More on Rummy:

A Star With Too Many Points?

Critics Fear Candid Rumsfeld Has Impeded Iraq Coalition

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's cranky frankness made him a star in a bland administration, but now his periodic slaps at Europe are being blamed by some for adding to the administration's difficulties in recruiting a coalition to confront Iraq.


To the surprise of foreign policy specialists and even some White House officials, Rumsfeld has become a leading administration voice on diplomatic matters -- and is widely viewed abroad as the official who most closely reflects what President Bush really thinks.


So when Rumsfeld dismissed France and Germany as "old Europe" last month, and provocatively included Germany with Libya and Cuba as "three or four countries that have said they won't do anything" to assist in reconstructing a postwar Iraq, his comments offered a measure of vindication for Europeans who contend that Bush has no interest in working with officials who do not instantly agree with him.


German Defense Minister Peter Struck told his parliament this week that he found Rumsfeld's linking of Germany to Libya and Cuba "unacceptable and un-American."


When an interviewer for German television told Rumsfeld last week that many Germans were outraged by the gibe, Rumsfeld replied, "All I was doing was accurately representing what they have said publicly. I can't imagine why someone would be so sensitive to be concerned about it."


Brushing off another critic, Rumsfeld said the French "are frequently recalcitrant about a lot of things."


Though Secretary of State Colin L. Powell speaks for the United States at such forums as yesterday's meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Rumsfeld's style has often eclipsed Powell on issues of global security, according to Loren B. Thompson of the Lexington Institute, a public policy think tank. "Powell's careful locutions can't compete with the blunt eloquence of Rumsfeld," Thompson said.


Even at the United Nations, Rumsfeld's remarks echoed yesterday, as speakers from France, China, Britain and Bulgaria referred with various degrees of tart humor as coming from "old" countries. Powell responded by saying he came from a "relatively new country," but the "oldest democracy" at the table.


Still, Rumsfeld's critics say he has made it more difficult for France, Germany and other countries to make behind-the-scenes compromises with the United States. "At a moment of grand diplomacy, you try to figure out a subtle way to back the other party into your corner," said James P. Rubin, an assistant secretary of state in the Clinton administration. "When Don Rumsfeld speaks, much of Europe and the rest of the world disagree with him before he even opens his mouth."


Plenty of differences would separate Bush and Western Europe in any case, but Ezra N. Suleiman, director of the Committee for European Studies at Princeton University, said Rumsfeld has "rubbed salt in the wound," and helped squander the sympathy for the United States that spread through Europe after the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.


Foreign policy scholars said much of the damage would be felt in the aftermath of a war with Iraq, when the United States would be trying to enlist other countries to help fund the occupation of Iraq, or if allies were to reduce the pressure on their law enforcement and intelligence bureaucracies to cooperate with their American counterparts.


"The United States might be better off at this point if Rumsfeld makes major amends or resigns, the damage is so severe and so counterproductive to our interests," said Michael E. O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "We don't want to bear all the consequences of the Muslim backlash unilaterally."


Sometimes Rumsfeld's freewheeling comments have caused headaches for others in the administration. He cast aside the administration's formulations about Middle East policy when he referred in August to "the so-called occupied territories" adjoining Israel. And veterans groups reacted furiously last month when Rumsfeld said Vietnam War draftees provided "no value, no advantage, really, to the United States armed services over any sustained period of time." He subsequently issued a written apology, but insisted his remarks had been taken out of context and distorted by some in the media.


White House officials admit they have occasionally cringed at Rumsfeld's timing and choice of words. "Sometimes the stalking horse gets a little far out in front of the parade," one official said.


But the officials said those occasions have been rare and noted that, to the dismay of some in the State Department, Bush has given his imprimatur to Rumsfeld's style by allowing him to continue to speak freely. Some officials said Rumsfeld had deliberately assumed a "bad cop" role, willing and able to make unpleasant but useful pronouncements.


"It might make those people who would rather not deal with serious issues uncomfortable," a senior defense official said. "But somebody has got to be the adult."


Samuel R. Berger, national security adviser to President Bill Clinton, said that during a recent international security conference in Munich, Rumsfeld was "firm, tough in terms of NATO and the U.N., but he also said we understand people can disagree with us, something I've not heard before."


Rumsfeld's defenders contend that he is just telling the plain facts, and that the public finds it refreshing. Eliot Cohen, a conservative political scientist at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said Rumsfeld "has a penchant for saying unpleasant truths."


At 70, Rumsfeld has played so many roles in previous Republican administrations -- including ambassador to NATO under Richard M. Nixon, White House chief of staff and defense secretary under Gerald R. Ford -- that he clearly feels unconstrained about offering his views about matters beyond the military.


His playful, occasionally sarcastic asides have made his televised briefings unusually entertaining for the gravity of the subject matter. He has riffed about what his "sniffer" is telling him; and when asked about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's claim that he has no relationship with al Qaeda, Rumsfeld retorted, "And Abraham Lincoln was short."


The president ribbed Rumsfeld about his colorful reputation when they appeared together at Bush's ranch in August. "I want to learn how you answer questions," Bush said. "They tell me you're quite good at it."

Washington Post Link

I'll comment on Rummy's attitude tomorrow.

Salon's swan song?

I have some bad news for the progressives amongst you. It appears that Salon Media Group, the parent of the online Salon Magazine is pretty much out of cash, and deeply in the red. While the site expenses shouldn't be huge, it appears Salon's staff must have some very posh offices.

As one of the very few "big" websites with a leftist bent, it's demise if it occurs will be sorely missed. In case you're thinking about helping them out, according to this article, Salon Media owes the landlord, in excess of $200,000. You can also read some more about Salon's situation at the referenced link.

On a more positive note, Andrew Sullivan, Salon's token conservative will no longer be taking up valuable drive space.

I'm ever hopeful that Salon will remain in some fashion, as it is sorely needed as a voice of reason in a wilderness of ill-researched conservative vitriol.

Peace,

Todd

***

Okay, I have had a very bad day. I was just alerted to this:

US to punish German 'treachery'

Peter Beaumont, David Roseand Paul Beaver
Sunday February 16, 2003

The Observer

America is to punish Germany for leading international opposition to a war against Iraq. The US will withdraw all its troops and bases from there and end military and industrial co-operation between the two countries - moves that could cost the Germans billions of euros.

The plan - discussed by Pentagon officials and military chiefs last week on the orders of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld - is designed 'to harm' the German economy to make an example of the country for what US hawks see as Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's 'treachery'.

The hawks believe that making an example of Germany will force other countries heavily dependent on US trade to think twice about standing up to America in future.

This follows weeks of increasingly angry exchanges between Rumsfeld and Germany, in which at one point he taunted Germany and France for being an irrelevant part of 'old Europe'.

Now Rumsfeld has decided to go further by unilaterally imposing the Pentagon's sanctions on a country already in the throes of economic problems.

'We are doing this for one reason only: to harm the German economy,' one source told The Observer last week.

'Our troops contribute many millions of dollars. Why should we continue to support a country which has treated Nato and the protection we provided for decades with such incredible contempt?'

The rest of this ugly development here

Comment: I know that the Pentagon Hawks are miffed that any nation that disagrees with them on any point is guilty of a punishable offense, but this is just absurd. Germany has been a good friend of the US since Hitler's demise. And yes, this very well may be more toothless puffery, but it does show the world that the US is in no way a responsible leader. Rumsfeld appears more and more to be an anachronistic relic of the cold war. A hollow septuagenarian husk of a man that dreams of youthful conquest unrealized. It's too late, Donald. Step into the 21st century, or step aside.

***

In the news

False Alarm?

Terror Alert Partly Based on Fabricated Information

By Brian Ross, Len Tepper and Jill Rackmill

Feb. 13 — A key piece of the information leading to recent terror alerts was fabricated, according to two senior law enforcement officials in Washington and New York.

The officials said that a claim made by a captured al Qaeda member that Washington, New York or Florida would be hit by a "dirty bomb" sometime this week had proven to be a product of his imagination.

The informant described a detailed plan that an al Qaeda cell operating in either Virginia or Detroit had developed a way to slip past airport scanners with dirty bombs encased in shoes, suitcases, or laptops, sources told ABCNEWS. The informant reportedly cited specific targets of government buildings and Christian or clerical centers.

"This piece of that puzzle turns out to be fabricated and therefore the reason for a lot of the alarm, particularly in Washington this week, has been dissipated after they found out that this information was not true," said Vince Cannistraro, former CIA counter-terrorism chief and ABCNEWS consultant.

Full story

It seems that our government has been using terror alerts as a method of distraction. For many this has worked.

***

Consequences and Reality

by Kirwan February 14, 2003

This is obviously a very complex time in the world. And one of the most conflicted players on the stage is George Bush. Much has happened since this man first appeared in the Office of the Presidency of the United States, and neither the US nor the world seems to be able to deal with his dysfunctional style of leadership.

Part of the problem seems to be that Bush II has never had to live in reality. This is someone who has led a sheltered and extremely protected life. Where most leaders can cite a long list of successes that impelled them to high office - Dubya can only give excuses for his list of failures and exemptions from personal responsibility.

Consequently, having experienced neither privation nor any real accomplishments by his efforts - Bush comes to the job as irredeemably damaged goods. A leader in name only who lacks compassion, understanding, and even the ability to clearly speak about ideas. In an effort to come to grips with the dimensions of this dilemma - perhaps an overview of some flashpoints may offer a glimpse into how we came to be where we are now - and why this president and his cabinet needs to be impeached now.

Much more here

The above is a must read!!!!

***

The Rush to War

Crisis Papers.org's excellent overview of the current situation with Iraq, replete with links to many good Op-Eds and articles.

A day's worth of reading here...enjoy

***

I know this is going to be difficult to believe, but Resident Bush believes Alan Alda, yes that Alan Alda to be a scientist. Sure, he can seen on Sci-Am Frontiers on PBS, and is a nice chap, but he's an actor. :) He's hardly a prudent pick as National Science Adviser..at least to me.

Alda writes:

Dear Mr. President,

I think there may have been a terrible mistake. I'm not a scientist.

Worse than that, I'm an actor. So, I don't know how I got recommended to you as a candidate for science advisor. Possibly, someone felt that if we could let an actor be president without major damage beyond a trillion or two, why not science advisor? But, I'm also a writer who has a lifelong interest in science, and I host the PBS program Scientific American Frontiers, and I have played Richard Feynman on the stage, so I can see where the confusion might have arisen.

If you choose to name me as your advisor on scientific matters, I would consider it my duty not to turn you down, but I think it only fair to let you know the kind of advice I'm liable to give you.

The Edge.org has the rest of the letter

I'm as puzzled by this as anyone, but Alda's letter is a gem. Go read it. Now!!! :)

***

Global Eye -- Cold Fronts

By Chris Floyd

The opening of a long-delayed civil suit in a London courtroom; a brief, buried article on a judicial nomination; a fluctuation in the commodities market: three mundane, seemingly-unrelated items in the news last week that combined to give a fleeting glimpse of the ugly reality behind the frantic, diversionary facade of the "civilized world."

The London case involves our old friends, BCCI, the international bank that served as the front for a global crime ring involving top officials and Establishment worthies in dozens of "civilized" nations. BCCI ran guns to Saddam and other heavies, funded Pakistan's illegal nuclear weapons program, laundered drug profits, peddled prostitutes, doled out bribes, served as a conduit for covert CIA operations -- and, through its connections to the bin Laden family, gave George W. Bush a sweetheart loan of $25 million to bail out one of his many business failures.

One of the respectable organizations tainted by the ring was the Bank of England, which was the financial regulator for BCCI when the front finally collapsed in 1991 -- leaving its legitimate creditors some $11 billion in the hole. Not surprisingly, some of these victims filed suit against ye olde B of E, claiming that its oversight of BCCI left something to be desired. But successive British governments -- including the plagiaristic poodle-led pack currently in power -- have fought for years to quash the lawsuit, the Observer reports.

That's because the trial could open a can of particularly grubby worms concerning the British government's extensive canoodling with BCCI. A host of worthies are expected to be grilled in the dock, including John Major, former British prime minister and current business partner of George Bush I in yet another secretive international front that profits from war, weapons, violence, repression and the greasing of highly-placed palms: the Carlyle Group.

Follow the Money here...

Truly an interesting case. If you really want to dig, try the always popular Project for a New American Century and Carlyle Group's websites. Entertaining in the same way that horror films are.

***

Dumb nukes make good policy!! Gee!!!

GOP plan would revive use of nuclear arms
Policy paper urges new generation of warheads

A group of House Republicans proposed a fundamental shift in America's nuclear weapons strategy on Thursday, saying the GOP would push for the design and manufacture of a new generation of warheads, a more aggressive policy on their use and steps that would make it easier to resume nuclear testing.

The group of 23 lawmakers, as members of the policy committee that helps set the House legislative agenda, specifically called for the repeal of a decade-old law that prohibits the development of smaller, low-yield weapons of less than 5 kilotons.

The panel, known as the House Policy Committee, also urged that the U.S. government be allowed to initiate pre-emptive nuclear attacks against hostile nations with caches of biological or chemical weapons. It called upon the government to rebuild industrial sites for manufacturing key nuclear components and to speed up preparations for a resumption of underground testing after a 10-year moratorium.

Read more about this brilliant strategy here..

Micro-nukes, they're not just for tactical strikes, order yours today!!!! This is just the kind of weapon that must make terrorists salivate...Hey, let's make 'em!!!!

I dunno.

***

Make Them Accountable

Did someone say "impeachment?"

The Republican mantra, when it comes to public education, is "make them accountable." By "them" they mean the teachers, administrators, even the test-tormented youngsters. They are not concerned with private education -- aside from handing out vouchers thereto -- because that's where their wealthy donors send their kids. They only care about public education, at least long enough to break its back.

The scrutiny that the Bush administration has focused on this single segment of public governance is obsessive, perhaps the only aspect of actual governing over which the president has any interest in breaking a sweat. I propose, then, that we use that same mantra to "grade" this Republican administration. Let's "make them accountable."

Let's make them accountable on the economy. We can use statistics provided by those two radical bastions, MSNBC and the Associated Press.

· U.S. stocks have lost almost $5 trillion of their value since Bush took office two years ago. The market has fallen more (in percentage terms) during Bush's first two years than in the first two years of any modern president, including Herbert Hoover. Stocks fell at a much faster rate from Bush's inauguration through Sept. 10, 2001, than they have since.

More fun here..

Accountability..hmmm I guess it's a somewhat ambiguous term. Maybe someone can lend the Administration a Webster's Unabridged. I'm certain they'll be able to find an antry that suits their position :)

***

Impending War on Iraq
George Bush's faith-based foreign policy

In public statements, President Bush has often avowed his personal religious faith, and from the beginning of his administration, he has sought to draw churches and other religious organizations into the orbit of the government's provision of goods and services -- the so-called faith-based initiatives. Bush insists that such religious providers have an excellent record in helping drug addicts and others who have gone astray to get their lives back on track.

Although the president has yet to announce formally that his foreign policy also relies heavily on faith, this reality has become increasingly clear as his term in office has unfolded.

When the administration released its "National Security Strategy" to Congress last summer, the grandiosity of the intentions expressed in the document stunned many observers -- as Mises Institute historian Joseph Stromberg noted, "it must be read to be believed." The strategy amounts to an enormously presumptuous agenda for domination of the entire world, not only overweening in the vast scope of the specific ambitions enumerated but also brazen in the implicit assumption that the president of the United States and his lieutenants are morally entitled to run the planet.

Learn more about Christian warfare here...

Ya know, we hear a LOT about Bush's faith, I wonder if he has faith in the American people to know what a 'just' cause, for war might be? Who should hold the rights to determine casus belli, one man and his group of advisers, or the other 280+ million people living in this country? I don't know, I'm only asking.

***

It's the Oil, Stupid
Markets of Mass Destruction

By JASON LEOPOLD

Why is it so difficult to accept the fact that America's thirst for oil is the primary reason for waging a war against Iraq? For months, foreign journalists have reported that the United States has been running low on oil--a fact--and only by using military force in Iraq would the U.S. be able tap into the region's oil wells to meet the threat of supply shortages here.

But to try and argue in the mainstream media that the U.S. is only interested in starting a war with Iraq because of its vast oil supplies and you're immediately branded a conspiracy theorist. That's why most U.S. journalists don't even bother to explore the possibility, according to media experts.

"The media doesn't want to cross the president," said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a media expert and senior scholar at the University of Southern California's School of Policy, Planning and Development. "I've only seen one or two articles in the mainstream media about oil being the reason for a war against Iraq. There is not real investigative reporting in the mainstream media here because reporters don't care or have the kind of energy necessary to investigate thoroughly that oil could be behind a war with Iraq. But it's appropriate to ask that question and debate it."

The balance of the article here..

I'm not so naive as to think that Iraq is about oil. It is too a degree, but it is not, in my estimation a primary motivation. It is about Israel, a more stable region and a myraid other things. I'm working on a paper that makes the most sense to me. The above is a good read for other reasons, but the oil angle is a distraction.

***

Gwynne Dyer: Don't forget dry-cleaning Mr Rumsfeld

If we could sneak a look at United States Defence Secretary Don Rumsfeld's agenda for the next month or so, it would probably go a bit like this:

March 16 - Attack Iraq. Special Forces to seize oilfields. Drop off dry-cleaning.

March 19 - 10th Mountain Division enters Baghdad. NSC meeting. pm. Condi's b/day: flowers?

March 21 - Victory press conf. @ Pentagon. Regrets re Saddam shot while trying to escape. Collect dry-cleaning on way home.

It could happen exactly like that, too - if all the US technology works perfectly, and nobody in Iraq fights back, and everybody else in the Middle East behaves. (Except the dry-cleaning, of course - you know that won't be ready on time.)

But there is another possible timetable, not to be found in Rumsfeld's agenda but possibly lurking at the back of his mind, which goes like this.

March 16 - US attacks Iraq. Saddam blows oil-fields. Anti-American riots in Jordan, Egypt, and Pakistan. Iraq fires Scud missiles at Israel.

March 17 - Israel fires 100 missiles at Iraq. Riots intensify throughout Muslim world. Hizbollah launches 100 Katyushas into northern Israel from southern Lebanon.

March 18 - Israel invades southern Lebanon. Coup in Pakistan; new government orders US forces out. Islamist Palestinians overthrow king of Jordan and cancel peace treaty with Israel.

March 19 - 10th Mountain Division enters suburbs of Baghdad; severe street-fighting. Israeli forces start to push Palestinians out of West Bank into Jordan; fighting at Allenby Bridge.

March 20 - Saudi Arabian National Guard rebels; civil war in Arabia. New Pakistan Government declares it will make nuclear weapons available to Arab states confronting Israel. US casualties in Battle of Baghdad pass 200; first use of chemical weapons; spot oil price reaches $85 a barrel.

March 21 - Don Rumsfeld resigns; forgets to pick up dry-cleaning.

more dry cleaning humor here..

It's interesting to get a smple as to how the Iraq issue is playing on the world stage. The above Op-Ed does get into some interesting territory, but you'll have to open the link to find out more :)

***

Here's a shocker from the UK!!!

CIA 'sabotaged inspections and hid weapons details'

14 February 2003

Senior democrats have accused the CIA of sabotaging weapons inspections in Iraq by refusing to co-operate fully with the UN and withholding crucial information about Saddam Hussein's arsenal.

Led by Senator Carl Levin, the Democrats accused the CIA of making an assessment that the inspections were unlikely to be a success and then ensuring they would not be. They have accused the CIA director of lying about what information on the suspected location of weapons of mass destruction had been passed on.

The row is of heightened significance given the Bush administration's preparations to argue later today before the UN Security Council that the inspections have run their course and it is now time to move to military action.

Must reading..you know the drill!!

This story is very credible. What happened in the Senate is beyond dispute. The CIA, being the spook service of the executive branch, has done, and will continue to do, things of this very nature. Either the US isn't giving thr intel to Hans Blix and Co., or they are simply lying. No gray area here.

***

In bin Laden's Mind, a Good Start on Goals

February 13, 2003

My plan is working well. When I, Osama bin Laden, ordered the blessed events of Sept. 11, I hoped to provoke an apocalyptic conflict between the faithful and the infidels. And not only is that happening, but also the Americans and Europeans are breaking up their alliance.

Indeed, the Americans are so desperate to destroy Iraq - a country that had nothing to do with the righteous destruction of the World Trade Center - that they don't care if they antagonize the major countries of all Eurasia. Happy is the man who watches his enemies fight each other.

My audiotape, released Tuesday, has sealed the fate of that socialist apostate, Saddam Hussein. I see Colin Powell on CNN saying it proves a "nexus" between my al-Qaida and his Iraq. Hah. As I said on that tape, the only connection between me and my enemies is my swordpoint hitting their neck.

Umm, click me..

I don't know who James Pinkerton, the author is, and I'm too lazy to read his bio., but this is an almost witty bit of black humor. I would have enjoyed it more, if it wasn't so close to the truth. Blah..I'm fading quickly.

***

Tangled Up In Duct Tape

Hey, you mdidn't think I could leave out the now obligatory duct tape piece, did you? :) Anyway, onward.

February 14, 2003

I left the house yesterday morning, meaning to stop at the hardware store for some duct tape.

We're in Code Orange now. I knew that much. And for the first few days of Code Orange, no one in Washington could say what exactly we were supposed to do here in Code Orange, other than remain vigilant and go about our normal business. Which was precisely what we were supposed to do in Code Yellow, Code Green, Code Blue or any other color you want.

But Tom Ridge, secretary for the Bush administration's new Department of Homeland Security, finally stepped forward and explained. We must all buy duct tape and plastic sheeting to protect ourselves from the terrorists.

Like a panicked husband boiling water as his wife goes into labor - hey, it can't hurt, right? - no one was mentioning any better ideas.

The point, I guess, is that when the terrorists attack us with chemical and biological weapons, we will - what? Cover the windows with plastic sheets and duct tape and hope for the best?

More duct tales here..

The piece is quite good. There is an internal dialogue about troop losses IF we invade Iraq, etc.

***

Brand America

Hint: It aint Wal-Mart

Despite efforts at ‘branding’ the US worldwide, the Bush administration’s foreign policy has found few buyers in the Muslim world

BY RICHARD BYRNE

AT THE DAWN of the 21st century, US foreign policy is conducted on a giant global stage where any open diplomatic foray — such as Secretary of State Colin Powell’s public indictment of Saddam Hussein at the United Nations — has colossal and nearly instantaneous ramifications. The US’s argument for war, made by the nation’s top diplomat, can be beamed worldwide and shape global opinion from Pyongyang to Paris to Phoenix in an instant.

Yet when it comes to winning the battle for hearts and minds across the globe (better known as "public diplomacy"), a single sharp incident can prove to be a thorn in the paw of the United States.

Take what happened to Ejaz Haider, an editor at an English-language weekly newspaper, the Friday Times, published in Lahore, Pakistan. Pakistan is a crucial yet erratic US ally with immense geographic importance in the war on terrorism, so Haider is exactly the sort of figure at which smart US public diplomacy should be aimed. Until last week, America’s aim was true. Haider (who had visited the US on multiple occasions) was visiting again as a research scholar at the Brookings Institution. He was participating in the dialogue about American values and policy that public diplomacy aims to encourage.

Read this please..

This is a good look at the shifting sentiments surrounding US foreign policy around the world. Plus, it's in The Phoenix!!! That commie pinko Boston rag!!!! All kidding aside, a good read.

***

Bush's faith and swagger raise doubts

Just before the Gulf War - the last Gulf War, that is - I was in Baghdad, staying at the Al-Rashid Hotel, when a family moved in across the hall. I remember the children, two boys who played boisterously in the hallway. I wondered what would happen to them when war came.

I suppose such thoughts would make me a bad President. I know that such thoughts were sometimes held against President Bill Clinton. He actually knew the name of a civilian killed by a wayward cruise missile in Baghdad: Layla al-Attar. She was a painter. To some, this made Clinton a softie.

This is not the case with President Bush - and that he seems so untroubled is, in itself, troubling. It's not that I don't think he is right about Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein and, if need be, the necessity to deal with him through war. It's rather that I see America going to war; he sees us embarking on a crusade.

Ahh, life in the 750 word editorial world..

Another Bush crusade bash. If you like that tack, you'll like the above. Me, it's a bit simplistic..or, I could be..umm what's the word? Oh yeah, wrong.

***

Anti-war protests dominate today's headlines

I went to the Concord, NH demonstration, and by rough estimtes, there were as many as one thousand hardy souls that braved -13C weather to show solidarity against an an attack of Iraq.

Hard numbers are going to be difficult to come by, as people came and went, limiting themselves to the arctic weather. It was windy as well, but since I've no official estimate of the wind chill factor, I'll not report on it here. Passersby were almost unanymously supportive. Either that, or they were too polite to show their displeasure.

***

This is just so typical of the week we've had. Apparently, our government, in concert with "law enforcement officials" issued the newsest terror alert based on erroneous information..that's the official story.

Dis-information, deceit, lies and damned lies. That's what our elected and appointed officials are feeding us. The press corps does not need assistance in feeding us a steady diet of lies, but then they've been co-opted as a propaganda wing of the government.

False Alarm?

Terror Alert Partly Based on Fabricated Information

By Brian Ross, Len Tepper and Jill Rackmill

Feb. 13 — A key piece of the information leading to recent terror alerts was fabricated, according to two senior law enforcement officials in Washington and New York.

The officials said that a claim made by a captured al Qaeda member that Washington, New York or Florida would be hit by a "dirty bomb" sometime this week had proven to be a product of his imagination.

The informant described a detailed plan that an al Qaeda cell operating in either Virginia or Detroit had developed a way to slip past airport scanners with dirty bombs encased in shoes, suitcases, or laptops, sources told ABCNEWS. The informant reportedly cited specific targets of government buildings and Christian or clerical centers.

"This piece of that puzzle turns out to be fabricated and therefore the reason for a lot of the alarm, particularly in Washington this week, has been dissipated after they found out that this information was not true," said Vince Cannistraro, former CIA counter-terrorism chief and ABCNEWS consultant.

It was only after the threat level was elevated to orange — meaning high — last week, that the informant was subjected to a polygraph test by the FBI, officials told ABCNEWS.

"This person did not pass," said Cannistraro.

According to officials, the FBI and the CIA are pointing fingers at each other. An FBI spokesperson told ABCNEWS today he was "not familiar with the scenario," but did not think it was accurate.

Despite the fabricated report, there are no plans to change the threat level. Officials said other intelligence has been validated and that the high level of precautions is fully warranted.

The sad sordid story continued here....

Today's fact: The oceans were formed when sand was pulled so fast up the beach that it turned to liquid.

I know I could get people to believe this. :)

***

I just read on the AP wire..oh here's a link, that Rumsfeld doesn't foresee using nukes against Iraq.

That's a nice sentiment. He's a lovley man. Now, what I want to know is this, if the US--oh yeah, and our "alliance of the willing"™--isn't going to use "hot" nuclear weapons, are we going to use depleted uranium "penetrators?" I suspect that the answer to this is yes, in ever increasing numbers.

"Shock and Awe", if still on the table, is certain to leave Baghdad a low level nuclear waste site for billions of years. Sad, huh?

***

It's unclear as to whether or not this will be an effective deterrent against the headlong rush to war. One can only hope. I'm not holding my breath. Just finished duct taping and plastic sheeting my windows and doors. Gee, I guess I'll be in for a bit. :)

Lawsuit challenges Bush on war with Iraq

Feb. 13, 2003 | BOSTON (AP) -- Six House members, members of the military and parents of servicemen went to federal court Thursday to try to prevent the president from launching an invasion of Iraq without an explicit declaration of war from Congress.

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and the other plaintiffs said the October 2002 congressional resolution backing military action against Iraq did not specifically declare war and unlawfully ceded the decision to President Bush.


Conyers cited the passage from the U.S. Constitution that states, "Congress shall have power ... to declare war."

"Get it? Only Congress," Conyers said at a news conference in Washington.

more here

***

Bob Somerby's always informative Daily Howler has been running a story this week about Senator Bob Kerry, and his treatment by the media. It is beginning to appear that Mr. Kerry is going to be tarred with the same "liar" label that hounded Al Gore. Why does our vaunted press corps act like this? I suspect that they have been co-opted by the GOP. A few of the more egregious bits about Kerry:

KERRY: I am lucky, because on Saturday I hope to be back in Washington…But I intend to be back and at it pretty soon. Glen?
QUESTION 1: Senator Kerry, why didn’t you answer truthfully ten days ago when you were asked directly if you were sick, given that you were diagnosed with prostate cancer on December 23 and it’s now mid-February?

KERRY: Very simple, Glen. Very simple reason. Because my doctor was away and I thought it was very important for him to be able to be here and be able to explain what was happening, because I hadn’t finally resolved completely what the course of action would be. And finally, because members of my family, most importantly, had not yet been told. This had developed very rapidly in the course of February. I believed that members of my family deserve to learn not reading the newspapers but deserve to learn from me. And that’s why I made that decision. I could parse the word “sick,” I’m not going to. But I thought my family came first…

QUESTION 2: You’re running for an office where trustworthiness and truthfulness is perhaps one of the key ingredients or one of the qualities for the people seeking that job. Do you think people should draw any broader conclusion about your truthfulness based on the answer—

KERRY: No, I think every American would understand, Glen, that if a reporter sticks his head into your car door as you’re leaving to drive away and asks you if you’re sick, that you don’t owe them necessarily an answer at that moment about what’s happening…

As you can see, attack dog Glen Johnson of the famously liberal Boston Globe is out to prove something. Just what that is, I don't pretend to know. Kerry just today went back to work after having his prostate gland removed due to the aforementioned cancer.

Ahmed Rashid interviewed by NPR's Terry Gross

Who's Ahmed Rashid? Glad you asked.

Here's what Joe Conason has to say about him:

"Ahmed Rashid may well be the single most knowledgeable English-speaking journalist covering the world's Islamic movements. He has spent two decades reporting in the Middle East, Afghanistan and his native Pakistan (where he continues to reside in the city of Lahore). He is also the author of "Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia," and he is currently in the United States to promote the paperback release of his most recent book, "Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia".

Having risked his safety on many occasions to investigate the Taliban, al-Qaida, Pakistani intelligence and other Islamist organizations -- whose extremism and terrorism he courageously opposes -- Rashid cannot be dismissed as any kind of apologist. (Years ago he was sentenced to death by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Islamist warlord and former CIA employee now fighting allied troops and the new government in Afghanistan.) His reporting appears regularly in some of the world's best publications, including the Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review, and is obviously considered highly credible by their editors. His analysis of the current situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan appeared Tuesday on the Journal's ultra-hawkish editorial page."

Link to Interview....it's very good.

Good info. about Ansar el-Islam.

Yeah, yeah, it's 44 minutes in length. But 44 well spent minutes.

Trust me. It's worth your time. No, really.

Bush Admin. and his economists' in rift over details of 2003 Budget.


"Last week, President Bush's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) released the 2003 Economic Report of the President (ERP) to little notice from the press or public. Yet the report, which is produced by the professional economists and staff of the CEA, directly contradicts a number of public statements by the President and other administration officials on two key economic issues: the effects of tax cuts on revenue and the relationship between budget deficits and interest rates.

As the federal budget has slid into deficit, President Bush has become more outspoken in his claims that tax cuts actually increase revenues for the federal government, as Dana Milbank has documented in the Washington Post. On November 13, the President stated, "Well, we have a deficit because tax revenues are down. Make no mistake about it, the tax relief package that we passed -- that should be permanent, by the way -- has helped the economy, and that the deficit would have been bigger without the tax relief package."


Spinsanity's got the whole scoop

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