Sunday, October 05, 2003
Our understanding of the status of Iraq's WMD program was always bounded by large uncertainties and had to be heavily caveated. -Kay Report
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal (weapons of mass destruction). - Bush, 3/17/03
What’s Happening, Iraq:
Drug crisis… in Baghdad!
The BBC reports that these are boom times for hallucinogens as well as Valium and sleeping pills. The local, minimalist police force is overwhelmed by problems that are compounded by Saddam’s release of thousands of criminals prior to the invasion. (No, they weren’t all “political prisoners.”)
Still Another, Important Lie:
Jeff Gerth in the NY Times focused on the pre-invasion lies the Administration told about Iraq being capable of paying for its rebuilding from its oil wealth, thus not burdening the American taxpayer. Apparently, a far more pessimistic/realistic estimate had been made by a governmental task force that was assigned the duty of assessing Iraq’s oil industry. This group, part of the Pentagon-based war planning, had learned that the sanctions / trade embargoes had drastically lowered production. Now, with the sabotage…
In other words, they knew, they lied… and the public takes the hit.
Wilson-Plamegate
* The Administration admitted that the leak exposed the identity of a CIA front company, compounding the original damage from the illegal/treasonous act.
* Lewis Scooter Libby and Elliot Abrams deny that they were the sources of the leak,
though more whispers have pointed to Libby.
The FBI - Pakistan Connection:
The Asian Times (Syed Saleem Shahzad) reports that the FBI has so penetrated the Pakistani intelligence establishment that they orchestrated the attack on Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in the past few days. Perhaps they can use their new position to find bin Laden, but in view of the complicated relationship between Pakistan and the U.S., it’s not clear what the FBI would do if it “found” bin Laden. Seymour Hersh’s reports and others by the Asian Times, make clear that spiriting bin Laden out of the Pakistani-Afghan border area is not an unambivalent goal.
Lest We Forget:
This is an anti-labor Administration. One recent development is their imposing a new round of regulations- reporting requirements as to financial information that would force unions to expend resources that are needed for serving their workers. As the AFL-CIO estimates, these regulations (Hey, I thought the Administration’s philosophy was anti-regulation?) will cost unions an additional $ 1 billion, it’s assumed that this will result in smaller unions going under and that others will be forced to consolidate.
Middle East: Wither the Iraq war leading to a New Middle East?
…Only worsening between Israel and the Palestinians. Another devastating bombing in Israel and an eyebrow – raising Israeli striking at Palestinians well inside Syrian territory, virtually 30 years to the day since Israel last did this, during the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The Administration made clear its sympathies by all but branding Syria part of the ‘Axis of Evil’ as the Syrians took the incursion to the U.N.
General Sanchez warns some more: The Chicago Tribune (James O'Shea) contributes a report on Ricardo Sanchez warning that the level of American forces will need to be maintained for years. And, he cautioned, we should be prepared for a "significant engagement where tens of American soldiers or coalition soldiers" are killed.
Iran: Rapprochement?
Jason Burke and Dan de Luce of the Sunday Observer (GB) report that ongoing quiet diplomacy involving unsaid notables has yielded progress as to Iran’s nuclear program and have dealt with U.S. charges of Iran’s meddling in Iraq. The talks contrast with the public rhetoric of charges and countercharges.
-R
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal (weapons of mass destruction). - Bush, 3/17/03
What’s Happening, Iraq:
Drug crisis… in Baghdad!
The BBC reports that these are boom times for hallucinogens as well as Valium and sleeping pills. The local, minimalist police force is overwhelmed by problems that are compounded by Saddam’s release of thousands of criminals prior to the invasion. (No, they weren’t all “political prisoners.”)
Still Another, Important Lie:
Jeff Gerth in the NY Times focused on the pre-invasion lies the Administration told about Iraq being capable of paying for its rebuilding from its oil wealth, thus not burdening the American taxpayer. Apparently, a far more pessimistic/realistic estimate had been made by a governmental task force that was assigned the duty of assessing Iraq’s oil industry. This group, part of the Pentagon-based war planning, had learned that the sanctions / trade embargoes had drastically lowered production. Now, with the sabotage…
In other words, they knew, they lied… and the public takes the hit.
Wilson-Plamegate
* The Administration admitted that the leak exposed the identity of a CIA front company, compounding the original damage from the illegal/treasonous act.
* Lewis Scooter Libby and Elliot Abrams deny that they were the sources of the leak,
though more whispers have pointed to Libby.
The FBI - Pakistan Connection:
The Asian Times (Syed Saleem Shahzad) reports that the FBI has so penetrated the Pakistani intelligence establishment that they orchestrated the attack on Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in the past few days. Perhaps they can use their new position to find bin Laden, but in view of the complicated relationship between Pakistan and the U.S., it’s not clear what the FBI would do if it “found” bin Laden. Seymour Hersh’s reports and others by the Asian Times, make clear that spiriting bin Laden out of the Pakistani-Afghan border area is not an unambivalent goal.
Lest We Forget:
This is an anti-labor Administration. One recent development is their imposing a new round of regulations- reporting requirements as to financial information that would force unions to expend resources that are needed for serving their workers. As the AFL-CIO estimates, these regulations (Hey, I thought the Administration’s philosophy was anti-regulation?) will cost unions an additional $ 1 billion, it’s assumed that this will result in smaller unions going under and that others will be forced to consolidate.
Middle East: Wither the Iraq war leading to a New Middle East?
…Only worsening between Israel and the Palestinians. Another devastating bombing in Israel and an eyebrow – raising Israeli striking at Palestinians well inside Syrian territory, virtually 30 years to the day since Israel last did this, during the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The Administration made clear its sympathies by all but branding Syria part of the ‘Axis of Evil’ as the Syrians took the incursion to the U.N.
General Sanchez warns some more: The Chicago Tribune (James O'Shea) contributes a report on Ricardo Sanchez warning that the level of American forces will need to be maintained for years. And, he cautioned, we should be prepared for a "significant engagement where tens of American soldiers or coalition soldiers" are killed.
Iran: Rapprochement?
Jason Burke and Dan de Luce of the Sunday Observer (GB) report that ongoing quiet diplomacy involving unsaid notables has yielded progress as to Iran’s nuclear program and have dealt with U.S. charges of Iran’s meddling in Iraq. The talks contrast with the public rhetoric of charges and countercharges.
-R
