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
Another Day, Another Lie Exposed
The constant drumbeat of misdoings just continues: On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. and Kurdish troops had turned out to be long-sought mobile "biological laboratories." He declared, "We have found the weapons of mass destruction." The claim, repeated … Read More
Civil War Dominoes
From CNN: Top intelligence officers from several Arab countries and Turkey have been meeting secretly to coordinate strategies in case civil war erupts in Iraq and in an attempt to block Iran’s interference in the war-torn nation, Arab diplomats said Tuesday. The meetings came after several Arab leaders voiced concerns about possible Shiite domination of Iraq and sect leaders’ alliance … Read More
Quote Of The Day
"The mission was to insulate the president. It was about making it appear that he wasn’t in the know." That’s a quote from a Bush administration official. What’s he talking about? He’s talking about how Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political adviser, cautioned other White House aides in the summer of 2003 that Bush’s 2004 re-election prospects would be severely … Read More
Fox Trying To Spin Good News From Iraq
Digby caught this. Fox reporter Bill Hammer got back from Iraq and turned in a report, including this hilarious bit: We’re in a "cop-shop" outside Falluja. A year ago, they went out on patrol for three hours. Later it was one hour. Then seven minutes. Now they can’t get them to go out at all. But then again, the building … Read More
Top Ten Mistakes The Bush Administration Is Repeating From Vietnam
This is very good, and you should read the whole thing. My favorite from the list: 1. Underestimating the enemy. As in Vietnam, the superpower’s potent military has been astounded by the tenacity and competence of a nationalist rebellion attempting to throw a foreign occupier from its soil. For example, the U.S. military, a hierarchical organization, views the Sunni insurgency … Read More
It’s Not A Democracy If We Meddle Into It
For all its talk about wanting to make Iraq a self-sufficient democracy, the Bush Administration sure likes to kibbitz and strongarm: Senior Shiite politicians said today that the American ambassador has told Shiite officials to inform the Iraqi prime minister that President Bush does not want him to remain the country’s leader in the next government. It is the first … Read More
Grape News From Iraq
Yup. I’ve been too negative about the way things are going in Iraq. Sure, I could write about the events of the past few days — like the 69 Iraqis killed in military blunders over the weekend, the U.S trained police acting as death squads, the string of kidnappings, or the fact that Iraq’s ruling parties are so pissed at … Read More
Huge Iraq Screwup
The Left Coaster: A day after Iraqi Special Forces under the supervision of American advisors apparently shot up a Shia religious center in Moqtada al-Sadr’s stronghold, the Iraqi government itself is blaming us for the killings of possibly 40 worshippers, possibly execution-style. Government ministers are condemning the Americans for the killings, and Saddam’s former Number Two, a Sunni who has … Read More
About Those Iraqi Schools
Bush supporters complain that the "good news" in Iraq isn’t being reported. They condemn the media for not talking about the number of schools open, and so on. Well, here’s some Iraqi school news: On Wednesday, armed insurgents burst into the classroom of Khidhir al-Mihallawi, an English teacher at Sajariyah High School, accused him of being an agent for the … Read More
Provoking A Confrontation
THE PRESIDENT: I think your premise — in all due respect to your question and to you as a lifelong journalist — is that — I didn’t want war. To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong, Helen, in all due respect — Q Everything — THE PRESIDENT: Hold on for a second, please. Q — everything I’ve heard … Read More
Bush Bites
(1) Tuesday, Bush said this: Mr. Zarqawi and al Qaeda, the very same people that attacked the United States, have made it clear that they want to drive us out of Iraq so they can plan, plot, and attack America again. This is just one of the many many things that Bush says that just floats across the screen into … Read More
Bush: Troops To Stay In Iraq Throughout His Presidency
Today’s press conference: REPORTER: Will there come a day, and I’m not asking you when — I’m not asking for a timetable — will there come a day when there will be no more American forces in Iraq? BUSH: That, of course, is an objective, and that will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq. Looks like … Read More
Good News From Iraq Is Just Hope and Hooey
Yesterday, and again today, Bush says there is a lot of good news from Iraq that doesn’t get reported. He cites, as his Exhibit A, the success story of city of Tall Afar. The problem is, it’s B.S.: A Washington Post employee interviewing residents of Tall Afar found continuing anxiety in the streets. "Al-Qaeda has started to come back again," … Read More
“See? If You Just Shield Your Eyes Like This, It’s Easy!”
The AP headline: Bush Asks U.S. to Look Past Iraq Bloodshed The accompanying photo: I think the folks at AP are havin’ a little fun today.