Rice Admits Tenet's "Truthiness"

In a CBS News article titled "Rice Dismisses Tenet's Accusations", Condoleeza Rice appears to be disputing George Tenet's claims. However, a fairly casual evaluation of her answers reveal just the opposite. Let's review these statements from her Sunday interview with Bob Shieffer on CBS's "Face the Nation" and see what answers truly reveal:

Tenet tells Scott Pelley in a 60 Minutes interview that, before the September 11 attacks, he told Rice in a White House meeting the U.S. should take preemptive action inside Afghanistan.

"We need – we need to – we need to consider immediate action inside Afghanistan now," Tenet remembers telling Rice, who was then National Security Advisor. "We need to – we need to move to the offensive."

RICE'S ANSWER AND MY EVALUATION"

Rice, however, said Tenet's claim was a "new fact" and she would "have to look."

If it is a fact, how can it be new when he said it happened prior to September 11, 2001? She refers to Tenet's claim as a "fact" which is a clear acknowledgment that it is true. Further, what does she have to look into about a fact? Possibly come up with an answer to hide the truth?

She told Bob Schieffer, "It's very interesting because that's not what George told the 9/11 Commission at the time. He said that he felt that we had gotten it."

She refers to his testimony and attempts to point out that he withheld that information from the 9/11 Commission. However, even if he did it in no way proves that it is false.

Asked why Tenet would make the claim if it wasn't true, Rice said she didn't know. "I don't know what we were supposed to preemptively strike in Afghanistan," she said. "Perhaps somebody can ask that."

Her claim appears to be that he didn't provide specific targets,which he never claims to have done. Notice that she still does not deny his assertion, then takes an offensive stance saying that he should be questioned about specific targets that should have been picked. That is totally irrelevant as to whether or not he recommended preemptive action in a general manner. It would be up to the Military and intelligence Agencies combined to select specific targets.

A careful examination of her statements reveal that while Secretary Rice makes weak attempts to defend herself, she is unable to come up with even a weak rebuttal and clearly confirms that his assertion is a fact.

George Tenet Comes Out

Former CIA Director George Tenet has followed the normal path of former Bush Administration Officials. He has written a book in which he revealed that the President and his henchmen were planning to invade Iraq long before 9/11 and that he hates Dick Cheney. So what else is new?

Anyone who hasn't figured out that the Bushies were planning to invade Iraq from day one probably also still believes that Saddam had WMD's and a connection to AL Qaeda. After "Fiasco", "State of Denial", and Richard Clarke's book "Against All Enemies" I think its pretty clear that any reasonable person with a brain who had in depth contact with the Bush Whitehouse and a smidgen of ethics has to scream out loud that these people are really bad news.

The problem I have with Tenet is the same one I have with Colin Powell. These men should have known better and either spoke up, walked away, or both when the Neocons were leading us down the path to destruction. Dick Cheney is a psychopathic killer and George Bush has the IQ of a head of lettuce, they have an excuse. However, both Powell and Tenet knew better and waited until we drove off a cliff to pipe up and tell us that there was a sign saying "bridge out ahead". Gee thanks guys, its nice to know NOW!! that we are dealing with liars and thieves! Maybe you coulda got that info to us a tad bit earlier. I don't know, maybe prior to the biggest strategic blunder in US history would have been good?

Oh well, better late than never I guess. Now its time for Congress to call these guys in to testify and get some orange jump suits prepared for President Cheney and his faculty. If these guys don't end up in jail then there is no justice in the United States.

The Problem with Firing Imus

I pretty much knew it but I withheld this comment until I saw it come to pass. Don Imus made a racist unacceptable comment. Unfortunately, firing him provided a great opportunity for right wing MSNBC Executives to replace him with right wing kook Michael Smerconish. It's not hard to guess that a Network owned by Monstrous Defense Contractor General Electric would be a far right wing neocon mouthpiece. It's pretty obvious that a news outlet whose parent company makes billions from war would do everything in their power to promote business. The President of MSNBC should be honest and make the same statement Damon Wayan's made in the movie Major Payne, "Ladies, My Business is killing, and Business is Good".

Don Imus was hated by the right because as quiet as it was kept, he harboured some progressive attitudes and the right wing knew it. He hated Dick Cheney and constantly referred to him as a "fat pork chop eatin bastard". He was an outspoken critic of the Bush Administration and the Iraq war. He referred to the President and his war party as war criminals that should be in jail. He was recently criticized for saying that Dick Cheney should be shot. His on air cohorts were right wing racist pigs but to be honest, Imus was an often times left leaning Republican critic who rarely, if ever, agreed with them. I am not defending His comments, just stating a reality here that many people have missed. I felt that his racist cohort Bernard McGuirk made such outrageously racist statements that the show should have been trashed years ago. It has been overlooked that immediately after Imus's statement about the Rutgers players, McGuirk referred to the Spike Lee movie' Do the right thing" by saying " The Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes — that movie that he had." McGuirk made racist statements almost daily and I am shocked that he was allowed to get away with it as long as he did.

At any rate, this is a long winded way of saying that MSNBC was thrilled to get the opportunity to replace an outspoken Bush and War critic with right wing host Michael Smerconish. Who would have guessed that the man who stands in for Bill O'reilly and donated personally to George W. Bush's campaign would be hired as the Defense Contractor's newest mouthpiece. Though the MSNBC show with the fastest climbing ratings is the left leaning "Countdown, with Keith Olbermann" the station ignores the money making potential of more centrist and left leaning hosts and goes for the far right again. Obviously, they understand that a few million from a successful talk show is nothing compared with Billions for G.E. from an unsuccessful war.

Here's some information you may find interesting about General Electric/MSNBC:

"General Electric, one of the largest and most diversified manufacturers in the world, is the Pentagon's top supplier of aircraft engines. The company also provides financial services and owns the NBC television network.

"General Electric's Defense Contracts went up a whopping 1.2 billion dollars after the the start of the Iraq War"

"60% of G.E.'s political donations between 1998 and 2003 went to Republican candidates. During that period the top recipient of campaign money was George W. Bush"

The Imus firing was great for America in that it finally forces the African American community to acknowledge the drug selling gun toting lyrics of modern day rappers. This tragedy has been ignored though it causes irreparable harm to our youth. But it is a bittersweet victory as it gives the giant defense contractor another Republican apologist to sing the corporate song.

A SPEECH TO THE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE BY VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY

My fellow Conservatives,

Being a man of order, Godly principles, and conservative values I can imagine a Muslim Country where all men and women are free. A land where peace is the way of life and there are no Jihadis or martyrs. In this great peaceful country, all people regardless of gender, race, or religion will be free to worship and live as they see fit with no fear of government or religious persecution. The wealth of natural resources will be bring great prosperity which will be used for peaceful purposes. There will be no need for a military or nuclear weapons because this Muslim country will harbour no ill will towards anyone on the planet and will only seek to project love and promote peace on this great planet. The government won't even need bodyguards or any form of physical protection measures because they will be loved and respected by the citizens rather than feared.

Can't you just imagine the possibilities this great society presents to the overall interests of the United States? The way I see it, we could overrun those bastards in less than 48 hours with just the 82nd airborne, the 1st infantry division, and maybe the 101st airborne division for backup and re-supply. Hell a couple of squadrons of f-18's would knock out all command and control communications the first night because they'de have no anti-aircraft weapons systems and those tea sipping, spotted owl hugging, peace bunnies would never see it coming. They'd have all the infrastructure for oil production so as long as we didn't accidentally hit the oil fields with our pinpoint tomohawk strikes we could have them back up pumping at full capacity in a matter of days. Early in the Campaign, we could offer to meet with their parliament to hammer out a peace deal. Then once we got 'em all gathered in one place, wipe 'em all out with one B61-11 Nuclear Bunker Buster Bomb. OH GOD I LOVE THIS JOB!!!!

The Green Zone is Turning Red

A suicide bomber detonated himself in the cafeteria of the Iraqi Parliament building inside the "Green Zone" in Baghdad today killing at least 8 and wounding around 30 people. Within an hour a message appeared on an Al Queda web site calling the blast a "message" to anyone who cooperates with "the occupier and its agents." It said ominously, "We will reach you wherever you are".

Can we take this to mean that the insurgents are instituting a "surge" strategy of their own? Maybe the Iraqi Parliament should start meeting at the Baghdad market where John McCain prclaimed it was safe because the green zone seems to be getting more red by the minute. I would suggest to Senator McCain that he return to that Baghdad market and look for his credibility, I think he lost it there.

Incidentally, did you know that the green zone is called that because it is safe and the rest of the country is considered the red zone. This is not a joke, it was the original reason it was called the green Zone. I think they better downgrade it to the yellow zone after this.

Why There Will Be No Timetable For Withdrawal

There is a very simple reason that the Bush Administration is rejecting any timetable for withdrawing the troops from Iraq. Because they never have any intention of leaving. The evidence is irrefutable:

• They are currently building an embassy six times larger than the United Nations with its own defense force, power and water production facilities, and the population of a small town

• The Military is Building 14 "Enduring Bases" in Iraq and upgrading airfields as we speak

• On 23 March 2004, Christine Spolar said in The Chicago Tribune that there was a “long term military presence planned” in Iraq. “U.S. engineers are focusing on constructing 14 "enduring bases," long-term encampments for the thousands of American troops expected to serve in Iraq for at least two years. The bases also would be key outposts for Bush administration policy advisers.” Major Kimmitt said, “This is a blueprint for how we could operate in the Middle East." The US was making plans for Iraqi bases in Baghdad, Mosul, Taji, Balad, Kirkuk and in areas near Nasiriyah, near Tikrit, near Fallujah and between Irbil and Kirkuk. There were also plans “to renovate and enhance airfields in Baghdad and Mosul, and rebuild 70 miles of road on the main route for U.S. troops headed north.”

Isn't it pretty obvious that we are not going to build the largest embassy in the world and fourteen huge military bases just to walk away and leave them for the Iraqis who have no legitimate military and no air force whatsoever?

The plan was to invade Iraq, then build forward bases for further military operations against other Middle Eastern Countries and ultimately Russia and China. This would allow us to dominate the region's oil and ultimately subjugate all persons on earth to the Neocons. In plain language "TO RULE THE WORLD..Meeeehahahahaha (or whatever word represents the maniacal laugh of a madman). Don't fool yourself for one second and think that these people are discouraged by the immensity of their failure. Reality and Neocon strategies are polar opposites. They move forward with little consideration of the wishes of the American or Iraqi people. This is truly a fascist elitist Regime that believes that they know far better what is good for us than we do. We ordinary citizens are insignificant in their grand scheme other than the ones who are willing to join the military and catch a bullet.

The Iraqis are fed up and are now making it quite clear that they wish us out. These quotes from Lauren Frayer's April 10th story tell it all:

"Tens of thousands draped themselves in Iraqi flags and marched peacefully through the streets of two Shiite holy cities Monday to mark the fourth anniversary of Baghdad's fall. Demonstrators were flanked by two cordons of police as they called for US forces to leave, shouting: "Get out, get out occupier!"

"Iraqi soldiers in uniform joined the crowd, which was led by at least a dozen turbaned clerics - including one Sunni."

"The enemy that is occupying our country is now targeting the dignity of the Iraqi people," said lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie, head of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament. "After four years of occupation, we have hundreds of thousands of people dead and wounded." A senior official in al-Sadr's organization in Najaf, Salah al-Obaydi, called the rally a "call for liberation."

"We're hoping that by next year's anniversary, we will be an independent and liberated Iraq with full sovereignty," he said"

The only thing that will make a difference is if the American people get so tired of the current subversion of Democracy that they force the issue by pressuring the Congress to impeach both the President and Vice President before they can attack Iran and screw this thing up beyond repair. Will that happen? if the last few years is any indication, the gullible and politically ignorant masses will just sit by and complain while a small band of fascist psychos lead us all down the road to destruction.

Now for the daily double:

Rome, Greece, and the United States

Who are, powerful empires that fell..for five hundred dollars Alex.

General Petraeus's Plan?

I find it strange that the Republicans are defending General Petraeus's plan to secure Baghdad. The last time I checked, George Bush was the President and this guy was a General. Its as if President Bush and his warmongers had absolutely no input and General Petraeus devised this plan on his own. The President's chief conspirators, the AEI institute, printed in a recent article:

"it is premature, to say the least, for armchair generals (ourselves included) to enter a verdict on General David Petraeus' plans to secure Baghdad and enable a political settlement in Iraq"

It seems fairly obvious they recognize that the American people have finally figured out how incompetent and ineffective our current political leaders are at devising military policies. They realize that if the plan is presented as the President's plan, it will be universally viewed as just another foolish plan by a hapless bungler. Which, I might add, is precisely what it is. The other bonus of laying this on the General's lap is that when it fails, as of course it undoubtedly will, the Hapless Bungler in Chief will have a convenient fall guy.

What makes me sick in this case is watching the media lapdogs run after the ball they've been thrown and happily return it to their master time and again. Will no one in the mainstream media ask the questions; whose plan is this anyway? Just how much input did General Petraeus have? Is it General Petraeus's plan because he created it or because it has now been handed to him.

The good General should also look around and observe what this Administration does with people when they no are no longer needed. He best have a plan for six or seven months from now when this thing has completely blown up (no pun intended). Because guess whose plan it will be then?...correct, General Petraeus's plan. Any guesses who the White House will blame for the failure?

Lets go for a Picnic in Baghdad

I don't know about you, but I'm already planning my family vacation in Baghdad. Pack up the 2.5 kids in the minivan with some blankets and wicker picnic baskets and its off to Sadre City to enjoy the beginning of the car bombing season.

John McCain recently pointed me to my summer vacation destination when he said:

“There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today. The U.S. is beginning to succeed in Iraq.”

Then of course as he has done so many times before, John McCain defended the absurd claim with an even more ludicrous explanation of the statement which millions watched on CNN.

“Well, I’m not saying they could go without protection. The President goes around America with protection. So, certainly I didn’t say that.”

So I guess he's saying that you and I could walk through certain neighborhoods in Baghdad, provided we had the protection of the first armoured division and few dozen attack helicopters surrounding us. I can hardly wait to find a nice shady spot to pull over and break out the potato salad and sandwiches.


John McCain, the kind of Republican leadership America has come to expect.

Karl Rove...SUPER GENIUS!!

I remember as a child watching a cartoon in which Wile E Coyote walked up to Bugs Bunny and presented him with a business card that read "Hi, my name is Wile E Coyote, Super Genius". He then advised Bugs to surrender immediately since he had no chance of survival against an intellectually superior opponent. As could be expected, Bugs wasn't very impressed and proceeded to repeatedly humiliate and expose to great bodily harm said 'Super Genius'. At the end of the cartoon when it had been made painfully, and I mean that both figuratively and literally, obvious that he was not the intellectual giant he made himself out to be. He held up a sign that read "Hi, my name is MUD". Bugs bunny then stated "and remember folks, mud spelled backwards is DUM[B].

Now to one Mr. Karl Rove, he was anointed genius by the right wing pundits that masquerade themselves as the mainstream media shortly after the stupidest man on earth became President. I was watching a political show on one of the mainstream networks the other day and the Conservative pundits looked at the so-called left wing pundit and said that even with all of his problems, wouldn't the Democrats like to have a genius like Karl Rove on their side, to which this clown replied "yes".

Clearly their idea of what defines a genius is drastically different than mine. This idiot has executed a master plan which has handed Congress over to the Democrats, created the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of this country, and alienated both himself and his feckless boss from the citizens of the world, the American People, and members of Congress in their own party. Only an unlikely miracle will prevent the Democrats from picking up more seats in Congress and the presidency in 2008. The latest trends show that the American people are trending away from the Republicans in nearly every category. So please tell me what the Democrats would want this Schmuck for? If you evaluate his strategy over the entire 8 years of the Bush Presidency it is quite obvious that his plans were shortsighted and naive. He thought he could create a one party State, as most fascists would certainly desire, then make political moves with reckless abandon. That lasted exactly four years and now the Democratic Congress is quickly closing in on the "reckless abandon" part of his strategy with hearings and subpoenas. I suspect that by January of 2009 when the new President is sworn in, Mr. Rove will be holding up a sign not so unlike that of Wile E Coyote's final statement.

My advice to the Democrats is, with geniuses like Karl Rove, who needs dummies.