Monday, April 30, 2007

Useful Idiot

Like Powell & Gonzo...

(CNN) -- In a letter written Saturday to former CIA Director George Tenet, six former CIA officers described their former boss as "the Alberto Gonzales of the intelligence community," and called his book "an admission of failed leadership."

The writers said Tenet has "a moral obligation" to return the Medal of Freedom he received from President Bush.

They also called on him to give more than half the royalties he gets from book, "At the Center of the Storm," to U.S. soldiers wounded in Iraq and families of the dead. (Watch Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice talk about Tenet's book)

The letter, signed by Phil Giraldi, Ray McGovern, Larry Johnson, Jim Marcinkowski, Vince Cannistraro and David MacMichael, said Tenet should have resigned in protest rather than take part in the administration's buildup to the war. (Read the full letter)

Johnson is a former CIA intelligence official and registered Republican who voted for Bush in 2000. McGovern is a former CIA analyst.

Cannistraro is former head of the CIA's counterterrorism division and was head of intelligence for the National Security Council in the late 1980s.

The writers said they agree that Bush administration officials took the nation to war "for flimsy reasons," and that it has proved "ill-advised and wrong-headed."

But, they added, "your lament that you are a victim in a process you helped direct is self-serving, misleading and, as head of the intelligence community, an admission of failed leadership.


http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/29/tenet.letter/index.html
... How's that working for ya?

Friday, April 27, 2007




http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070426/D8OOC9OO0.html


[lax] Politics - World (context)
Of course we're making a difference, but listen
2007-04-26 14:28:18

to the troop's commander:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said, "there is vastly more work to be done across the board. ... We are just getting started with the new effort."
...

Asked how many troops he thought would have to remain in Iraq - and for how long - to finish the job, Petraeus said, "I wouldn't try to truly anticipate what level might be some years down the road." However, he noted historical precedents to long U.S. peacekeeping missions.

"It is an endeavor that clearly is going to require enormous commitment and commitment over time, but beyond that time I don't want to get into try to postulate how many brigades or when we would start to do something," he said.

"It is not a government of national unity. Rather, it is one comprised of political leaders from different parties that often default to narrow agendas and a zero-sum approach to legislation," the general said.


... Don't say you weren't warned.


[nyc] Politics - World (context)
I love sentences that start with everyone should
2007-04-26 14:22:14

Remember:

You can fool some of the people all of the time;
You can fool all of the people some of the time;
But you can't fool all the people all of the time.

However, with sufficient help from the power elites, you CAN fool enough of the people enough of the time.


[sfo] Politics - World (context)
Note the "we're just getting started" part
2007-04-26 12:54:17

after half a trillion dollars and 4 years of "mission accomplished", at last we're getting started. Finally! Whew! I thought this day would NEVER come!


[sfo] Politics - World (context)
We might just win this war yet
2007-04-26 12:50:55

but God knows at what cost...


WASHINGTON (AP) - Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Thursday that conditions in Iraq may get harder before they get easier and will require "an enormous commitment" over time by the United States.

Speaking as the Senate debated veto-threatened legislation to start bringing home U.S. forces in October, Petraeus called the war there "the most complex and challenging I have ever seen."

The four-star general, named by President Bush to oversee the recent buildup of American forces, cited some progress in the two months since the troop increase began. Still, he said, "there is vastly more work to be done across the board. ... We are just getting started with the new effort."

...his comments made it clear that his war plan did not include a significant reduction of U.S. forces anytime soon.

"This effort may get harder before it gets easier," Petraeus told reporters at a Pentagon briefing, depicting the situation as "exceedingly complex and very tough."
...
Asked how many troops he thought would have to remain in Iraq - and for how long - to finish the job, Petraeus said, "I wouldn't try to truly anticipate what level might be some years down the road." However, he noted historical precedents to long U.S. peacekeeping missions.

"It is an endeavor that clearly is going to require enormous commitment and commitment over time, but beyond that time I don't want to get into try to postulate how many brigades or when we would start to do something,"
he said.

Petraeus said matters were made worse by "exceedingly unhelpful activities by Iran and Syria, especially those by Iran."


Petraeus also said that, while the fledgling Iraqi government is often billed as a unity government among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, it actually is not.

"It is not a government of national unity. Rather, it is one comprised of political leaders from different parties that often default to narrow agendas and a zero-sum approach to legislation," the general said.


... How's that Stay & Pray strategy working for ya?