Sanctions Worked and Iraq Was Not A Gathering Threat

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

So says the United States government investigation. An extensive U.S. investigation has found that Iraq destroyed virtually all its chemical and biological munitions in 1991, a dozen years before President Bush ordered U.S. troops to invade based largely on the alleged threat posed by those weapons. The report will be presented Wednesday to a Senate committee by chief U.S. arms … Read More

Soldier’s Letters to Moore

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

As you may know, Michael Moore is coming out with a book of letters and emails that were sent to him from soldiers fighting in Iraq. The Guardian has an exclusive excerpt for those of who give a rat’s ass.

Undercutting Allies?

Ken AshfordBush & Co., Election 2004, IraqLeave a Comment

JANESVILLE, Wis. – Democrat John Kerry wrongly questioned the credibility of the interim Iraqi leader [Ayad Allawi], and "you can’t lead this country" while undercutting an ally, President Bush said Friday. From here. President Bush then ate some "freedom fries", dissed "old Europe", and talked about how ineffective the U.N. is. Seriously, this is the scariest thing about Bush, in … Read More

Has Rumsfeld Gone Insane?

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

"Let’s say you tried to have an election and you could have it in three-quarters or four-fifths of the country. But in some places you couldn’t because the violence was too great. Well, so be it. Nothing’s perfect in life, so you have an election that’s not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet." — … Read More

Nice Find

Ken AshfordIraq, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

Hard to know who to give credit to for this one (perhaps the Village Voice), but someone gets kudos for finding this State Department document entitled The Network of Terrorism. It was posted on the U.S. State Department website in November 2001. Anyway, on page 12 of that document, we find a list of countries — and a map — … Read More

Selfish Pessimist Ruins Laura Bush Rally By Asking Questions

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

HAMILTON — The Pennington mother of a soldier killed in Iraq was arrested and charged with trespassing after she interrupted first lady Laura Bush’s speech yesterday. Sue Niederer was arrested after she was escorted from the Colonial Fire Co. hall on Kuser Road where the Republican rally was being held yesterday morning, according to Hamilton police Lt. James Kostopolis. Niederer … Read More

Welcome To America, Terrorists!

Ken AshfordWar on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

No kidding. These guys really are terrorists in every sense of the word — attempted assassination of a world leader, murder and conpiracy to murder consulates and other dignataries (including an American citizen), firing a bazooka at a U.N. building, . . . the list goes on and on. They flew into Miami last month, and KNOWING WHO THEY WERE, … Read More

Never Mistake A Mirror For A Window

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

Via Kevin Drum, we hear from William Arkin, a military analyst with the L.A. Times, who opines about the military blunders of the Bush Adminstration. One of them, one still not learned, is: Never mistake a mirror for a window. With dismaying frequency, Bush, Rumsfeld and senior military leaders have made critical decisions on the basis of what they thought … Read More

February 19, 2002 and the Bush Cover-up

Ken AshfordWar on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

(1) February 19, 2002 Rewind to that date. This was only 5 months after 9/11/01. The United States had barely begun its invasion of Afghanistan. This was loooong before the Bush White House starting rolling out (and marketing) its new "product" — the Iraq War. According to Bob Graham, he ran into a very dejected General Tommy Franks on that … Read More

How’s Democracy Doing in Afghanistan?

Ken AshfordForeign AffairsLeave a Comment

REALLY GOOD! Here’s what Bush said on Rush today: I just would remind your listeners that Pakistan is now an ally in the war on terror [Except for its government workers and scientists – Kman]. Saudi now takes Al-Qaeda seriously, and they’re after the leadership. Libya is no longer got weapons of mass destruction [They’ve given away the designs to … Read More

Bush Administration Officially Goes ‘Round The Bend

Ken AshfordBush & Co., War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

The better title for this post is "Trust But Verify", but that was already taken. But seriously, what is up with this? In a significant shift in U.S. policy, the Bush administration announced this week that it will oppose provisions for inspections and verification as part of an international treaty that would ban production of nuclear weapons materials. For several … Read More

Skanks

Ken AshfordElection 2004, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

Back here, I posted about an article in the New Republic, the gist of which was this: A White House aide asked the Pakistani government (specifically, their intelligence agency) to find or kill a high-level al Qaeda operative, adding "it would be best if the arrest or killing . . . were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July" — … Read More