Remember when one of the lessons of 9/11 was the revelation that the various departments of government don’t talk to each other and share important information? That was supposed to change. But it didn’t: When the State Department recently asked the CIA for names of Iranians who could be sanctioned for their involvement in a clandestine nuclear weapons program, the … Read More
Who Got It Right, And Why Nobody Should Be Listening To People Who Got It Wrong And Still Think They Are Right
Paul Krugman’s Honor Roll of people who had it right, way back when it mattered and could have made a difference: Former President George H. W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft, explaining in 1998 why they didn’t go on to Baghdad in 1991: “Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a … Read More
Bloody Wednesday
11 U.S. troops killed in one 24-hour period — one of the worst tolls of the Iraq War. Total for this month so far is 30. We’re on track to having it be the worst month ever. Bush’s disapproval rating for handling Iraq soared to 71%, a new record for him. And news today that is hardly surprising: the Saudis … Read More
If Bush Played “Deal Or No Deal”
From Bill in Portland Maine: Howie: Mr. President, you have picked every case in numerical order from one through 23. Each successive case you chose contained the highest dollar amount on the board. And every time the banker offered you a deal you shouted… Bush: No deal! Stay the course! HehHehHeh! Howie: So now we’re down to three cases. The … Read More
Questions, Questions, Questions
Bill Bennett reads the Iraq Study Group Report and feels that the commissioners of the group are "smug, arrogant, insufferable", presumably because they didn’t give a wholehearted endorsement to everything happening in Iraq. In the midst of his rant, the smug, arrogant and insufferable Bill Bennett poses the following question: Who are these commissioners and what is their expertise in … Read More
The ISG Report
It came out today, and everyone with more time on their hands than me at the moment is writing about it. As expected, it contains no "silver bullet" for fixing the Iraq Mess, but it is (from what I understand) pretty candid that things are NOT going swimmingly (which everyone seems to already know, save the occupants of the White … Read More
Reality Rears Its Head
Secretary of Defense nominee Gates, just a short while ago at his confirmation hearings, was asked if he thought we were winning in Iraq: "No, sir" Think Progress has the video, and they remind us: Just weeks ago, President Bush expressed the opposite position. From 10/25/06: REPORTER: Are we winning? PRESIDENT BUSH: Absolutely, we’re winning.
Gore Gets Pissed
And he’s good when he’s pissed. When asked what he would have done if he was President, and received the same warnings that Bush did about an impending terrorist attack, Gore said: “That’s a separate question. And it’s almost too easy to say, ‘I would have heeded the warnings.’ In fact, I think I would have, I know I would … Read More
Recommended Reading
Chris Kelly talks about the movie Stalag 17 and the Geneva Conventions Bush: The Worst President In U.S. History? Douglas Brinkley opens the discussion ("yes") and is joined by Columbia Historian Eric Foner, who echos the sentiment; Bob Cessna weighs in — of course, The Rolling Stone addressed this months ago Why is everyone writing about the use of the … Read More
My Score On The “Do You Want The Terrorists To Win” Quiz
Your ‘Do You Want the Terrorists to Win’ Score: 100% You are a terrorist-loving, Bush-bashing, "blame America first"-crowd traitor. You are in league with evil-doers who hate our freedoms. By all counts you are a liberal, and as such cleary desire the terrorists to succeed and impose their harsh theocratic restrictions on us all. You are fit to be hung … Read More
It’s Not Terror….
If you’re not Muslim.
The Rumsfeld Memo
As you probably know by now, just days before he got the heave-ho, Rumsfeld penned a memo to Bush suggesting alternative approaches to Iraq. The New York Times got a hold of it, and printed it on Saturday. What is remarkable (to me) about the memo is how amazing facile it is. It’s a menu of not-well-thought-out-options, lacking any specific … Read More
Blame America First
"How did things get so FUBAR in Iraq? It’s not Bush, Cheney, or Rumsfeld’s fault. It’s the American people’s who stabbed Bush in the back." Josh Marshall has enlightening pieces on this new meme emerging from the political right. He’s quite correct. Three years ago, the American people were largely in favor of invading Iraq. This included many on the … Read More
U.S. Involved In Iraq Longer Than WWII
As of Saturday.
How Stupid Is John Hinderaker?
Unbelievably stupid. Listen as he (once again) tries to claim that the violence in Iraq is not that bad. Let’s start with his conclusion — the last two paragraphs of his post: I wrote in June that based on the data at that time, the murder rate in Iraq outside of Baghdad is about the same as American cities like … Read More