A recent Knight-Ridder investigation concluded: The administration’s case on ties between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda relied on intelligence that was weaker than that on Iraq’s illegal weapons programs. The article linked above discusses some of the "evidence" that has been paraded about (here and elsewhere) purporting to show the alleged connection between Iraq and al Qaeda. Yes, this too, … Read More
Sarin Nerve Agents Found!
They’re here. Seriously, are we supposed to have this stuff at all? And if it is kosher, shouldn’t we be taking better care of it?
GAO: DOD Paying Billions to Tax Cheats
WASHINGTON – The Department of Defense paid billions of dollars in 2002 to more than 27,000 contractors that owed $3 billion in unpaid taxes, according to a draft copy of a General Accounting Office investigation obtained by NBC News. Full story here. I know I’m just, you know, a relative nobody, but . . . isn’t the solution obvious??? Either … Read More
Neglecting Intelligence, Ignoring Warnings…
The Center for American Progress has compiled a "cheat sheet" of sorts — a chronology of the Bush Administration’s failure (refusal?) to listen to intelligence agencies who said the case for war was weak. Nothing new in it for some of us, but it’s all compiled in one place (PDF version; hyperlinks to sources). Flawed in some respect, because it … Read More
The Blame Game
It seems (for most of us, anyway) that the WMD question is resolved — Iraq had none. But other questions remain . . . Was our intelligence bad? Or was our intelligence "messaged" by the Bush Administration in order to make its case to the American people? Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institute (and author of "The Threatening Storm: The … Read More
This May Explain It . . .
Bush-ites are proud to point out that Bush’s military budget is strong and robust, compared to Clinton — who "slashed" it. The best response to that is to point out that even though Bush was CoC, it was essentially "Clinton’s" military that won the Iraqi War. That shuts them up (sometimes). But there may be other reasons to explain the … Read More