Leaving the 20th century
As more information becomes available about the recent past it becomes necessary for revise the conventionally accepted picture of the War on Terror in the light of new revelations. One site that illustrates the forthcoming flood is the Pajamas Media Iraq files dedicated to covering newly released documents confiscated during OIF. More new documents have just been released and one can only guess what's in them. Some of the documents have already suggested that Saddam may have been in contact with Osama Bin Laden before September 11 to plot terror attacks against the US, though to what extent is yet unknown. A number of recent books have already made good contributions to recent history and more are in the works. Among them: George Packer's Assassin's Gate, Bing Wests's No True Glory and most recently Gordon and Trainor's Cobra II. Nobody is going to be completely happy with the new information. Saddam was not as innocent of WMD intentions as many Liberals retrospectively claimed him to be. He was more brutal than anyone could imagine him to be. Administrations supporters will be unhappy to learn that Donald Rumsfeld and President Bush probably made errors in judgement in the planning and execution of OIF. But Liberals will be saddened to discover that President Bush may not have been eager to invade Iraq at all, despite portrayals to the contrary by the press, deciding only after the intelligence community (which did not entirely cover itself with glory) convinced him that Saddam was an imminent threat. We learn that press exaggerations may have helped abort the first battle of Fallujah, probably to the detriment of the American cause. The recent histories will reignite the debate the role of Colin Powell; whether de-Baathization was a good move in retrospect and about a dozen other things. And about Donald Rumsfeld: the Jawa Report now thinks he should go. Suggestive stories are still pouring in. For example, it may be the case that Saudi Arabian and Pakistani engineers helped destroy the Bamiyan Buddhas. Saddam apparently funded the Abu Sayyaf.
Sebastian Junger (of the Perfect Storm) says Pakistan is still supporting the Taliban and may have helped Osama Bin Laden escape American capture. Details in April's Vanity Fair. Christopher Hitchens highlights the distortions that are closer at hand, pointing out Al Qaeda's almost Satanic and long-standing plan to set every ethnic group in Iraq against every other may succeed because of the US domestic preoccupation with the blame game. Aller gegen alle. And not just in Iraq.
Commentary
Photo: http://www.zombietime.com/global_day_of_action_march_18_2006/
It would have been surprising to discover a really simple narrative behind the events of the last four and half years. The public is only now beginning to catch a glimpse of the fantastic complexity that somehow lay beneath the placid exterior of the 1990s, an era that came to an end with everyone worrying about the millennium software bug but which failed to anticipate September 11. The emergence of bewildering detail is reassuring in this respect: the events since are not the simple contrivance of a few bureaucrats at the Mossad or the CIA. Real historical forces and not cheap conspiracies are at work, though perhaps not every politician has realized that yet.
posted by wretchardthecat at 3/21/2006 05:02:00 AM
77 Comments:
I've ommitted Able Danger and the anthrax letters from this narrative and still don't know what documents Sandy Berger stuffed in his pants. Maybe one day we'll know.
Anyone who thinks that any war will ever be fought without mistakes doesn't know anything about war, or indeed practical affairs in general.
Perhaps what is really astonishing is what happens when additional information does become available - which all too often is ... nothing.
I have an old friend who went nuts over the impending Y2K crisis. He made all sorts of preparations, from burying guns in his back yard to buying solar electric panels to establishing an emergency hideout in a nearby swamp. He was somewhat sheepish when nothing happened on 1 Jan 2000, but when the attacks of 9/11/01 hit he said "I told you so!" He had built his life around the Y2K Disaster and when that did not happen, any disaster would do.
He and I don't talk any more. I wish dealing with who ignore evidence about the necessity of dealing with Iraq was that simple.
Here is where you can approiately talk about the role of the internet.
One thing that struck me about 9/11 was the amount of clarity with which Americans in general and the USA as a whole responded to events in the days/weeks/months afterwards. It was as if the events did not cause confustion but rather caused a general focusing.
A lot of credit for that clarity and rapid response can go to the president but also a lot of credit for that clarity can go to the internet.
Had the events of 9/11 happened a decade earlier before the advent of the internet -- the confusion would have been much much greater.
The second part here is the history. Kudos to Wretchard for his part. Kudos to the internet for enabling a true shape to a complex story to come out in a more timely way.
Getting this history part right is no mean feat and very crucial because it amounts to an intergenerational post op "lessons learned." And of course we're far from the end of it.
But get some bull jive like we got for the McCarthy Era and half the country turns into trash mouths. Why? Because as the geeks speak. "Garbage in Garbage out."
Charles> Here is where you can appropriately talk about the role of the internet.
Make that in boldface, please. Without the internet, the MSM would not have had anklebiters checking the facts and factchecking the factcheckers.
Yeah, there are moonbats and extra noise -- but signal comes through in spite of the static. And those of use who think, think more clearly for the exercise and the help.
It seems clear to me that there are those that claim the systematic murder of 6 million jews did not happen
there are those that have no problem in decaptiation
there are those that seem to have no problem rioting, looting and mayhem over cartoons
there are those that protest american terrorism in iraq and were silent for decades about saddam
9/11 was a temporary wake up call, sadly america has forgotten the enemy is real and vicious
I wonder if those rose colored glasses dulls the pain as the knife is drawn across your throat?
Real historical forces and not cheap conspiracies are at work, though perhaps not every politician has realized that yet.
The way they continue to bicker and grandstand, even as the documents are translated which give us evidence of Saddam's great evil and harm,and the risk Saudi Arabia poses for us, and our need to truly understand what is going on -- all of this makes the legislative branch the Great Albatross which hangs from the American neck.
They are idiots, but not terribly useful. rwe is right: information comes to light and then NOTHING HAPPENS.
Yes, I'm yelling in frustration.
Raymondshaw,
Yes, Rumsfeld has done a tremendous job overall. But practically speaking, the President has to deal with the media, the Democrats, the other nations in the world, and the U.N. And if getting rid of Rumsfeld the person helps the admin move past those obstacles, then do it.
exhelodrvr,
If the President bases cabinet appointments on the media, grandstanding Dems and the UN, where will that leave us?
Sometimes, even without the above, he managed to make two reasonable Supreme Court decisions. And without Congress, he managed to get John Bolton into the UN. Bolton is the anti-mattter of whatever dark particles make up the UN. His job as prez in February was outstanding.
I say that with those you named arrayed against Rumsfeld, it's probably a good idea to keep him.
What the documents will do is show how, exactly, a modern totalitarian state is run to the ends of its leader. Everything from bribery to deception to simple massacre to listening to aircraft salesmen telling of how good their equipment is to cabinet meetings discussing desertion rate in the army...
There will be many leads and strings reaching out to many organizations to the ends of the regime, but do not doubt that it is how the regime was run that will be the over-riding horror of it all. The worst documents from the Third Reich were the train schedules with names going with each train... and the most damning.
The documents seen as a *whole* will be much more revealing than any single document. The means, methods and methodologies used by one man to turn the machinery of a nation state to totalitarian means will be given the light of day. And will be a reminder to everyone who said: 'Never again' that it has happened yet again.
Thank you, Wretchard, for the links! With the richness of analysis and cross-checking that can now be done, examination will not be left up to lone historians working decades to piece a small part of a large puzzle together.
We are all historians and intelligence analysts and military specialists and so many other things. And that richness of viewpoints from many lands will let us see the whole of what Iraq was under the control of Saddam. And we will get some idea of how he used Transnational Terrorist groups as a tool, even as he was being used by them.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I think these documents will, to the open minded, put Big Brotherism to bed for another 20 years. If a massive web of relationships can be built to oppose the US without the US having a clue about what is really going on, what could happen with inside help?
Sure, we've proven the US has the tools to go anywhere and put the hurt on anyone, but a hammer's no good if you can't find the nail. That's the problem that keeps coming to light: The wiring b/t the senses and the decision-making core are faulty. We've seen it since 9/11 and before; the information is gathered, but not all of it is relayed. Then a decision gets made with the data that was relayed, then the relays trip and dump the rest of the data. Of course the decision looks bad.
It's like having a camera mounted on the gun, but the camera won't actually transmit what it sees until after the gun is fired. Nobody would call that a well engineered system, but that's approximately how the US government has worked in the last 15 years.
But dan, does not keeping Mr Rumsfeld in place continue the Policies you oppose?
We are not in the middle of undertaking a Policy change to "... FEWER ARRESTS, MORE KILLING. Not "killing or capturing," ... " with Mr Rumsfeld as Sec of Def. He has been Sec of Def going into his sixth year now, if Mr Rumsfeld supported your position there would be no need to change course, now.
I am not sure any Sec of Def, no matter whom, would or even could undertake that type of Policy change without Presidental Authorization.
I agree that we should hear reports of the Enemy either being beaten or engaged. What reason is there to believe Mr Rumsfeld's continued leadership can or will deliver those reports from the varied Fronts.
Or perhaps the lack of US aggresiveness is just the newest military standard of battlespace management. The President does say that the Generals are in charge of tactical policy.
Perhaps then, if that's really the case, it's time for a new set of Generals?
These are interesting times. We're fighting a ruthless enemy and debating the process in public.
Stepping back to think about it for a moment, it's truly amazing.
As a democracy we should debate big, tough calls such as going to war. It's part of what keeps democracies in check. So I really don't think we should concern ourselves too much with the debate itself.
As for the President's role in this, well he's getting criticized from every direction but he's standing fast.
To me, it is possible that there's a message in this to our ruthless opponent. He just might be saying: "I have three years left. I doubt you can last that long. further, you have no idea who's going to be president next so it's foolish to play a waiting game because the next guy might be more aggresive than I am."
Dymphna,
In theory, yes. Like the theory that since there is Republican majority in both houses the President should get everything he wants, all the Supreme Court/Fed nominees getting approved right away. But the fact is that things don't work that way. The Democrats can obstruct and delay, other nations can do the same, which ultimately has a significant effect on accomplishing the mission. So if switching cabinet members/admin staff to throw a bone to the opposition will get the mission done faster/better, then do it. If you want a historical comparison, look at the position Ike gave to Montgomery in WWII.
Yes, we need to get rid of Rummy, quick, what's MacNamara doing?
/sar.
I would recommend that everyone read Fred Barnes' most recent column on suggestions for a changing of the White House staff/cabinet.
Ahhh Eggplant,
The famous Ex-Parte Quirin case. Not only did German sabateurs get to do the air-dance one of those sabateurs was actually an American citizen.
Sorta. Courts ruled by his actions he denounced his citizenship and the SCOTUS ruled even if his USA citizenship were still in force it would not matter since he was conducting an act of war against the USA and hence fell under military jurisdiction.
I continue to wonder how long Hitch, being generally liberal, will hold out in his opinion that the war had to be fought.
No doubt he takes a beating at all the "right" cocktail parties, but perhaps less now than in the past. Say what you will about the man, he can dish it out with the best. Hopefully this will insulate him from liberal sniping.
Too bad we of The Great Unwashed have yet to firmly establish a similar expectation in the minds of those who seem hellbent on opposing everything GWB sets his mind to.
Of course, Dan Rather and CBS found out that the blogoshpere had a few more teeth than they realized. With this new document dump, one hopes that the collective organism of which we are a part will uncover the damning (and denied) details that support the assertions made by the Administration at the outset of the war.
Whether or not you support or oppose the GWoT, having the Administration coming off as a collection of half-cocked numbnuts will NOT benefit the country at this stage in the game.
Iran must be dealt with. Recent comments from the Administration suggest that the table is being set for action. If The Left succeeds in cutting the legs out from under the CIC, then it will effectively give Iran another almost three years to complete the bomb.
Because I find it fantastically simple-minded to think that Saddam would not have collaborated with other terrorists (and terrorist groups - think payments to PLO suicide bomber families), I believe that the evidence supporting the CIC's decision to go to war in Iraq is there, waiting for another enterprising Buckhead to uncover it and stick it on Free Republic or elsewhere.
Given that it's an article of religious faith among democrats that Bush lied, will the uncovering of multiple smoking guns even matter? I bet they are already working on the apologetic to dismiss such evidence.
And they'll blame Bush and republicans for Iran's Islamic Bomb in 2008.
Bastards.
exhelo:
Trashing Rumsfeld would be purely a pragmatic shortsighted attempt to satiate the punditry.
The execution of the war in Iraq has been phenomenal when you consider what these same experts were saying when the war broke out.
OTOH it shouldn't have surprised anyone that the Iraqis didn't openly embrace their GI liberators after what they had been through and knowing the scorched-earth tendencies of Saddaam, the fact that the Fedayyin had gone incognito and that 100K felons had been released from their cells.
The war has morphed into an occupation operation and, if there is any blame for that eventuality, it lies with the commanders on the ground. The GI's that aren't on regular patrol exercise, clear and hold operations (along with logistical support personnel) or involved in training ISF should be immediately incorporated into those efforts or sent home post haste. We don't need to be paying for them to play basketball in Iraq.
If Rummy has a fault, it is that he may be too lax with his Generals. But hey, you know how these Pentagon types can be. And once they retire, well, the ego stays.
Pork:
Exactly! The discoveries of German concentration camps in 1945 solidified support and reinforced all arguments that had made for aggressively fighting the Hun.
I have a feeling that the seizure, interpretation and analysis of these documents will have the same impact.
Life is complicated and your mother farts.
People who didn't go to Harvard already knew that.
Triton,
The Democratic Leadership Theme song (with apologies to Mac Davis and The US Marine Corps)
Oh Lord it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way....
Enscout,
Replacing Rumsfeld is different from "trashing" him. It would be part of an overall reorganization; read Fred Barnes' column from yesterday on that topic.
Wretchard (and exhelodrvr)---
Your remarks got me to thinking about two essays I'd read recently that seemed to converge in some areas.
So I wrote a post on it:
The Long War.
Now I wish I'd called it "When the Politicians Disappear" (which they will, as the power becomes more distributive and open-sourced. End of pork -- except for Rinds for Allah, of course.
The piece by Mr Barnes that helo keeps mentioning is here, at the WSJ
"... It's time for President Bush to think about a third term. No, he doesn't need to overturn the Constitution. He can start the equivalent of his third term now, by filling his presidential staff and cabinet with new faces--or old faces in new positions--and by concentrating on new or forgotten initiatives. The goal: rejuvenation of his presidency by shocking the media and political community with a sweeping overhaul of his administration. The impact would be enormous because it's exactly what his foes have been demanding and exactly what he is not expected to do. And it would give him a chance to escape the political doldrums that may otherwise doom his presidency through its final 34 months. ... "
" ... the potential upside of a stunning facelift of his administration is great. It could make his presidency productive and enjoyable again rather than stymied and disheartened. Achieving the aura and feel of a new presidential term is not farfetched. Mr. Bush fooled everyone by becoming the president of big ideas and bold plans. He could fool them again. ... "
With his dad, it was the "Vision" thing.
For Mr Bush 43, it would be terrible to look back on three years of lame duckedness, in '09, only to say what if...
As Ms Clinton is sworn in.
Honest Abe had 13,000 American citizens (Unions not Rebs) arrested and tried for sedition and lesser crimes by military tribunals. Some were hung.
Maybe this manliness thing is the way to embarrass the sitzpinklers who control the Conversation and turn it back to a proportioned reality. Not "Offending" somebody is just not that big a deal in the scheme of things. Keeping your head firmly atached to your shoulders is way more important.
The whole situation reminds me of two guys (Blue and Green) playing a very urgent game of death-chess where the loser dies. Standing around them is a small crowd of "Reporters" incessently pointing out the best moves and commenting on the strategy of (only) the Blue player, while at the same time encouraging sympathy for the other guy whom they have determined is the "victim". What the "Reporters" seem to fail to be noticing is that they live on the same glass island as the Blue player, and if he should happen to lose, because of their back stabbing, the Island will shatter and they too will all die. They forgot that part. So instead of impartially reporting, they instead keep trying to influence the outcome of the game to the detriment of the Blue team (and themselves).
All of which reminds me of the old story of the frog and the scorpion, which I assume you folks already know. The trick then is to somehow get the scorpion off your back before he kills you both. If he should drown in the process, all the better. So the end of that tale would be...
and then the frog suddenly dove under the water and the scorpion drowned. Before it died the scorpion demanded to know, "Why did you do that?" to which the frog replied - "It is my nature to preserve my life, dumb-dumb."... As he sinks to the bottom of the brook the scorpion is heard to complain "That's not fair!"... The End.
on manliness:
"We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”
C S Lewis – The Abolition of Man
exhelo:
I don't know why anyone would favor change just for the sake of change.
I'm not saying don't ever make a change. There certainly is a lot of dead wood in Bush's Cabinet and if he can find some new blood that can precipitate positive action.
I do think that Rumsfeld has done a terrific job, handled the press like a man and that Bush would be hard-pressed to find another of his caliber.
Unless you think he's incompetent, why would you advocate for his removal?
Wow, sack Rummy. I have a real hard time with that. Though I don’t know the details I heard on the news this morning that Senator Dianne Feinstein has called for his removal also.
Dianne Feinstein is a tireless kvetch. When she stumped for the feel good ‘assault weapon ban’, the greatest problem in gang infested neighborhoods was the $130 Chinese made SKS that could be easily modified into a full automatic. But in front of the press, on the steps of congress, she proudly held up a $1500 Colt AR-15 that I couldn’t afford. Without elaborating, it is widely believed that she is beholden to Beijing, and if you follow the money, it is not hard to believe.
Feinstein tacks to reasonable on occasion but I will never forgive her that, though I understand she must fight hard to keep up with WingBat extraordinaire, Barbara Boxer.
No, no in-fighting here.
IRAQ, THREE YEARS LATER
Brookes, Foreman, Jasser, Ledeen, Owens, Roggio, Rubin & Skelly .
---
the fact that the Fedayyin had gone incognito and that 100K felons had been released from their cells.
Enscout:
Here, we import MORE than 100k felons a year from Mexico, (and 800k ILLEGALS) and that's a good thing according to the WSJ crowd:
Free trade in felons for us,
Free welfare for them,
...all to prop up the house of cards socialist welfare system which is doomed to collapse anyway, but later this way, when the politicians will be dead and gone.
How much more compassion can our grandkids take from our generation?
---
Mouse,
Isn't it Feinstein that has a permit to carry?
'Rat,
You'll like this:
(My Question:
How many US AND Iraqi lives would have been saved if Syria had been neutralized early on?)
Babbin on Endgame Conservatives .
"We are unwilling to allow the prosecution of this war against the terrorist nations to be delayed for however long it takes for Iraqis to sort themselves out. It is impossible for them to do so while neighboring nations -- Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia -- actively interfere.
Endgame conservatives don't want to be caught in the web of failed nostrums of Vietnam. We won't wait for Islam to be reformed or to win the hearts and minds of the mullahs in Tehran.
We don't consider Islam unreformable; but we understand that it is unreformable by non-Muslims.
And we understand that the only way to spur Muslims to accomplish that reformation is to break the hold radical Islam has over a growing number of nations."
How many American and Iraqi lives would have been saved with Syria out of the game?
Limbaugh on Lowry and Babbin
enscout,
One of the benefits of following Barnes' suggestion of rearranging the cabinet, etc. would be to take the initiative away from/take the wind out of the sails of "the enemy", which in this case is much of the left and the media. THe fact is that currently the administration is fighting a two-front war. That action (of which Rumsfeld is just one piece) would potentially pare the fight down to a 1.5 (?) front war, which is much more manageable. It would also (theoretically) help set the stage for more Republican success in the 2006 and 2008 elections, which (presumably) would be beneficial to the United States in the war against militant Islam. There is a huge public relations component to this war, both domestically and internationally. This action would help in those areas.
RWE,
My son had a friend at work (Now has his own computer business here) that set up a website giving all the reasons Y2K would not occur.
The Maui Moonbats that came out of the wormwood were a sight to behold.
Hope some of it is preserved for posterity.
My view is it was alarmist propaganda by Rove to scare folks into electing Bush.
Frum on Fred Barnes:
Many of Barnes' specific suggestions are ingenious, including his nomination of Al Hubbard as chief of staff.
But at this stage of the game, the administration's problems are less a matter of "who" than of "what"; far less of who will argue the policy, and much more, what will the policy be.
At home, the president's policies amount to a collage of ideas good (Social Security privatization), bad (the prescription-drug benefit), and indifferent (the faith-based initiative) that together once promised to add up to something new and different, but that in the end have led the party into a dead end, both politically and as policy.
Over the next few years, Republicans and conservatives will have to work hard to think through a new synthesis--that's what my new book will try to do, and I'm sure many others will be heard from as well.
Installing one candidate who has never run for office in the vice presidency overtop all the party's other leadership contenders cuts short a necessary process of renewal, reinvention, and regeneration.
It will buy a few days of positive publicity at the price of longer-term stagnation and ultimate failure and defeat.
Worse, it will confirm a destructive internal tendency toward royalism in party affairs. The 2008 presidential nomination is not George Bush's prize to bestow.
One of the generals I met in Iraq summed up the philosophy that U.S. officers were trying to impart to the Iraqi military counterparts they trained: "Leadership is a responsibility, not an entitlement."
More of that spirit would be welcome on this side of the water too.
"I continue to wonder how long Hitch, being generally liberal, will hold out in his opinion that the war had to be fought.
No doubt he takes a beating at all the "right" cocktail parties, but perhaps less now than in the past. Say what you will about the man, he can dish it out with the best. Hopefully this will insulate him from liberal sniping."
I wouldn't worry about Hitchens, I think he sees himself as living in Orwell's footsteps.
I can think of worse people to emulate.
exhelo:
You think, after the vitriol that we've heard from the left and the MSM blaming Bush for their constipation, that axing Rummy, or Condi, or anybody else would make them do an about face and cozy up to the Right?
Where have you been living for the last six years?
Doug:
The border is another issue but a problem that will blow up in our face one day. I'm afraid it will be the next generation that will have to deal with the worst of the symptoms.
There you go, doug.
Another fellow of intellectual heft joins the debate.
"... We mean to win this war by destroying the regimes that provide terrorists with weapons, funds, people, and sanctuary. We mean to defeat the radical Islamist ideology (for that is what it is, not a religion) as we defeated the Soviet communist ideology. I and those who agree with me aren't "'to hell with them' hawks": we are Endgame Conservatives.
We understand that Islamic terrorism cannot threaten us significantly without the support of nations. We are impatient with Mr. Bush's neo-Wilsonianism because it allows the enemy and its apologists to control the pace and direction of the war. We are unwilling to allow the prosecution of this war against the terrorist nations to be delayed for however long it takes for Iraqis to sort themselves out. It is impossible for them to do so while neighboring nations -- Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia -- actively interfere. Endgame conservatives don't want to be caught in the web of failed nostrums of Vietnam. We won't wait for Islam to be reformed or to win the hearts and minds of the mullahs in Tehran. We don't consider Islam unreformable; but we understand that it is unreformable by non-Muslims. And we understand that the only way to spur Muslims to accomplish that reformation is to break the hold radical Islam has over a growing number of nations. ... "
" ... Endgame conservatives understand the principal lesson of Vietnam is something else entirely: if you fail to prosecute a war in the manner that will produce victory decisively, you will lose it inevitably. Iraq, by the President's and Lowry's formulation, is a self-imposed quagmire. They believe that unless and until we establish democracy there we cannot prosecute the war against the other national sponsors of terrorism. We are now at the third anniversary of the Iraq invasion, almost five years since 9-11. If we had prosecuted this war as we did World War II, we would not be facing a pre-nuclear Iran, Syria's Bashar Assad would be only a bad memory and Saudi Arabia would have been forced to cease its support of terrorism. And Iraq would be a much more peaceful place, closer to the goal Messrs. Bush and Lowry seek. ... "
" ... Mr. Bush's democratization strategy, naive and Wilsonian, has put us in the posture of strategic defense. His original formulation -- that nations are either with us or against us -- has been whittled away to a confrontation-cum-engagement strategy that enables Iran to offer cooperation in Iraq while buying time to build nuclear weapons. ... ... Let's press on with this war through the endgame and defeat the enemy decisively on both the military and ideological fronts. When that happens there will be time to encourage the rise of democracy in the Middle East, and many more of its peoples willing to undertake it. ... "
Enscout,
Read my post more carefully, and you would notice that I said it would change it from being a two front war to a 1.5 front war. I did not say that the left would suddenly climb on board, I said that it would take the wind out of their sails. No, I don't think that Ted Kennedy would suddenly start voting for anything Pres Bush sent to the Senate. But it would throw them off balance, and at least in Teddy's case it could be years before he righted himself.
Rumsfeld should leave. And Habu1 should be his replacement.
gmat,
I predict the same will prove to be true for that Mat (the "Jewish") fellow.
Al-Qaida`s nuclear option:
The distance remaining to near-perfect security can be measured by how Sam Nunn describes the adequacy of the U.S.-Russian response to the terrorist nuclear threat.
On a scale of one to 10,' says Nunn, 'I would give us about a three, with the last summit between Presidents Bush and Putin moving us closer to a four.'
Al-Qaida's Option
exhelo:
- Bush should have changed secdef when re-elected.
- Bush should have considered younger man, more in tune with the modern military.
- That Bush chooses this critical time to dump a man who was clearly over his head when given the position shows his complete lack of leadership.
I can hear them now exhelo: a never ending diatribe about how this administration can't get anything right.
The left is waging a take-no-prisoners war & you want to play musical chairs.
"Mineta is a horrible PC-obsessed idiot."
---
I agree with C-4!
...except he's worse than that:
He's also carrying little
Mini-Normie (anything but) around inside,
...still upset that the mean people in uniforms took his baseball bat when he got on that train to the Death Camps.
Oh! The Humanity!
Poor, dear, Normie!
---
And so, boys and girls:
Irish Grandmothers must disrobe.
Inspectors must RESPECT and submit to those in the robes of Allah.
---
To profile is too engage in a crime against humanity, don'tcha know?
Would loyalty to a molesting uncle be a good thing?
Gmat,
Thanks back to you for the great link.
" The regimes that are killing us and defeating us are the product of Western judgments in the mid-20th century that colonialism is wrong and that these peoples could govern themselves as good stewards of the world's oil markets.
They continue to exist only because Western elites have judged that war is passé. It is these ideas and judgments, above all, that stand in the way of our peace, our victory. "
---
How much better off would the people of Saudi Arabia be under benign Colonialism of the USA, with all the oil profits going to the people?
(with strings, of course)
Doug,
Zarathustra (AKA C4) has spoken.. Every man for himself. The old man better remember his Cobra II Twin Cobra Fisti cuff moves..
d'Rat,
This is for you:
Damned Lies and Statistics
Enscout,
The President needs to find a way to decrease the strengths of the opposition if he is going to optimize the potential for his plan to succeed. There are individuals in the administration that, rightly or wrongly, have become lightning rods that the opposition is using as a point to focus their energies on. Remove those lightning rods, and the energy of the opposition is diffused to some extent. Perhaps it will re-focus at a later date, in time to still be effective,perhaps not. GIven the history of the DEmocrats, I vote on the latter. Rumsfeld, by the way, is not out of touch with today's military. The issue is not his performance as an individual. The issue is whether or not replacing him (as part of a general reshuffling, which is very typical in the second term) would improve the potential for the success of the President's vision for the future. (WHich includes successful 2006/2008 election cycles.)
Mat,
More Fire, Fist, and intellectual power there than in the rest of the Admin minus Cheney!
If only Cheney Bush had been electable:
W would have learned from the masters and stepped into the New Nirvana.
...and Powell would probably have moved to France, along with JFK2 and his mastriss.
Mat,
Those stats are interesting, and refer to "paramedics."
Those that fly in Air Ambulances have a far higher chance of dying than our Troops in Iraq.
We just lost two beautiful folks here that I knew:
When I looked up the history it was frightening:
In the same period of time that their were no large domestic airliners lost, there were *44* accidents in those damned/blessed things.
Brien and Marlena, RIP
Iraqi police arrest leader of Jamat Al-Tawhid Wal Al-Jihad
MIL-IRAQ-ARREST
Iraqi police arrest leader of Jamat Al-Tawhid Wal Al-Jihad
http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=840985
IRBIL, March 21 (KUNA) -- Iraqi police said on Tuesday it has arrested the leader of the Jamat Al-Tawhid Wal Jihad west of the the northern city of Kirkuk.
Police director of Kirkuk Brigadier Sarhid Qader said his forces carried out the arrest west of Kirkuk adding that questioning is underway.
He said that Katyusha missiles were fired in agriculture areas south of city causing only damage to buildings. Meanwhile, leakages were spotted in oil pipelines in the cities of Kirkuk and Mosul and emergency forces were sent to the area. (end) sbr.
mb
KUNA 211619 Mar 06NNNN
Doug,
Beautiful people.
For shame. :(
sorry guys. I wondered if you could help me with something. Its quite simple.
Is Bin laden right or left handed? and is the Bin Laden clip from Loose change 9/11 the actual one that we are relying on for his admissions about 9/11?
Trish,
Thanks.
Indeed they did.
Brien was so proud of his work that his cousin became a Nurse.
Two years ago after *another* fatal accident on the slopes of Mauna Kea, lots of the nurses and paramedics didn't fly for a while.
Marlena pulled a bunch of overtime to make up the slack.
This time they both volunteered to go even though they were done for the day.
Tough consolation for her husband and two kids.
(They had been traveling and having reunions like there was no tomorrow since he found out he had a brain tumor two years ago!)
"THAT IS NOT THE SAME BIN LADEN. He is right handed, has a gold ring and a big nose."
Bones,
From your description, I would say BIN LADEN might be you.
Mat,
How does your God explain the continued existence of the bone?
Doug,
You know I'm done with my God; don’t like his sense of humor. But then, if I had my way, He might not like mine either. Neither would Bones.
Like I've been saying, mat, it sure ain't a War.
It may be many things, but a War, the numbers tell the tale.
If the story of the young soldier is true of eveyone in the Military, then my kid, and the Marines that deployed with him to Falluah, they wasted their training, whether they were in Iraq or not.
If the only times our guys go outside the wire is for one day each week in a rotating Guard Mount, better the Marines stay on the boat and the Army in the States.
While the Generals build the little Empires across Iraq and are spending an extra 90 some Billion USD annually, they are responsible for the decision to end the Show?
That decision, as Mr Bush implied today, will be made by some future US & Iraqi Presidents, not a General.
He should have admitted it, today. But instead he publicily abdicated his Authority, not the Responsibility.
"... QUESTION: It was: Will there come a day -- and I'm not asking you when; I'm not asking for a timetable -- will there come a day when there will be no more American forces in Iraq?
BUSH: That, of course, is an objective. And that will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq.
QUESTION: So it won't happen on your watch?
BUSH: You mean a complete withdrawal? That's a timetable. I can only tell you that I will make decisions on force levels based upon what the commanders on the ground say. ..."
He should speak the whole truth, himself, then Mr Rumsfeld and the Generals would not be left, twisting in the wind.
Alert!!
Bill Buckley writing in the National Review magazine dated March 27 2006 on pages 58 and 59 says and I quote "One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed."
A lot of people on the right listen to Buckley and many of those people are in high places. It would be a shame that just as the Sunni insurrection is on the verge of being broken in Anbar province America packs its bags and snatches defeat from the Jaws of victory because of influential people like Bill Buckley. What's with these guys?
Read the whole thing; he's pretty detailed/depressed.
Later!
I thought that Rumsfeld had offered his resignation because the press had essentially tried and convicted him of dereliction of duty. For that I appreciate GWB backing his man. And I don't think 'loyalty' is Bushes problem either, what is the deal with Norman Mineta anyway? That guy is an irreconcilable turd. I think this what that enigmatic term Compassionate Conservatism means. It means if you are in government, you belong to an elite club, the ruling class and the ruling elites got to stick together. I think it is also called cronyism. It means that you do not stand for anything; you stand for yourself and your own interests only.
Back to Rumsfeld, didn’t they have to sack the tip-fiddle because of the Turkey betrayal? I thought that that just through everything to the wind because the US had invested so much in Turkey through NATO and was backing their bid to enter the EU that it was inconceivable that the 4th ID wouldn’t be allowed transit.. Well you find out who your real friends are in desperate times. If there are revolutionary plants embedded in the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA infighting and essentially trying to drag down the current administration and cast the entire population of America to the wolves why does Bush play nice with them? They have taken over the State Department like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, what makes one think that sacking a bunch of high level administration cronies are going to solve the problem? Tenant should have been sacked, Berger should be in jail, Mineta should be a vice principle for a kindergarten class, and the list goes on.
What the 4th ID, coulda, and shoulda done to Tikrit!
Would have been the perfect opening act.
---
Only a sick green thing would put (Non) Normie in a class of Kindergarteners!
Trish,
Thanks again.
You would know.
Buckley has been cool on the war for some time now. Deryshire also. This is an easy war not to like. If you are against war you are against it and if you are for war you are against it for opposite reasons. Is this war or Nation Building? As far as Bucklies most recent article, if you look at the timing he likely wrote it in response to the Mosque bombing debachle and shows how by lagging from all other information sources the print media creates its own weather and can't react to new information fast enough.
When Mr Rumsfeld wrote in the Sunday WaPo, he began by telling US of the Success of the Iraqi Security Forces, the increased participation in Iraq's political process by the Sunni leaders.
All the "good news"
Then he sets the hook
"...Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis. ... "
So the Iraqi Army, Mr Talabani, whomever the PM turns out to be, and all the Representitives of the Voters and all the Agencies of Iraqi Government will become the equivalent of Saddam as soon as we "turn our back"?
Our Iraqi Allies are THAT untrustworthy?
..Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis. ... "
d'Rat,
He's right. Only these Nazis speak Farsi.
Perhaps a more apt analogy would be:
Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany to the Soviets.
Then why did we give them the country?
Mr Bremmer knew they'd win the election. That was a foregone conclusion.
A Strongman, like Mr Allawi or Mr Chalabi, and slow transition to Democracy, as in Chile.
A much better Role Model to follow then empowering and legitimizing the enemy.
Looks like we've done that in both Palistine and Iraq,
or so it would seem to me.
But then I did not spend 25 years with the same Company. In a CYA atmosphere of ticket punching and careerism.
I do recall, even twenty years ago the Army speaking of "Career Paths". Bet that has not changed.
But that is not what Mr Rumsfeld said, mat.
Regardless, the Iranians will not be rolling tanks, they have the voters, well at least the Kingmaker, in Iraq.
As Mr Bush said today
" ... It is very important for the Iranians to understand that any relationship between Iraq and Iran will be negotiated between those two countries. Iraq is a sovereign government. They have a foreign policy. And when they get their unity government stepped up, they will be in charge of negotiating with the Iranians their foreign policy arrangement. ... "
So, mat, you think Mr Bush is spreading disinformation?
It seems quite evident,
there is no "End Game"
in Mr Bush's sights.
Madrid train bombings probe finds no al-Qaeda link:
Spanish authorities were monitoring several of the bombers in the months before the attack — and actually stopped Ahmidan's car on a highway in late February, unaware he was leading a caravan of other terrorists transporting the explosives used in the blasts.
The intelligence official said authorities had never imagined a group of petty drug traffickers were capable of planning such a massive attack.
Bombings Probe
Didn't the incumbent lose the election for "falsely" claiming that was the case?
---
...wonder if they know for sure it wasn't Scientologists?
The only folks capable of instilling more fear in the hearts of men than bin Laden.
At least in Hollyweird.
Sardonic,
I'm rather fond of the version of that proverb which ends with the scorpion saying, "Silly little frog, I can swim" after having stung his ride.
Now that kids are gone, wife wants to trade down. Luckily I happened on this cozy place linked in Muskegon Blog!
Empty Nest Apartment
Hat Tip:
Muskegon Pundit
---
A PHAE is Born:
The new UAV, sometimes known as the Penetrating High Altitude Endurance (PHAE), is believed to be capable of operating at the 70,000-80,000 ft altitudes used by the U-2.
One report refers to the aircraft using engines from an inventory that has been in storage since the 1970s.
This almost certainly refers to the General Electric J97-GE-3 engine for the Teledyne Ryan AQM-91 Compass Arrow UAV (a project terminated in 1971 (!) ).
In 1998, a NASA paper reported that 24 J97 engines were in storage at the agency's Ames research centre. The Compass Arrow exceeded 80,000 ft during tests, the highest unclassified altitude ever recorded for a subsonic jet-powered aircraft. The J97 was rated at around 25 kN and the new UAV is probably a twin-engine design.
The new UAV is much larger than the small stealth UAV that has been evaluated operationally in Iraq.
UAV Blog
(scroll down, link)
More damned lies:
Big spender?
Instapundit.com -: "At any rate, given that Ms Noonan believes, for some reason, that Ronald Reagan was a conservative and George W. Bush isn't, it's perhaps helpful to just compare the two: when Ronald Reagan left office in 1988 he was dunning us 18.1% of GDP to pay for a federal government that spent 21.2% of GDP. In 2004, the last year for which I could find numbers, George W. Bush had lowered our tax burden to 16.3% of GDP-- a level last reached in 1959--to pay for a government that spent 19.8 of GDP. "
---
Larsen posted this somewhere back, found it again at Muskegon Blog linked above.
What the assembled brilliant analysts left out, is that much of the RR related spending was on defense, which could be, and in fact was, wiped off the books with nary a tear in DC.
Today's spending is largely tied to socialist schemes poised for takeoff on their asymptotic ride toward infinity/oblivion, with hundreds of millions of disempowered recipient-victims rudderless without their "necessities."
As in the Prescription Drug Plan and etc.
Odd to have "Adults" crow about 16.3% IN and 19.8 OUT, (not counting the trillions more off-budget "commitments" stretching off into the future.)
Grand present for the kids, from the Grand Parents.
Soon, Harvard to have India as a subject
NEA Protest Bomber Kills 45, injures 58:
Bath School bombings
Post a Comment
<< Home