Is Bush a mole for OBL?
As we approach the 6th anniversary of the attacks of September 11th 2001, a five-page summary of a new intelligence threat assessment says al-Qaeda is as strong as it ever was. AP reports U.S. intelligence officials, paraphrasing the report, say OBL's outfit is "considerably stronger than a year ago" and has "regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001."
W. claimed yesterday that the report is being misinterpreted, that it doesn't say al-Qaeda is as strong as it was before 9/11 (although, that's exactly what the report does say). W.'s lame defense for why al-Qaeda is no worse for wear after six years, 4,000 dead Americans and half a trillion dollars down the drain, is:
"They are weaker than they would have been."
They're weaker since W. allowed the last remnants of al-Qaeda to limp away across the Pakistan border, so he could get his war on with the man that tried to kill his daddy? They're weaker than they would have been since we've created a power vacuum in Iraq that's allowed them to flourish in a live-fire training camp that OBL and his fellow terrorists could have only dreamt about before the invasion?
They're weaker than they would have been if they didn't now enjoy total sanctuary on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border, thanks to our good friend Pervez Musharraf's peace treaty with them?
The LA Times reports: "In the new threat assessment, U.S. intelligence officials lay most of the blame for Al Qaeda's resurgence on a peace agreement between the Pakistani government and tribal leaders last fall."
Back in September 2006 when W. had Musharraf over for dinner, Musharraf promised him: "There will be no al-Qaeda activity in our tribal [area] or across the border in Afghanistan." W. turned to Musharraf and said: "When the president looks me in the eye and says the tribal deal is intended to reject the Talibanization of the people, and that there won't be a Taliban and won't be al-Qaeda, I believe him." [WaPo]
There he goes again looking into people's eyes and reading their souls.
To any reasonable person not engaged in a self-deluded messianic crusade, it would appear that al-Qaeda might have never recovered from Tora Bora if OBL -- along with all the other al-Qaeda wannabes that have popped up all over the world since 2003 -- hadn't been provided with a perfect recruiting poster in the form of Iraq. OBL had said all along the United States was bent on conquering the Middle East to grab it's energy resources and -- lo and behold -- the US goes ahead and invades an Arab country and, even better than that, on the night of the invasion the first thing W. tells the people of Iraq is: "Do not damage the oil wells."
It's as if OBL wrote the speech himself.
"Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions." Ulysses S. Grant
After all the years of fear mongering by this administration (9/11, vote Republican, 9/11, Democrats love Osama, 9/11); after we've let so many fundamental rights and protections just slip away; and after Abu Ghraib and the disgrace of Gitmo; after all we've lost in the name of fear itself, what has all this bought us?
To me, it looks like we've purchased another devastating attack. We're sitting ducks, thanks to this administration's serial blunders. While half our Army is bogged down in a pointless war 3000 miles away, the other half is sitting here at home virtually disarmed. What remaining weapons and equipment we do have is being ground to pieces in the scorching sands of Mesopotamia.
If this were an old episode of the Outer Limits or the Twilight Zone, I'd suspect our President had been replaced by a foreign spy whose every move was being perfectly choreographed from abroad to leave us completely defenseless, at which point, our enemies to waltz right in without firing a shot.
This time, sadly, instead of the intrepid American Patriot stepping in at the last minute to reveal the plot and save us all, we have the President's political allies in Congress and in the media aiding and abetting him at every turn. No matter how ludicrous the justifications for his dangerous policies, which at every turn have clearly and unambiguously undermined our national security, they march in lock-step behind their fearless leader right over the cliff, dragging all of us along with them into the abyss.
If ever there was an urgent need for duel impeachments, it is now. This isn't about political score settling or revenge for stained blue dresses, this is a matter of national survival. Can we afford 500 more days of this? After all, as W. is so fond of reminding us, our enemies have only to get lucky once. Just one bad day out of those few remaining to this President could transform our beloved country into such a nightmarish landscape, that even with our historic innate good nature and God given bounty, we'd be hard pressed to overcome it.
This current administration's criminal incompetence and staggering dereliction of duty has placed the American people behind the proverbial 8-ball. All one needs to do is recall how this administration mishandled, and continues to mishandle, New Orleans to imagine what another attack on us could result in.
W. claimed yesterday that the report is being misinterpreted, that it doesn't say al-Qaeda is as strong as it was before 9/11 (although, that's exactly what the report does say). W.'s lame defense for why al-Qaeda is no worse for wear after six years, 4,000 dead Americans and half a trillion dollars down the drain, is:
"They are weaker than they would have been."
They're weaker since W. allowed the last remnants of al-Qaeda to limp away across the Pakistan border, so he could get his war on with the man that tried to kill his daddy? They're weaker than they would have been since we've created a power vacuum in Iraq that's allowed them to flourish in a live-fire training camp that OBL and his fellow terrorists could have only dreamt about before the invasion?
They're weaker than they would have been if they didn't now enjoy total sanctuary on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border, thanks to our good friend Pervez Musharraf's peace treaty with them?
The LA Times reports: "In the new threat assessment, U.S. intelligence officials lay most of the blame for Al Qaeda's resurgence on a peace agreement between the Pakistani government and tribal leaders last fall."
Back in September 2006 when W. had Musharraf over for dinner, Musharraf promised him: "There will be no al-Qaeda activity in our tribal [area] or across the border in Afghanistan." W. turned to Musharraf and said: "When the president looks me in the eye and says the tribal deal is intended to reject the Talibanization of the people, and that there won't be a Taliban and won't be al-Qaeda, I believe him." [WaPo]
There he goes again looking into people's eyes and reading their souls.
To any reasonable person not engaged in a self-deluded messianic crusade, it would appear that al-Qaeda might have never recovered from Tora Bora if OBL -- along with all the other al-Qaeda wannabes that have popped up all over the world since 2003 -- hadn't been provided with a perfect recruiting poster in the form of Iraq. OBL had said all along the United States was bent on conquering the Middle East to grab it's energy resources and -- lo and behold -- the US goes ahead and invades an Arab country and, even better than that, on the night of the invasion the first thing W. tells the people of Iraq is: "Do not damage the oil wells."
It's as if OBL wrote the speech himself.
"Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions." Ulysses S. Grant
After all the years of fear mongering by this administration (9/11, vote Republican, 9/11, Democrats love Osama, 9/11); after we've let so many fundamental rights and protections just slip away; and after Abu Ghraib and the disgrace of Gitmo; after all we've lost in the name of fear itself, what has all this bought us?
To me, it looks like we've purchased another devastating attack. We're sitting ducks, thanks to this administration's serial blunders. While half our Army is bogged down in a pointless war 3000 miles away, the other half is sitting here at home virtually disarmed. What remaining weapons and equipment we do have is being ground to pieces in the scorching sands of Mesopotamia.
If this were an old episode of the Outer Limits or the Twilight Zone, I'd suspect our President had been replaced by a foreign spy whose every move was being perfectly choreographed from abroad to leave us completely defenseless, at which point, our enemies to waltz right in without firing a shot.
This time, sadly, instead of the intrepid American Patriot stepping in at the last minute to reveal the plot and save us all, we have the President's political allies in Congress and in the media aiding and abetting him at every turn. No matter how ludicrous the justifications for his dangerous policies, which at every turn have clearly and unambiguously undermined our national security, they march in lock-step behind their fearless leader right over the cliff, dragging all of us along with them into the abyss.
If ever there was an urgent need for duel impeachments, it is now. This isn't about political score settling or revenge for stained blue dresses, this is a matter of national survival. Can we afford 500 more days of this? After all, as W. is so fond of reminding us, our enemies have only to get lucky once. Just one bad day out of those few remaining to this President could transform our beloved country into such a nightmarish landscape, that even with our historic innate good nature and God given bounty, we'd be hard pressed to overcome it.
This current administration's criminal incompetence and staggering dereliction of duty has placed the American people behind the proverbial 8-ball. All one needs to do is recall how this administration mishandled, and continues to mishandle, New Orleans to imagine what another attack on us could result in.
posted by William Duane at 11:29 AM
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