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It Was 730 Days Ago Today …
By June Thomas

The second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks provided an opportunity for many of the world's editorial writers to express concern about the United States' pursuit of the war on terror. France's Le Monde, which on Sept. 12, 2001, famously proclaimed, "We Are All Americans," now declared, "Two years later, the standing of the United States is at an all-time low. Compassion has given way to fear that ill-thought actions will only aggravate the problems and that the struggle against terrorism is nothing but a pretext for the extension of American hegemony." The United States, the editorial advised, "must listen to its allies, take into account the differences in the situations in which it intervenes, and respect the international rules that they themselves helped to write."

>SNIP<
The Independent said that following 9/11, America's mood has changed: "Optimism and confidence gave way to defensiveness and fear."

To read the rest of the story, click here .

posted by John 10:28 PM

Wesley Wayback

Shrubby and Oberstuermbannfuehrer Rove and maybe Dick “the congressman from Budweiser” Gephart are looking to the “Kosovo factor” to help them sandbag the credibility of General Wesley Clark. It always helps to have a little background in advance of the onslaught. That way you can tell the players without a pogrom.

posted by Groom 6:23 PM

Fair and Balanced

(FALLUJA) Hundreds of Iraqis chanting "America is the enemy of God" and shooting in the air on Saturday buried eight of 10 guards apparently shot by U.S. troops who mistook them for anti-American rebels.

More than 36 hours after the deaths, the U.S. military apologized for what it called an "unfortunate incident" in the rebellious town of Falluja, west of Baghdad. Reuters, September 13, 2003

(MOSUL) Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and local Iraqis are making lighter work with many hands by working together in the motor pool to change out engines and repair hundreds of tires.

To help the soldiers, who were spread thin over their many missions, local Iraqis that had been working with the unit to do repair jobs around their area were brought in to work in the motor pool as well. U.S. Central Command, September 13, 2003

posted by Jerry Bowles 1:13 PM

Who Knew?

Howard Brush Dean III? Howard Brush Dean III? Read David Brooks' marvelous take on the Protestant Establishment for some things you probably didn't know about our populist pal.

posted by Jerry Bowles 12:20 PM

What me recall

After months of meddling in Venezuela’s internal politics, the Shrub Club has been dealt a setback in its efforts to rig a a recall vote against freely-elected president Hugo Chavez. Assistant secretary of state and Gauleiter for Latin America, Otto Johan Reich has been outspoken about wanting Chavez to take a hike. US ambassador Charles Shapiro has participated in anti-Chavez rallies. Too bad for this pair of nudniks that Venezuela’s National Election Council has ruled no dice on the recall and that opponents of Chavez have violated the constitution by collecting names prior to the midpoint of Chavez’s 6-year term.

posted by Groom 5:32 AM

Friday, September 12, 2003

Bad News, Good News

Let's go to the videotape. U.S. troops killed eight U.S-trained Iraqi guards and a Jordanian on Friday after mistaking the Iraqis for rebels. Meanwhile, in a separate incident, two U.S. soldiers died, seven were wounded, and three Iraqis were reported killed in a botched raid in the town of Ramadi.

But, we don't want to among those naysayers who only point out the terrible things that are happening in Iraq so here, courtesy Central Command PR is some good news: Medical personnel from units attached to the 4th Infantry Division helped Iraqi medical personnel administer vaccines to children during Iraqi National Immunization Day, which is held the 22nd day of each month to vaccinate children and provide supplemental vaccinations to immunized adults against preventive diseases.

posted by Jerry Bowles 4:58 PM

Why does Arizona remains a soft underbelly for terrorists?

Jo-jo left his home in Tucson, Arizona, bought some California grass…
Get back, get back… get back to where you once belonged… the Beatles

Hey, Jo-jo. We need you back home to fight terrorists.

During the early 1970s people some wondered why the People’s Republic of China operated such a large consulate in, of all places, Nogales, Mexico. Duh. It was an easy place to insert agents into the United States. All they had to do was walk across the street and they did, in large numbers.

According to the “Phoenix report” prepared by FBI special agent Kenneth Williams, Arab terrorists followed suit during the 1980s, prior to the appearance of Al Qaeda.

This report, you might remember, is one of several warnings that FBI whistleblower Colleen Rowley says were discounted by senior bureau officials, among others "Dial M for Mueller.” It surfaced again during Williams’ Congressional testimony in July.

Saudi terrorist Wadih El-Haji, a personal assistant to Usama Bin Laden, founded the Arizona-based network during the 1980s, a network that FBI agent Williams says “is still in place.” He moved to Dallas where he was arrested and charged with conspiracy in the 1998 Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania embassy bombings. He was convicted and sentenced in 2001 to life in prison.

Saudi terrorist Wa’el Hamza Jelaidan, co-founder of Al Qaeda with Usama in the late 1980s, was president of the Islamic Center of Tucson from 1984 thru 1985. He split Tucson for Afghanistan in 1986.

Saudi terrorist and 9/11 hijacker Hani Hanjour attended the University of Arizona in 1991. He is believed be the man who flew American Airlines flight 77 into the Pentagon. He earned his wings at a flight school in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In 1993, Saudi terrorist Essam Al-Ridi purchased for $200,000 a decommissioned Air Force T-39 twin-engine training jet from a Tucson used plane outfit for Usama Bin-Laden. The plane was used to transport small missiles between Pakistan and the Sudan.

In Tucson, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik told the Arizona Star that he believes “it is not possible, but probable” that the network remains in place. Senator John Kyl (R-Az) who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee said that while clues were missed, he doesn’t believe the intelligence community had the full picture. Do they now?

posted by Groom 2:43 PM

Pick a Vice President

Since you folks seem to be in a chatty mood today, let's try this. General Clark (always, always General Clark) would be an obvious vice presidential asset to any of the candidates besides Kerry and Lieberman. He's essential to Dean's ultimate chances which is why Dean has visited him four times already. The question is, who would be General Clark's strongest running mate? Bob Graham might be good if only for the obvious reason that he's the most popular Florida politician ever. Gephardt would bring him that Washington insider experience. For sure, it wouldn't be Dean whose support is broad but, I suspect, not very deep.

posted by Jerry Bowles 2:22 PM

But, You Know Me, Al

The nice folks over at DraftGore.com have a Zogby that shows Gore and Bush in a virtual tie: 48% for Bush to 46% for Gore -- a difference smaller than the poll's margin of error (3.2%). Gore leads Bush among independent voters by 47% to 43%.

posted by Jerry Bowles 10:41 AM

Goodbye Howard

How much do we love Howard Dean? For those of us who have supported Dean and feel we owe him an enormous debt for standing up to Shrub on Iraq both early and consistently, the next few days will most likely test the limits of our loyalty. By this time next week, the odds are that General Wesley Clark will have announced his candidacy and—to put it bluntly—General Clark is a more attractive candidate. He is smart, articulate, tall and he looks great in a military uniform at a time when Americans care intensely about security. He immediately makes Shrub’s tough-guy, carrier jock stunts look like the empty posturing that they are. He levels the playing field on Shrub’s last remaining strength—the perception that he is tough on terror.

So, what to do? I will stick with Dean until the polls demonstrate clearly that Clark is more electable. If and when that day comes, I’m gone. We owe Howard Dean eternal gratitude for taking on the most rotten-to-the-core administration in American history and for forcing the other Democratic candidates to confront the Bush evil. But, America cannot survive another four years of incompetence on this level. Bush must go and if that means Howard Dean must go first, so be it.

posted by Jerry Bowles 7:41 AM

Terror Management

Nearly everybody who has clicked a remote over the past couple of days has seen the “new“ video of Usama Bin-Laden (or maybe his double) praising the deeds of 9/11. Experts who asked not to be identified say that the video looks like it was taken somewhere near the Tora Bora caves in Afghanistan. For all we know it could be an outtake from the Bosnian Organic Farmers Association (BOFA) educational video, paid for with UN funds. Something funny about the way Usama is holding that left arm...

Who do we trust in this double-edge game of terror management?

George Tenet, the arms control expert who, after jumping from the Congressional side of the intelligence bidness over to Langley was appointed DCI by Slick Willie to cover the blowback from his previous unpopular choices James Woolsey and John “the bully” Deutsch. Tenet‘s crew can’t get the goods on Saddam’s WMD. You know, the ones Shrubby conned Congress about so that they would rubber stamp his crusade in Iraq.

Or maybe “Dial M for Mueller,” as in Bush family retainer FBI director Robert Mueller. The patrician New Yorker and ex-jarhead has been at the center of every terrorist investigation since Lockerbie and stonewalled Congress during his testimony about the events following 9/11. With a pro like Mueller at the controls, the FBI has just concluded that, for religious and cultural reasons, they can’t infiltrate al-Qaeda.

We’ve invested tax dollars to create the world’s best voice, electronic and visual intelligence gathering platforms, NSA and the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office). Hello.

Then there’s the fresh prince of dual loyalties, Likud front-man and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. In testimony last Spring, this dolt fudge packed Congress into believing that Iraq’s oil revenues would cover the cost of reconstruction (whatever that means).

The buck stops at Congress, who rubber stamped the war after the Capitol was shut down by a few envelopes containing anthrax powder sent by as-of-yet unidentified terrorists. Thirty million reward for Saddam. Two million reward for the anthrax perp. We got our priorities in order. Don't forget, all those in congress who got envelopes were Democrats.

Perhaps the fear that everyone seeks to deny is that the Shrub Club’s “war on terror,” which will either be continued by Shrubby and his inner circle, or inherited by the likes of Howard Dean, Wes Clark or Dick Gephardt, will spend the US into submission much as conservative wonks and wing nuts claim we spent the Soviet Union into tanking in the Cold War.

In the end, it’s a numbers game. There are more Arabs in the world than Jews and there always will be. There are more Chinese in the world than Americans, and there always will be. We didn’t learn that from Korea or Viet Nam so they wind up making half the stuff that’s sold at Wal-Mart while unemployed Americans max out their vinyl buying Lee Greenwood patriotic Cds and Yao Ming t-shirts. And there are more Arabs in the world than there are Americans and there always will be. Something Shrubby’s bean counters don’t want to remind the emperor about. Nor does he want to remind the American people.

9/11 was a wake up call. It wasn’t the London Blitzkrieg, or the fire bombing of Dresden, or Hiroshima. More like Pearl Harbor happening in New York harbor. In the new millennium of the global economy wars on terror are not won. They are managed.

And the crew running the show now isn’t doing a very good job. The best they can do is scare American public opinion into believing that new anti-terrorist laws are more important than working smarter and that Saddam was behind the 9/11 attacks.

It’s time America gets a life beyond Iraq and deals with the real sponsors of anti-American terror, Shrubby and Poppy’s friends… the Saudis. You didn't hear any soundbites mention that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by Saudis, not Iraqis... did you? Not even Sir Rudy Giuliani dropped a dime on that one.

posted by Groom 3:51 AM

Thursday, September 11, 2003

Wear Your Supplements?

TOKYO Japanese fabric and clothing makers are fiercely competing
in the sale of T-shirts and other clothes containing popular dietary
supplements.

Nutritive substances including amino acids, vitamins, xylitol and food
additives are gaining the spotlight as ingredients in clothing.

People who wear garments containing such supplements are said
to be able to maintain the PH balance in their skin or obtain cool
comfort after perspiring.

Clothing makers have high expectations for nutritive substances
that they believe will become highly promising revenue sources.

-----

For the rest of the story.

posted by John 10:30 PM

What Economic Recovery?

Here's something that will interest those of you who still have a job. Hewitt Associates, the big people outsourcing firm, reports that average salary increases for 2003 were 3.4 percent for salaried exempt employees, 3.3 percent for salaried nonexempt employees, 3.3 percent for nonunion hourly workers and 3.5 percent for executives. These were the lowest salary increases ever recorded in Hewitt's 27 years of gathering and analyzing this type of data. Next year doesn't look much better.

posted by Jerry Bowles 8:18 PM

Are You Safer Today Than You Were Two Years Ago?

Is America safer today than it was two years ago on this date? Was the ouster of Saddam Hussein really a victory in the “war on terror?” If you’re one of the shrinking few who think so, I urge you to read The War on Terror: Two Years Hence by Subodh Atal, a foreign policy analyst, on the Cato Institute web site.

It is not clear that Saddam's ouster will make America more secure from terror. Iraq promises to become a new flashpoint for an anti-U.S. jihad, keeping American forces tied down for years to come. And while the Israeli-Palestinian peace process may have brought a momentary halt to Mideast violence, neither side is making substantive moves expected by the other, while groups like Hamas and Hezbollah are using the lull to re-arm. Both sides appear to be making the right noises to keep the United States off their backs.

Giving the Bush administration just enough to declare victory is a nuanced policy practiced by other nations, such as Syria, which has closed terrorist group offices but continues to act as a conduit for "jihad-ists" headed into Iraq. For its part, Iran has learned the Iraq lesson well; it is clearly on a path towards nuclearization. And the Bush administration has still not come clean on Saudi Arabia.

Atal goes on to say that the “international consensus on the war on terror has been replaced by acrimony over Iraq, and counter-balancing moves by other nations” and points out what is now evident to everyone except the most demented neocon:

The pre-emptive strike concept, theoretically an important tool to deter future attacks on the United States, now stands largely discredited around the world after the wanton exaggeration of the Saddam threat.

Bottom line:

Unless the Bush administration practices greater discipline in avoiding further distractions from the war on terror, Americans one year hence will find themselves no more secure than in the dark days immediately after 9/11.

posted by Jerry Bowles 4:22 PM

Guess who’s baaaaack?

Iraq’s “sultan of spin” gets his own TV show

Former Iraq information minister Mohammed Saeed Al Sahhaf, the man who called Shrubby, Rummy and Tony Blair “the three stooges,” is making a comeback. The “mouthpiece from Mosul” who was too lame to make the deck of 52 “most wanted” Iraqi leaders was captured by US forces sometime “after the end of the conflict.” He was quickly released and allowed to leave the country.

Now Abu Dhabi TV is giving him a five hour special. According to UAE daily Al Ittihad, which also owns Abu Dhabi TV, Sahhaf will reveal “the secrets of Baghdad’s fall and the ouster of Saddam.”

Maybe fourth stooge Al Sahhaf will tell us which other Iraqi leaders were quickly released by US forces and then allowed to leave the country…”after the end of the conflict.”

posted by Groom 2:41 PM

Farewell to All That

One of the many things I’ve always loved about Scandinavia is the fact that political leaders, even royalty, sports and entertainment celebrities, mix with ordinary people without bodyguards or retinues of hangers-on. The still unsolved murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme in a city center street in 1986 seemed like an aberration. Sadly, the murder of the Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh in in a downtown Stockholm department store probably means that the era of Nordic innocence is coming to an end.

posted by Jerry Bowles 12:51 PM

Rumsfeld’s Family Tours Presents the “New Iraq”

“They have tourist sites. Babylon. You cannot walk around in Babylon and just not be moved by being there. I think tourism is going to be something important in that country as soon as the security situation is resolved, and I think that will be resolved as the Iraqis take over more and more responsibility for their own government.” Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, September 10, 2003

Are you tired of Disneyland and all those boring theme parks? Now you can give your family the experience of a lifetime by vacationing in the “New Iraq.” Get in touch with those old fashioned survival values by living in a mud hovel with intermittent electricity and no clean, running water while you and the family learn to shoot actual Kalashnikovs and disarm live land mines. You’ll learn basic first aid, Humvee towing, how to survive without toilet paper and much, much more. Here’s a typical schedule: (Travel plans are subject to change without notice in the event of bombings and major combat activities).

Day 1 – Arrive Baghdad. After being outfitted with real Army flak jackets and helmets, you and your family will be escorted by armored personnel carrier to the home of a typical Iraqi family where you’ll be treated to an authentic meal such as Tabit, a slow-cooked, rice, tomato, and mouse-helper dish, classically stuffed in sheep intestine and Murri, the famous rotted bread, lightly doused in rosewater. Spend your first night huddled on the floor of your host family’s hovel dodging sporadic gunfire from the street.

Day 2 – After a good night’s rest, you’ll want to get off to an early start. See how American soldiers are making friends with our new Iraqi allies by going on patrol with an Army unit looking for terrorists and Bathist Party loyalists. Join in as a bunch of hot, scared, heavily-armed, pissed off GIs break down flimsy wooden doors screaming “Get down motherfuckers” and proceed to destroy primitive homes while humiliating every man, women, child and goat on the premises. Hint: They love it when you put your combat boots on their heads and they lie on the ground. In the evening, go on an optional night patrol in Baghdad and get to wear those really cool night vision glasses.

Day 3 – Start your day with a tour of the military detention center at Baghdad Airport where hundreds of Iraqis are being held in overheated cages without charges and without any notification to their families of their whereabouts. In the afternoon, ride in an oil-truck convoy bound for Basra and wager with fellow tourists on how many trucks will make it without being hijacked. As a bonus, you may get to see a real burning oil well.

Day 4 – Visit the holy city of Tikrit and watch thousands of Shiites flailing themselves bloody with knotted ropes while chanting “Death to America.” Experience genuine terror when they notice that you are an American and are standing on holy ground. (Black Hawk rescues must be organized in advance.)

Day 5 –Farewell breakfast and briefing with Paul Bremer and his staff to hear more about how well things are going and about Iraq’s exciting potential for the future. Ambassador Bremer will welcome your newly gathered insights on the needs of the Iraqi people since, so far, he hasn’t actually met any.

If you reserve your space for this trip of a lifetime now, we’ll send you the exciting new DVD “Rumsfeld’s Afghanistan,” a $19.99 value, absolutely free.

posted by Jerry Bowles 10:10 AM

Remembering September 11

From Nones by W.H. Auden:

What we know to be not possible,
Though time after time foretold
By wild hermits, by shaman and sybil
Gibbering in their trances,
Or revealed to a child in some chance rhyme
Like will and kill, comes to pass
Before we realize it: we are surprised
At the ease and speed of our deed
And uneasy: It is barely three,
Mid-afternoon, yet the blood
Of our sacrifice is already
Dry on the grass; we are not prepared
For silence so sudden and so soon;
The day is too hot, too bright, too still,
Too ever, the dead remains too nothing.
What shall we do till nightfall?

posted by Jerry Bowles 9:18 AM

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

Play That Dead Band's Song

Speaking of Warren Zevon, a fire truck in Alabama that had just returned from the scene of a blaze caught fire itself at its station, destroying the fire house and the vehicle.

posted by Jerry Bowles 6:01 PM

Working smarter against terrorism

We don't need new laws, we need to work smarter and this crew isn't very smart...

Draft dodger Shrubby was probably AWOL from his reserve unit when the Baader-Meinhof gang blew up building 28, an intelligence shop at the Headquarters, United States Army, Europe (USAREUR) in Heidelberg “West“ Germany back in 1972. Three US servicemen were killed. I know. I just happened to replace one of them. It took over 25 years for Uncle Sam to mark the site with a commemorative plaque. If the late, great Warren Zevon wrote the song, the title might be “there ain’t no avenue of the stars along terrorism boulevard.”

A few months later, one of my high school mates, David Berger, who went over to Israel and became a weight lifter with their Olympic team, was murdered at the Munich Olympic Village by Black September terrorists. Ask Olympic gold medallist Mark Spitz how he felt when he was hustled out of town by an MP squadron.

There was plenty of liaison back then and there were complaints from some US quarters that Munich’s top cop on the investigation Manni Schreiber, wasn’t being forthcoming. But that was thirty years ago. The Baader-Meinhof gang and Renato Curcio’s Red Brigades were taken down in Europe not with new laws, but by intelligence and law enforcement agencies that started working smarter.

You’d think the Shrub Club would get it by now. But today, when the Germans tell us about a crew in Hamburg that plans to fly a plane into a building our politically skewed intelligence apparatus discounts the information because--in the language of Emmy winning detective shows, which is just about the level at which they operate--“it isn’t our collar.”

Some in the intelligence and law enforcement communities have devoted their entire careers to working smarter, only to see their good work fly in the face of political opportunism and acts of religious zealotry.

We don’t need any new internal security laws masquerading as homeland security. We just need to work smarter to get results. Shrubby went to Harvard Business School. George Tenet is a certified arms-control expert. Time to shuffle the deck.

posted by Groom 4:40 PM

Oh, Shut Up

The kneejerk Republicans are at it again, branding as traitorous anyone who has the temerity to point out the obvious--that Iraq is complete disaster and one that could easily have been avoided. Led by Don Demento Rumsfeld, a prime architect of the administration's Iraqi crisis, Congressional bully boys have now picked up the cue to stifle legitimate dissent before the rabble wakes up to the fact that they have been baited and switched into an expensive and endless quagmire. In the latest shameful effort to distract attention from the Bushies failed policy, Rep. Ed Schrock of Virginia told a news conference today that "all the sniping we've been hearing on TV about the president and how he's handling the situation ... plays into the hands of the enemy."

I'm sorry, Congressmen, but it is gasbag patriots like you who give aid to our enemies.

posted by Jerry Bowles 3:46 PM

Foxy Ladies

Nowhere is the tilt toward Shrubby more evident than over at Fox, where Dick Gephardt showed up post-debate to talk with Greta van Susteren. Staying on the attack as he should, the “congressman from Budweiser” continues to lob heavy artillery at the White House, prompting Greta to ask Gephardt if he was being too hard on el presidente. Coming from Sonny Liston’s home town, Gephardt knew how to duck the punch.

Loser Dukakis campaign manager Susan Estrich showed up in Greta’s spin room with a bad case of what can only be described as Wilshire cooties. Decked out in a denim jacket she looked like something that Hugh Grant or Charlie Sheen might have picked up on the street in their pre-rehab days. She sounded like she was on her fourth martini or maybe a lude or two, talking about candidates who hadn’t yet “inserted” themselves into the race, notably John Kerry. Susan mentioned the word insert so many times one wonders if she was getting candidates mixed up with sex toys.

Roadmap to Islam

We don’t know much about their culture. We don’t know what they eat for dinner. Just the messianic palaver that Shrubby feeds us. Islam-guide provides something a little better than Cliff’s notes. Caveat emptor.

posted by Groom 12:22 PM

The War on Truth

At last we know what the war is about. We did not go to war with Iraq because Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs that might fall into the hands of terrorists. We have not spent or committed $166 billion and more than 300 American lives, so far, to impress Jodie Foster or scare the Arab states into making nice with Israel with a muscular display of America will and firepower.

No, no, nothing as conventional as all that. Our plan all along was to create a frontline-- call it a deathtrap or a suicide rap--in the Middle East that would attract all of the world’s terrorists and keep them so busy that they would be unable to knock over the Sears Tower or blow up Three Mile Island. The flypaper theory—we fight them there or they fight us here. Brilliant plan, right? It isn’t really clear why the terrorists couldn’t assign, say, four or five guys in Munich to plot nasty things against the United States while they are also sending jihadistas into Iraq through Iran and Syria. Nor is it quite clear how allowing a few hundred guerilla fighters to permanently pin down the world’s most powerful army could possibly be useful.

But, like Brittany says, we have to trust our president. Don’t we?

posted by Jerry Bowles 9:39 AM

Zinger

For anyone who missed it. Howard Dean, replying to a question about lily-white Vermont during the Baltimore debate,

"If the percent of minorities that's in your state had anything to do with how you can connect with African- American voters, then Trent Lott would be Martin Luther King."

posted by John 2:04 AM

Department of Things We Already Knew

Oh, no. Not Tab Hunter, too. Is nothing sacred?

posted by Jerry Bowles 12:50 AM

Tuesday, September 09, 2003

Things Are Hotting Up

General Wesley Clark has promised to make a decision to run or not run by the end of next week. Read the release here.

posted by Jerry Bowles 9:08 PM

The Fracas in Caracas

That problem in the backyard again. The US-backed effort to “recall” Venezuela’s freely-elected leader Hugo Chavez is even too much of a cheap shot to be a Don King production. It hit the fan yesterday when most of the papers picked up the AP and Reuters items where Chavez accused the US of "meddling"... again.

Everybody knows that Venezuela produces more oil than Iraq so let’s kick out the leader and get our hands on the pipeline. That’s the goal of Shrub Club gauleiter for Latin America Otto Johan Reich.

With his ambassador Charles Shapiro working the street ops in Venezuela, Reich has orchestrated everything from hanging president Chavez in effigy to getting the green light for US Navy intelligence ships and embassy personnel to assist in a half-baked coup last April.

Retro foreign policy. You betcha. In the tradition of Spruille Braden, J. Edgar Hoover’s notorious Latin American “flying squads” and the Iran-Contra network that former ambassador to Caracas Reich and his pal, NSC #2 Eliot Abrams were part of.

As mentioned here before, Chavez is no more slimy than Peru’s former leader, Alberto Fujimori (who will be returning home soon with tacit US approval) and he’s small beer compared with the Ghorbanifars and Soghanalians, Cardoens and Al Kassars that Reich, Abrams and friends had on the pad at the Contra shop.

Praise the lord. If the White House can get 70% of a poll to believe that Saddam is responsible for the 9/11 attacks we may see Shrubby down there soon for the rechristening of Lake Maracaibo to Lake Shapiro. Hey, they play some good baseball down there too.

posted by Groom 3:55 PM

Our Mr. Brooks

Conservatives who were thrilled by the New York Times decision to make David Brooks, senior editor of The Weekly Standard, a regular Tuesday columnist, opposite Paul Krugman, may be a little less excited after reading his inaugural column. He writes about the “infuriating” way the Bush administration changes it mind without ever admitting it:

Sunday night's presidential speech was a perfect example. The policy ideas Bush sketched out represent such a striking series of policy shifts they amount to a virtual relaunching of the efforts to rebuild Iraq. Yet the president unveiled them as if they were stately extensions of the policies that commenced on Sept. 11, 2001.

The most interesting line in Brooks' article—almost a throwaway—is that Bush’s decision to actually spend some serious money in Iraq “…is not only taking on the antiwar Democrats, but also the so far silent but oh-so-sullen fiscal conservatives in his own party.”

Brooks knows those folks well and I suspect they are going to have a lot to say in coming weeks. Shrubby is looking more and more like a man who has screwed the pooch.

posted by Jerry Bowles 11:25 AM