"Today there is hatred of the Americans like never before in the region," said Egyptian President (and ally) Hosni Mubarak, speaking of the Middle East. You can read all about his comments here: "Mubarak: Arabs Hate U.S. More Than Ever" (Reuters) Quick! What best describes your reaction? (1) "Who gives a tinker’s cuss about what Arabs think of America?"(2) "I’m … Read More
Rice vs. Bush
Apparently, Dr. Rice doesn’t read my posts here. Like this one. Today, before the 9/11 Commission, she characterized the threats that were coming in (during the Spring and Summer of 2001) as: "Troubling, yes. But they don’t tell us when; they don’t tell us where; they don’t tell us who; and they don’t tell us how . . . " … Read More
Bush vs. Bush
"Let me just be very clear about this . . . Had we had the information that was necessary to stop an attack, I’d have stopped the attack. … If we’d have known that the enemy was going to fly airplanes into our buildings, we would have done everything in our power to stop it." – Bush, quoted recently here … Read More
Front Burner, My Ass – Pt II
Last one, I promise. (Well, maybe I’ll touch upon it again when Cheney and his chauffeur meet with the 9/11 commission . . .) This, too, is a confirmation of Clarke’s allegations. National Security Adviser Condi Rice was to speak at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She had a major policy speech that was to … Read More
Powell Adds Credence to Clark Testimony
Not intentionally of course. Here’s the timeline which tells the story: December 16, 2000 – Powell nominated by Bush to be Secretary of State. December 20, 2000 – Powell meets with CIA, FBI and the State Department for the transition. "We talked about al Qaeda," Powell later admits. January 17, 2000 – Powell testifies at his confirmation hearing. Outlining the … Read More
Outsourcing Torture
The Village Voice has an interesting article on a CIA practice known as "extraordinary rendition". What it basically means is this: we pick up a suspect (i.e., a terrorism suspect) in a foreign country. Then, rather than interrogate him here in the United States, we ship him off to Syria or someplace where the authorities there can practice, uh, more … Read More
Rice To Testify
The White House is backpeddling. Which is fine. Doing the right thing . . . eventually . . . is the best we can hope for from the Bush Administration. But here’s something that struck me as odd — today’s letter to the 9/11 Commission from the White House counsel, especially this self-serving statement: The President has consistently stated a … Read More
More Corroboration of Clarke
[Outgoing Deputy National Security Advisor Lieutenant General Donald L. Kerrick], who stayed through the first four months of the Bush administration, said, "candidly speaking, I didn’t detect" a strong focus on terrorism. "That’s not being derogatory. It’s just a fact. I didn’t detect any activity but what Dick Clarke and the CSG [the Counterterrorism Strategy Group he chaired] were doing." … Read More
Law Enforcement & Intelligence vs. Terrorism
Kerry’s still singing that same tune about how law enforcement activities and intelligence activities are going to win the war on terrorism. He said it again yesterday, even though it makes him look "soft" (to some): This is the time to redouble our efforts in every way – law enforcement activities, intelligence activities — and deal with this threat to … Read More
Who’s the Dupe?
Please read this story . It is a story saying that an al Qaeda-linked terrorist group issued a statement saying that it wants Bush to be elected. I assumed it to be a joke, like the recent fake "NY Times" article that got the NYT all worked up. Part of the tip-off for me was the reporter’s name, "Opheera McDoom". … Read More
Bush Embarrassment Watch CLXIII
With all the "One Year Later" retrospectives going around, a reader at Atrios’ site posted Bush’s speech of March 13, 2003 — the start of the war. Many of us thought it was a crock then — and now — with benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it clearly was one. This passage particularly struck me: The terrorist threat to America and … Read More
Gotta Love This Ad
Even if you disagree with the message, I hope you can agree that Moveon.org’s new ad is unique and captivating. It’s powerful in its simplicity. It doesn’t manipulate with music. It doesn’t have commentary and voice-overs. It doesn’t pay actors to pretend to be something they’re not, with scripted words. It doesn’t twist words, or selectively edit. Just 30 seconds … Read More
Why They Voted Socialist
Afraid of al Qaeda? It doesn’t look that way . . . But interviews with scores of Spaniards of both parties indicated that a number of things happened after the attacks that shifted the balance to the Socialists. Voters flooded the polls on Sunday in record numbers, especially young people who had not planned to vote. In interviews, they said … Read More
The War on Terror So Far . . .
Pluses: Saddam Hussein out of power Many dead/captured terrorists or Iraqi resistence Minuses: 550 dead American soldiers 200 dead Spanish citizens Lord knows how many dead innocent Iraqis Lord knows how many wounded No new democracies (just two police states, and a new socialist leader in Spain) Bin Laden still alive al Qaeda still active (obviously) Taliban controls 1/3rd of … Read More
Bush Weak On Nuclear Terrorism?
This article in Foreign Affairs begins: President George W. Bush has singled out terrorist nuclear attacks on the United States as the defining threat the nation will face in the foreseeable future. In addressing this specter, he has asserted that Americans’ "highest priority is to keep terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction." So far, however, his words have not … Read More