Just so you know.
Why Outing Plame Mattered
Here’s the press release (in its original allcaps): INTELLIGENCE SOURCES SAY VALERIE WILSON WAS PART OF AN OPERATION THREE YEARS AGO TRACKING THE PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS MATERIAL INTO IRAN. AND THE SOURCES ALLEGE THAT WHEN MRS. WILSON’S COVER WAS BLOWN, THE ADMINISTRATION’S ABILITY TO TRACK IRAN’S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS WAS DAMAGED AS WELL. Interesting.
“Mission Accomplished”: 3 Years Later
Three years ago today, Bush gave his Mission Accomplished speech aboard the deck of the USS Lincoln, preclaiming that "Major combat operations have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” Think Progress looks at the before-and-after numbers: May 1, 2003 Today U.S. Troops Wounded 542 17,469 U.S. Troops Killed 139 2,400 Size of … Read More
The Friend Of My Friend Is My Enemy?
I have a hard time keeping the players stright. Bush wanted to let the United Arab Emirates to manage our ports. He said that the UAE is a "committed ally in the war on terror". So . . . UAE = "good guy", according to Bush. Meanwhile, we’re all pounding our chests and beating the war drums because Iran is … Read More
Second Verse, Same As The First
Press Conference with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, yesterday: Q: What planning, if any, has the Pentagon been undertaken for the possibility of military action involving Iran? And has the nuclear strike option been ruled out? RUMSFELD: You know, someone comes up with an idea, runs it in a magazine or a paper; other papers pick it up and reprint … Read More
Deja Vu
LA Times: U.S. intelligence officials, already focused on Iran’s potential for building nuclear weapons, are struggling to solve a more immediate mystery: the murky relationship between the new Tehran leadership and the contingent of Al Qaeda leaders residing in the country. Some officials, citing evidence from highly classified satellite feeds and electronic eavesdropping, believe the Iranian regime is playing host … Read More
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before
Today: Rice says time for talking with Iran is over November 2003: The Bush administration publicly refused to negotiate with Saddam. It demanded that he abide by U.N. resolutions that required Iraq to cooperate unconditionally with U.N. arms inspectors and make a full accounting of its illicit biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs. President Bush rejected Saddam’s assertions that he … Read More
Iran Is This Year’s Iraq
President Bush, 1/13/06: Iran, armed with a nuclear weapon, poses a grave threat to the security of the world. President Bush 10/7/02: Tonight I want to take a few minutes to discuss a grave threat to peace…The threat comes from Iraq…It is seeking nuclear weapons.
Cheney Vs. The Bees
"Some have suggested by liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein we simply stirred up a hornet’s nest. They overlook a fundamental fact: We were not in Iraq in September 2001 and the terrorists hit us anyway." That’s what Dick Cheney said two days ago. Yes, he’s still making the connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11. It’s a sickness, in my view. … Read More
Credibility Consequences
With the Bush Administration being cagy about everything from torture to its "evidence" leading up to the Iraq War, it’s no surprise that the world view of America’s credibility has shrunken. In fact, most countries apparently view our credibility on a scale apar with that of Iran: [D]oubts about the intelligence persist among some foreign analysts. In part, that is … Read More
Condi Thinking About Giving The Silent Treatment To Iran President
From AP: "Iran needs to get a message from the international community that is a unified message," Rice said at a news conference that focused mostly on talks she plans to hold in New York next week during the special session of the U.N. General Assembly. She said she might say "hello" to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if they come … Read More
“I Don’t Know”
That’s what I was once told to say when I didn’t know. I re-learned that lesson as a young lawyer: if a judge asks you a question, and you don’t know the answer, admit that you don’t know the answer. That is how you maintain your credibility. Sadly, the Bush Administration didn’t do that with respect to WMDs in Iraq. … Read More