Hey, you never know. The Busheviks have warned us repeatedly about brown skin guys who doff their "head towels" and shave their beards. Yup, they are lurking everywhere just waiting to pounce with their liquid bombs (oops, shouldn't have used the B word) and penis pumps.
But getting back to the entertainment, since the 9-11 replay is only good for a few weeks, by October, if George is lucky, Saddam's latest show trial could declare a recess in order to treat us to his beheading, hanging, shooting or however they choose to kill him. The trial, of course, will resume in his absence.
If things are still going badly for the Busheviks and the Republicans as Halloween rolls around, Dick and Don will set off some real fireworks. Maybe a shock and awe number on Iran and/or Syria. And who knows what Dracula Dick, to the glee of George, will unleash Conrad's cab-driving terrorists to do to freak out Americans. Oh, this is going to be a grand Fear Fest. Admission is free and there will be Kool-Aid for all.
============
Maybe we'll even have some fireworks courtesy of the fatherland goons, right here in the good ole USofA! Nothing like a terrorist attack to rally the troops. The last one has been going strong for 5 years but seems to be wearing a bit thin.

Democracy offers the rule of law, the peaceful resolution of disputes, and the habits of advancing interests through compromise. *

*********************************

AS in:

A carpet of gold, or a carpet of bombs. As offered to the Taliban - Pre-9/11.

ps new thread.

re 53

54 Tre Beloc -- Yeah, they all had concerns. The point being, they didn't launch an unprovoked, illegal war based on lies.

65 Happy -- Read 53 again, bozo. Mr. Wilson could not and did not expose his wife. Bush himself took care of that task by telling Cheney to destroy Mr. Wilson. Somewhere along the line, Cheney/Rove/Libby came up with the brilliant idea to expose Plame. My question was, why?

Think about it. Had Ms. Plame been, say, a mechanic, or a window washer, or a fashion model, do you suppose she would have even been mentioned beyond casually in the press?

But that is not the case, is it? Plame knew what few did, that there was no intelligence to be had on non-existant WMDs. It was most imperitive to keep that bit of news quiet.

What was the intention of the Bush Gang to expose her? Retaliation agaist Joe? Come on. Or was it convenient at the time for them to do so? Perhaps kill two birds with the proverbial one stone: Wilson squealed, discredit him, and discredit his wife because she knows too much, and maybe that will keep the others quiet. Was that it?

I'm just asking the question: Why would the Bush Gang risk federal prosecution for exposing a covert agent? There is only one answer: Because it was worth taking the risk. The nut of the case is, then, what was worth taking the risk?

Bob

Let's not forget Richard Perle..Richard Perle:

Prince of Darkness
Compiled by Irshad Salim

MAR 30: Just a week ago, Richard Perle, the powerful chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board (DPB) and the leader of the neo-conservative hawks who have pushed the drive to war in Iraq , reportedly threw a victory party at his house in celebration of the US-led invasion.

One week later, a far less cheerful Perle not only resigned as DPB chairman amid mounting conflict-of-interest questions, but also "slammed down the phone" on an inquiring New York Times reporter who had disclosed his controversial financial relationship with the bankrupt Global Crossings company last week.

For the first time in memory, the neo-conservatives, whose ideology and media and political savvy have fuelled the imperial trajectory of the administration since the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, are on the defensive and taking hits from just about every direction.

They are being blamed in particular for the growing public impression that the US military campaign is not going according to plan and may indeed be bogging down, exposing US servicemen and women to much greater risks and a much longer war than virtually anyone, especially the neo-conservatives, had foreseen.

More than any other group, it was the neo-conservatives who surround Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney, like Perle and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who had predicted that the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would collapse like a house of cards once the Pentagon's "shock and awe" strategy was on full display.

Let's not forget Richard Perle..

Richard Perle:
Prince of Darkness
Compiled by Irshad Salim
MAR 30: Just a week ago, Richard Perle, the powerful chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board (DPB) and the leader of the neo-conservative hawks who have pushed the drive to war in Iraq , reportedly threw a victory party at his house in celebration of the US-led invasion.

One week later, a far less cheerful Perle not only resigned as DPB chairman amid mounting conflict-of-interest questions, but also "slammed down the phone" on an inquiring New York Times reporter who had disclosed his controversial financial relationship with the bankrupt Global Crossings company last week.

For the first time in memory, the neo-conservatives, whose ideology and media and political savvy have fuelled the imperial trajectory of the administration since the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, are on the defensive and taking hits from just about every direction.

They are being blamed in particular for the growing public impression that the US military campaign is not going according to plan and may indeed be bogging down, exposing US servicemen and women to much greater risks and a much longer war than virtually anyone, especially the neo-conservatives, had foreseen.

More than any other group, it was the neo-conservatives who surround Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney, like Perle and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who had predicted that the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would collapse like a house of cards once the Pentagon's "shock and awe" strategy was on full display.

Mother Jones recently published a detailed Iraq War timeline which offers a big picture of indisputable facts. Worth picking up Friday when you're in the bookstore.