Bush’s Escalation ‘Hammered Out’ By ‘A Bunch Of Armchair Generals’ From AEI
Bush’s Escalation ‘Hammered Out’ By ‘A Bunch Of Armchair Generals’ From AEI
Earlier this month, President Bush affirmed his commitment to his escalation plan, stating, “I’m going to remind the people in the audience today that troop levels will be decided by our commanders on the ground, not by political figures in Washington, D.C.”
But the DC Examiner reports today that “a bunch of arm chair generals in Washington” from the American Enterprise Institute “almost single handedly convinced the White House to change its strategy” in weekend meetings last December. The AEI escalation plan reportedly “won out over plans from the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command”:
They banded together at AEI headquarters in downtown Washington early last December and hammered out the surge plan during a weekend session. It called for two major initiatives to defeat the insurgency: reinforcing the troops and restoring security to Iraqi neighborhoods. Then came trips to the White House by AEI military historian Frederick Kagan, retired Army Gen. John Keane and other surge proponents.
More and more officials began attending the sessions. Even Vice President Dick Cheney came. “We took the results of our planning session immediately to people in the administration,” said AEI analyst Thomas Donnelly, a surge planner. “It became sort of a magnet for movers and shakers in the White House.” Donnelly said the AEI approach won out over plans from the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command.
The Examiner adds that AEI still retains a strong influence on the Iraq war, as Keane (ret.) is an adviser to Petraeus and Kagan left for Iraq this past week.
In 2006, President Bush was debating a new strategy in Iraq and expressed that he was open to outside advice on troop levels. “I’m going to rely upon General Casey,” Bush said of then-Multinational Force commander when asked about his new strategy. But Casey pressed Bush not to increase troop levels, along with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who were unanimously opposed to the escalation. In response, Bush replaced Casey with Gen. David Petraeus.
“It was kind of the 11th hour, 59th minute,” an AEI analyst said of its escalation plan. Unfortunately, a hasty, last minute plan beat the advice of Bush’s own commanders.
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This shouldn’t surprise anyone.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:41 pmSurround yourself with yes men and don’t expect anyone to say anything but yes sir, how high, sir.
yet another reason to end this war now.
We’ve got lobbyists and thinktanks driving our foreign policy, and a war that is illegal, immoral and unconstitutional – and it’s been that way from the start.
The time to end this insanity is now. Not next year and not next fall. Today, not tomorrow. now.
Some reading:
“Top Ten Reasons to Get out of Iraq Now”
July 25th, 2007 at 1:42 pmhttp://www.populistamerica.com/top_ten_reasons_to_get_out_of_iraq_now
How many months is a Kagan?
And Vitter: Separated at Birth – Wendy Edition.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:42 pmOh, and what the hell happened to “I listen to the Generals in the field”? Crap. What a lying sack of manure. Worst Decider ever.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:43 pmThe plan is… that there is no plan.
Never was, never will be.
But the only really important thing is that we can’t leave or we’ll lose the Epic Battle of Western Civilizations Fighting Against the Islamofascist Terror Threat of this Generation.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:43 pmGuys, the plan had NOTHING to do with victory. They knew the Dems wanted out/reduction, and they knew they would need to do just the opposite to spite them.
This “surge” wasn’t developed with military strategy in mind, it was developed as a way to completely fluster and piss off the new Dem Congress.
It was all politics, all the time.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:43 pmthe Epic Battle of Western Civilizations Fighting Against the Islamofascist Terror Threat of this Generation.
Comment by Jack
Heh. I just remembered my Atari Buck Roger´s cassette.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:46 pmBut the only really important thing is that we can’t leave or we’ll lose the Epic Battle of Western Civilizations Fighting Against the Islamofascist Terror Threat of this Generation.
Comment by Jack — July 25, 2007 @ 1:43 pm
Not to mention the Bee People.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:46 pmDon’t you people get it!!??? These Islamofascist jihadis have CHEESE!!! Lots and lots of cheese! And they have it over here!!! It’s probably very stinky cheese too.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:47 pmThink of the irony here:
An AWOL president and a bunch of CHickenhawk NeoCOns who have NEVER served a collective day of active duty are making up the war plans.
Kinda like asking Lindsey Lohan to give your kids advice on drugs, alcohol and driving, huh?
July 25th, 2007 at 1:48 pm“And if Plan A fails, Plan B is to make Plan A work”
The AEI only told Bush what he wanted to here. This report says they had weekend meetings in December, but talks of an escalation started way back in like August.
AEI = Yes Men
July 25th, 2007 at 1:49 pmAs long as the republicans have some sort of control in the federal government, whether it be a majority in the house or senate, or enough of a minoroty to block bills or fillibuster, we won’t be leaving Iraq. Too much money to be made.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:51 pmSo, Bush listened to partisan hacks instead of his Generals. What a JACKA$$!
It’ll be great to wave goodbye to AEI in 18 months, when they’re level of influence plummets to ZERO.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:52 pmOh, and what the hell happened to “I listen to the Generals in the field� Crap. What a lying sack of manure. Worst Decider ever.
Comment by RUCerious — July 25, 2007 @ 1:43 pm
That was just for the sheeple. They love that shit.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:52 pmanyone who ever believed for a second that bush&co have one shred of actual respect or regard for our men and women in uniform has their head so far inserted a team of surgeons would be required to remove it
July 25th, 2007 at 1:53 pmMilitary experts? How many times has that fat-a** Kagan been to Iraq? I heard that his obsequious wife is now a “military expert” as well. What are their credentials? Isn’t Kagan a Napoleonic era historian and his wife a Greek historian? What the hell are their credentials??????
Unfreakinbelievable.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:53 pm… Too much money to be made.
Comment by citizen_pain — July 25, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
and THAT’s the plan…
July 25th, 2007 at 1:54 pm.
“And if Plan A fails, Plan B is to make Plan A work†— Comment by Spudge_Boy
Thanks, Spudge! My favorite quote of the week.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:55 pmWhat the hell are their credentials??????
Comment by ditmadden — July 25, 2007 @ 1:53 pm
Kagan can pass for Rove in a pinch.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:55 pmI’ve decided to come out as gay.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:59 pmOr, perhaps, Kagan gets a pinch from Rove every time he passes by>
July 25th, 2007 at 2:00 pmMore hijacking in progress?
July 25th, 2007 at 2:00 pm> AEI approach won out over plans from the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command.
Why isn’t the US Military working with Congress to check the unitary Executive Branch and maybe even put the deluded loons in the WH under house arrest ?
Just asking…
July 25th, 2007 at 2:00 pmI don’t know the “DC Examiner” and this excerpt sounds a lot like a report that will be believed here because it matches the expectations of most of the posters here.
Still… it seems to fit what we know of the administration…
July 25th, 2007 at 2:00 pmCome to Iraq, you’ll have a blast!
July 25th, 2007 at 2:01 pmI’ve decided to come out as gay.
Comment by The Republic of Stupidity — July 25, 2007 @ 1:59 pm
Troll bait?
Or trying to avoid the draft?
July 25th, 2007 at 2:01 pmIt never was General Petraeus’ plan, but he’s the cover guy or fall guy depending on how it all works out. Petraeus was picked more for his public relations skills than his military expertise. He’s really just another “yes” man. The administration mantra about trusting David Petraeus works a lot better than don’t you trust the nice folks at AIE.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:02 pmI always knew I was gay since a teenager.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:02 pmSpudge_Boy, you make a good point, but I think you have the relationship backwards. To me, it seems like Bush has served as a yes-man for AEI.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:02 pmNamejacking: The sad state of our trolls.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:04 pmOr trying to avoid the draft?
Comment by Egreggious — July 25, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
If you copy the whole comment, it will still be on the thread when the admin deletes the original. Maybe just copy the name and date line?
July 25th, 2007 at 2:05 pmNamejacking: The sad state of our trolls.
Comment by Juan C
He must be scaring them to death!
July 25th, 2007 at 2:06 pmI miss Exley. Yep, I do miss him.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:07 pmMr. Bush keeps doing what he does so well. He makes a decision, it turns out really badly, so he sticks to it. In fact, he does it with greater intensity, expecting it to get better. So he does it with even greater intensity, and it turns into a total debacle. What used to happen here is that one of daddy’s friends bails him out and rewards him for failure. Slight problem here, nobody can bail him out of this one! Nixon’s apologists are the only ones rooting for him to keep on keeping on. Shortly enough he’ll be the only President with lower approval ratings than Nixon.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:07 pmImpeach Bush and Cheney and Save the Constitution!
Comment by Zehava — July 25, 2007 @ 2:05 pm
Can I get the administrators to delete my comment as well?
July 25th, 2007 at 2:08 pmNot to mention the Bee People.
Comment by Egreggious — July 25, 2007 @ 1:46 pm
———–
Don’t you people get it!!??? These Islamofascist jihadis have CHEESE!!! Lots and lots of cheese! And they have it over here!!! It’s probably very stinky cheese too.
Comment by Menehune — July 25, 2007 @ 1:47 pm
———————————————————————
I come to TP to obtain insights as to how current events are perceived by the “intelligent” liberals of America.
The above two comments seems to sum things up rather nicely.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:12 pmMaybe if the TP gods can’t control the trolls, perhaps they should nuke the whole site.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:12 pmAEI = ISRAEL
Now you can clearly see why DOD Lieutenant, Karen Kwiatkowski, revealed that Israeli Generals were free to come and go at will, without the need to record their visits (a National Security Violation) during the entire lead-up to war.
AEI lists their scholars and fellows on their web site[18]. Some prominent current or former AEI scholars and fellows include the following:
* John R. Bolton, former U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:12 pm* Lynne Cheney, wife of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, AEI senior fellow.
* David Frum, an author and former speechwriter for Bush, is a resident fellow.
* Reuel Marc Gerecht is a resident fellow. He is the director of the Project for the New American Century’s Middle East Initiative and a former Middle East specialist at the CIA.
* Newt Gingrich, member of the Republican Party and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives between 1995 and 1999, is a senior fellow at AEI focusing on health care (he has founded the Center for Health Transformation), information technology, the military, and politics.
* James K. Glassman, author of Dow 36,000, is a resident fellow.
* Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a former Dutch politician, women’s rights activist and critic of Islamism & Shar’ia Law.
* Frederick Kagan is a military historian and signatory of Project for the New American Century manifesto titled Rebuilding America’s Defenses (2000) along with his brother Robert (co-founder of the PNAC) and his father and fellow neo-conservative, Donald Kagan.
* Alan Keyes, former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, was an AEI resident scholar.
* Jeane Kirkpatrick was the former U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and was an AEI senior fellow until she died in 2006.
* Michael Ledeen was previously involved in the transfer of arms to Iran during the Iran-Contra affair — an adventure that he documented in his book, Perilous Statecraft: An Insider’s Account of the Iran-Contra Affair.
* Allan Meltzer is one of the foremost academics studying monetary policy and the Federal Reserve Bank. He, along with economist Milton Friedman, pioneered monetarism, the now widely accepted theory that inflation is entirely the result of the growth of the money supply. Meltzer is currently working on the second volume of his History of the Federal Reserve.
* Joshua Muravchik is a resident scholar. He researches Middle East politics, democracy, neoconservatism and the history of socialism.
* Charles Murray, an influential policy writer and a researcher, is the W.H. Brady Scholar in Culture and Freedom. He is best known as the co-author of the controversial 1994 book, The Bell Curve.
* Michael Novak is the George Frederick Jewett Scholar in Religion, Philosophy and Public Policy and Director of Social and Political Studies at the institute. He has written extensively about the role of faith in government.
* Norman Ornstein has been a Congressional analyst and political commentator for more than thirty five years.
* Richard Perle served on the United States Defense Policy Board and is a former Assistant Secretary of Defense.
* Danielle Pletka, Vice President, her research areas include the Middle East
* Sally Satel is a psychiatrist and author of PC, M.D.: How Political Correctness is Corrupting Medicine.
* Christina Hoff Sommers is a critic of the feminist movement. She is the author of Who Stole Feminism and The War Against Boys.
* Fred Thompson, Television and film actor, currently appearing on the television show Law & Order, former U.S. Senator, is a visiting fellow.
* Ben Wattenberg, a speechwriter for President Lyndon B. Johnson, is a senior fellow.
* Paul Wolfowitz (Visiting Scholar), A “major architect of President Bush’s Iraq policy and, within the [George W. Bush] Administration, its most passionate and compelling advocate.”[19]
* John Yoo, formerly of the Office of Legal Counsel, and a professor at Boalt Hall, is a visiting scholar.
I’ve decided to come out as gay.
Comment by The Republic of Stupidity — July 25, 2007 @ 1:59 pm
July 25th, 2007 at 2:13 pm—————————————
Um… okay.
I come to TP to obtain insights as to how current events are perceived by the “intelligent†liberals of America.
Comment by Thrasymachos — July 25, 2007 @ 2:12 pm
Funniest statement of the day so far.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:14 pmZehava sez:
Since when are TP admins interested in deleting namejacking posts? Certainly, they delete plenty of posts, but the namejackers are not among those so targeted.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:16 pmCan I get the administrators to delete my comment as well?
Comment by Egreggious — July 25, 2007 @ 2:08 pm
It’s worth a try!
July 25th, 2007 at 2:16 pmSince when are TP admins interested in deleting namejacking posts? Certainly, they delete plenty of posts, but the namejackers are not among those so targeted.
Comment by TripMaster Monkey — July 25, 2007 @ 2:16 pm
They might slip up….
July 25th, 2007 at 2:17 pmAEI is full of anti-American incompetents. The loony right was wrong then and it is wrong now.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:18 pmKick ‘em all out in ‘08. It’s the only way to be sure.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:20 pmYou have to keep reminding yourself this is not fantasy: that truly dangerous men, such as Perle and Rumsfeld and Cheney, have power. The thread running through their ruminations is the importance of the media: “the prioritized task of bringing on board journalists of repute to accept our position”.
“Our position” is code for lying. Certainly, as a journalist, I have never known official lying to be more pervasive than today. We may laugh at the vacuities in Tony Blair’s “Iraq dossier” and Jack Straw’s inept lie that Iraq has developed a nuclear bomb (which his minions rushed to “explain”). But the more insidious lies, justifying an unprovoked attack on Iraq and linking it to would-be terrorists who are said to lurk in every Tube station, are routinely channelled as news. They are not news; they are black propaganda.
http://www.newstatesman.com/200212160005
“Television is altering the meaning of “being informed” by creating a species of information that might properly be called disinformation… Disinformation does not mean false information. It means misleading information – misplaced, irrelevant, fragmented or superficial information – information that creates the illusion of knowing something, but which in fact leads one away from knowing.”
Neil Postman
SENATOR GRAHAM CALLS FOR ACTION AGAINST AMERICANS WHO DISAGREE WITH BUSH
NAT PARRY, CONSORTIUM NEWS – Sen. Lindsey Graham suggested to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a new target for the administration’s domestic operations — Fifth Columnists, supposedly disloyal Americans who sympathize and collaborate with the enemy. “The administration has not only the right, but the duty, in my opinion, to pursue Fifth Column movements,” Graham, R-S.C., told Gonzales during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Feb. 6.
“I stand by this President’s ability, inherent to being Commander in Chief, to find out about Fifth Column movements, and I don’t think you need a warrant to do that,” Graham added, volunteering to work with the administration to draft guidelines for how best to neutralize this alleged threat. “Senator,” a smiling Gonzales responded, “the President already said we’d be happy to listen to your ideas.”
http://uncapitalist.com/blog/?itemid=1329
“Most people prefer to believe that their leaders are just and fair, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which he lives is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one’s self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all.â€
Michael Rivera
July 25th, 2007 at 2:24 pm“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 25th, 2007 at 2:29 pmhttp://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/32/1/
Attack On The Golden Mosque; truth or psy-ops?
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 growth in public relations illustrates the importance that political leaders put on managing perception in a way that compels the masses to conform to an elite agenda. That’s why the administration has spent zillions on PR campaigns and inserted themselves into every area of human communication. They are forever looking for the right combination of patriotic and religious imagery that will get the public to march along in harmony.
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 and author of the National Security Strategy NSS) 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 (sounds like Rumsfeld)….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€. (“Thinking about Political History†Miller Center report; winter 1999)
“Searing’ or ‘molding’ events that take on ‘transcendent’ importance�!? Like 9-11, for example?
“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, as did the Soviet bomb test in 1949. The US might respond with draconian measures scaling back civil liberties, allowing wider surveillance of citizens, detention of suspects and use of deadly force. More violence could follow, either future terrorist attacks or US counterattacks. Belatedly, Americans would judge their leaders negligent for not addressing terrorism more urgentlyâ€. (Wikipedia)
The previous paragraph is certainly worth rereading 2 or 3 times KEEPING IN MIND THAT ZELIKOW’S ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN IN 1998!?! 3 YEARS BEFORE 9-11!
Where, one might ask, did Zelikow get his crystal ball?
Zelikow correctly assumed that if a “catastrophic†event were to take place in America, it would trigger a massive revaluation of all our ideological commitments; “civil liberties, surveillance of citizens, detention of suspects and use of deadly forceâ€.
History would be divided into “pre 9-11 and post 9-11.” And, all the restrictions on presidential power, inalienable rights, and aggressive war could be swept away in an instant.
Isn’t this the exact blueprint for what is taking place right now? What part of Zelikow’s dark-vision has not been actualized?
This theory is the intellectual foundation for the creeping fascism that has infected our country. Its evil-brilliance is that it goes beyond propaganda’s limited ability to shape public opinion and actually creates history by fabricating events that have a “searing†or “molding†effect on the collective psyche.
Zelikow has figured out that the real essence of controlling behavior is not simply “propagating†ideas but understanding how humans process information and, then, corrupting that process so it meets the objectives of the ruling elite.
Both 9-11 and the blowing up of the Golden dome Mosque are examples of how this theory works. 9-11 has been used to erase 200 years of legal precedent and establish a “unitary president†who has absolute power. The destruction of the mosque transforms a brutal colonial occupation into a “humanitarian intervention” which requires the US military to stay on indefinitely to prevent Iraqis from killing each other. In both cases, the “catastrophic†event creates the internal logic for the subsequent response.
Doesn’t this explain why the administration has devoted so much energy to controlling the narrative?
July 25th, 2007 at 2:30 pmCool!!! a.c.e. is here!!!!!
July 25th, 2007 at 2:31 pm#45 – ace
Lindsey Graham is a traitor.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:31 pmThrasymachos –
Apparently you left your sarcasm meter back at RedState.
Good luck though.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:34 pmace is just some republican troll boring us to tears with his attempts to marginalize TP. Pretty sad attempt.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:35 pmace is just some republican troll boring us to tears with his attempts to marginalize TP. Pretty sad attempt.
Comment by ben — July 25, 2007 @ 2:35 pm
July 25th, 2007 at 2:36 pm————-
no shit.
Just looked at the AEI web page to refresh my memory. I found it interesting that they are floating a report on *Russia* called “Trickle Down Lawlessness.”
Wonder if the same principle applies to the Shrub States ?
July 25th, 2007 at 2:36 pmApparently you left your sarcasm meter back at RedState.
Good luck though.
Comment by ben — July 25, 2007 @ 2:34 pm
July 25th, 2007 at 2:37 pm——————————–
It was satire. Right, Zehava?
It was satire. Right, Zehava?
Comment by Thrasymachos
Sorry?
July 25th, 2007 at 2:41 pmSorry?
Comment by Zehava — July 25, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
July 25th, 2007 at 2:43 pm——————————————–
More satire, I guess r was right about the Good Ol’ Boys Club here at TP.
Nothing like a little covert privatization of essentially governmental functions to screw things up. Used to be Shrub broke thinigs by accident, cause he didn’t know what they were for or how to use them. Now he does it on purpose and tries to make it legal. Good thing the statutes of limitation on a lot of his screw ups won’t expire until he’s been clearing brush on his faux ranch for a long time.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:43 pmDov Zakheim:
He is one of an elite group of Jewish Americans/Israelis who inter-marry and enter government. They and their Christian counterparts are called neocons and their sole purpose is directing US policy. Most of them are dual citizens and few serve in the US military. Think of Paul Wolfowitz, Elliot Abrams, Richard Perle, Ben Wattenberg, to mention a few. Whether their motivation is anger at the Muslim world, seen as a religious and territorial enemy, or a deep-rooted reaction to the Holocaust, the culmination of European anti-Semitism, their reactionary militarism becomes a world-threatening force unto itself. Hence our concern.
According to the SPC website (4), a recent customer at that time was Eglin AFB, located in Florida. Eglin is very near another Air Force base in Florida-MacDill AFB, where Dov Zakheim contracted to send at least 32 Boeing 767 aircraft, as part of the Boeing /Pentagon tanker lease agreement.
As the events of September 11, 2001 occurred, little was mentioned about these strange connections, and the possible motives and proximity of Dov Zakheim and his group. Since there was little physical evidence remaining after the events, investigators were left only with photographic and anecdotal evidence.
Since the evidence from the World Trade Center site was quickly removed, there is little concrete evidence of the involvement of Dov Zakheim, who has since left his position at the Pentagon. However, the proximity of Eglin AFB to MacDill AFB in Florida and Dov Zakheim’s work via SPC contracts and the Pentagon leasing agreement on both of these installations, combined with SPC’s access to World Trade Center structural and security information from their Tridata investigation in 1993, is highly suspicious. Considering his access to Boeing 767 tankers, remote control flight systems, and his published views in the PNAC document, it seems very likely he is in fact a key figure in the alleged terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11, 2001.
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1047.shtml
Considering the size of the fireball that exploded OUTSIDE the second tower, one might conclude that the plane was one of those converted tankers – full of fuel – AND that since 90% of the fuel exploded outside the building, the argument that the building burned causing it to collapse rings hollow. You SAW THE EVIDENCE with your own eyes.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:45 pmWe should refer to AEI the way that the Cons refer to MoveOn.org and Soros. We should make it a symbol of failed and whacky neo-conservativism.
And I get so angry because AEI is treated like a part of our government. They are invited far too often to give testimony before Congress and whenever they hold a PR event C-SPAN ends up covering it. What’s up with that?
July 25th, 2007 at 2:47 pmwhenever they hold a PR event C-SPAN ends up covering it. What’s up with that? -incunabulum
You nailed it! C-SPAN has quietly replaced ‘real news’, (AG hearings, etc.), on C-SPAN2,3, VXIII, or whatever.
AEI get regular coverage of staged ‘non-new’ media events in prime time.
I’ve quit watching it for the most part.
AEI – Assholes Encouraging Idiots
July 25th, 2007 at 2:55 pm#
It was satire. Right, Zehava?
Comment by Thrasymachos
Sorry?
Comment by Zehava — July 25, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
#
Sorry?
Comment by Zehava — July 25, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
——————————————–
More satire, I guess r was right about the Good Ol’ Boys Club here at TP.
Comment by Thrasymachos — July 25, 2007 @ 2:43 pm
TALK TO YOURSELF UNDER MULTIPLE IDENTIES MUCH?
July 25th, 2007 at 2:57 pmTALK TO YOURSELF UNDER MULTIPLE IDENTIES MUCH?
Comment by ace — July 25, 2007 @ 2:57 pm
July 25th, 2007 at 3:03 pm—————-
No. I never have, as a matter of fact.
Yeah, at least he was coherent when he was trolling and actually shared his opinion on topics. The new batch of trolls are just plain lame.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:07 pmThis should be bigger news but I doubt it will have legs. Sad.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:13 pmAce you’re almost as irritating as the trolls, please setup your own blog, and post your conspiracy stuff there.
Tanks!
July 25th, 2007 at 3:16 pmJJ
Jihad Jesus sez:
Some of us value ace’s informative, thoughtful, and well-documented posts. If you don’t, just use your scroll wheel. No one’s forcing you to read them.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:26 pmSounds like the lobbiests are making the decisions not generals on the ground… and when the generals disagree they get retired.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:36 pmNothing to see here, folks, move along.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:45 pmBush always listens to the Generals on the ground and if they tell him something he doesn’t want to hear, he fires or retires them and hires someone new who will tell him what he wants to hear.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:52 pmace, since you have been posting here for years and nobody really complains much, feel free to keep posting.
Jihad Jesus, since the trolls post whatever tripe they want, ace can post whatever he wants.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:56 pmOh, and what the hell happened to “I listen to the Generals in the field� Crap. What a lying sack of manure. Worst Decider ever.
Comment by RUCerious — July 25, 2007 @ 1:43 pm
This is actually a mis-statement as there are two fields – one at Camp David and the other at the Bush “Ranch” in Crawford. Both fields are used for intense brush cultivation by the SS (Schutzstaffeln (Blackwater Division)).
July 25th, 2007 at 4:00 pmSome of us value ace’s informative, thoughtful, and well-documented posts. If you don’t, just use your scroll wheel. No one’s forcing you to read them.
Comment by TripMaster Monkey — July 25, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
I concur. Post away Ace; I am not afraid of factual information.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:38 pmI concur. Post away Ace; I am not afraid of factual information.
Comment by funky p — July 25, 2007 @ 4:38 pm
I’m not even afraid of non-factual information. You go, ace!
July 25th, 2007 at 4:40 pmBush lies yet again. The man-child has no conscience. We need to vote an adult back in the White House in ‘08.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:48 pmThese same ‘armchair generals’ brought us the war in the first place; they have been begging to invade Iraq for a decade. They want Iran too. They are next. There could be marching in the streets, even despite Bush’s executive order criminalizing protesting war policy.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:58 pm“Think tank,” my ass. More like “Stink tank.” What a bunch of armchair idiots. You can imagine these guys wearing helmets, sitting around an oversized table littered with plastic soldiers on a map of Iraq, moving them around the the sounds of explosions they make with their lips. I’ll bet just like the Decider and his ass-raping robot, Dickless Cheney, most of them had “more important things to do” than serve their country during wartime.
July 25th, 2007 at 5:54 pmPresident Bush has spent $300 billion on the war in Iraq while thousands of people around the world go to bed hungry each night. The Borgen Project states that according to the Millennium Development Goals there are elements in place to combat world hunger. The deficit in the funding is over $19 billion. Perhaps if some of the funds from the war on terror were used to fight global poverty lives could be saved cannibalizing the American troops.
July 25th, 2007 at 5:58 pmPoor bastard. The Chimp can’t even think for himself!
July 25th, 2007 at 7:17 pmI agree with Trip, Spudge, Funky & Egreg. Ace, your comments are most welcome. Keep posting!
July 25th, 2007 at 9:18 pmI agree with Trip, Spudge, Funky & Egreg. Ace, your comments are most welcome. Keep posting!
Comment by Merlin — July 25, 2007 @ 9:18 pm
Add Wayne and I to that list!
July 25th, 2007 at 11:00 pmGeneral Keane continues to profit from the war. This raises serious questions about the credibility of his assessment and recommendations.
July 26th, 2007 at 3:33 pm