This topic has been churning in the blogosphere and media for 48 hours now (at least), and I have nothing new to add. But I am absolutely appalled at the poor defense given to the action, as a matter of constitutional law. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution is quite simple: There shall be no warrantless search and seizures of … Read More
Note On Bush’s Primetime Speech
(1) Bush said: Reconstruction efforts and the training of Iraqi Security Forces started more slowly than we hoped. … At this time last year, there were only a handful of Iraqi army and police battalions ready for combat. And here’s what Rumsfeld said "at this time last year" (12/8/04, to be specific): Their security forces, as I mentioned earlier, are … Read More
Congress Not Informed Of All Intelligence Issues Relating To Iraq
The non-partisan Congressional Research Service has issued a report explaining specifically the areas in which intelligence was not shared with Congress. Key graf: The executive branch generally does not routinely share with Congress four general types of intelligence information: the identities of intelligence sources; the "methods" employed by the Intelligence Community in collecting and analyzing intelligence; "raw" intelligence, which can … Read More
29 Months – The Reality Gestation Period
George Bush, 12/14/05: It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong. George Bush, 7/14/03: I think the intelligence I get is darn good intelligence and the speeches I have given are backed by good intelligence. Rule of thumb: Next time Bush assures us about something, don’t take it to the bank — wait at least … Read More
McCarthyism
It’s alive and well. A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn’t know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military. A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News … Read More
1000 Days of the Iraq War
Here’s the stats so far: $204.4 billion: The cost to the U.S of the war so far. 2,339: Allied troops killed15,955: US troops wounded in action98: U.K troops killed30,000 : Estimated Iraqi civilian deaths0: Number of WMDs found66: Journalists killed in Iraq. 63: Journalists killed during Vietnam war8: per cent of Iraqi children suffering acute malnutrition53,470: Iraqi insurgents killed67: per … Read More
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
SCOTUS Update: Rumsfeld v FAIR
This is arguably one of the most important cases of this term, and I simply didn’t have time to summarize it before oral arguments today. Below is a summary from the folks at SCOTUSblog. Before I begin, I want to make a prediction that the Solomon Amendment will survive this case. The Court is simply too conservative to let it … Read More
Easy Question
UPDATE AND BREAKING NEWS: The American Civil Liberties Union will file a lawsuit today against former CIA director George Tenet and three American contractors challenging the CIA’s abduction of a foreign national for detention and interrogation in a secret overseas prison, RAW STORY has learned. The suit alleges that Tenet and other CIA officials violated U.S. and human rights laws … Read More
9/11 Commission Give Bush Failing Grades
The 9/11 Commission’s last report gives Bush failing marks in fighting the War on Terrorism, which has been set aside so that Bush can engage in a War in Iraq. Read the report (PDF)
The State of Iraqi Troops
Last week, President Bush explained how the Iraqi troops were getting better trained, which meant good news for U.S. troops’ withdrawal (because as Iraqi troops stand up, our troops will stand down). As I pointed out before, what Bush said was a lie. And now he is being flatly contradicted . . . by the Iraqis: The training of Iraqi … Read More
Bush Lied
I’m talking now about the speech he gave yesterday. Bush said: The progress of the Iraqi forces is especially clear when the recent anti-terrorist operations in Tal Afar are compared with last year’s assault in Fallujah. In Fallujah, the assault was led by nine coalition battalions made up primarily of United States Marines and Army — with six Iraqi battalions … Read More
Why The Bush Strategy Isn’t A Strategy At All
Here’s a section of Bush’s strategy plan for Victory in Iraq (PDF). This is under the section entitled "The Political Track In Detail". Key words to that heading are: "…in Detail". Even with this solid progress, we and our Iraqi partners continue to face multiple challenges in the political sphere, including: Ensuring that those who join the political process leave … Read More
More on Bush’s “Victory In Iraq” Strategy
Here’s the real problem with Bush’s "Victory in Iraq" strategy. We’re supposed to be fighting al Qaeda — they are the bad guys who pose a threat to us. Where’s the "Victory Against Al Qaeda" plan? Sure, the Bush "Victory in Iraq" plan seeks to prevent al Qaeda from establishing a foothold in Iraq, but of course, al Qaeda never … Read More
Bush’s “Victory in Iraq” Strategy (or “Look, If We Built This Giant Wooden Badger….”)
I haven’t read it (things are crazy here), but Matt Yglesius has. It sounds like what I expected: a laundry list of ideal goals, but not an actual plan on how to achieve them. Here’s Matt: [I]t’s plain that there’s no actual strategy here. The document calls for "building democratic institutions" and eventually "providing an inspiring example to reformers in … Read More