Iraq WMD, Case for War
What was the case for war? How was it justified?
Monday, June 07, 2004
Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides: “fuck over” anyone they consider to be an opponent
Capitol Hill Blue: Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides: "By DOUG THOMPSON | Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue | Jun 4, 2004, 06:15
President George W. Bush’s increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leader’s state of mind.
In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as “enemies of the state.”
...
“It reminds me of the Nixon days,” says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. “Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That’s the mood over there.”
In interviews with a number of White House staffers who were willing to talk off the record, a picture of an administration under siege has emerged, led by a man who declares his decisions to be “God’s will” and then tells aides to “fuck over” anyone they consider to be an opponent of the administration.
...
God may also be the reason Attorney General John Ashcroft, the administration’s lightning rod because of his questionable actions that critics argue threatens freedoms granted by the Constitution, remains part of the power elite. West Wing staffers call Bush and Ashcroft “the Blues Brothers” because “they’re on a mission from God.”
“The Attorney General is tight with the President because of religion,” says one aide. “They both believe any action is justifiable in the name of God.”
But the President who says he rules at the behest of God can also tongue-lash those he perceives as disloyal, calling them “fucking assholes” in front of other staff, berating one cabinet official in front of others and labeling anyone who disagrees with him “unpatriotic” or “anti-American.” ...
Capitol Hill Blue: Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides: "By DOUG THOMPSON | Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue | Jun 4, 2004, 06:15
President George W. Bush’s increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leader’s state of mind.
In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as “enemies of the state.”
...
“It reminds me of the Nixon days,” says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. “Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That’s the mood over there.”
In interviews with a number of White House staffers who were willing to talk off the record, a picture of an administration under siege has emerged, led by a man who declares his decisions to be “God’s will” and then tells aides to “fuck over” anyone they consider to be an opponent of the administration.
...
God may also be the reason Attorney General John Ashcroft, the administration’s lightning rod because of his questionable actions that critics argue threatens freedoms granted by the Constitution, remains part of the power elite. West Wing staffers call Bush and Ashcroft “the Blues Brothers” because “they’re on a mission from God.”
“The Attorney General is tight with the President because of religion,” says one aide. “They both believe any action is justifiable in the name of God.”
But the President who says he rules at the behest of God can also tongue-lash those he perceives as disloyal, calling them “fucking assholes” in front of other staff, berating one cabinet official in front of others and labeling anyone who disagrees with him “unpatriotic” or “anti-American.” ...
Investigations: Wide Gaps Seen in U.S. Inquiries on Prison Abuse: Will the Brass Get Away? [truthout.org]
The New York Times > International > Middle East > Investigations: Wide Gaps Seen in U.S. Inquiries on Prison Abuse: "By STEVEN LEE MYERS and ERIC SCHMITT | Published: June 6, 2004
WASHINGTON, June 5 � Disparate inquiries into abuses of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan have so far left crucial questions of policy and operations unexamined, according to lawmakers from both parties and outside military experts, who say that the accountability of senior officers and Pentagon officials may remain unanswered as a result.
...
But on Capitol Hill, even some Republicans have begun to question whether the Pentagon's inquiries are too narrowly structured to establish the causes of the abuses, as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and others have pledged to do, and then to determine if anyone in the chain of command was responsible for them.
Some House Republicans, bucking their leaders who have said the focus on Abu Ghraib is distracting from the larger effort in Iraq, have joined Democrats in urging a more aggressive review of the investigations. In the Senate, members of both parties said there remained major aspects that fell outside the scope of any of the investigations that are under way — including the role of military lawyers in drafting policy on detainees and the involvement of civilian contractors in their interrogations.
...
Statements like Mrs. Fowler's have prompted some lawmakers and outside legal experts to question whether the Pentagon can be entrusted to investigate itself in a scandal that has badly tarnished the military and the United States.
The New York Times > International > Middle East > Investigations: Wide Gaps Seen in U.S. Inquiries on Prison Abuse: "By STEVEN LEE MYERS and ERIC SCHMITT | Published: June 6, 2004
WASHINGTON, June 5 � Disparate inquiries into abuses of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan have so far left crucial questions of policy and operations unexamined, according to lawmakers from both parties and outside military experts, who say that the accountability of senior officers and Pentagon officials may remain unanswered as a result.
...
But on Capitol Hill, even some Republicans have begun to question whether the Pentagon's inquiries are too narrowly structured to establish the causes of the abuses, as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and others have pledged to do, and then to determine if anyone in the chain of command was responsible for them.
Some House Republicans, bucking their leaders who have said the focus on Abu Ghraib is distracting from the larger effort in Iraq, have joined Democrats in urging a more aggressive review of the investigations. In the Senate, members of both parties said there remained major aspects that fell outside the scope of any of the investigations that are under way — including the role of military lawyers in drafting policy on detainees and the involvement of civilian contractors in their interrogations.
...
Statements like Mrs. Fowler's have prompted some lawmakers and outside legal experts to question whether the Pentagon can be entrusted to investigate itself in a scandal that has badly tarnished the military and the United States.
PM 'delusional' over Iraq WMD, says inspector
The Observer | International | PM 'delusional' over Iraq WMD, says inspector: "Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor | Sunday June 6, 2004 | The Observer
Tony Blair was branded 'delusional' yesterday over his continued insistence that weapons of mass destruction might still be found in Iraq. The charge was made by the man who headed the hunt.
Following claims by the Prime Minister on Friday that the search might still turn up illegal weapons in Iraq, David Kay, who led the Iraq Survey Group after the invasion, insisted that the weapons did not exist, and called on Blair to apologise for being wrong.
'Anyone out there holding - as I gather Prime Minister Blair has recently said - the prospect that ISG is going to unmask actual weapons of mass destruction is really delusional,' he told the BBC.
'It is amazing that occasionally they slip back into talking about it. The problem is the unwillingness to take the responsibility of saying a few simple words: "We were wrong".
The Observer | International | PM 'delusional' over Iraq WMD, says inspector: "Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor | Sunday June 6, 2004 | The Observer
Tony Blair was branded 'delusional' yesterday over his continued insistence that weapons of mass destruction might still be found in Iraq. The charge was made by the man who headed the hunt.
Following claims by the Prime Minister on Friday that the search might still turn up illegal weapons in Iraq, David Kay, who led the Iraq Survey Group after the invasion, insisted that the weapons did not exist, and called on Blair to apologise for being wrong.
'Anyone out there holding - as I gather Prime Minister Blair has recently said - the prospect that ISG is going to unmask actual weapons of mass destruction is really delusional,' he told the BBC.
'It is amazing that occasionally they slip back into talking about it. The problem is the unwillingness to take the responsibility of saying a few simple words: "We were wrong".
Saturday, June 05, 2004
Kerry's Mideast policy is miles from Bush's
Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Opinion / Op-ed / Kerry's Mideast policy is miles from Bush's: "By Thomas Oliphant | June 1, 2004
WASHINGTON -- THE PROFOUND differences over foreign policy between John Kerry and George Bush can be encapsulated in two words, the Middle East.
...
Administration policy in the Middle East consists of periodic meetings to calibrate the US nonresponse to the latest outrage. There is no real road map, there are no partners; periodic, halfhearted attempts to restart a serious pursuit of settlement have gone the way of all halfhearted initiatives. This murderous atmosphere can be projected forward indefinitely.
...
Kerry is on record from early in his campaign warning that "ignoring or downplaying the conflict, as the Bush administration did for far too long, is a dangerous game."
President Kerry would get back in the real game. Unlike Bush, he would run a vigorous, nonstop diplomatic operation from the very top. He would ask European and Arab allies to help the Palestinian Authority develop a credible security force against terrorist groups, and he would work with Israel on meaningful responses to their progress.
...
Kerry showed no such reticence about oil. For $20 billion a year or so, the United States is hooked on a substance as dangerous to its security as heroin. ...[Oil] gives clout to regimes (above all, Saudi Arabia) that continue to finance the fanaticism that is the other major, long-range incubator of terrorism.
Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Opinion / Op-ed / Kerry's Mideast policy is miles from Bush's: "By Thomas Oliphant | June 1, 2004
WASHINGTON -- THE PROFOUND differences over foreign policy between John Kerry and George Bush can be encapsulated in two words, the Middle East.
...
Administration policy in the Middle East consists of periodic meetings to calibrate the US nonresponse to the latest outrage. There is no real road map, there are no partners; periodic, halfhearted attempts to restart a serious pursuit of settlement have gone the way of all halfhearted initiatives. This murderous atmosphere can be projected forward indefinitely.
...
Kerry is on record from early in his campaign warning that "ignoring or downplaying the conflict, as the Bush administration did for far too long, is a dangerous game."
President Kerry would get back in the real game. Unlike Bush, he would run a vigorous, nonstop diplomatic operation from the very top. He would ask European and Arab allies to help the Palestinian Authority develop a credible security force against terrorist groups, and he would work with Israel on meaningful responses to their progress.
...
Kerry showed no such reticence about oil. For $20 billion a year or so, the United States is hooked on a substance as dangerous to its security as heroin. ...[Oil] gives clout to regimes (above all, Saudi Arabia) that continue to finance the fanaticism that is the other major, long-range incubator of terrorism.
Western intervention needed to be matched in Isreal-Palestine conflict: the west had essentially created israel at the Palestinian's expense
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Worst is yet to come as US pays price of failure: "David Hirst | Friday June 4, 2004 | The Guardian
In the New York Review of Books, veteran commentator Edward Sheehan wrote from Nablus recently about a Palestinian expectation that this summer would witness a simultaneous 'explosion' in both Iraq and the occupied territories.
...
For years it had been all but axiomatic that any western intervention to bring down Saddam needed to be matched by an essentially pro-Palestinian in the Arab-Israeli conflict too. The west had created Israel at the Palestinians' expense, and any realistic settlement had so far as possible to redress that historic injustice.
...
The neo-cons bought the axiom - but turned it on its head. Thanks to them the invasion of Iraq was really the supreme expression of US double standards in the region. In theory, the settlement was to come about through region-wide democratisation and other blessings of America's "civilising mission".
In practice, it would come about through a far higher level of external coercion than ever applied before, and by a yet more extravagant bias in Israel's favour. Even now, as he slips further into the Iraqi quagmire, George Bush has put America openly behind prime minister Ariel Sharon's expansionist designs.
...
So in Iraq and Palestine, more obviously than anywhere else, the US has directly or indirectly empowered the very forces - Islamist and nationalist, populist, violent and fanatical - it came to quell, ...
...
Israelis already voice well-founded fears that the US public will come to blame them for pushing their government, via the neo-cons, into catastrophic misadventure, that America's will to stand by Israel whatever the cost to its interests in the Arab world will be grievously impaired, and that anti-American forces in the region will strive to make the cost unbearable. ...
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Worst is yet to come as US pays price of failure: "David Hirst | Friday June 4, 2004 | The Guardian
In the New York Review of Books, veteran commentator Edward Sheehan wrote from Nablus recently about a Palestinian expectation that this summer would witness a simultaneous 'explosion' in both Iraq and the occupied territories.
...
For years it had been all but axiomatic that any western intervention to bring down Saddam needed to be matched by an essentially pro-Palestinian in the Arab-Israeli conflict too. The west had created Israel at the Palestinians' expense, and any realistic settlement had so far as possible to redress that historic injustice.
...
The neo-cons bought the axiom - but turned it on its head. Thanks to them the invasion of Iraq was really the supreme expression of US double standards in the region. In theory, the settlement was to come about through region-wide democratisation and other blessings of America's "civilising mission".
In practice, it would come about through a far higher level of external coercion than ever applied before, and by a yet more extravagant bias in Israel's favour. Even now, as he slips further into the Iraqi quagmire, George Bush has put America openly behind prime minister Ariel Sharon's expansionist designs.
...
So in Iraq and Palestine, more obviously than anywhere else, the US has directly or indirectly empowered the very forces - Islamist and nationalist, populist, violent and fanatical - it came to quell, ...
...
Israelis already voice well-founded fears that the US public will come to blame them for pushing their government, via the neo-cons, into catastrophic misadventure, that America's will to stand by Israel whatever the cost to its interests in the Arab world will be grievously impaired, and that anti-American forces in the region will strive to make the cost unbearable. ...
Delusion on a psychotic scale: Iraq Survey Group, is still going strong searching for WMD
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Delusion on a psychotic scale:"In the face of all the evidence, the Iraq Survey Group is still searching for WMD | David Leigh and David Pallister | Friday June 4, 2004 | The Guardian
The dustbin of history is crammed full these days. Head-first into the garbage has just gone Ahmed Chalabi, would-be leader of Iraq, now accused of treachery against the US and of peddling disinformation about non-existent weapons of mass destruction.
Into the bin with him has gone, as we all know by now, a chimerical tangle of irrelevant pipework: so-called aluminium tubes for nuclear bombs; so-called mobile laboratories for spreading germs; alleged rockets to fire off poison gas within 45 minutes. All these have proved non-existent.
...
Amid all this mass clear-out of failures and lies, however, there is one mysterious omission. A secretive CIA-led intelligence body set up to look for stockpiles of Saddam's secret weapons, the Iraq Survey Group, is still going strong. This is despite the resignation of its head, David Kay, last January, who said with admirable crispness: "We were all wrong." ...
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Delusion on a psychotic scale:"In the face of all the evidence, the Iraq Survey Group is still searching for WMD | David Leigh and David Pallister | Friday June 4, 2004 | The Guardian
The dustbin of history is crammed full these days. Head-first into the garbage has just gone Ahmed Chalabi, would-be leader of Iraq, now accused of treachery against the US and of peddling disinformation about non-existent weapons of mass destruction.
Into the bin with him has gone, as we all know by now, a chimerical tangle of irrelevant pipework: so-called aluminium tubes for nuclear bombs; so-called mobile laboratories for spreading germs; alleged rockets to fire off poison gas within 45 minutes. All these have proved non-existent.
...
Amid all this mass clear-out of failures and lies, however, there is one mysterious omission. A secretive CIA-led intelligence body set up to look for stockpiles of Saddam's secret weapons, the Iraq Survey Group, is still going strong. This is despite the resignation of its head, David Kay, last January, who said with admirable crispness: "We were all wrong." ...
