Krugman: ‘Sacrifice is for suckers.’
Krugman: ‘Sacrifice is for suckers.’
In today’s New York Times, columnist Paul Krugman writes, “The Bushies, it seems, like starting fights, but they don’t believe in paying any of the cost of those fights or bearing any of the risks. Above all, they don’t believe that they or their friends should face any personal or professional penalties for trivial sins like distorting intelligence to get America into an unnecessary war, or totally botching that war’s execution.” He continues:
The Web site Think Progress has a summary of what happened to the men behind the war after we didn’t find W.M.D., and weren’t welcomed as liberators: “The architects of war: Where are they now?” To read that summary is to be awed by the comprehensiveness and generosity of the neocon welfare system. Even Paul Wolfowitz, who managed the rare feat of messing up not one but two high-level jobs, has found refuge at the American Enterprise Institute.
Read our summary of the war architects here.
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new york times notices think progress
you guys are gonna need some more bandwidth and pronto
July 6th, 2007 at 8:05 amAlmost enough faces for a deck of cards.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:06 amI heard the Republicans are coming out with an Iraq War Tax so all good Americans can show their patriotism and contribute to the war effort. Can anyone give me any details n this?
July 6th, 2007 at 8:07 amWow, the times actually reporting the truth. How’s it feel to not be shills?
July 6th, 2007 at 8:10 am#2
July 6th, 2007 at 8:10 amAlmost, I’m sure we could get 52, and two more for the jokers
Maybe the Times can splain why they still pay good money to publish the thoughts of Brooks and Friedman, two more d*ckhead warmongers. King George and his neocon coterie do indeed take care of their own, but so does the Times.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:13 am#5 – Easily. I’ll pitch Tony Blair and John Howard for the jokers. Honorary members of the warmongers’ cabal.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:16 amI just revisited the page on “whatever happened to the architechs”
a great page I will link to often
if you guys could do one favor?
please address which of these “architechs” were members of the pnac at any time
that would be the cherry on top
July 6th, 2007 at 8:16 am#3
I heard the Republicans are coming out with an Iraq War Tax so all good Americans can show their patriotism and contribute to the war effort. Can anyone give me any details n this?
Comment by guns’n'bibles — July 6, 2007 @ 8:07 am
July 6th, 2007 at 8:21 amYou get a complete exemption if your annual income is 6 figures or more.
Such a great compilation/summary.
Comment by guns’n'bibles — July 6, 2007 @ 8:07 am,
On the 4th I was aggressively stopped at a red light by money beggars from one of the many churches in Dallas. Normally these folks will stay on the median and meander around. This guy was walking between cars and son on and playfully stopping cars like a traffic cop. I told him to get his money from Bush’s Faith Based Program and leave me the hell alone.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:21 amBush has not represented the conservatives who put him in office. He is another plutocrat, like the Kennedys, Kerry and Clintons who are more concerned with power than with principle. They are commiting “we the people” to serfdom at the hands of tyrranical government.
Government is the enemy.
It is a neccessary evil, but the only accountable government is small government. To think we can control the gorilla of big government is delusional. We must resist the temptation to give it treats so it will perform our desired task of interest, because as soon as it becomes accustomed to those treats it takes them and no longer performs the task.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:21 amKey Quote: “And a year from now, I’ll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush. Richard Perle-
July 6th, 2007 at 8:24 amPerle has written extensively on a number of issues; his cited research interests including defense, national security, and the Middle East.
Obviously, not worth the paper used. LOL
How did this guy have any career at all?
Reagan administration as an assistant Secretary of Defense and worked on the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee from 1987 to 2004. He was Chairman of the Board from 2001 to 2003 under the Bush Administration.
#12: In the meantime Pearle says he is not responsible for anything that has happened. Sort of like the Nazi “Desktop Villians” who, after the war also made the claim that they held no responsibility for anything that happened in Nazi germany
July 6th, 2007 at 8:28 amLibby is an exception , here, I think. While he would surely wind up in some sweet situation there is no doubt that he was freed from his responsibilty because of obstruction of justice-not some high minded denial of one’s incompetence.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:28 amBush was implicated in Libby’s crime and he should not have the right to commute or pardon Libby. Bottom line.
Key Quote: “We recognize that military action in Iraq, if necessary, will have adverse humanitarian consequences. We have been planning over the last several months, across all relevant agencies, to limit any such consequences and provide relief quickly.â€- Elliot Abrams
Adverse humanitarian consequences?? Planning??
July 6th, 2007 at 8:33 amAt the start of Bush’s second term, Abrams was promoted to be his Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy, responsible for advancing Bush’s strategy of advancing democracy abroad.
That’s the Bush Administration- promotion given upon screwing up.
ALL of the dots are connected here:
http://plungerspeaks.blogspot.com
The government doesn’t want you to read the entire thing or comprehend the magnitude of the conspiracy.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:35 amClearly there was a conspiracy between Libby and Cheney. Conspiracy is a legal term. Can we all be adults and discuss this and other related conspiracies without being accused of being “Conspiracy Theorists?”
Having a theory about a conspiracy was a prerequisite for Fitzgerald’s investigators. It’s time to praise those who are able to think outside the box and comprehend the means, motive and opportunity that leads to these types of Conspiracies.
It’s time to raise the level of discourse where the term “Conspiracy” is concerned:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/reports/2005/franklin_indictment_04aug2005.htm
We’ve all been conditioned to snicker and ridicule when non-professionals offer theories about conspiracies. It’s time to talk about all of these theories and unravel the whole thing.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:36 am#13
July 6th, 2007 at 8:36 amYep. No one takes responsibility within this bunch of liars. You can bet that after he’s long gone Bush the Decider will deny even knowing there was a war.
Conspiracy is a LEGAL TERM:
COUNT ONE
Conspiracy to communicate National Defense Information
THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT:
Between in or about April 1999 and continuing until on or about August 27, 2004, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, defendants LAWRENCE ANTHONY FRANKLIN, STEVEN J. ROSEN, and KEITH WEISSMAN did unlawfully, knowingly and willfully conspire, confederate and agree together and with others, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to commit the following offenses against the United State s:
1) having lawful possession of, access to, and control over information relating to the national defense, did willfully communicate, deliver and transmit that information directly and indirectly to a person or persons not entitled to receive it, having reason to believe that said information could be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of arty foreign nation, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 793(d); and
2) having unauthorized possession of, access to, and control over information relating to the national defense, did willfully communicate, deliver and transmit that information directly and indirectly to a person or persons not entitled to receive it, having reason to believe that said information could be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of any foreign nation, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 793(e).
WAYS, MANNER AND MEANS OF THE CONSPIRACY
A. It was part of the conspiracy that, in an effort to influence persons within and outside the United States government, ROSEN and WEISSMAN would cultivate relationships with FRANKLIN and others and would use their contacts within the U.S. government and elsewhere to gather sensitive U.S. government information, including classified information relating to the national defense, for subsequent unlawful communication, delivery and transmission to persons not entitled to receive it.
B. It was further part of the conspiracy that FRANKLIN would use his position as a desk officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense to bather information relating to the national defense, for subsequent unlawful communication, delivery and transmission to ROSEN and WEISSMAN and others not entitled to receive it.
C. It was further part of the conspiracy that FRANKLIN, ROSEN and WEISSMAN would meet at locations in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, to exchange information, including classified information relating to the national defense.
D. It was further part of the conspiracy that FRANKLIN would unlawfully deliver, communicate and transmit classified national defense information in an effort to advance his own personal foreign policy agenda and influence persons within and outside the United States government.
E. It was further part of the conspiracy that ROSEN and WEISSMAN, without lawful authority, would communicate to persons not entitled to receive it, classified information relating to the national defense.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:38 amKey Quote: “I’m a great fan of the Vice President,†Libby told Larry King in 2002. “I think he’s one of the smartest, most honorable people I’ve ever met.†Scooter Libby
July 6th, 2007 at 8:42 amWell, if Cheney is his example of the “most honorable people”. Well, there you go. This is why the Libby jurors were scratching their heads and saying “Where is Cheney?”.
Come on guys, dont you know that absolutely anything these guys do is justified because of what some muslims did almost 2000 years ago?
By the way, using the the trolls “the group who starts a conflict with another group is always at fault for the rest of eternity” logic, both american indians and african americans are justified in taking violent action against the europeans who came to american and enslaved and/or commited genocide against them.
right guys?
July 6th, 2007 at 8:42 amps… who did the “Islamo-stalinists” the trolls are screaming about side with during the Russian (Stalinist) occupation of Afghanistan (Islamoists)?
July 6th, 2007 at 8:44 am‘Deck of cards’ – Nice comment geoman77…perfect
July 6th, 2007 at 8:45 amRumsfeld is now “working on setting up a new foundation…to promote continued U.S. engagement in world affairs in furtherance of U.S. security interestsâ€
July 6th, 2007 at 8:45 amIsn’t there some way to get him engaged in something else other than “furthering U.S. security interests”. He couldn’t secure his own fly.
9/11 was clearly the pretext for the war.
9/11 required a conspiracy for its implementation.
Of the 19 (purported) “hijackers” who were said to have conspired to pull off 9/11, 7 of them are still alive, and the bodies of the others were never found…nor were ANY Arab names found on ANY light manifests.
So, doesn’t it seem logical that the planning for 9/11 and the planning for the subsequent war were all done by the same group?
Cheney’s SECRET energy task force meetings included maps of oil fields in Iraq…BEFORE 9/11.
Troops and material were moving in the direction of Afghanistan BEFORE 9/11.
Ken Lay caused the phony California energy crisis that put in place the mindset that America needed energy experts in the White House and to acquire additional oil resources BEFORE the 200o elections – well BEFORE 9/11.
Are you a coincidence theorist?
July 6th, 2007 at 8:45 amWell, unless they spend the first three weeks of January 2009 shredding documents and deleting harddrives, I expect to see most of the “architects” sent to jail.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:46 amKey Quote: “Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof — the smoking gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.†Bush
July 6th, 2007 at 8:48 amI think we should have taken the bet.
“The CDI’s Ledeen, Amitay and Sobhani were featured speakers at a May 2003 forum on “the future of Iran’ sponsored by AEI, the Hudson Institute and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The forum, chaired by the Hudson Institute’s Meyrav Wurmser, the Israeli-born wife of David Wurmser (he serves as Cheney’s leading expert on Iran and Syria), included a presentation by Un Lubrani of Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
Summarizing the sentiment of neoconservative ideologues and strategists, Meyrav Wurmser said: “Our fight against Iraq was only a battle in a long war. It would be ill-conceived to think we can deal with Iraq alone. We must move on, and faster.”
JINSA, a neoconservative organization established in 1976 that fosters closer strategic and military ties between the United States and Israel, also has its sights on Iran. At a JINSA policy forum in April 2003 titled “Time to Focus on Iran-The Mother of Modern Terrorism,” Ledeen declared, “The time for diplomacy is at an end; it is time for a free Iran, free Syria and free Lebanon.”
JINSA, along with CSP, serves as one of the main institutional links to the military-industrial complex for neoconservatives. Ledeen served as JINSA’s first executive director and was JINSA’s “Godfather,” according to Amitay. Amitay is a JINSA vice chair. JINSA board members or advisers also include former CIA director James Woolsey, former Rep. Jack Kemp and the AEI’s Joshua Muravchik. After he joined the administration, Feith resigned from JINSA.’s board of advisers, as did Vice President Dick Cheney and Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton.”
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Central_Asia_watch/Is_Iran_Next.html
July 6th, 2007 at 8:48 amBeef
July 6th, 2007 at 8:49 amIslam did not exist 2000 yrs ago.
http://www.chickenhawkcards.com/
for those interested in cards!!
July 6th, 2007 at 8:52 amPhilip Zelikow – PsyOps Operative
http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/32/1/
The Bush administration is very serious about controlling information. That’s why they launched the Pentagon’s Dept of Strategic Information. The military is now deeply engaged in “full spectrum dominance†of all information technologies.
Consequently, “controlling the narrative†is more important than one might think. Propaganda is the cheapest and most effective way to control public behavior.
The Bush administration has made some notable contributions to the traditional propaganda-paradigm. In fact, former Counselor at the State Dept, Philip Zelikow, (who was also executive director of the 9-11 Commission) is an expert in “the creation and maintenance of ‘public myths’ or ‘public presumptions’, which he defines as beliefs thought to be true although not necessarily known to be true with certainty, shared in common with the relevant political community. He has taken a special interest in ‘searing’ or ‘molding’ events that take on ‘transcendent’ importance and, therefore, retain there power even as the experiencing generation passes from the sceneâ€.
“In the Nov-Dec 1998 issue of Foreign Affairs he co-authored an article called ‘Catastrophic Terrorism’ in which he speculated that if the 1993 bombing of the World Trade center had succeeded ‘the resulting horror and chaos would have exceeded our ability to describe it. Such an act of catastrophic terrorism would be a watershed event in American history. ‘It could involve loss of life and property unprecedented in peacetime and undermine America’s fundamental sense of security. The US might respond with draconian measures scaling back civil liberties, allowing wider surveillance of citizens, detention of suspects and use of deadly force.
The previous paragraph is WRITTEN IN 1998!?! 3 YEARS BEFORE 9-11!
Where, one might ask, did Zelikow get his crystal ball?
Isn’t this the exact blueprint for what is taking place right now?
Zelikow has figured out that the real essence of controlling behavior is not simply “propagating†ideas but understanding how humans process information.
Both 9-11 and the blowing up of the Golden dome Mosque are examples of how this theory works.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:52 amThe 0nly Islamo-Stalinists were the Soviet puppet government in Afghanistan.
They’re long gone.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:53 am“The Bushies, it seems, like starting fights”
“the neocon welfare system”
Nope, no “liberal-bias” here.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:53 amYou would think that with an election coming up next year that the Republicans would be anxious to save their party and would be in favor of cutting off the gangrenous limb that is the Bush/Cheney cabal.
Yet every major Republican candidate for president wants to stay the course in Iraq or even escalate it. Despite the fact that a majority of Americans want out. A majority of Americans think it was a mistake that we invaded. And the evidence keeps piling up daily that this administration lied to get us into this mess, that they have abused their power, and that they protect their own and funnel waves of money to their pets at the expense of the rest of us.
Barry Goldwater eventually told Richard Nixon, “your party is no longer behind you, Mr. President”, and Nixon resigned. WHY in the world are the Republicans still behind this president?
July 6th, 2007 at 8:56 amMarch 8, 1992: Raw US World Dominance Plan Is Leaked to the Media
The Defense Planning Guidance, “a blueprint for the department’s spending priorities in the aftermath of the first Gulf War and the collapse of the Soviet Union,†is leaked to the New York Times. [New York Times, 3/8/92; Newsday, 3/16/03] The document causes controversy, because it hadn’t yet been “scrubbed†to replace candid language with euphemisms. [New York Times, 3/11/92; Observer, 4/7/02; New York Times, 3/10/92] The document argues that the US dominates the world as sole superpower, and to maintain that role, it “must maintain the mechanisms for deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role.†[New York Times, 3/8/92 (B); New York Times, 3/8/92] As the Observer summarizes it, “America’s friends are potential enemies. They must be in a state of dependence and seek solutions to their problems in Washington.†[Observer, 4/7/02]
The document is mainly written by Paul Wolfowitz and I. Lewis “Scooter†Libby, who hold relatively low posts at the time, but become deputy defense secretary and Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, respectively, under George W. Bush. [Newsday, 3/16/03] The authors conspicuously avoid mention of collective security arrangements through the United Nations, instead suggesting the US “should expect future coalitions to be ad hoc assemblies, often not lasting beyond the crisis being confronted.†[New York Times, 3/8/92]
They call for “punishing†or “threatening punishment†against regional aggressors before they act. Interests to be defended preemptively include “access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles, [and] threats to US citizens from terrorism.†[Harper's, 10/02] Senator Lincoln Chafee (R) later says, “It is my opinion that [George W. Bush's] plan for preemptive strikes was formed back at the end of the first Bush administration with that 1992 report.†[Newsday, 3/16/03] In response to the controversy, US releases an updated version of the document in May 1992, which stresses that the US will work with the United Nations and its allies. [Washington Post, 5/24/92; Harper's, 10/02]
People and organizations involved: Lincoln Chafee, United States, Soviet Union, Lewis (”Scooter”) Libby, Paul Wolfowitz
January 1993: Cheney Releases New Global Domination Strategy
While still serving as Defense Secretary, Dick Cheney releases a documented titled “Defense Strategy for the 1990s,†in which he reasserts the plans for US global domination outlined in the Defense Policy Guide leaked to the press in March 1992 (see March 8, 1992). [Harper's, 10/02] Clinton’s inauguration as president later in the month precludes Cheney from actually implementing his plans.
People and organizations involved: Richard (”Dick”) Cheney
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&geopolitics_and_9/11=centralAsia
July 7, 1996: A Clean Break Outlines New Middle East Strategy for Israel
Richard Perle.
The Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, an Israeli think tank, publishes a paper entitled “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm.†[Chicago Sun-Times, 3/6/03] Lead author Richard Perle will later become chairman of President Bush’s influential Defense Policy Board. Several other co-authors will hold key positions in Washington after Bush’s election.
In the paper, Perle and his co-authors advise the new, right wing Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to make a complete break with the past by adopting a strategy “based on an entirely new intellectual foundation, one that restores strategic initiative and provides the nation the room to engage every possible energy on rebuilding Zionism. …†The first step is to be the removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. A war with Iraq will destabilize the entire Middle East, allowing governments in Syria, Iran, Lebanon, and other countries to be replaced. “Israel will not only contain its foes; it will transcend them,†the paper concludes [Guardian, 9/3/02] , citing the original paper at [The Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, 7/8/96] .
Perle will be instrumental is moving Bush’s US policy toward war with Iraq after the 9/11 attacks.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:57 amPresident Pelosi for Christmas 2007
July 6th, 2007 at 8:59 am#
You would think that with an election coming up next year that the Republicans would be anxious to save their party and would be in favor of cutting off the gangrenous limb that is the Bush/Cheney cabal.
Yet every major Republican candidate for president wants to stay the course in Iraq or even escalate it. Despite the fact that a majority of Americans want out. A majority of Americans think it was a mistake that we invaded. And the evidence keeps piling up daily that this administration lied to get us into this mess, that they have abused their power, and that they protect their own and funnel waves of money to their pets at the expense of the rest of us.
Barry Goldwater eventually told Richard Nixon, “your party is no longer behind you, Mr. Presidentâ€, and Nixon resigned. WHY in the world are the Republicans still behind this president?
Comment by missmolly — July 6, 2007 @ 8:56 am
#
Politicians are ONLY concerned with pleasing AIPAC.
Without AIPAC’s full support, they cannot be re-elected.
It really is that simple.
The people have been usurped by agents of a foreign country.
We call them Senators and Congressman.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:59 amGo back under your bridge, Repuke troll.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:00 amThe people of America CLEARLY want their elected officials to extricate our troops from Iraq, and to prevent any possibility of a wider war including Iran and Syria.
If Pelosi and Reid actually were concerned with doing the people’s business, rather than simply pleasing AIPAC, they would have already taken the decisive action that the American People voted for.
The two party system is a ruse…it means nothing. It’s all scripted from on high by the likes of David Rockefeller, the Crown, and others in positions of economic control (the Banksters).
David Rockefeller & Dick Cheney:
American Traitors…
Cheney laughs about lying to his constituents in order to get elected:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdxLYuvvbgs&NR
The entire system has been hijacked by AIPAC.
You can’t name a single Senator or Congressman who will say a disparaging word about them or their total control of our political process.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:02 amROVE & GOSS both worked for Cheney.
Cheney & Rumsfeld both set up the WHIG.
Cheney instructed Libby to leak Plames identity to the press.
Cheney and Goss were directly involved in the planning and implementation of 9/11.
Cheney was in the Washington bunker, while Bush was at the school. He was in command. Scholars for 911 Truth point out
http://www.scholarsfor911truth.org/
that Secretary of Transportation, Mineta Confirm this. Others point out he was also conducting numerous military drills that day that did confuse land workers.
Mineta’s testimony is devastating,” observed James H. Fetzer, Ph.D., McKnight Professor at the University of Minnesota.
“It pulls the plug on the Commission’s contention there was no advance warning that the Pentagon was going to be hit.”
According to Secretary Mineta’s testimony, which is in the public domain, when he (Mineta) arrived at an underground bunker at the White House (known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center), the Vice President was in charge. “During the time that the airplane was coming in to the Pentagon”, he stated, “there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, ‘The plane is 50 miles out.’ ‘The plane is 30 miles out.’
“And when it got down to, ‘The plane is 10 miles out,’” Mineta continued, “the young man also said to the Vice President, ‘Do the orders still stand?’ And the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said, ‘Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?’” One way to construe these remarks could be that the orders were to shoot down the plane.
The scholars suggest that that is an implausible interpretation. The Pentagon, they observe, may be the most heavily defended building in the world. If the orders had been to “shoot it down,” then no doubt it would have been shot down. Moreover, there would have been no apparent reason for the young man to have expressed concern over whether or not “the orders still stand.” Shooting it down, under the circumstances, would have been the thing to do.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:06 amThe Web site Think Progress has a summary of what happened to the men behind the war after we didn’t find W.M.D…
LMAO!–Yeah, aren’t we surprised that Dr. Straightjacket (ie, Paul Kookman) gets his material from this wacko web site?!
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
July 6th, 2007 at 9:09 amThos two guys who conspired with Franklin to steal US secrets, both worked for AIPAC.
AIPAC has been under investigation for years, but they’ve never been shut down.
That’s how powerful they are.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:09 amThe morning shift must have started at Troll Central.
They’re up to their usual Repuke lies and spin.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:12 amI said from the outset of this phony war that our troops were being sent into an indefensible position where the ultimate result was destined to be chaos. They were sent there to be trapped there. Their equipment is wearing out – as has their welcome.
This is quite literally a no win situation – by design.
I was told by someone in a position to know that a quagmire had always been planned for, and that the reason there was no exit strategy was that there was never ANY intention to exit…EVER.
Permanent Bases means just that…permanent.
Consider this:
Vice President Cheney spoke before a huge audience of Jewish Americans at the annual AIPAC Convention.
While his approval rating among the general population is a mere 18%, fully 100% of those in attendance greeted Cheney with a rousing 3-plus minute standing ovation.
Why would 100% of those attending an AIPAC Conference be so appreciative of this Vice President? What has he done for them that he has not done for the vast majority of Americans who disapprove of his performance?
Anybody?
Was the AIPAC audience so appreciative of Cheney for this?
“A day or two after Pincus’s article was published in the Post, a meeting took place in Cheney’s office to coordinate a response to the charges. In attendance were Libby, Cheney, and several other senior aides to the vice president as well as officials from the State Department, and the National Security Council.
It was then that Cheney decided the only way to counter Wilson’s criticism was by having Libby leak portions of the NIE to a select group of reporters whose previous work in their respective publications had advanced the White House’s political agenda.
For an administration that despises leaks, the decision by Cheney to declassify highly sensitive portions of the NIE and have his most trusted aide leak it to reporters in order to attack the former ambassador’s credibility shows how personal the Wilson issue had become for the vice president.
Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but the timing of an executive order signed by President Bush supposedly granting Cheney the authority to declassify such national security intelligence fits nicely into the time frame when he and his senior aides spearheaded a campaign to discredit Wilson.
The executive order was signed on March 23, 2003, four days after the start of the Iraq war, and two weeks after Wilson first appeared on the administration’s radar.”
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030606Z.shtml
After all – the Iraq war is a war fought based solely on lies (90% of US soldiers in Iraq have been brainwashed to believe that they are there to avenge the attacks of 9/11) and fought solely to the benefit of Israel.
Perhaps this is why Vice President Cheney is a champion of those within the American Jewish Community who choose to support the activities of AIPAC (a foreign spy organization) at the expense of the rest of us.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:12 amThe entire system has been hijacked by AIPAC.
You can’t name a single Senator or Congressman who will say a disparaging word about them or their total control of our political process.
Comment by ace — July 6, 2007 @ 9:02 am
That may be partly because of the thought police PC which does not allow any negative against Israel (automatic label of anti-semite) which would stop the flow of enormous amounts of cash.
Both parties have sold out for the sake of the allmighty dollar. Throw the bums out.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:12 amhttp://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/terrorism-training-decline.php
this is great..
July 6th, 2007 at 9:14 amDEPORT AIPAC – A NEST OF SPIES WITH TAX EXEMPT STATUS:
Dual agendas
The Israeli government and AIPAC have denied that they engaged in any criminal operations involving classified Pentagon documents about Iran. Sharansky said, “There are absolutely no attempts to involve any member of the Jewish community and any general American citizens to spy for Israel against the United States.” He observed that the investigation of the Pentagon’s Office of Policy staff most likely stemmed from an inter-agency rivalry within the US government.
For his part, Ledeen told Newsweek that the espionage allegations against Franklin, his close friend, were “nonsensical:’ Ledeen and other neoconservatives see the investigations as instigated by the State Department and the CIA to undermine the credibility of neoconservatives and to obstruct their Middle East restructuring agenda, particularly regime change in Iran.
Given the depth of congressional bipartisan support for Israel and close ties with right-wing Israeli lobbying groups like AIPAC, it’s unlikely that the investigations will provide the much-needed public scrutiny of the dual and complementary agendas that unite US and Israeli hardliners. Feith’s policymaking fiefdom inside and outside of government continues to drive US policy in the Middle East with no evidence that these radical policies are increasing the national security and welfare of either the United States or Israel.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Central_Asia_watch/Is_Iran_Next.html
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/Artstudents.htm
Most people in Washington know the truth of Israel’s causative role in Iraq, but they won’t speak out for fear of AIPAC. Many American Jews know that this is true, but are scared of the implications. I can understand that, but it doesn’t make denial any less dangerous or inadequate as a response. Consider the response of this Jewish American who exposed AIPAC in 1992:
“In 1992, AIPAC member Harry Katz phoned the President of AIPAC, David Steiner, to offer contributions. Steiner proceeded to make several claims, including [that he was] negotiating with then-candidate Bill Clinton over who would be Secretary of State, and had already “cut a deal” with Baker for more aid to Israel.
Unknown to Steiner, Katz taped the phone call and gave the recording to the media, worried that AIPAC’s influence had grown to dangerous levels.
Following the release of transcripts of the phone conversation, David Steiner was forced to resign the Presidency of AIPAC.”
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/AIPACClinton.html
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story.php?sid=01270621553
The Tyranny Of Israel Over America
The mass expulsion of Israeli spies was a response to Israel’s failure to co-operate in preventing the massacre of thousands of people in New York on September 11, 2001.
What country has hundreds of spies, moles, and collaborators working for a foreign government in the US for over 30 years with impunity?
According to former and present knowledgeable news reporters, some recently interviewed by the FBI, federal agents point to the Israeli secret police Mossad as the organizer and promoter of the espionage network.
Over the past year, in one of its biggest spy investigations ever, over 100 FBI agents from city offices throughout the country have been interviewing thousands of potential witnesses, informants and suspects in connection with Israeli espionage in the United States.
One former news reporter for an influential British weekly told me that he was interviewed twice, over twelve hours, about mass media collaboration with the Mossad in transmitting ‘disinformation’ and pro-Israel propaganda as “newsâ€.
New Task
At the same time the Israeli taskmasters, Mossad operatives and Cabinet officials have intensified their campaign to involve the US in a new war with Iran. Every major pro-Israel organization, ideologue and official in the Bush Administration has echoed the bellicose line. Senators Clinton and Lieberman publicly declared Israeli interests as the determining factor in US “Bomb Iran†Middle East policy.
Despite the FBI investigations, AIPAC has launched one of its most virulent and aggressive propaganda campaigns demonizing Iran, circulating Israeli disinformation about Iran’s (non-existing) nuclear weapon threat and successfully pressing Congress to bark at the Master’s voice. Despite the horrendous debacle for the US resulting from the invasion of Iraq, in which the Israeli collaborators played a decisive role, they are following the pro-war same script – inventing weapons of mass destruction and threats to US security.
AIPAC is circulating aerial photos of widely known and inspected Iranian experimental laboratories as “secret nuclear weapons site†to all the members of Congress. Every major Zion-con ideologue has churned out articles parroting the Israeli state party-line on the “Iranian threatâ€, the urgent need for sanctions or a military strike.
Today the entire pro-Israel apparatus is the most influential political force pushing for a US military confrontation with Iran, against the outlook of all the major oil companies in and out of the US.
According to one journalist who used to work with columnist Jack Anderson, and spent 6 hours being interviewed by the FBI, the FBI has secured the co-operation of convicted Israeli spy and former Pentagon official, Lawrence Franklin, in the forthcoming trial of former top AIPAC leaders Rosen and Weissman. They are now trying to make a deal with the latter to reach the higher echelons of AIPAC power and the Federal Government. But the investigatory process of Israeli espionage is slow and tedious, precisely because it delves deep into the highest reaches of government and radiates out to a wide network of organizations in civil society. Given the big push by the Israelis for an imminent military attack on Iran, it is highly unlikely that the investigations will be able to undermine their drive for war.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:14 amNotice how the troll doesn’t actually address the issue of why the Repukes never take any responsibility for their mistakes and get golden parachutes instead of jail terms.
Its much easier for them to make cheap shots at TP that are wholly unsupported by any actual facts.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:18 amhttp://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=8743
“The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,” a study by John J. Mearsheimer, the doyen of foreign policy realism, and Stephen M. Walt, dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, has blasted the scales from our eyes.
Go here to download the full PDF and READ IT:
THE ISRAEL LOBBY AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
John J. Mearsheimer & Stephen M. Walt
http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Res…06_011_walt.pdf
The Mearsheimer-Walt study is an important step in identifying how and why we are bogged down in the Iraqi quagmire, but it is only a first step. The second, third, and fourth steps will come as we unravel the complex web of lies that lured us in on a variety of pretexts. What were the sources of the phony “intelligence” that made U.S. policymakers believes – or pretend to believe – Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction” primed to launch at a moment’s notice? More importantly, how did this ersatz data get pumped into the U.S. intelligence stream, and who injected it?
Those who are crying the loudest about this study are the same people who, when confronted with the news of an FBI raid – two of them! –on the headquarters of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful pro-Israel lobby that has long dominated the debate of Middle East policy on Capitol Hill, were either uncharacteristically silent or else in total denial.
READ THIS REPORT.
LEARN WHY WE ARE AT WAR.
TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW.
These are the Scholars telling you the truth:
John J. Mearsheimer, a professor of political science and a co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago, and Stephen M. Walt, academic dean of the Kennedy School, published their paper, “The Israeli Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,” on the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University website.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:21 amJAMES PETRAS’ NEW BOOK – THE POWER OF ISRAEL IN THE UNITED STATES
It’s also able to get prominent Washington officials and the dominant corporate-run and funded media to label all criticism of Israel anti-semitic and freely uses this ruse whenever it serves its purpose. Israel is allowed to get away with its intelligence operations here as well including its covert penetration of military bases, the FBI, IRS, INS, EPA and many other government agencies. In addition, it’s believed its agents knew in advance about the 9/11 attack but withheld the information knowing it would serve its interests to let it happen. There’s also considerable evidence high US officials either knew about it themselves or were complicit in carrying it out because they also knew it would allow them the kind of reckless free reign at home and abroad they never could have gotten any other way. This is a story that won’t go away nor should it, and one day we may finally learn all the parts of it we can only speculate about now.
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=13901
Oct. 25, 2006 – While reportedly under investigation for her ties to an influential pro-Israel lobbying organization, California Rep. Jane Harman last month hosted a private dinner for the group that was attended by two top Bush administration officials—Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.
The Sept. 13 dinner took place at the home of Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, and was attended by over 120 top financial backers of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The highlight of the evening was a panel discussion in which Harman played the host, questioning Negroponte and Chertoff about Mideast developments, international terrorism and homeland-security issues, according to an AIPAC official.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15419753/site/newsweek/
THE ENTIRE SYSTEM IS HIJACKED.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:23 amDEPORT AIPAC
It’s quite simply really, the Israelis would rather see Americans dying in Iraq than their own
July 6th, 2007 at 9:24 amWhat are we to do when the entire process of elections becomes subverted, controlled by an outside force that takes US tax payer dollars, offshores them, then launders them right back into the political process thereby ensuring that only their hand-picked candidates become government officials?
When all that cash is utilized to purchase media time to promote AIPAC’s hand-picked candidates – the executives of the media companies can clearly see who they need to support in order to enrich themselves. The news departments are instructed to perpetuate the game for profit.
Our tax dollars have been used to destroy Democracy. The electoral process is completely broken as a result of the money in politics. It is ironc that there is a new cry for publicly funded campaigns. They already are publicly funded…it’s just that the entity responsible for distributing the public funding is AIPAC.
While the vast majority of Americans are crying out for lobbying reform, every Jewish organization is actively campaigning against it – to protect AIPAC’s grip on the system.
Remember this?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/101704A.shtml
In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn’t like about Bush’s former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House’s displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn’t fully comprehend — but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.
The aide said that guys like me were ”in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who ”believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ”That’s not the way the world really works anymore,” he continued. ”We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
- Ron Suskind “Without a Doubt”
All that cash leads to that kind of arrogance. Frankly, I’d rather fix the problem now than study it later.
DEPORT AIPAC and win back your Democracy.
It really is that simple
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/AIPACClinton.html
Hedrick Smith noted in his book Power Game that AIPAC had become a “superlobby … [It] gained so much political muscle that by 1985 AIPAC and its allies could force President Reagan to renege on an arms deal he had promised to [Jordan's] King Hussein. By 1986, the pro-Israel lobby could stop Reagan from making another jet fighter deal with Saudi Arabia; and Secretary of State George Shultz had to sit down with AIPAC’s executive director — not Congressional leaders — to find out what level of arms sales to the Saudis AIPAC would tolerate.”
“You are the most effective general interest group…across the entire planet.” Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
“Aipac has a lot of influence on foreign policy,” says JJ Goldberg, editor of the Jewish newspaper The Forward. “They work hard to ensure that America endorses pretty much Israel’s view of the world and the Middle East.”
“A great asset to our country”. Condoleezza Rice describing AIPAC in March, 2003.
“Fully three-fourths of America’s foreign aid budget is devoted to Israeli security interests is a tribute in considerable measure to the lobbying prowess of AIPAC and the importance of the Jewish community in American politics.” — Prominent conservative lawyer and political commentator, Benjamin Ginsberg.
“I asked Rosen if aipac suffered a loss of influence after the Steiner affair. A half smile appeared on his face, and he pushed a napkin across the table. “You see this napkin?†he said. “In twenty-four hours, we could have the signatures of seventy senators on this napkin.†Jeffrey Goldberg (The New Yorker).
“AIPAC’s Israel lobby has the power to pump up to a million dollars into the campaign coffers of any friendly member of Congress, or into the campaign of the opponents of an unfriendly member.” — Richard Curtiss, executive editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
“A lobby is a night flower, it thrives in the dark and dies in the sun.” — AIPAC research director Steve Rosen, 2001.
“The friendship between Israel and the United States is a great asset to our country. And AIPAC is a great advocate for this vital relationship.” White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.
“Congress is ‘terrorized’ by AIPAC… In practice, the lobby groups function as an informal extension of the Israeli government.” — “They Dare to Speak Out,” — Congressman (1961-1982) Paul Findley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Israel_Public_Affairs_Committee
July 6th, 2007 at 9:26 amComment by Tom3 — July 6, 2007 @ 9:18 am
Notice how the troll doesn’t actually address the issue of why the Repukes never take any responsibility for their mistakes and get golden parachutes instead of jail terms.
Never take responsibility for their mistakes?
Remind me, who is still a Senator after a career in the KKK? Who is still a Senator after killing a woman? Who is still a Senator, a high ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee after leaking national secrets to the press? Who is it that received no punishment for stealing and destroying classified national security documents? Who is still a Congressman after being an unindicted co-conspirator? Who is still a Congressman, and nearly promoted to lead a major committee, after being impeached from his judgeship? Who is still a party hero after raping women, pardoning terrorists, lying under oath, and couldn’t find the truth if he tripped over it? And on, and on and on.
Sorry, but being a Democrat means never having to face punishment for your misdeeds.
And you goosestepping robots pretend you can erase all of that simply by squealing “Bush lied!”, when he repeated EXACTLY what Clinton, Gore, and every other backpeddling weasel Democrat said, well before Bush said it.
Its much easier for them to make cheap shots at TP that are wholly unsupported by any actual facts.
No need to take “cheap shots” at TP–your hilarious, Stalinist propaganda speaks for itself.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:35 amComment by Boob Herbert — July 6, 2007 @ 9:35 am
Here representing the RNC, I see. Or do you work out of “Karl’s shop”?
See you in November, 2008. You won’t know what hit you.
July 6th, 2007 at 10:08 amHere is the column, pulled out from behind the subscription wall.
July 6th, 2007 at 10:19 amLiberal bias! Liberal bias! Therefore I don’t have to address the facts presented. I am free to simply launch attacks on libtards and dems. That ought to fix things around here.
July 6th, 2007 at 10:28 amHere is the column, pulled out from behind the subscription wall.
Comment by –Blue Girl
Thanks Blue Girl, I was just getting frustrated!
July 6th, 2007 at 11:23 amKrugman’s piece is very good, I recommend everyone read the whole thing — it’s not that long.
July 6th, 2007 at 11:28 amYeah, we get it ace: It’s the Jews.
July 6th, 2007 at 11:38 amI see the trolls are back, complaining about reality’s well-known liberal bias. As usual, rather than say anything on topic, they blather away about, well, whatever enters their teeny mind.
July 6th, 2007 at 11:51 amThanks Ace for all the info. I wrote a much longer post but the server said my email address, which I have used here dozens of times, was invalid???
July 6th, 2007 at 12:21 pmYour posts and links are very informative…but where do you find the time for so much research?
Krugman is on the right track but he is missing many important parts of which some haven’t surfaced yet. I won’t go into detail but will say that what we have been getting as “reasons†out of Washington is the closest thing to TOTAL INSANITY that anyone ever heard. Normally when someone explains total insanity there are underlying reasons why. There isn’t any difference here and I know because I was in a family for more than 26 years who is part of this. Having said the above, we need to REDEFINE “WHY we went to warâ€. The answer is simple as it is in how everything “played out†with the “players†who benefited.
The US is filled with men and women loyal to our nation. Anything that triggers a call to defend our country will put into motion an entire Industry. It’s totally automatic! Having said this, we also need to REVIEW then REDEFINE what really happened on 9/11 since this was our trigger!
Aside from this, there is a group called “Neocon’s†who seem to be in steering positions all over the place and are dedicated to changing a number of things. What you don’t know is what else the Neocon’s have been up to! I was in a family for more than 26 years who is part of this and their job is to launder “Drug and Gun Running†criminal money straight into property using Mortgage Fraud with big Banks. The Gun Running part is already in the news (ie. Chiquita and Drummond, but there are many others too) but what many don’t know is what the Drug part is. Cocaine! Huge shipments trucked over our borders and distributed throughout the US. Chicago as an example gets a weekly shipment of 100Million that is split up with New York and Florida. I was told by the family that all drug shipments are protected by corruption from their start to their destinations. Also, there are other huge weekly shipments distributed elsewhere within the US. There are MOB links everywhere as they are also deeply involved. Tell me, why do you think Guns and money are given to Colombian Paramilitaries? And how far do you feel the corruption really goes? I know what I was told but I wonder if anyone would ever believe it? There’s a lot more but this is al for now.
July 6th, 2007 at 5:03 pmEVERY American patriot…
…should commit this WONDERFUL list to memory…
…include the names of Ken Adelman…
…and ALL of the right wing radio, media, government and corporate propagandists…
…print out the list…
…make “WANTED: For TREASON” posters…
…distribute them all across America…
…and pray that they ALL get what’s due them:
IMPEACHMENT
July 6th, 2007 at 9:21 pmINCARCERATION
IMPOVERISHMENT
INFIRMITY
ETERNITY (in HELL)…
This president and this administration have always tried to avoid responsibility and accountability. The fact is that they are accountable and the American people are demanding accountability from their leaders. This president likes to start wars but he doesn’t know how to plan for them or to win them. With the result that we are losing both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Paul Wolfowitz is both corrupt and incompetent. Congress should investigate his time at the defense department. He showed he is corrupt when he tried to get a huge payoff for his girlfriend. He said the war would pay for itself he was grossly wrong on this and just about everything else. No wonder he found work at the AEI. The fact that they would hire someone corrupt like Wolfowitz says volumes about them.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:58 pmquite a number of jews, likudites and isreal firsters in that list – coincidence ??? i think not. none of these War Criminals and Convicted Felons should be allowed to serve in the government of the United States of America.
July 6th, 2007 at 11:37 pmEVERY American patriot…
…should commit this WONDERFUL list to memory…
…include the names of Ken Adelman…
…and ALL of the right wing radio, media, government and corporate propagandists…
…print out the list…
…make “WANTED: For TREASON†posters…
…distribute them all across America…
…and pray that they ALL get what’s due them:
IMPEACHMENT
INCARCERATION
IMPOVERISHMENT
INFIRMITY
ETERNITY (in HELL)…
Comment by big papa — July 6, 2007 @ 9:21 pm
Finally! A troll who gets it! Did you have an epiphany while sitting on the crapper?
July 6th, 2007 at 11:45 pm