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POPSArmy Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba says Bush & Rumsfeld knew about Abu Ghraib torture There was a lot of speculation as to whether or not the President and Rumsfeld were aware of the extent of the conditions at Abu Ghraib, but the discussion never seemed to go anywhere. This reopens the topic for discussion and I'd say it damn near concludes the issue in its indictment of Rumsfeld. At best, Taguba said, "Rumsfeld was in denial ... The photographs were available to him -- if he wanted to see them."
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POPSWhy do the Islamo-fascists hate us? Therefore, the argument goes, the chants of “Death to Israel. Death to America” from hundreds of thousands of Shiites marching in Baghdad last week had nothing to do with U.S. foreign policy but were motivated instead by hatred for American principles and lifestyles. This article cuts right to the chase & clearly draws the line between liberal & neo-conservative thinking. It reminds me of the Bush-Kerry debate in '04 when Jim asked, "What criteria would you use to determine when to starting bringing US troops home from Iraq? BUSH: ... ... A free Iraq will be an ally in the war on terror, & that's essential. A free Iraq will set a powerful example in the part of the world that is desperate for freedom. A free Iraq will help secure Israel. A free Iraq will enforce the hopes & aspirations of the reformers in places like Iran. A free Iraq is essential for the security of this country.
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POPSRice: "We can't give them a united Iraq" If the administration is now conceding that we can't unite Iraq - what the hell are we still doing there? Playing a minor support role? If this is a minor support role why have we committed all our troops? Why are we breaking the bank for a region we now admit we can't stabilize? If our benchmarks show that we're not succeeding, isn't that an admission that the challenges we face today are not how to win in Iraq, but rather how to recover from the strategic mistake of invading Iraq in the first place? Maybe someone should sit Bush down and explain the law of diminishing returns.
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POPSInsider trading allegations against President Bush
The SEC investigation ended in 1992 with a memo stating "it appears that Bush did not engage in illegal insider trading," but noted it "must in no way be construed as indicating that the party has been exonerated or that no action may ultimately result." Critics contended the SEC's makeup may have influenced the conclusions, although no evidence of impropriety has been found. The chairman at the time was Richard Breeden, a friend of the Bush family who had been nominated to the SEC by George H. W. Bush & had been a lawyer in James Baker's firm, Baker Botts. The SEC's general counsel at the time was James Doty, who would represent George W. Bush 9 months after he sought to buy into the Texas Rangers. Bush's own lawyer was Robert Jordan, who had been "partners with both Doty & Breeden at Baker Botts & who later became George W. Bush's ambassador to Saudi Arabia." As President, Bush has refused to authorize the SEC to release its full report on the Harken investigation.
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POPSThe Head of Alberto Gonzales What's interesting isn't that Gonzales was involved in firing eight US Attorneys, but rather that at the time, The Attorney General plan to appoint interim replacements and potentially avoid Senate confirmation by leaving an interim U.S. Attorney in place for the remainder of the Bush administration. How this happen? The Department sought and essentially was given new authority under a little known provision in the PATRIOT Act Reauthorization to appoint interim appointments who not subject to Senate confirmation and who could remain in place for the remainder of the Bush administration. ( 1 ) As much as I hate to admit it Limbaugh is right. This is a political fishing expedition, yet at the same time if this is what it takes to hold the Bush Administration accountable for its actions - so be it.
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POPSDid CIA Deputy Dir. McLaughlin hide details about US intelligence? This paints an interesting picture of John McLaughlin. According to this article there's email correspondence and corroborating testimony from other CIA officials confirming Drumheller spoke with McLaughlin about Curveball before Colin Powell's UN speech. This means there's a high probability McLaughlin was aware the information being presented was false. The question is who else knew? The only way we're going to find out is if there's a hearing and McLaughlin is subpoenaed before a court. Email / fax / phone your representatives and ask them to launch an investigation! http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
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POPSDivide Iraq in to Three States? As far as fresh ideas go, this one's pretty good! Federalization works in theory, it's really a question of how much autonomy to give to each of the states. It also begs the question, what happens when one of the states tries to secede? With things as they currently are I imagine the situation would devolve back in to a civil war. In a way I see this as putting off the inevitable, but perhaps the country will be better prepared for a more federal-centric government ten- twenty- or thirty- years down the road when/if the issue comes to a head.
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POPSBush admits to ignoring military intelligence. Bush is effectively saying Shinseki was right & Rumsfeld was wrong . This only goes to support Lt. Gen Paul Van Riper's take on the original civilian leadership , "You don't have to serve in the military to understand it, but if you haven't served, then you at least ought to school yourself. I don't believe either Mr. McNamara or Mr. Rumsfeld are professionally schooled. They're ignorant of military operations, of strategy and policy. The effect is normally they're disdainful of those they lead & then, as they begin to increase their power, they become arrogant, & they're unwilling to accept advice, even though they claim they are willing to accept the advice. But by their very actions, either relieving people or publicly humiliating people, you don't get the sort of push back you need to have the dialogue, the understanding, the debate out of which you will synthesize better ideas."
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POPSAndrew Card & Laura Bush try to convince the President to replace Rumsfeld For those of you not keeping count, all the people listed below have either suggested, called for, or supported removing Rumsfeld: Andrew Card, Laura Bush, Gen. Shinseki , Gen. Tony Zinni , Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold , Maj. Gen. Paul D. Eaton , Maj. Gen. John R.S. Batiste , Col. Thomas Hammes , Army Sec. Thomas White , Col. Lawrence Wilkerson , Stephen Herbits , Gen. William Odom , Gen. Wesley Clark , Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper And, Powell may be joining the list. For more on this read here .
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POPSRumsfeld's Personal Aide attacks his Post War Planning Stephen Herbits, a lawyer and longtime Rumsfeld friend going back to 1967. Herbits had been one of Rumsfeld's civilian special assistants during his first Pentagon tour. Rumsfeld made him a consultant with a license to analyze current problems, and he functioned as a management fix-it man, somewhat as Karl Rove did for Bush.
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POPSGraph of US Fatalities in Iraq by Mont ____ Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep 2006 - 62, 55, 31, 76, 69, 61, 43, 65, 73 = 535 2005 - 107, 58, 35, 52, 80, 78, 54, 85, 49 = 598 2004 - 47, 20, 52, 135, 80, 42, 54, 66, 80 = 576 It's sobering to see that the numbers aren't coming down by that much. Here's another good resource that tracks the number of people that have been wounded as well as the death toll of all all allied forces.
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POPSRumsfeld says he won't resign The defense secretary and Bush have faced growing criticism for their handling of the Iraq war as violence there has escalated, U.S. casualties have mounted and public support for the conflict has declined. Fueling the debate in recent days was the release of a classified intelligence report that concluded that the Iraq war has helped fuel a new generation of extremists and increased the overall terrorist threat.
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POPSA Portrait of Bush as a Victim of His Own Certitude (Book Review) The New York Times with what promises to be only the first in many reviews of Bob Woodward's highly anticiapted new book, State of Denial . The writer said that when Bush invited key Republicans to the White House to discuss Iraq, the president told them, 'I will not withdraw even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me,"' referring to his wife and Scottish terrier.
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POPSUS military, targeting civilian women & children?! My jaw just hit the floor. After listening to Jessie speak I can't believe Bush had the nerve to say THIS , at the Rose Garden News Conference just five days days ago. "BUSH: If there's any comparison between the compassion and decency of the American people and the terrorist tactics of extremists, it's flawed logic. I simply can't accept that. It's unacceptable to think that there's any kind of comparison between the behavior of the United States of America and the action of Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children to achieve an objective, Terry" ( 1 )
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POPSBush doesn't answer why his administration invokes 9/11 as reason for invading Iraq. The closest Bush comes to answering the question, "I mean, there was a serious international effort to say to Saddamn Hussein, you're a threat. And the 9/11 attacks that threat, as far as I concerned." It almost sounds as though he's saying we invoke 9/11 as reason for invading Iraq because we saw Saddam Hussein as a threat and we see terrorists as a threat, and that's enough of a connection to consider the two one in the same. Scary indeed.
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