O’Hanlon Hopes Final GAO Report On Iraq Will Be ‘Improved’ To Reflect WH Claims Of Progress
O’Hanlon Hopes Final GAO Report On Iraq Will Be ‘Improved’ To Reflect WH Claims Of Progress
Yesterday, a leaked draft of an upcoming Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on progress in Iraq painted a “strikingly negative” picture of the war-torn country. The draft contradicts “the Bush administration’s conclusion in July that sectarian violence was decreasing as a result” of the surge. It concludes, “The average number of daily attacks against civilians remained about the same over the last six months; 25 in February versus 26 in July.”
On CNN this morning, Brookings analyst Michael O’Hanlon, who recently co-wrote a New York Times op-ed declaring progress in Iraq, took exception to the report: “I have to be quite critical of the GAO.” He implied that he trusted Bush administration’s numbers more than the GAO’s, and said he hoped the GAO report would be “improved” to better reflect progress:
Gen. Petraeus just gave an interview, I think yesterday, to an Australian paper, in which he said that there could be a 75 percent reduction in sectarian killing since the winter time. Now let’s allow for the possibility that Petraeus’ data isn’t quite right.
Let’s allow for the possibility that in other parts of Iraq, things could be a little worse perhaps. Still, a 75 percent reduction is very striking. GAO by contrast is apparently saying, “no documented change whatsoever in the secuity environment.”
I just don’t understand how that could be their conclusion. And I will look forward to their report. I hope it’s a flaw in the draft that will be improved in the final result.
Watch it:
O’Hanlon’s desire for the GAO report to be “improved in the final result,” so as to show a rosier picture in Iraq is emblematic of why the draft was leaked in the first place:
The person who provided the draft report to The Post said it was being conveyed from a government official who feared that its pessimistic conclusions would be watered down in the final version — as some officials have said happened with security judgments in this month’s National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq.
By claiming that the GAO report said there was “no documented change whatsoever in the secuity environment,” O’Hanlon is misrepresenting the report in order to attack it. In reality, the draft reported that “there have been fewer attacks against U.S. forces.” But it also found that “the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged” and “violence remains high.”
It’s unsurprising though that O’Hanlon chose to accept Petraeus’s vague claim that “there could be a 75 percent reduction in sectarian killing” while dismissing the GAO’s empirical assessment. After all, it was O’Hanlon who claimed in June that no one can “question the forthrightness” of Petraeus, despite the general’s conflict of interest in reporting on the success of his own plan.
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I can’t come up w/ obscenities strong enough to reflect how this BS makes me feel.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:18 pmWhy cant the white house have a say in what the reports says? I dont have much trust in the GAO either. Im glad the white house is gonna look over the report before its submitted.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:20 pm“Petraeus’s vague claim that “there could be a 75 percent reduction in sectarian killing†”
Yes, and there COULD be an Army, electricity, in-ground pools for everyone, and 8 trillion dollars in oil revenue in Iraq by next month, too. There won’t be, but he’s only interested in the “coulds”….
And I could nail Jessica Alba, too. Could happen. Ponies!
August 31st, 2007 at 12:22 pmO’Hanlon hopes someone will fix the facts around the BS he spewed after his “tour” of Iraq and his BS report that followed.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:22 pmYes. Just like the old Soviet Government. They must review everything and change it suit their ideology.
George W. Bush, the new Brezhnev.
-GSD
August 31st, 2007 at 12:23 pmI hope it’s a flaw in the draft that will be improved in the final result.
Improving the truth - another neocon talent.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:23 pmwho in the hell are these kkkoooks? and why does anyone listen to the fratboy duo?
August 31st, 2007 at 12:24 pmMy only comment is to ask (rhetorically, obviously) why CNN, MSNBC, and the other vapid “news” networks can justify still giving guys like O’Hanlon (or, even better, William Kristol) who has been wrong time and time and time and time again a platform from which to spew their ridiculous BS.
How many times do you have to be completely off base before CNN stops taking you seriously? Apparently, if you’re a Republican toady who spouts the party line their corporate masters want us to hear, their patience is endless. If you’re a critic of the war though who has been right about this fiasco every step of the way, you’re marginalized at best or called an Anti-American traitor at worst. Pretty telling in my humble opinion.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:24 pmHere’s a good report from Iraq by the independent journalist Michael Totten: http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001510.html
Long but worth reading.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:25 pmGeorge W. Bush, the new Brezhnev.
-GSD
Comment by GSD — August 31, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
More like the new Czar Nicholas…
August 31st, 2007 at 12:25 pmPure semantics, eh?????
August 31st, 2007 at 12:28 pmO’Hanlon’s dictionary must have the definition of ‘improve’ be ‘make crap up to support an incorrect conclusion that I really, really wish was the case, but the actual facts don’t supportit at all.’
August 31st, 2007 at 12:30 pmMisinforming Americans helps win elections in America. Misinforming Americans will not “win” the so-called “war in Iraq” - it will just help make a bad situation worse and make our eventual losses even bigger.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:32 pmO’Hanlon sez:
This is complete and utter bullshit. Yes, the contrast is ’striking’, O’Hanlon, you hack. It’s ’striking’ because the GAO is reflecting reality, and Betrayus, Chimpy’s man, is lying through his teeth.
Too often I seen the neocon watercarriers pull this garbage again and again. They take the truth, contrast it with an outrageous lie of their own making, and then opine disingenuously that “the truth must be somewhere in the middle”. This is an easy way to get your lie accepted as the truth…and while the lie may be watered down by half, that’s easily compensated for by simply making the lie twice as egregious to begin with.
Read the leaked draft, and get everyone you know to read it as well. That will be infinitely closer to the truth than anything the WH has a hand in.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:32 pmCzar Pickles-less.
-GSD
August 31st, 2007 at 12:33 pmPerhaps Czar DickO’Less…
August 31st, 2007 at 12:37 pmWhat is with this guy?! I’m ashamed to share his heritage.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:39 pmRingo,
I read portions of the article. Thanks. What I read has been accurately protrayed here.
It is a civil war. Do we pick a side? do we supply both? Do we secure what we decide is vital? Do we remove ourselves? Do we take over the country?
We wouldn’t have had to deal with any of these questions if we would have heeded Dick Cheney when he was SecDef.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:40 pmCzar Witl’ess
August 31st, 2007 at 12:41 pmHeyooOOooooOooO TP you better hop on this Homo 24/7 news:
August 31st, 2007 at 12:46 pm———————————————————-
First Gay Couple Legally Married in Iowa
———————————————————-
First Gay Couple Legally Married in Iowa
———————————————————-
Comment by Bob
Is this an invitation?
August 31st, 2007 at 12:48 pmYou didn’t give us much notice…
Raven is dat you?
-GSD
August 31st, 2007 at 12:48 pmComment by Bob
HURRY! You and CT-V1 could be the 2nd.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:49 pmThis is complete and utter bullshit. Yes, the contrast is ’striking’, O’Hanlon, you hack. It’s ’striking’ because the GAO is reflecting reality, and Betrayus, Chimpy’s man, is lying through his teeth.
Comment by TripMaster Monkey
——————————————————————-
And how do you know this?
BTW - When you use the word “Chimpy” while calling someone else a hack, you sound like, well, a hack yourself….except that you’ve never been to Iraq, so you are actually worse than a hack.
You’re a cheerleader for failure.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:49 pm“Comment by Bob — August 31, 2007 @ 12:46 pm”
Unlike YOU and the Right, it’s really not a big deal that two people who love each other got married!!!!!!!!
Perhaps you “meant” to type RedState.com for the “hate” regarding same sex marriage???
Why are you so worried about what other GROWN couples do??????
Oh, that’s right!!!!! You are SECRETLY one of them and are still just a chicken$hit who is affraid to come out of the closet…..
August 31st, 2007 at 12:50 pmWe have met the enemy and it is truth!
August 31st, 2007 at 12:50 pmYou’re a cheerleader for failure.
Comment by Ringo
Look in the mirror and combine that image with the reality in Iraq.
Who’s cheerleading WHAT???
August 31st, 2007 at 12:50 pmBy law, Patreaus cannot directly propagandize the American population, so he makes his “pie in the sky” projections to the “Australian paper” (Murdoch owned?), then flacks like O’Hanlon qoute from it.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:52 pmMission accomplished!
Anytime a GOoPer brings up their anti-gay stances, remind them that they are likely hiding their own little secret wide stances in public restrooms.
The Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, Bob Allen, Larry Craig wing of the Repuds.
-GSD
August 31st, 2007 at 12:53 pmRaven is dat you?
-GSD
Yes indeed…
August 31st, 2007 at 12:55 pmY
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
-(-(-YY-)-)-
August 31st, 2007 at 1:00 pm(….the sound of trolls scraping bottom….)
August 31st, 2007 at 1:01 pmYes, but she didn’t lick her lips.
Give it a break, Crassass
August 31st, 2007 at 1:02 pmBecause Bush had all the right facts on the war before, which is why we’re donig so well in the first place…
Wait a tick….
Sorry, but this was bullcrap then, it’s bullcrap now. Thank you for proving why the GAO leaked the damn report, O’Hanlon.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:03 pmGood to see ya.
-GSD
August 31st, 2007 at 1:03 pmWhy isn’t this guy joining up and over in Iraq fighting?
August 31st, 2007 at 1:05 pmWinston dialled ‘back numbers’ on the telescreen and called for the appropriate issues of The Times, which slid out of the pneumatic tube after only a few minutes’ delay. The messages he had received referred to articles or news items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to alter, or, as the official phrase had it, to rectify. For example, it appeared from The Times of the seventeenth of March that Big Brother, in his speech of the previous day, had predicted that the South Indian front would remain quiet but that a Eurasian offensive would shortly be launched in North Africa. As it happened, the Eurasian Higher Command had launched its offensive in South India and left North Africa alone. It was therefore necessary to rewrite a paragraph of Big Brother’s speech, in such a way as to make him predict the thing that had actually happened.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:07 pmHappy to be here!
August 31st, 2007 at 1:07 pmPlease disregard the attempt at cyber art, spacings lost in space…..
A 75% reduction is so transparently false that I can’t believe it is even being promoted. Does anyone in the WH read the papers? Didn’t we just have nearly 500 killed in one day just a week ago?
August 31st, 2007 at 1:07 pmWhy cant the white house have a say in what the reports says?
Comment by GitmoRules — August 31, 2007 @ 12:20 pm
What part of Government Accountability do you not understand?
August 31st, 2007 at 1:09 pmwhat the hell is American oil doing under Iraqi sand
August 31st, 2007 at 1:10 pmIt was therefore necessary to rewrite a paragraph of Big Brother’s speech, in such a way as to make him predict the thing that had actually happened.
Comment by shoeless — August 31, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
Well played, sholess - well played!
August 31st, 2007 at 1:12 pm#9 Great link Ringo!
———————————————
August 31st, 2007 at 1:12 pmDon’t Mess with Iraqi Moms
———————————————
Comment by blaze — August 31, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
He was actually comparing this week to last week - all clear?
August 31st, 2007 at 1:13 pmIt was therefore necessary to rewrite a paragraph of Big Brother’s speech, in such a way as to make him predict the thing that had actually happened.
Comment by shoeless
Thanks!
August 31st, 2007 at 1:15 pmI think I’ll watch the Terry Gilliam movie “Brasil” again soon….
Why cant the white house have a say in what the reports says?
Comment by GitmoRules — August 31, 2007 @ 12:20 pm
You’ve already seen how well that worked in the runup to the war in Iraq. How is it possible that you can’t see that there’s a conflict of interests when the WH drafts/edits a report on the success of programs being pushed by the WH? Is it inconceivable to you that they will simply make the report support their needs the way they did before this clusterf*ck? I don’t expect you to man up & agree with me but at least use your head and think about it. The whole reason for the GAO is to have a supposedly independent office of the govt examine & report on a situation.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:15 pmRE: pix of O’Hanlon…
Did his hair get stuck in the blender this morning??
August 31st, 2007 at 1:15 pmYes, I’m sure the ChimpCo war marketing department will come out with a new and improved war product for the American war consumer. After all, it’s a product of ChimpCo, makers of fine catastrophic success.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:16 pmJingo sez:
I don’t. I’m inferring based upon past behavior of this corrupt and criminal administration. So far, I’ve been batting a thousand by using this pessimistic approach. Wanna place a wager?
Oh, that’s rich…Jingo calling me a ‘hack’.
I’m not the one who constantly mouths distortions, exaggerations, omissions, and outright lies concerning the reality of this nation and it’s involvement in an immoral and psychotic occupation of imperialist expansion, Jingo. That would be O’Hanlon’s job, as well (as it would appear) as yours.
I don’t know if you get paid to post your idiotic screeds here, but it doesn’t matter. Either way, you’re reprehensible.
Why the hell would I go to participate in an occupation I consider to morally unsupportable? Unlike you, my convictions actually mean something to me.
While we’re on the subject, why aren’t you there? Surely, if you think the subject of my service in Iraq is a fit subject for attack, the converse must be true as well. How about you show the courage of your convictions and go enlist?
Given the state of affairs, it’s you that’s “cheerleading failure”.
I’d call you a ‘hack’, but that would be an insult to hacks like O’Hanlon.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:24 pmO’Hanlon must have been given shares in Iran war contractors waiting in line for GW to drop the big one on Tehran
Talk about pretending to rebuild infrastructure. Pretending to rebuild Baghdad is small potatoes in comparison.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:27 pmNote to Prog Candidates - “IMMEDIATELY cease and desist the dessemination that the surge is having some positive effect. We are the pacifist party and military action defeats our purpose. All rational people can be reasoned with and the Muslim enemies of the GOP are no different. ******Note: these same Muslims are NOT our enemy - they are simply misguided, impressionable youth. ******”
August 31st, 2007 at 1:27 pmI was going to mention Winston Smith improving the wording at the Ministry of Truth, but shoeless beat me to it.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:28 pmYou thought Shock and Awe was awesome - well get ready for the sequel - a truly unbelievable mind boggling paroxysm of insanity - Shock and Awe II - the destruction of Iran
August 31st, 2007 at 1:29 pm“Improve” it, eh…?
Well, I suppose you *could* say that my cats “improve” the litter in the catbox every time they …add to it. ;o)
August 31st, 2007 at 1:30 pmAccording to the sixteen intelligence agencies of the US, our military action in Iraq is counterproductive. But I guess the mighty hag knows more than them.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:30 pmYou thought Shock and Awe was awesome - well get ready for the sequel - a truly unbelievable mind boggling paroxysm of insanity - Shock and Awe II - the destruction of Iran
Comment by Dermot — August 31, 2007
My husband was just talking to me about this, talking about how massive the assault will be. It’s almost too frightening to contemplate. I keep thinking, surely they wouldn’t do this. But I know better, unfortunately.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:33 pmAccording to the sixteen intelligence agencies of the US, our military action in Iraq is counterproductive. But I guess the mighty hag knows more than them.
Comment by Keith — August 31, 2007 @ 1:30 pm
Those agencies? Why would Dubya care what they say? He has his own data, just like the rover did when he had THE math in the ‘06 elections.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:34 pmProgressives didn’t cheerlead us into this fiasco—conservatives and the mainstream media did. Now people are seeing how wrong it is and 71% want us out by April 2008—putting them to the left of Democratic leaders in Congress.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:34 pmI keep thinking, surely they wouldn’t do this. But I know better, unfortunately.
That’s what I kept thinking after the summer of 2002 when they started talking up invading Iraq.
If that is the pattern, and GW seems to following the same script - same rhetoric, same manufactured intelligence, same lies –
Shock and Awe II will be in on your TV screen sometime around March 2008.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:35 pmGitmorules: “Why cant the white house have a say in what the reports says? I dont have much trust in the GAO either. Im glad the white house is gonna look over the report before its submitted.”
It has already been disclosed that the Whitehouse will be writing General Petreaus’ report on Iraq, so they have an opportunity to present their version of the truth. The GAO report is another take. What’s wrong with having a second opinion on something as important as this?
I just saw Bill Moyers’ “Buying the War” documentary on PBS last night. I recommend everyone see it, especially those who support the administration. The collapse of the vast majority of our “Fourth Estate” is simply shocking.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:36 pm#55 - The sixteen intelligence agencies that Progs fear more than a Islamic terrorist? You mean the sixteen US intelligence agencies (mired in bureacratic layers) that couldn’t keep track of a bunch of Saudi students with expired Visas?? You mean the intelligence agencies that neglected to pore through a confiscated flight students’ computer until after 9/11? Ohhhh….those intelligence agencies…..
August 31st, 2007 at 1:37 pm“Shock and Awe II will be in on your TV screen sometime around March 2008.
Comment by Dermot — August 31, 2007 @ 1:35 pm”
That’s right, because they have stated:
“we can’t bring out a new product in the fall”.
Now war is considered a “product”!!!!!!!
How nice!!!!!
August 31st, 2007 at 1:38 pmPatreus just warned America that if our troops withdraw, gas will go to $30 gallon.
Now there’s terrorism for you.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:38 pmI was right. The hag does know more than all our intelligence agencies.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:39 pmFor many years the GAO has been the most non-partisan arm of investigation in the government. How they’ve managed to not be taken over by the Bushites has been been amazing. What has also been amazing is the amount of pure BS that has been coming from the White House for literally years. If the White House said the sun was shining, and it was noon, I’d still have to look outside. Yet these hacks “automatically” believe whatever is told them by the administration! And people believe them!
August 31st, 2007 at 1:39 pmBill Moyers bias makes him as credible a source as Rush Limbaugh or Dan Rather. These are commentators who work diligently tailoring the story to fit their pre-conceived opinions.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:40 pmYou thought Shock and Awe was awesome - well get ready for the sequel - a truly unbelievable mind boggling paroxysm of insanity - Shock and Awe II - the destruction of Iran
Comment by Dermot — August 31, 2007 @ 1:29 pm
It’ll be some time before September 21, I believe:
August 31st, 2007 at 1:40 pmhttp://www.juancole.com/ 2007/ 08/ cheney-iran-here-we-go-again.html
Comment by Dermot — August 31, 2007 @ 1:38 pm
Our oil administration wants the price of gas to go up—more money for them. Value of top five oil corps reserves now worth over $2 Trillion after barrel goes from $18 (Clinton) to $71.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:42 pmIt’ll be some time before September 21, I believe
My suspicion is that is also part of the pattern to soften up public opinion to the idea of attack as inevitable. They’ll threaten to go in Sept, then disappear for a week or two while public opinion rises and falls, then repeat and rinse. Each rinse cycle, public opinion grows weaker.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:43 pm“You mean the sixteen US intelligence agencies (mired in bureacratic layers) that couldn’t keep track of a bunch of Saudi students with expired Visas?? You mean the intelligence agencies that neglected to pore through a confiscated flight students’ computer until after 9/11? Ohhhh….those intelligence agencies…..
Comment by mighty aphrodite — August 31, 2007 @ 1:37 pm”
Not that you will understand this, but……..
Those agencies were PREVENTED from doing their jobs so that 9/11 could happen.
Why do you think Bush THREATEND the FBI if they continued to investigate OBL?????
Why do you think that despite SEVERAL agents sending memo’s up to HQ that they got shuffled into nowhere land????
Why do you think that the FBI informant that lived NEXT to several of the “alledged” hijackers, was not allowed to say anything??????
Despite what you are TRYING to imply, the FBI and CIA are actually quite compitent at what they do when they are ALLOWED to do their jobs.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:43 pmThe GAO does not report to the Department of Defense. I disapprove of DoD meddling in the affairs of the GAO just as I would disapprove of the GAO meddling in the affairs of the DoD. Let’s have two reports, testimony to Congress and let Congress sort it out. That is the way it is supposed to work.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:44 pmAnd we won’t see Hilary complaining. My guess is she hopes GW will perform the dirty deed for her, so she can sweep in as the saviour of Israel keeping her AIPAC sugar daddies happy.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:45 pmComment by RemoveBush — August 31, 2007 @ 1:43 pm
Bush told one briefer “all right, you have sufficiently covered your ass, now you can get out”.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:46 pmWatched that Col. It is an eye opener.
Mighty, could you please provide examples of Bill Moyer’s alleged bias. If you can than your words might hold some credence. Otherwise I’ll listen to the detailed report and the mulitple sources (such as Knight Ridder to name one) that shows the selling of the conflict by this administration.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:48 pm#70 - Remove Bush - Check your local TV listings….I think “Conspiracy Theory” is showing tonight…….If not, maybe Blockbuster will save you a copy….
August 31st, 2007 at 1:48 pm“Bush told one briefer “all right, you have sufficiently covered your ass, now you can get outâ€.
Comment by Keith — August 31, 2007 @ 1:46 pm”
YEP!!!!!
They do their job well, but there is not much they can do when they are prevented by HIGHER UPS in doing their jobs right.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:48 pmDespite what you are TRYING to imply, the FBI and CIA are actually quite compitent at what they do when they are ALLOWED to do their jobs.
Quite - the FBI was very skilled at destroying the Black Panther party - murdering key members, planting spies - the FBI is very skilled when it wants to do something
Also the CIA can be very effective - toppling Allende of Chile, Guzman of Guatemala, Mossadeq of Iran, murdering Che Guevara - the list goes on and on
\\
August 31st, 2007 at 1:49 pmMighty Aphrodite: “You mean the sixteen US intelligence agencies (mired in bureacratic layers) that couldn’t keep track of a bunch of Saudi students with expired Visas?? You mean the intelligence agencies that neglected to pore through a confiscated flight students’ computer until after 9/11? Ohhhh….those intelligence agencies…..”
Excuse me, but anyone who has been paying attention knows that our intelligence agencies actually did identify significant threats which were ignored by the administration. The biggest problem was that information was not coordinated between the CIA and the FBI. Thankfully, with the Democratic congress, the 9-11 Commission’s suggestions have been made law so that this will not happen again. But, really, are you suggesting that this administration, with its long list of lies to the American public, is more trustworthy than the intelligence community? Please get serious.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:50 pmThankfully, with the Democratic congress, the 9-11 Commission’s suggestions have been made law so that this will not happen again.
Dream on Col
August 31st, 2007 at 1:52 pm“Remove Bush - Check your local TV listings….I think “Conspiracy Theory†is showing tonight…….If not, maybe Blockbuster will save you a copy….
Comment by mighty aphrodite — August 31, 2007 @ 1:48 pm”
Don’t need to….. I watched that HIT PIECE and could knock down EVERYONE of those so called “EXPERTS” all by myself……
Just so you know…… They sat there most of the broadcast spouting that the “truthers” don’t supply any facts to their arguements, but they supplied ZERO FACTS during the broadcast to support theirs…… OH THE IRONY!!!!!
How about those corroded vehicles blocks away from Ground Zero????? Care to explain what caused the metal to corrode ONLY ON THE TOPS????????
Let me help you…… Only a chemical can do that………
Now tell me what chemical(s) could have possibly corroded the metal from the collapse of the buildings?????
Either put up or STFU!!!!!
August 31st, 2007 at 1:53 pmI love it when the intelligence community tries to argue that it’s BushCo that mangled the evidence. As if you can separate one group from the other. They are intertwined like lovers in a fetid public bathroom.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:56 pm.
.
American Dead, 1/1/06 - 8/31/06: 462
American Dead, 1/1/07 - 8/31/07: 732
Say there Mikey, that’s some progress
.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:56 pm.
Helen - You’re joking, right? Bill Moyers has never met a social welfare program he didn’t approve of, a tax increase he didn’t love and his pieces reveal despising anything conservative. (Pssst…..speakers at the “Take Back America” conference, like Moyers, are not middle of the road or conservative politicos. ) For a thumbnail bio of the guy visit wikipedia….
August 31st, 2007 at 1:56 pmRemove Bush - Your paranoia can be controlled through proper medication - but just so you don’t harm yourself, ask mom to come down to the basement and help put on your straight jacket……
Goood luck!!
August 31st, 2007 at 1:58 pmAmericans ordered to murder Iraqis! WTF?!?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/083107K.shtml
August 31st, 2007 at 2:00 pmAmerican Dead, 4/1/08 - ???
What are the odds that after Shock and Awe II, the death toll climbs to over 10 million all told. It will begin to rival WWII holocaust.
And you get to watch it all on your wide screen digital TV
August 31st, 2007 at 2:01 pmStrawmen mighty. did you see the report? Did you read the Knight Ridder’s stories prior to our build up and invasion?
You typed words down but didn’t come back with any evidence. It was a grand push of more blathering that you do so well.
Question for you Mighty. What do you see as the logical conclusion to the situation in Iraq?
August 31st, 2007 at 2:01 pmMA is an intelligence community double agent. Ignore
August 31st, 2007 at 2:02 pm“Remove Bush - Your paranoia can be controlled through proper medication - but just so you don’t harm yourself, ask mom to come down to the basement and help put on your straight jacket……
Goood luck!!
Comment by mighty aphrodite — August 31, 2007 @ 1:58 pm”
TYPICAL answer from someone who CANNOT provide ANY EVIDENCE to support their stance!!!!!!
I have years worth of research and EXPERIENCE to support my stance, do you???? If so, then do it or as I have said already STFU!!!!
August 31st, 2007 at 2:05 pmYesterday CNN said the surge is working because US deaths in August were much lower than May. But they know (and didn’t say) that August is always lower than May. There is less fighting when it is 130 degrees.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:05 pmparanoia from the left? Islamofacism is a creation of the right. Blaming the left for wanting anything to do with made up boogey men is another creation of the right. Paranoia is being spoonfed to the right.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:06 pmMA: “Bill Moyers bias makes him as credible a source as Rush Limbaugh”
Un-fricking-believable! And, what does Moyers’ support of social welfare have to do with whether or not his documentary is well sourced and believable? That’s just nonsense and you know it. Can you document anything Bill Moyers has ever lied about? His documentary, “Buying the war,” uses stock footage and interviews to make the point that the media was manipulated and bullied into being an unquestioning shill for the Iraq war. Moyers has very little to say. He let’s his footage and interviews speak for themselves. I urge you to open your mind and take a look. It’s very powerful.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:08 pmKeith: “Yesterday CNN said the surge is working because US deaths in August were much lower than May. But they know (and didn’t say) that August is always lower than May. There is less fighting when it is 130 degrees.”
Let’s also not forget that just 6 months ago, the Pentagon changed the way it reports deaths to lower the perceived number.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:10 pmRemove Bush - I have looked at the “evidence” provided by the 9/11 conspiracy wacks…….Congratulations - their theory fits your pre-conceived notion. However, it ignores the facts regarding framing and innovative (at the time) construction methods of the WTC, the amount of jet fuel that contributed to the inferno, etc. Your mom wants to know if you want mayo on your tuna sandwich?
August 31st, 2007 at 2:11 pmRIP - You think Moyers, featured speaker at the left-leaning “Take Back America” conference is a credible source…..I don’t. (His “Faith and Reason” series was very interesting….and telling.) I believe Dan Rather and Rush Limbaugh have pronounced and demonstrated bias. Whose the gullible one?
Tooodles………
August 31st, 2007 at 2:17 pm“Remove Bush - I have looked at the “evidence†provided by the 9/11 conspiracy wacks…….Congratulations - their theory fits your pre-conceived notion. However, it ignores the facts regarding framing and innovative (at the time) construction methods of the WTC, the amount of jet fuel that contributed to the inferno, etc. Your mom wants to know if you want mayo on your tuna sandwich?
Comment by mighty aphrodite — August 31, 2007 @ 2:11 pm”
Still have not answered or provided ANY EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT YOUR STANCE!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!
By the way…….. The JET FUEL is BS!!!!!! It was largely burned up in several minutes and EVEN NIST said that the steel never saw temperatures greater than 800 degrees…….. FAR from being able to weaken the steel, especially since STEEL wicks heat away from the source…… So, since it wicks heat away it would have taken APPROXIMATLEY 3 times the heat required to WEAKEN!!!!!
Care to tell this 10 year RF EXPERIENCE person how cell phones can work in a Faraday screen and moving at over 200 MPH??????
Come on big momma…… You “THINK” you know the answers becasue some RIGHT WING web site says so, or Bush told you so but you don’t know JACK $HIT!!!!!
August 31st, 2007 at 2:18 pmMighty, The Col. explained it so much better than I. The report “Buying the War” is a historical snapshot of the mindset of the administration and how information was altered.
You don’t want to see anything that would alter your myopic view of your leader but that does not change the fact this administration pushed their version on the american people.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:19 pmThe reason I think it would be instructive for people to watch Bill Moyers’ “Buying the War” is that it puts a propagandist like O’Hanlon in proper perspective. Here he is worrying that a report NOT written by the administration will be too negative and he’s hoping that the administration will have the opportunity to sanitize it. The administration’s own report which will come out this September is not good enough for this propagandist. He needs the administration to contoll ALL reports. This is pure, Soviet-style propaganda.
Everyone should call their own PBS station and ask them to re-show Bill Moyers’ “Buying the War.”
August 31st, 2007 at 2:22 pmMA, I would never argue that Moyers is not a liberal. So what? Is your argument that liberals cannot be believed because they are liberal? You might as well dismiss every statement most of the Framers of our Consitution made. Most of them were liberals as well. Again, has Moyers ever been caught in a lie of any kind? Limbaugh certainly has many times. To argue that Bill Moyers is somehow the liberal equivalent of Rush Limbaugh is simply absurd.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:25 pmGAO says only 3 of 18 benchmarks have been met. Down from 8 in last report.
There was no jet fuel in Building 7.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:27 pmYes, I mean, it’s not like Gen. Westmorland would lie about such a serious matter.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:36 pmNo, wait . . . Petraeus, I meant Petraeus!
August 31st, 2007 at 2:36 pmComment by mighty aphrodite — August 31, 2007 @ 2:11 pm
Hey, MA…just one question:
How do you account for the quantities of molten steel found in the basements of the Twin Towers and WTC 7 weeks after the collapses?
August 31st, 2007 at 2:38 pm#999 “MA, I would never argue that Moyers is not a liberal. So what? Is your argument that liberals cannot be believed because they are liberal?”
Liberals can be believed - if you check their sources and read the opposition view. So because a person is a Conservative you, open minded guy that you are, believe them?? Righhhhtttt…………
“You might as well dismiss every statement most of the Framersof our Consitution made. Most of them were liberals as well.
The framers were “Classical Liberals” which contemporary Liberals are NOT. Contemporary Liberals seek to expand government - - Classical Liberals despised the intrusion of the Kings government in their lives….Nice try….you’re no Classical Liberal. (You should know that progressives and socialist co-opted the term “liberal” hoping to associate their name with the framers. for more widespread acceptance.)
“Again, has Moyers ever been caught in a lie of any kind?”
Comment by Ripper — August 31, 2007 @ 2:25 pm
Who knows? He has an agenda and he promotes that agenda by distorting the opposition.
#103 -“Hey, MA…just one question: How do you account for the quantities of molten steel found in the basements of the Twin Towers and WTC 7 weeks after the collapses?
Comment by TripMaster Monkey
Gravity.
Toodles, tools…
August 31st, 2007 at 2:53 pmCould someone please direct this jackass to the nearest military recruiting office?
August 31st, 2007 at 2:53 pmGitmoRules spewed:
How about just let the facts speak for themselves? I know, that’s a foreign concept to your Republican mind…
August 31st, 2007 at 2:59 pmCare to tell this 10 year RF EXPERIENCE person how cell phones can work in a Faraday screen and moving at over 200 MPH??????
Sure. I’m sure you’ve used (or at least seen someone else use) a cell phone in a parked aircraft, even with the door closed, which proves that an aircraft isn’t a Faraday cage. Since the range of cellular phones is well in excess of six miles (i.e., typical cruising altitude) there’s no significant range issue. A cellular phone in a moving aircraft (at 200 MPH or even 500 MPH) may be in communication with a large number of cellular sites at once, which puts an undesirable load on the network infrastructure and may result in lots of handoffs (and a higher incidence of dropped calls), but in general it works fine. Sorry.
August 31st, 2007 at 3:54 pmYes, that “not quite right” data is sure striking. Why not say violence is down 95%? That’s not quite right either, but it certainly is striking.
August 31st, 2007 at 4:17 pmGlenn Greenwald is going to field say with this one.
August 31st, 2007 at 4:32 pm>“Again, has Moyers ever been caught in a lie of any kind?â€
>Comment by Ripper — August 31, 2007 @ 2:25 pm
>
>Who knows?
brilliant retort hermaphdrodite….. “who knows” is your way of saying “no”….when you dont want to admit it. if someone presents facts, the only way to attack their assertions is to either a) attack their credibility by mentioning episodes of their past dishonesty (”we know where the weapons are”) or attack the facts as they currently present them: (i.e. “murders are only down because you stopped including people who die in car bombs in the category of “murdered”‘)
You’ve done neither. Everyone is biased to some degree about everything.
September 1st, 2007 at 2:09 amIf you were really a lawyer you’d know that claiming “bias” alone without any evidene to support your claims, isnt going to win you many cases…
To put it simply,
O’Hanlon “HOPES” there will be changes to the GAO report.
It doesn’t matter if they are true or not. As long as its change reflects his narrow and unfounded opinion.
3 of 18 benchmarks. How many lives during this time. O’Hanlon was present at how many of the funerals? It is not even for democracy and or freedom any more. Although it is my “opinion” that it was never for Iraqi freedom or democracy. Those are nice sounding advertisements for the American people to buy…………
September 1st, 2007 at 2:27 am>Let’s also not forget that just 6 months ago, the Pentagon changed the >way it reports deaths to lower the perceived number.
Your referring to them recategorizing people who died in car bomb explosions as “not murdered”, right? or something else?
These people love to tinker with definitions…next thing you know, they will start calling families blown up by bombs as “separated”
September 1st, 2007 at 2:53 amOn the topic of Iran, does everyone recognize that Iran has three times the population of Iraq and twice the geographic size?
Does everyone remember that Iraq invaded Iran in 1980 and the Iranians fought back for eight years even though Iraq was given weapons by both the USA and the Soviet Union? In order to repel the invaders, Iran launched human wave suicide attacks and they had a surplus of volunteers for those suicide units.
Does everyone acknowledge that Iran controls the Eastern side of the Strait of Hormuz and has positioned ground to ship missiles in bunkers so deep and well protected that military analysts doubt that even tactical nuclear weapons would not destroy them. Hormuz is only seven miles wide, 40% of the world’s oil production passes through it, and it could be chocked off by sinking a few supertankers at key turning points in the shipping channel.
Finally, do we all recognize that Iraqi Shia are Arabs and Iranian Shia are Persians and have never worked together successfully for at least the past 3,000 years?
Now who’s going to permit this Shock&Awe II? Is there anyone in the world community who would support us?
September 1st, 2007 at 5:45 pmHow dare Toilet Paper abuse MSNBC as a source when MSNBC has been exposed time and time again for spreading hateful propaganda against the military. Secondly, TP misconceives the MSNBC article since Bush’s surge is meant to stop only civilian attacks, which the article ADMITS are down. Bush or the US military can’t well be held accountable for the uncivilized, beastly Shiites and Sunnis continuing to ethnically cleanse each other, can they? Of course not!
September 3rd, 2007 at 3:24 pmTP must guiltily know that MSNBC is so anti-US soldiers that it
September 3rd, 2007 at 3:25 pmTP must guiltily know that MSNBC is so anti-US soldiers that it employed military slanderer
September 3rd, 2007 at 3:26 pmThis Toilet-Paper hate-site is so virulent towards the US military, as based on its misuse of anti-US soldier “news” sources like MSNBC and its plan to disguise its hatred of the troops by blaming Bush. What TP did incorrectly, to begin with, is reference MSNBC for ANYTHING related to Iraq. TP must guiltily know that MSNBC is so anti-US soldiers that it employed military slanderer William Arkin who derogated US troops as mercenaries! How dare Toilet Paper abuse MSNBC as a source when MSNBC has been exposed time and time again for spreading hateful propaganda against the military. Secondly, TP misconceives the MSNBC article since Bush’s surge is meant to stop only civilian attacks, which the article ADMITS are down. Bush or the US military can’t well be held accountable for the uncivilized, beastly Shiites and Sunnis continuing to ethnically cleanse each other, can they? Of course not!
September 3rd, 2007 at 3:26 pm