Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Rush is a great American. I am confident he can overcome any obstacles he faces right now. -President Bush, re embattled radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh
Defense Department Shares
CNN (Chris Plante) blandly cites the General Accounting Office(GAO) as the source of a report that the Defense Department (DoD) had sold equipment to the public that could be utilized for making biological warfare agents. The sale was finally halted on September 19.
"Many items needed to establish a laboratory for making biological warfare agents were being sold on the Internet to the public from DoD's excess property inventory for pennies on the dollar, making them both easy and economical to obtain," the GAO draft report said
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/10/06/gao.pentagon/index.html
Wilson-Plamegate: Such Integrity!
Don’t hold your breath waiting for the media outrage over the farcical “investigation” of the leak. While the headline was that all documents would be handed over to the justice department, they actually were given to White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez for his review. The Dallas Morning News carried the report, and few others bothered, thus far. And, too many in the media are talking of the “Democrats” being upset with this, reducing this illegality to “partisan politics”.
There were also some woefully inarticulate comments from Bush on a host of issues today that the radio media had to carefully edit, plus this not-exactly-fiery Bush comment re the Leak.
I mean this town is a -- is a town full of people who like to leak information. And I don't know if we're going to find out the senior administration official. Now, this is a large administration, and there's a lot of senior officials. I don't have any idea. I'd like to. I want to know the truth. That's why I've instructed this staff of mine to cooperate fully with the investigators -- full disclosure, everything we know the investigators will find out. I have no idea whether we'll find out who the leaker is -- partially because, in all due respect to your profession, you do a very good job of protecting the leakers…
Musings from General-Candidate Clark:
He has a thoughtful piece in the current NY Review of Books, and his recent book Winning Modern Wars contains some startling revelations. The best: In November, 2001 he learned of detailed planning for war on Iraq, and that the Administration was already targeting six other nations for the upcoming 5 year period.
As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan. I left the Pentagon that afternoon deeply concerned.
(page 130).
More on this at http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0340/schanberg.php
You Are What You Watch:
A study done by a research center affiliated with the University of Maryland has found that those who watch the Fox News Channel were four times as likely to hold “demonstrably untrue” positions about the war in Iraq compared to those who get their news from NPR and PBS.
"When evidence surfaces that a significant portion of the public has just got a hole in the picture ... this is a potential problem in the way democracy functions," says Clay Ramsay, research director for the Washington-based Program on International Policy Attitudes, which studies foreign-policy issues.
http://www.sunspot.net/features/lifestyle/bal-to.fox04oct04,0,3378189.story?coll=bal-pe-today
What’s Happening, Iraq:
More deaths, of U.S. soldiers and of Iraqi army veterans, as protests demanding back pay have proceeded for most of this week. Reports of ongoing harassment of media continue. Aljazeera reports that one of their cameramen was detained/arrested, allegedly while he was filming a demonstration by unemployed Iraqis.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2BE42E8D-3D53-41AE-8D09-14CD284699D1.htm
Targeting Venezuela
The US News (and World Report) (Linda Robinson) labels President Chavez a terrorist. The article claims that Venezuela is now “providing assistance to Islamic radicals from the Middle East and other terrorists.” Quoting “senior U.S. military and intelligence officials”, the report notes that the Administration considers this “an unpredictably dangerous mix and are gathering more information about the intentions of a country that sits 1,000 miles south of Florida.”
In turn, Chavez is purportedly telling Washington to crack down on Cuban and Venezuelan terrorists that he claims are training in Florida. He said that he had cancelled a trip to the U.S. out of fear for his life.
-R
Defense Department Shares
CNN (Chris Plante) blandly cites the General Accounting Office(GAO) as the source of a report that the Defense Department (DoD) had sold equipment to the public that could be utilized for making biological warfare agents. The sale was finally halted on September 19.
"Many items needed to establish a laboratory for making biological warfare agents were being sold on the Internet to the public from DoD's excess property inventory for pennies on the dollar, making them both easy and economical to obtain," the GAO draft report said
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/10/06/gao.pentagon/index.html
Wilson-Plamegate: Such Integrity!
Don’t hold your breath waiting for the media outrage over the farcical “investigation” of the leak. While the headline was that all documents would be handed over to the justice department, they actually were given to White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez for his review. The Dallas Morning News carried the report, and few others bothered, thus far. And, too many in the media are talking of the “Democrats” being upset with this, reducing this illegality to “partisan politics”.
There were also some woefully inarticulate comments from Bush on a host of issues today that the radio media had to carefully edit, plus this not-exactly-fiery Bush comment re the Leak.
I mean this town is a -- is a town full of people who like to leak information. And I don't know if we're going to find out the senior administration official. Now, this is a large administration, and there's a lot of senior officials. I don't have any idea. I'd like to. I want to know the truth. That's why I've instructed this staff of mine to cooperate fully with the investigators -- full disclosure, everything we know the investigators will find out. I have no idea whether we'll find out who the leaker is -- partially because, in all due respect to your profession, you do a very good job of protecting the leakers…
Musings from General-Candidate Clark:
He has a thoughtful piece in the current NY Review of Books, and his recent book Winning Modern Wars contains some startling revelations. The best: In November, 2001 he learned of detailed planning for war on Iraq, and that the Administration was already targeting six other nations for the upcoming 5 year period.
As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan. I left the Pentagon that afternoon deeply concerned.
(page 130).
More on this at http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0340/schanberg.php
You Are What You Watch:
A study done by a research center affiliated with the University of Maryland has found that those who watch the Fox News Channel were four times as likely to hold “demonstrably untrue” positions about the war in Iraq compared to those who get their news from NPR and PBS.
"When evidence surfaces that a significant portion of the public has just got a hole in the picture ... this is a potential problem in the way democracy functions," says Clay Ramsay, research director for the Washington-based Program on International Policy Attitudes, which studies foreign-policy issues.
http://www.sunspot.net/features/lifestyle/bal-to.fox04oct04,0,3378189.story?coll=bal-pe-today
What’s Happening, Iraq:
More deaths, of U.S. soldiers and of Iraqi army veterans, as protests demanding back pay have proceeded for most of this week. Reports of ongoing harassment of media continue. Aljazeera reports that one of their cameramen was detained/arrested, allegedly while he was filming a demonstration by unemployed Iraqis.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2BE42E8D-3D53-41AE-8D09-14CD284699D1.htm
Targeting Venezuela
The US News (and World Report) (Linda Robinson) labels President Chavez a terrorist. The article claims that Venezuela is now “providing assistance to Islamic radicals from the Middle East and other terrorists.” Quoting “senior U.S. military and intelligence officials”, the report notes that the Administration considers this “an unpredictably dangerous mix and are gathering more information about the intentions of a country that sits 1,000 miles south of Florida.”
In turn, Chavez is purportedly telling Washington to crack down on Cuban and Venezuelan terrorists that he claims are training in Florida. He said that he had cancelled a trip to the U.S. out of fear for his life.
-R
