Think Progress

Hersh: Bush Told Olmert Of NIE Two Days Before President Was Allegedly First Briefed On It

Yesterday, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters that President Bush was first briefed on the National Intelligence Estimate’s conclusions on Wednesday, Nov. 28.

But today in an interview with CNN, Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker’s Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist, revealed that Bush actually knew about the NIE at least two days earlier and had a “private discussion” about it with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before the Middle East peace summit in Annapolis, MD, last week:

Israel objects to this report. I’m told that Olmert had a private discussion with Bush about it during Annapolis — before Annapolis. Bush briefed him about it. The Israelis were very upset about the report. They think we’re naive, they don’t think we get it right. And so they have a different point of view.

Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/12/hershirananna.320.240.flv]

Bush had two meetings with Olmert — one on Monday, Nov. 26, and one on Wednesday, Nov. 28. But as Hersh makes clear, Bush discussed the NIE with Olmert at the first meeting before the conference, on Nov. 26 — two days before Hadley alleged that Bush first was briefed on the report. This revelation provides evidence that the Bush administration is misleading about when it first learned that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program.

UPDATE: Last night on NBC News, Brian Williams reported, “[D]uring last week’s Middle East peace conference where so much of the talk was centered around the Iran threat, US intelligence officials had information indicating they knew better, and the administration said so today.”

Transcript:

BLITZER: But you were suggesting that there was a real run-up to war developing within the administration, even as there were some in the administration — the intelligence community — suggesting, Hey, hold off. Maybe they did suspend or freeze their nuclear weapons program.

HERSH: Well, of course. I think it’s still not over.

BLITZER: Because I want to press you on this. Does that mean, now that this new NIE has been released publicly, it is over, the run-up to a potential military confrontation with Iran?

HERSH: Well, there’s always Israel.

BLITZER: What’s that mean?

HERSH: Well, it means that Israel can always decide to take military action, or with us covertly. Israel objects to this report. I’m told that Olmert had a private discussion with Bush about it during Annapolis — before Annapolis. Bush briefed him about it. The Israelis were very upset about the report. They think we’re naive, they don’t think we get it right. And so they have a different point of view.




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150 Responses to “Hersh: Bush Told Olmert Of NIE Two Days Before President Was Allegedly First Briefed On It”

  1. Veritas Says:

    This is evidence but not the entire story. If Bush didn't ask McConnell last year what he meant by "new intelligence" and just blew it off, then Bush is totally incompetent and needs to be removed from office. This is an unconscionable action by the leader of a country concerned with what's going on in Iran, as he so purports to care so much.

    We need to give Bush the boot! New evidence is coming out, thanks to Hersch et al that Cheney knew about it for a full year which means that Bush also knew about it for a full year - while they both spewed lies and fear in order to cook the agenda for war with Iran. Sickos!


  2. zuch Says:

    What?!?!? You mean the maladministration's a lying sack'o'shite?!?!? CWITMFN?

    Cheers,


  3. Veritas Says:

    Bush and his sycophants may try to spin this every way till Sunday but nothing he comes up with will work against the damage which has already been exposed. He's a national disgrace at this point. If he knew and lied, then it's treason. If he didn't know but should have asked questions of his Director of Intelligence, then he's unable to fulfill the parameters of his office (and oath) by not asking questions.

    This reeks of total lies to me.


  4. wijg Says:

    Surprise!


  5. Bush Cover Ups Says:

    President George W Bush told Palestinian ministers that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and create a Palestinian State, a new BBC series reveals.

    US Withdraws UN Text Backing Mideast Peace

    US Pulls UN Middle East Draft Disliked by Israel

    Israel Doesn't Want UN to Adopt Annapolis Decisions

    I BET GOD IS PISSED OFF AT THE MOMENT


  6. Leftside Annie Says:

    *banging head on desk*
    *banging head on desk*
    *banging head on desk*
    *banging head on desk*
    *banging head on desk*


  7. Veritas Says:

    Zach: Yes, we've known that Bush has been lying to the people since his run up to the war in Iraq and cherry-picking and setting intel to fit the policy (see Downing Street Memo for that doosey).

    What is new is the level of criminality involved in this last batch of lies and how repeatedly Bush was willing to go out there and spew evil when he knew better. That's what's gut-wrenching today. The truth will be revealed because no one is going to allow themselves to be kicked to the curb for Bush who is becoming a national disgrace with his buffoonery and lies. No one in his current administration is willing to be a martyr for bush at this point.

    Pat Buchanan was just on CNN stating that this is the "most indicting" evidence against the Bush White House thus far. Pat knows and sees the obvious - Bush and his gang of thugs are sliding down the toilet.


  8. Bush Cover Ups Says:

    JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel announced plans Tuesday to build more than 300 new homes in a disputed east Jerusalem neighborhood, drawing quick Palestinian condemnation that the move will undermine newly revived peace talks.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7126593,00.html


  9. Veritas Says:

    The reichwingnuts are trying to "hijack the conversation" to a dissection of what the intel means - the fact is that what's more important right now is that the president once again used fear mongering based on lies to try to frighten the american people into another war. The topic of discussion is the new lack of credibility of the commander in chief and his sidekick. The topic of conversation in Congress and out on the campaign trail today needs to be the rallying support for impeachment of Bush & Cheney based on this horrendous bunch of lies. Any candidate who does not come out and publicly express their horror against what Bush has just done certainly doesn't deserve to serve in any public office in this country.

    Sadly for Hillary, this news about Iran makes her singular "yea" vote to enable a known liar to engage this country in another war of choice for oil a "noose around her neck" from which she cannot wrangle. That, combined by being "lied to" in her previous vote on Iraq and I'd say that her campaign is coming to a screeching halt.


  10. RUCerious Says:

    Bush told Olmert "Now (wink, wink) don't you go a bombin them Iranites, heh...


  11. Bush Cover Ups Says:

    Israel's real strategic asset is its powerful lobby in the United States, and this lobby is already facing what it dreads most – becoming a public political issue. Sooner or later, the American public will rebel. What I fear is that when it happens, it will come in the form of a rebirth of anti-Semitism. That will be a terrible price to pay for Israeli intransigence and ideological and religious fanaticism.


  12. plunger Says:

    Pat Buchanan was just on CNN stating that this is the “most indicting” evidence against the Bush White House thus far. Pat knows and sees the obvious - Bush and his gang of thugs are sliding down the toilet.

    Comment by Veritas — December 4, 2007 @ 6:19 pm

    So what you're saying then is that a plunger is no longer required?

    Mission accomplished!


  13. Bush Cover Ups Says:

    This has to be the first time TP has mentioned anything to do with Isreal


  14. Veritas Says:

    It all points to Hillary either being a war monger herself (back to her GOP roots and the inculcation she received back then?) OR - she has no business running for president due to a lack in judgment. We've had 7 years of poor judgment and bravado; we certainly don't need one more minute than we have to endure!


  15. RUCerious Says:

    #11 ~ BCU ~ Well stated!


  16. Veritas Says:

    Hey Plunger! Great to see you! I wouldn't say that a Plunger is no longer needed; in fact, if it weren't for you and your references and links, many of us would be a lot more uninformed. So I'd have to say that although Bush may be swirling around of the edge of the toilet at this moment before descending down into the dank abyss, a plunger here and there might help "wash those bubbles down the drain"....Roto-Tooter! Toot! Toot!


  17. plunger Says:

    Media ownership study ordered destroyed
    Sept 14, 2006

    'Every last piece' destroyed

    Adam Candeub, now a law professor at Michigan State University, said senior managers at the agency ordered that "every last piece" of the report be destroyed. "The whole project was just stopped - end of discussion," he said. Candeub was a lawyer in the FCC's Media Bureau at the time the report was written and communicated frequently with its authors, he said.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14836500/

    "You can't tell any more the difference between what's propaganda and what's news."

    FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein
    15 August, 2006

    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/16/national/main1900602.shtm


  18. Veritas Says:

    BCU: More and more people are discovering the truth about AIPAC and it's tenacles into our government operations.


  19. Erroll Says:

    The high Crimes and Misdemeanors keep piling up yet Nancy Pelosi keeps insisting that impeachment is "off the table", seemingly for the sake of political expediency in 2008. One wonders what it would take for Pelosi to admit that these scoundrels need to be impeached from their jobs as soon as possible. One can imagine a future administration perhaps just as evil as this one [if that is possible] realizing that since this Congress has decided to remain supine in spite of the transgressions that this administration has committed, that they could get away with anything, since Congress would never punish them for their misdeeds.


  20. Bush Cover Ups Says:

    Why was Cheney conspiring with Neoconservatives on his staff to convince Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to attack the Natanz facilities, in hopes Iran would over-react and give Bush and Cheney a pretext for doing regime change in Tehran?

    Why did the Bushies keep leaking to prominent journalist Seymour Hersh the story that Cheney was planning an attack on Iran?

    Why did Bush go so far as to say that World War III could only be prevented if Iran was denied the knowledge of how to enrich uranium?

    Cheney and Bush have probably known since at least April that Iran has no weapons program.

    http://www.juancole.com/


  21. robbez_92107 Says:

    That's the problem with liars - they have a hard time keeping their lies straight.


  22. RUCerious Says:

    Howya doin Ace?


  23. Veritas Says:

    Plunger: We know it's fascism when...... But consider this as the side effect of media manipulation (aka propaganda). Eventually, those prostituting themselves will find that they've become totally irrelevant. I'm finding it incredible how few people believe anything spewing forth from any of the MSM - Fox News is the worst propagandist/Bush Megaphone but even CNN has now become a wholly owned subsidiary.


  24. plunger Says:

    The Iran War Plan:

    http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO505A.html

    Save the lives of the US Troops in Iraq.

    ARREST DICK CHENEY for war crimes.

    In his declaration of military victory in Iraq from the deck of the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, Bush said, "We have removed an ally of al-Qaida and cut off a source of terrorist funding." He also said, "The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror."

    Bush said, "The attacks of September 11th, 2001, showed what the enemies of America did with four airplanes. We will not wait to see what terrorists or terrorist states could do with weapons of mass destruction."

    Critics have said the steady drumbeat of that message has tied Saddam to the attacks in the mind of the public. A recent poll by The Washington Post found that nearly seven Americans out of 10 believe Saddam played a role in the Sept. 11 attacks, a notion the administration has done little to tamp down.

    But retired NATO commander Wesley Clark, in a little noticed appearance on NBC's "Meet The Press" on June 15, charged that "a concerted effort to pin 9/11" on Saddam began in the fall of 2001, and "it came from people around the White House."

    It was just weeks after the terrorist attacks that the first link between Saddam and al-Qaida was alleged by the administration.

    It came from Cheney, who said it had been "pretty well confirmed" that Mohamed Atta, the man held responsible for masterminding the Sept. 11 hijackings, had met with a senior Iraqi intelligence official in April 2000.

    White House National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, in an interview aired late Tuesday on ABC's "Nightline," said one of the reasons Bush went to war against Saddam was because he posed a threat in "a region from which the 9/11 threat emerged."

    Cheney said it had been "pretty well confirmed" Atta had met with a senior Iraqi intelligence official.

    He said "we don't know" whether Saddam was connected to the attacks, but admitted, "It's not surprising that people make that connection."

    IT HAS SUBSEQUENTLY BEEN "PRETTY WELL CONFIRMED" THAT CHENEY AND COMPANY LIED THEIR ASSES OFF.


  25. RUCerious Says:

    Can we start a collection to buy Nancy an effin table?


  26. RUCerious Says:

    The BullShat is somewhere north, east and south of the White House Lawn...


  27. Veritas Says:

    Ace: What I think is funny is that on the spiritual level (the one only some of us are able to work within) it's already occurred. On a time line compendium, the mainstream media IS irrelevant. When critical mass consciousness disbelieves anything they say, they're the morons who still aren't aware of the truth about themselves.


  28. Veritas Says:

    Hi RU! Absolutely. I'll chip something in if Nancy's winery has fallen on hard times for that effin table of hers!


  29. DieNowForPeace Says:

    That will be a terrible price to pay for Israeli intransigence and ideological and religious fanaticism.

    Comment by Bush Cover Ups

    Poor wittle Israel. Ye reap what ye sow.


  30. Bush Cover Ups Says:

    18 - Veritas

    Ok It was an article I read

    read the full text Its a great read

    http://www.antiwar.com/reese/?articleid=11987

    Don't Expect Peace
    by Charley Reese


  31. plunger Says:

    Sunday, Cheney began the group of Bush administration officials denying any ties between Saddam and Sept. 11. He said "we don't know" whether Saddam was connected to the attacks, but admitted, "It's not surprising that people make that connection."

    The vice president also said: "If we are successful in Iraq, if we can stand up a good, representative government in Iraq that secures the region so that it never again becomes a threat to its neighbors or to the United States, so it's not pursuing weapons of mass destruction, so that it's not a safe haven for terrorists, we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11."

    White House National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, in an interview aired late Tuesday on ABC's "Nightline," said one of the reasons Bush went to war against Saddam was because he posed a threat in "a region from which the 9/11 threat emerged." But she insisted, "We have never claimed that Saddam Hussein had either direction or control of 9/11."

    Her remarks echoed those of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during a briefing for reporters at the Pentagon earlier Tuesday. Asked if Saddam was personally involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, Rumsfeld replied, "I've not seen any indication that would lead me to believe that I could say that."

    White House spokesman Scott McClellan reiterated to reporters yesterday that the administration never directly linked Saddam to the Sept. 11 strikes.

    "If you're talking specifically about the September 11th attacks, we never made that claim," McClellan said. "We do know that there is a long history of Saddam Hussein and his regime and ties to terrorism, including al-Qaida."

    http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/attack/140133_bushiraq18.html

    YET THROUGH APPARENT OSMOSIS:

    WHO BRAINWASHED THE TROOPS IN IRAQ?

    How is it that according to a recent Zogby Poll, nearly 85% of active duty troops in Iraq actually came to believe that they are there specifically to avenge the attacks of 9/11?

    What type of active PsyOps program was approved by Rumsfeld to ensure this result to motivate these troops in this way?

    When these atrocities were committed, did the guilty troops actually believe that they were taking revenge for the attacks of 9/11?

    Was that their mindset?

    If so, how did that come to be?

    What role has Rumsfeld played in allowing the myth to be perpetuated throughout the military - that we are in Iraq specifically to avenge the (FALSE FLAG) attacks against the United States on 9/11?

    How does our Defense Department set about demonizing an entire race of people to make them easier to kill?

    How was that message SOLD to the troops?

    They SOLD us a terror attack.

    They SOLD us a war.

    They SOLD the troops a lie to motivate them.

    RUMSFELD = WAR CRIMINAL

    PRESIDENT BUSH ADMITS THERE WERE NO WMD IN IRAQ.

    PRESIDENT BUSH ADMITS IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11.

    FBI ADMITS BIN LADEN HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11.

    Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

    PRESIDENT BUSH ADMITS THERE WERE NO WMD IN IRAQ.

    PRESIDENT BUSH ADMITS IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11.

    FBI ADMITS BIN LADEN HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11.

    WAR CRIME

    WAR CRIME

    WAR CRIME


  32. Keith Says:

    Seymour Hersh wrote in the New Yorker over a year ago that our intelligence was showing that Iran stopped their program four years ago.


  33. RUCerious Says:

    William Hill once again attempts to ply us with his wit and only exposes the dull ember that fails to evoke even a chuckle.


  34. Leftside Annie Says:

    I used to support Israel wholeheartedly...but they lost me when they built that damned wall.

    Jews building a ghetto for Palestinians turned my stomach.


  35. Veritas Says:

    The only reason I'm watching television today is because I believe it's a day of celebration: (1) that the lies and spin of the Bush Administration vis-a-vis the nuclear capabilities of Iran were simply that: lies and spin
    (2) That we've now caught Bush and Cheney in the largest lie they've perpetuated to date. This time they thought it would be a slam dunk, a Iraq redux, and they were nabbed red-handed with their fingers in the cookie jar. This is a slam dunk for the people of this country who know that we don't have another year of this level of criminality and chicanery before this country is in very serious trouble.

    Now all we have to do is press Congress to do what they were elected to do and for which they took their oath of office: To defend and protect the people of this country against even enemies within their midst.

    When Bush knew it matters little in the scope of things - even if just learned about it yesterday. Either way it's "culpable negligence" in his execution of the position of commander in chief by NOT investigating what he heard from McConnell some 6 months to a year ago....

    OR....the more obvious. That, once again, Bush and Co. have lied to the american people.

    When Pat Buchanan turns his back on Bush, you know it's all over but for the cryin'.


  36. Keith Says:

    Does Seymour Hersh know more than our president? Or is he telling the truth while Bush is lying?


  37. Veritas Says:

    Keith: When Sy Hersch writes about the NIE report a full year ago, duh??? Where the heck was Bush's brain? Does he ever read? How did a news reporter get this critical information when Bush claims that he did not? You've got to be kidding me if Bush thinks anyone is going to give him the benefit of the doubt at this point. He's over.


  38. ForTruth Says:

    Isreal can fight their own wars.


  39. Veritas Says:

    Hey Keith: Our thoughts crossed in cyberspace - again!


  40. Veritas Says:

    aha! I know what Bush's defense will be: His reading ability is on the level of about first grade when My Pet Goat was a challenge for him while our country was being invaded. That's it.


  41. gummitch Says:

    Does Seymour Hersh know more than our president? Or is he telling the truth while Bush is lying?

    Comment by Keith — December 4, 2007 @ 6:37 pm

    Or? How about "AND"?


  42. pete Says:

    It's time to contact our "representatives" again. State and national, Congress and Senate. Please phone them, e-mail them, and send them a good 'ol fashioned letter. Make it clear that failure to act will cost them your vote.

    It's our only recourse short of violence.


  43. plunger Says:

    YOU FUTURE UNDER DICTATORSHIP:

    "Stay In Your Homes! Anyone caught on the streets will be shot by Blackwater and ICE enforcement squads."

    The Poppie Bush Crime Family has so many crimes to coverup that it has no choice other than to prevent any elections from ever occurring again in The United States.

    The CIA is the largest drug operation in the world.

    The invasion of Afghanistan led to record poppy crops.

    The major trans-shipment point for heroine just happens to be the port of Dubai.

    The one shipping company that rushed to the defense of the Dubai Ports World deal just happened to be Israeli-Government-Owned Zim Shipping.

    Zim shipping COINCIDENTALLY is the very same company that had the good timing to break their long term lease at the WTC - moving out just weeks prior to 9/11.

    The criminals are ALL in too deep.

    You can't even fathom the size of the conspiracy.

    The Mossad Agents arrested on 9/11 (Google: Dancing Israelis) were explosives experts, and the vans they were caught driving contained explosives.

    They failed SEVEN polygraph tests prior to being sent back to Israel without charges - by none other that Israeli Mole Michael Chertoff.

    Israel owns the software and communications technology that is installed in all of the most sensitive systems in the US. They have the capability to monitor virtually ALL data in the United States...every single phone call, bank transaction, military movement...ALL OF IT.

    If this doesn't prove that the US Government is controlled by Israel, nothing will.

    Press Briefing by Scott McClellan, December 22, 2003.

    Q Is the President in favor of international inspection of Israel's nuclear arsenal, which is pretty well known?

    MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know that I agree with that, the premise of your question. But the United States has a longstanding position of universal adherence to the treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. That has been our longstanding position --

    Q They never signed it.

    MR. McCLELLAN: -- and that is universal adherence. Well, we have urged all states that have not yet adhered to the treaty to do so, and to accept the IAEA safeguards on nuclear activities that would come with it.

    Q Are we trying to persuade Israel to sign it, and to be open to inspection?

    MR. McCLELLAN: I think that, one, in terms of specifics about the Israeli government, you need to refer those questions to the Israeli government.

    Q No, no, I'm asking our position.

    MR. McCLELLAN: And I've told you that the long held position of the United States is the universal adherence to the nonproliferation treaty.

    http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/briefing.html

    "Every time we do something you tell me America will do this and will do that . . . I want to tell you something very clear: Don't worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it." - Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, October 3, 2001, to Shimon Peres, as reported on Kol Yisrael radio.

    (Certainly the FBI's cover-up of the Israeli spy ring/phone tap scandal suggests that Mr. Sharon may not have been joking.)

    The Mainstream US Media is at the service of Israel.

    Wolf Blitzer came from AIPAC.


  44. gummitch Says:

    I was told he has a “kit” he uses to uncover these great stories and it includes two sets of x-ray specks a spy cam with nitevision.

    Comment by Billy Hill — December 4, 2007 @ 6:33 pm

    Seymour Hersh is something you're obviously unfamiliar with: a reporter. True, they are hard to spot these days, but they do exist.


  45. Veritas Says:

    Just found the actual number of security briefings by Bush regarding Iran: 60!! Sixty lies!


  46. Veritas Says:

    Thanks, Ace for that tidbit about Blitzer and AIPAC. I knew there was something sleazy about the man and even thought he appeared to be truthful, my bullshit detector kept going off ad infinitum.


  47. kindness Says:

    What did the President know and when did he know it?

    Hey....it got Nixon to resign.


  48. Keith Says:

    They don't call you Veritas for nothing.


  49. Veritas Says:

    this is HUGE and definitely is not going away. Either Congress picks up the ball or the masses will. Mainstream media and Bushies are jumping ship by the droves with this new indicting evidence. Anyone who still supports a pathological liar has to be one themselves - and, naturally, they'd prefer to believe the lie about themselves versus the cold, hard truth. American incredulity - thankfully, the majority of americans do not fall into that category.


  50. Veritas Says:

    Kindness: Nixon resigned because he knew the gig was up; I don't believe Bush has the integrity to resign nor the insight to recognize the degree of psychiatric pathology from which he suffers.


  51. Veritas Says:

    60 security briefings: 60 Bush lies


  52. Erroll Says:

    Veritas at #50

    Unfortunately, I suspect that it is not politically expedient for Congress to do anything, since the Democrats seem to bizarrely believe that impeaching this administration will somehow negate their chances of winning in 2008.


  53. plunger Says:

    http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_members&Number=1092638&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1&t=-1#Post1092638

    Their big moment arrived with the collapse of the Twin Towers. The American public and politicians were in a state of shock, completely disoriented, unable to understand a world that had changed overnight. The neo-cons were the only group with a ready explanation and a solution. Only nine days after the outrage, William Kristol (the son of the group's founder, Irving Kristol) published an Open Letter to President Bush, asserting that it was not enough to annihilate the network of Osama bin Laden, but that it was also imperative to "remove Saddam Hussein from power" and to "retaliate" against Syria and Iran for supporting Hizbullah.

    Following is a short list of the main characters.

    The Open Letter was published in the Weekly Standard, founded by Kristol with the money of ultra-right press mogul Rupert Murdoch, who donated $ 10 million to the cause. It was signed by 41 leading neo-cons, including Norman Podhoretz, a Jewish former leftist who has become an extreme right-wing icon, editor of the prestigious Encounter magazine, and his wife, Midge Decter, also a writer, Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Studies, Robert Kagan, also of the Weekly Standard, Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post, and, of course, Richard Perle.

    Perle is a central character in this play. Until recently he was the chairman of the Defense Policy Board of the Defense Department, which also includes Eliot Cohen and Devon Cross. Perle is a director of the Jerusalem Post, now owned by extreme right-wing Zionists. In the past he was an aide to Senator Henry Jackson, who led the fight against the Soviet Union on behalf of the Jews who wanted to leave. He is a leading member of the influential right-wing American Enterprise Institute. Lately he was obliged to resign from his Defense Department position, when it became known that a private corporation had promised to pay him almost a million dollars for he benefit of his influence in the administration.

    That Open Letter was, in effect, the beginning of the Iraq war. It was eagerly received by the Bush administration, with members of the group already firmly established in some of its leading positions. Paul Wolfowitz, the father of the war, is No. 2 in the Defense Department, where another friend of Perle's, Douglas Feith, heads the Pentagon Planning Board. John Bolton is State Department Undersecretary. Eliot Abrams, responsible for the Middle East in the National Security Council, was connected with the Iran-Contra-Israel scandal. The main hero of the scandal, Oliver North, sits in the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, together with Michael Ledeen, another hero of the scandal. Headvocates total war not only against Iraq, but also against Israel's other enemies, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority. Dov Zakheim is comptroller for the Defense Department.

    Most of these people , together with Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, are associated with the "Project for the New American Century", which published a White Paper in 2002, with the aim 'to preserve and enhance this 'American peace'"--meaning American control of the world.

    Meyrav Wurmser (Meyrav is a chic new Israeli first name) is Director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Hudson Institute. She also writes for the Jerusalem Post and is co-founder of the Middle East Media Research Institute that is, according to the London Guardian, connected with Israeli Army Intelligence. MEMRI feeds the media and politicians with highly selective quotations from extreme Arab publications. Meyrav's husband, Davis Wurmser, is at Perle's American Enterprise Institute, heading Middle East Studies. Mention should also be made of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy of our old acquaintance, Dennis Ross, who for years was in charge of the "peace process" in the Middle East.

    In all the important papers there are people close to the group, such as William Safire, a man hypnotized by Sharon, in the New York Times and Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post. Another Perle friend, Robert Bartley, is the editor of the Wall Street Journal.

    If the speeches of Bush and Cheney often sound as if they came from the lips of Sharon, one of the reasons may be that their speechwriters, Joseph Shattan, Mathew Scully and John McConnell, are neo-cons, as is Cheneys Chief-of-Staff, Lewis Libby.

    The immense influence of this largely Jewish group stems from its close alliance with the extreme right-wing Christian fundamentalists, who nowadays control Bush's Republican party. The founding fathers were Jerry Falwell of the Moral Majority, who once got a jet plane as a present from Menachem Begin, and Pat Robertson of the Christian Coalition and the Christian Broadcasting Network, which help to finance the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem of J.W. van der Hoeven, an outfit that supports the settlers and their right-wing allies.

    ...The man who symbolizes this victory is General Jay Garner, who has just been appointed chief of the civilian administration in Iraq.

    He is no anonymous general who has been picked accidentally. Garner is the ideological partner of Paul Wolfowitz and the neo-cons.

    Two years ago he signed, together with 26 other officers, a petition organized by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs


  54. celtic cynic Says:

    I've had an interesting conversation with friends and relatives in Europe today. They're laughing at us again and again - can't imagine why.

    IMPEACH


  55. alexlerman Says:

    I share the frustration of many posters here, but I agree with Veritas: today is a day of celebration. There are people in the corridors of power -- people who most of us would not see eye to eye with on many things -- who have chosen this moment and this instrument to strike at Dick Cheney, a blow from which he will have great difficulty recovering from.

    Yes, the papers are full of spin, and all the major powers in Europe are going on record saying Iran is still a threat -- but that's all fluff. This report ends the chance of a new war in our democracy. The only options Cheney et. al. have left are: a) an attack by Israel; b) hoping against hope for a terrorist attack and a state of emergency; c) staging a terrorist attack and declaring a state of emergency.

    All three options are bad, and rendered more hazerdous to would-be perpetrators by this report, which gravely undermines the credibility of all the mouthpieces who have been promoting this new war: from Bush to Kristol to Brooks to Poderetz.

    The American democratic process has taken alot of hits, from the assasination of JFK to the stolen elections of 2000 and 2004. Today, somebody hit back, and hit back HARD. No, Nancy Pelosi is not likely to turn into Bobby Kennedy any time soon, and John Murtha and Rahm Emanual are out there cutting deals with all the other crooks.

    But our society took a step back from war and insanity. That's how democracies are supposed to work. Remember that McConnel said the NIE's would be classified from now on -- and that this report has been in the pipeline for a year or more (see Seymor Hersh). The cover up broke down.

    Like they used to say, one for the Gipper.


  56. ForTruth Says:

    I was immensely relieved yesterday when I saw the NIE story on CNN. Like I had finally taken a much needed sh!t.


  57. Oval12345678 aka James K. Sayre Says:

    The ten-thousand top lies of Mr. Bush... As the old Bush family saying goes, "Four lies a day, keeps democracy away..."


  58. Veritas Says:

    ForTruth: For many of us, this news about Iran not being a threat and coming one step closer to recognizing our own enemies with is like one "HUGE COLONIC".


  59. Veritas Says:

    Erroll: Nothing could be further from the truth if the Dems actually believe that. What would occur is that the people of this country would rally around the Democrats if they, for once, illustrated that they take their oath of office seriously and have developed a bit of osseous structure called "backbone".


  60. Veritas Says:

    I know tons of Independents who would vote for a democrat IF the Dems would take on this administration and finally do the right thing.


  61. Ret. Col. Jack Ripper Says:

    Of course he should be impeached. He should not only be impeached, he should stand trial for war crimes and should be indicted for federal crimes. But, as with Nixon, the impeachment is not going anywhere without the cooperation of at least quite a few republicans and that doesn't seem to be happening.


  62. Ret. Col. Jack Ripper Says:

    Veritas, what if every single Democrat "got a spine" as you say and moved for impeachment and no republican cooperated? How far would impeachment get? It would get out of committee and to the floor of the House for a vote and then, it would fall short because they don't have a two-thirds majority and no republican would cooperate.


  63. JPV Says:

    LIAR, LIAR PANTS ON FIRE!!!


  64. Ret. Col. Jack Ripper Says:

    This insistence that they do something everyone who knows how things work knows is impossible - is it a product of the fact that schools don't teach Civics anymore? I really want to understand this because I know that you, Veritas, for example, are not stupid and yet you keep insisting on a useless political manuver which would result in almost nothing of substance.


  65. Starve-A-Bush_Feed-A-Beaver Says:

    In his defense, Bush is too busy speechifyin' and deciderizin' to be bothered with petty facts that might justify one of his planned invasions. War Presidentin' is after all his Chimp raison d'etre, no matter what war or what factual justification.


  66. ForTruth Says:

    In all practicality, impeachment would not get the votes it needed. This is a problem.


  67. Veritas Says:

    Colonel: If every Democrat in congress pressed for impeachment and every Repuke voted against it, it would permanently "out" every Republican as an enemy of the people, once and for all. Even if impeachment is not possible due to Republican obstructionism, clearly, it would send a heft message to this gang of thugs as well as to the american people that there are some folks in Congress who take their oath of office seriously.

    If congressional dems fail to support impeachment, then you will see a massive movement of registered democrats moving to the Independent status in the next few months. Right now the numbers are rising and have eclipsed the GOP (28% GOP/36% Indy's). By registering Indy, the power comes back to the people where it belongs. It's patently clear that the two party system is in gridlock and no longer represents a growing number of americans.

    Becoming Independent (I didn't say voting for an Independent candidate) gives a new throng of voters immense power. After all, the I's are the ones who are going to determine the next president - like it or not.


  68. Veritas Says:

    Impeachment may not get the votes it needs; however the message would be clear to the american people. Democrats actually "care" about their oath of office; Republicans are sycophants who give two shits about the people. It would send an immense message to the people and the dems would win by a landslide.

    Impeachment proceedings brought to the fore right now by Dems (and one of the candidates who desires to become a frontrunner) would ensure an overwhelming landslide democratic victory in 08.

    Just picture this: Impeachment is plastered everywhere one looks for the next year - Bush looks more and more like a lying spinmeister rather than a president; Cheney looks more like Darth then Darth himself. Just the concept of impeachment will tank ANY republican candidate immediately. The longer impeachment is out there and on the lips of all americans, the more damage it does to the GOP.

    After all: This is "their president" and this is "their war". Two strikes against any incumbent Republican in Congress and every GOP presidential hopeful.


  69. Veritas Says:

    Besides, since when did anything congress do over the last 7 years make sense? Sure, the obstructionist swine in Congress would have to out themselves as unpatriotic by not supporting a move clearly being pressed by the people.


  70. ForTruth Says:

    Veritas I'm concerned about the overall argument and perception that American Presidents are always gettin' impeached and our government is an international joke. Or the focus of the argument becomes on impeachment itself, instead of who is getting impeached. And the 24%ers might go batshit and ignite a civil war.

    This is my worst case scenario.


  71. Veritas Says:

    I believe that after this indicting evidence today, if the Dems do not capitalize on the severity of the Bush/Cheney lies and press immediately for impeachment, they will suffer the consequences just as they have been over the past year for not making good on their midterm promises.

    If they fail to do what their oath of office requires of them which is impeachment when impeachable offenses are "suspected to exist", then they will be blasted out of office for "derelection of duty". Sure, they're worried about looking like the bad guy here impeaching poor helpless, hapless, hopeless individuals and that comes with the territory when one party presses for impeachment; however, the sheer "good" and "resurrection of american confidence" would far outweigh any consequences they may believe that following their impeachment mandate would incur.


  72. pluege Says:

    Bush Told Olmert Of NIE Two Days Before President Was Allegedly First Briefed On It

    yea, but as usual bush didn't know what he was saying thereby maintaining plausible deniability.
    .


  73. Veritas Says:

    ForTruth: I hear what you are saying but refuse to buy into Bush's fear agenda. Doing what's wholesome, honest, and in accordance with one's oath of office can never be problematic. That's the same ridiculous nonsense that has precipitated the debacle called the Bush Administration. I refuse to believe such drivel myself.

    Miring this administration down in impeachment proceedings would also put them on notice that the people will have no more chicanery and will cut them off at the knees from wreaking more damage on this flagging democracy.

    The upshoot of course is that the Dem party will prove that it is listening to the people finally (ridding washington of this corruption within) and following the mandate of their oath of office.


  74. Veritas Says:

    pluege: Plausible Deniability in his case = an insanity plea.


  75. Veritas Says:

    Finally, whether impeachment is possible is probably pretty irrelevant. The damage it will do to this administration will be legion; the accolades it will receive from the international community will help the image of the US globally. They will view it as "finally the people are stopping this fascist regime". And, they may begin to realize that americans are not all hypocrites like this administration.


  76. ForTruth Says:

    NBC's Brian Willams and Andrea Mitchell pretty much skewered Bush in tonight's news. Andrea looked sorry she had to deliver that news.

    That was a pretty big deal. Maybe it is time to stand up and make a motion to impeach!!


  77. Veritas Says:

    If you ask any Independent why they switched their party affiliation from democrat to Indy, they will tell you that they became totally disgusted that the dems refused to impeach Bush way back on his other impeachable offenses.

    If the dems fail the people on this one, I fear that the I's will vote Ron Paul and the Repubs will win simply because no dem in congress is representing this chunk of americans right now.


  78. Zooey Says:

    Maybe it is time to stand up and make a motion to impeach!!
    Comment by ForTruth — December 4, 2007 @ 8:03 pm

    Why hasn't anyone thought of that? ;)


  79. Veritas Says:

    Yes, finally the MSM "has to" weight this one in or go down the toilet with Bush and Co. Finally, everyone seems to be recognizing that this will be Bush's last hurrah and will seal his legacy once and for all. The "indicted administration".


  80. Veritas Says:

    ForTruth: It's because they know this one is the "smoking gun" which will take them all down.


  81. Veritas Says:

    As I've said, Pat Buchanan also skewered Team Bush tonight. I believe it's all over but for the cryin' and Bush looked today like he'd been crying in his beer instead of sleeping one wink last night.


  82. Veritas Says:

    I know - I know what's coming!! Cheney will have to hit the sidelines next month due to his heart problem and Chimpy will go into alcohol rehab along with Larry Craig.


  83. ForTruth Says:

    Yeah Bush should go smoke a gun.


  84. bilbobaggins Says:

    This NIE has been in the making since January. If anyone thinks that Bush and Chaney did not have their hands in the cookie jar while the NIE was being written needs a new brain. There is no way Bush and Chaney would sit back and just wait until the NIE was issued. That is not the way they work. They meddle and cherry pick facts to meet their needs and I'm willing to bet that they tried to do this with the current NIE. But, it looks like some people in the government are feeling that they can't afford to let Bush and Company bully them any longer since the fate of our country hangs in the balance.


  85. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    Here's a real hoot!. Thick as a Brick Freerepublic thinks the State Department is a bunch of traitors, and the Revolutionary Guard fed false info to them.

    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1934735/posts


  86. ForTruth Says:

    Hi Zooey.



  87. ForTruth Says:

    That Freerepublic link was effing scary. All the posts were by one dude. I'm afraid of that guy.


  88. ForTruth Says:

    I think that Freeper dude was JK. Ahhhhh.


  89. Merlin Says:

    Comment by pluege — December 4, 2007 @ 7:59 pm

    Bush Told Olmert Of NIE Two Days Before President Was Allegedly First Briefed On It

    yea, but as usual bush didn’t know what he was saying thereby maintaining plausible deniability.

    Of course he didn't know. He's a sock puppet.
    .


  90. ForTruth Says:

    I'm a left nut wing whacko.


  91. bilbobaggins Says:

    In all practicality, impeachment would not get the votes it needed. This is a problem.
    Comment by ForTruth

    And you know this how? If there is an impeachment and an investigation and we finally get to the bottom of all the crimes Bush/Chaney have committed and they are laid out for the world to see, it would be very hard for any Democrat much less any Republiscum to vote against impeachment. Once the will of the people was behind it the Republiscums running for re-election would realize that they either voted to impeach or decided to retire.


  92. Zooey Says:

    I’m a left nut wing whacko.
    Comment by ForTruth — December 4, 2007 @ 8:15 pm

    Me too, proudly so. I'm also a feminist.

    Boo!


  93. Lefty Patriot Says:

    Comment by John Kerry — December 4, 2007 @ 8:13 pm

    George Bush will be runing: from patriots, who will go after him with every avqilqble law. He'd better get used to Paraguay real fast, if he wants to live outside of a cell.


  94. bilbobaggins Says:

    So why are you concerned about this as all it does is show that, because of George Bush’s leadership, Iran was forced to halt nukes (if this is true!).
    Comment by John Kerry

    That's what you would like to believe, but that is not necessarily the case. Once Bush took out Saddam (Iran's enemy), I think they felt less need for a nuclear weapon. And the reason why this is important is that this country needs to regain some moral compass and tolerating continued lies by this administration is doing a lot or harm to not only our government but also to the world's view of our government. That may not concern you, but it does concern me.

    Why is this troll still here? Are you all flagging him for abuse?


  95. ForTruth Says:

    Bilbo that would be awesome to see.


  96. Ret. Col. Jack Ripper Says:

    Veritas, these are all compelling arguments, but they all involve perceptions. I'm not sure perception is something to hang your hat on when we're dealing with a corporate media which has proven over and over that it will do everything it can to protect the prospects of the party which favors media deregulation which means more profits for the parent corporations which own the media.

    In addition, I don't buy this at all: "By registering Indy, the power comes back to the people where it belongs."

    Just as I believe unions, though the vehicle of collective bargaining power, bring more power to individual workers, I believe a major party, because of it's ability to pass legislation, brings political power to individuals. Yes, candidates must pay attention to the increasing percentage of independents if they want to get elected, but the machinery of party is how you get legislation. This is why I feel the best way to go forward now is to continue to try to move the Democratic party to the left.


  97. ForTruth Says:

    The key is the public fully backing impeachment.


  98. OxyCon Says:

    Everyone knows that the NIE really hurt Cheney's bloodlust to bomb Iran.
    Is it a coincidence that Cheney had heart problems on the very day that Hersh says Bush was made aware of the NIE's findings?


  99. questioneverything Says:

    Just how much of our tax money do these people want? Outrage doesn't begin to cover it. They lie everyday for their own benefit (and that of Saudi Arabia and China). Will the Senate and the House ever realize that these people are traitors?

    If they nuke Iran it will make Iraq look like a church picnic. And for what?

    Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith, Rice and all their cronies are insane and must be stopped now. Biden needs to move up the timetable a bit. If we wait until they do it, it is too late. Please Pelosi and Conyers, you have a job to do.


  100. Merlin Says:

    Comment by John Kerry — December 4, 2007 @ 8:13 pm

    because of George Bush’s leadership, Iran was forced to halt nukes (if this is true!).

    BwaaaHaaaaaHaaaaaHaaaaaa

    You Little Green Footfungus retreads crack me up!


  101. ForTruth Says:

    Cheney's tickkker has problem's when evil loses out to good.


  102. Juan C. Says:

    I’m also a feminist.
    Comment by Zooey

    Count me in, gorgeous! :D


  103. ForTruth Says:

    Comment by questioneverything

    Whaddaya think about the recent nuke-warheads accidentally flying over the states?


  104. OxyCon Says:

    So why are you concerned about this as all it does is show that, because of George Bush’s leadership, Iran was forced to halt nukes (if this is true!).
    Comment by NOT John Kerry

    -------------------------

    Of course, at the same time you're saying that Iran gave up it's nuke program because Bush is so damned smart, you're probably saying that North Korea and Syria were building nuclear weapons together in Syria, which would really blow your sychophantic thinking all to bits, wouldn't it?


  105. Zooey Says:

    Count me in, gorgeous! :D
    Comment by Juan C. — December 4, 2007 @ 8:28 pm

    I can always count on you. ;)


  106. Juan C. Says:

    because of George Bush’s leadership, Iran was forced to halt nukes (if this is true!).
    Comment by John Kerry

    That comment would be more absurd with some flying jets over the sky and some beach boys song in the background noise.


  107. Juan C. Says:

    What is funny is that trolls claim that the Bush leadership (sic) stopped Iran from having nukes, but certainly couldn't stop Saddam from getting and producing WMDs when Iraq was already a ruined country with no airforce and its population starving and Iran has the greatest army (in numbers) in the Middle East?

    You have to be a troll to think like this.


  108. Moderation Says:

    Besides which to say, ForTruth, if the Democrats do begin impeachment proceedings, the country will be watching. As more and more testimony comes before Congress, the (D), (I), and (R) voters will, on a daily basis, flood the phone lines, e-mail servers and post boxes at the local, state AND federal level. If the testimony is damning, the Republicans will HAVE to cave, or watch their political party helplessly as it is swept in to history's dustbin. That is what happened with Nixon. It wasn't until the REPUBLICANS finally caved in to their constituents that Nixon was forced to resign (and would certainly have been impeached).

    The public doesn't have to FULLY back impeachment, for the 24%ers will never give in, methinks. Rather, a significant enough percentage of the public must pressure the REPUBLICANS to finally relent, or face political extinction.


  109. questioneverything Says:

    In answer to "Whaddaya think about the recent nuke-warheads accidentally flying over the states?"

    What accident? There are no accidents, especially at that level of military operations.


  110. Moderation Says:

    Well, that, and getting the gov to allow special council Patrick Fitzgerald actually...you know...pursue such avenues as Archibald Cox did during the Nixon administration.


  111. chimpeach Says:

    #89

    You left nut wackos are losing it! I hate to tell you but (and I know this will shock you!) George Bush is NOT running for President in 2008! Sorry about that. So why are you concerned about this as all it does is show that, because of George Bush’s leadership, Iran was forced to halt nukes (if this is true!).

    Allow me. It's pretty simple. Even you could understand it if you can pay attention long enough. Just forget all the nutty spin you've got there and try to grasp this. Bush IS president right now. With me so far?

    Bush got us stuck in Iraq by lying about weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist. He was told by reliable sources that they didn't exist and still went ahead and invaded Iraq.

    And now he and Cheney have been trying to justify an attack against Iran by talking about World War III and claiming that Iran was building nuclear weapons, even after they were told that Iran's nuclear weapons program was shut down four years ago.

    I know it's not a big deal for chickenhawks to have other people go fight and die in a war that never should have been started in the first place and might never end. But, if you've got a conscience at all, you have to admit, if only to yourself, that Bush and Cheney were trying to get us into a war that would make Iraq look like a skirmish. And that's just plain evil.

    Bush and Cheney are big on the "doctrine of pre-emption". Great idea. Let's have a pre-emptive impeachment. We know that Bush and Cheney are trying to get us into an unjustified war that could destroy our country's ability to defend itself and ruin the economy. Let's stop them before they can do it. It's a matter of national security. Impeach now.


  112. ForTruth Says:

    I imagined the Beach Boys playing Christmas songs, with jets flying overhead. I became all warm and fuzzy, and thought, what the hell, lets give the Freeper a Christmas present.

    Because GWB scared the shit out of Iran with his reckless endangerment. They halted their nuke program.

    Merry Christmas!


  113. ForTruth Says:

    "pre-emptive impeachment"

    Excellent idea.


  114. Keith Says:

    nuke-warheads accidentally flying over the states?”

    From what I have heard, it is not possible for this to accidentally happen. They are too readily identifiable. There are too many precautions. They were knowingly flown. Don't believe anything this government says. If you always believe the opposite, you will be right a lot more often.


  115. Merlin Says:

    Q: What is conservatism?
    A: Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy.

    Q: What is wrong with conservatism? 
A: Conservatism is incompatible with democracy, prosperity, and civilization in general. It is a destructive system of inequality and prejudice that is founded on deception and has no place in the modern world.

    From the article:
    What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?
    Philip E. Agre 
August 2004

    The wheels are really coming off the conservative bus. If it isn't JulieAnnie getting caught red handed playing "cops", its Turd Blossom actually smelling like the cess pool he climbed out of as he tries to rewrite history, or now (the burning) Bush being outed in one of his endless lies. The Republics are "dead candidates walking" and the primaries aren't even here yet.

    What a great political drama is unfolding right before our very eyes! We will look back on these times with both pain and joy.

    To paraphrase:
    "Though the mills of Justice grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small."
    Yes, the Republics time is at hand!


  116. pluege Says:

    In all practicality, impeachment would not get the votes it needed. This is a problem.

    this is utter defeatist drool. There is enough known already of bush's crimes to impeach, convict, remove. If an actual investigation were made they would find that what we now know was just the tip of the iceberg.

    the bush/cheney regime is criminality through and through. If they were ever exposed to the light of day decent people would be shrieking for their heads across the US. Many republicans would hardly be able to hold back.
    .


  117. Zooey Says:

    Keith,

    We've been closely following the Minot Nukes case on TheZoo.


  118. Keith Says:

    Hey Zooey. I should check it out.


  119. pete Says:

    “pre-emptive impeachment”

    Excellent idea.

    Comment by ForTruth — December 4, 2007 @ 8:45 pm

    A "post-emptive" war crimes tribunal would be nice too.


  120. Zooey Says:

    Hi Keith. nwmuse has done a great job following that bizarre happening.


  121. ForTruth Says:

    Maybe this is saving Bushy from himself. If he nuked Iran, that would get him impeached.


  122. Merlin Says:

    #114 Comment by chimpeach — December 4, 2007 @ 8:38 pm

    pre-emptive impeachment

    I second ForTruth. Excellent idea and good thinking.


  123. ForTruth Says:

    Yes and I read the story about he "accidental" nuke flight over the US, at TheZoo, of course. It's a great place to get some news.

    Anyway. I feel Bush/Cheney were trying to hijack those weapons, to use on Iran. Or false flag ops.


  124. Moderation Says:

    ForTruth: I can't see what else diverting such warheads would accomplish. There are plenty of nukes able to precision bomb Iran within striking distance. Only if they wanted to conduct a false flag, or SELL those nukes to an interested party, would they attempt to secretly divert such weapons.


  125. Keith Says:

    Good article at the Zoo by Global Research:

    "There was no way that the six nuclear missiles could have been “mistakenly” loaded, especially when their separate warheads had to be affixed to the missiles by individuals specialized in such a momentous task."

    It says there was a probable tie-in with an attack on Iran.

    First I heard about all the related deaths.


  126. ForTruth Says:

    Apparently 14 signatures are needed, to load a nuclear-warhead tipped missile on a plane.


  127. sacopenapa Says:

    It is no surprise... These WAR CRIMINALS open their mouth to deceive and manipulate... IMPEACH, INDICT AND IMPRISON!


  128. KDJ Says:

    #11 - You saved me some typing. I couldn't put it better myself.


  129. WaltTheMan Says:

    Frankly, Scarlet, I'm confused.


  130. sacopenapa Says:

    USA/ISRAEL=WAR CRIMINALS!


  131. Ditch Mitch KY Says:

    Yesterday 12/3, Hadley said that Bush knew about the NIE Report for "several months," which would be before his 10/17 press conf, where he went into his spin about "Iran and WWIII."

    Today, Bush said that he only learned about the NIE Report last week. Oh, really? Hersh challenges that statement, based on Bush's conversation with Olmert on 11/26, where he discussed the NIE.

    How can anyone believe Bush when he said that Mike McConnell told him about the new NIE report in August, but Bush "didn't ask about it" and "wasn't told anything."

    If this could possibly be true, and Bush didn't know about the NIE when he said on 10/17 that Iran would start WWII, WHY didn't Mike McConnell correct this misstatement? Why didn't he go public about Iran's nonexistent nuclear program so that Bush's bellicose statements could not lead to War? Can anyone believe this scenario?

    No -- of course not. We all know Bush lied in his press conference today. It was a pathetic sight to see Bush -- from the most powerful position in the world -- looking so pathetic. We need to nail Bush on this. Call Congress and the media -- demand action.


  132. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    That Freerepublic link was effing scary. All the posts were by one dude. I’m afraid of that guy.

    Comment by ForTruth — December 4, 2007 @ 8:13 pm

    If one wants to see the face of the Gorgon, read FreeRepublic. I do to see what makes these people tick. It is literally a collection of sociopaths, rednecks, Neo-Cons, War Mongers, Ditto Heads, Religious Fanatics, and just plain dummies. I used to read Bizarro Comics as a kid, but this is much funnier.....Well, let me take that back, if people weren't dying and the USA wasn't in such rough shape, it would be very funny.


  133. questioneverything Says:

    To ThinkP12-4-07 re: Hersh and Iran:

    Maybe if Valerie Wilson hadn't been exposed, the CIA would have had more concrete info on Iran's nuke program sooner. Perhaps that was the reason they outed her and her undercover operation. Perhaps the Congress could look into the connections. Perhaps they could actually ask Bob Novak what in the f*** he was being paid for. Oh, wait, I forget, few of them care to ask the right quesitons. Dots--what dots? Pelosi believes they still have no evidence of impeachable offenses. We all know it's already been proven.


  134. Marie Says:

    This entire series of events is all interconnected. Valerie Plame was covertly investigating weapons proliferation, but her company would have blown holes in Cheney's plan, so she had to go.

    This NIE has been in the pipe for more than a year - while Cheney tried strong arm tactics daily to get them to support his maniacal claims. I think the NIE agencies just decided they would not be made patsies any more.

    To even consider that Bush heard from McConnell about the direction of this report and did not question him further tells us one of two things: either Bush is incredibly more stupid than we thought, or worse, he's not that stupid, but he is a liar, out of control.
    He is either too incompetent to be president, or too corrupt. He has been proven to have lied to the public and the world. He is way past irrelevant now.

    Read Hersh's piece in the New Yorker from last November - he nailed it.


  135. SP Biloxi Says:

    "Hersh: Bush Told Olmert Of NIE Two Days Before President Was Allegedly First Briefed On It"

    He must think the American people are village idiots. Another nail in the clown's legacy.


  136. foobar Says:

    Hersh said:

    "I’m told that Olmert had a private discussion with Bush about it during Annapolis"

    By whom? I cannot take Hersh's word at face value. He is known to fabricate information to bolster his agenda.


  137. Keith Says:

    thanks to the great George Bush taking out your good old pal Saddam,
    Comment by John Kerry — December 5, 2007 @ 12:37 am

    Progressives ALWAYS opposed Saddam. Carter had sanctions against him. Reagan quickly removed the sanctions and began aiding him strongly. Ditto GHWB. Ditto Rumsfeld. It was our CIA which put him in power in the first place. I contributed to Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Red Cross which told of Saddam's atrocities while the cons were supporting him.

    The Arab League said that Saddam had agreed in March 2003 to leave for $1 billion and a guarantee of safety. But neocons didn't want to just "take him out". He wanted to control that part of the world--mainly because of the oil and natural gas.


  138. rockyroad Says:

    Well give Bush a break. If his wizard John Bolton says “never, until this week,” long befor publication of the NIE brief, when his tarot card reader advised him that THIS week, he would be informed that Iran didn’t have a WMD capability, he wouldn’t actually KNOW it until this week, how could Bush possibly have known (amnesia is such a convient contrivance . . ."Yes, I hire advisors, but they only advise me. . . I absolutely will not tolerate the truth").

    Just think back to 9-11, how could Bush possibly have imagined that jets would slam into the World Trade Center towers, he had been briefed, but the reality of the fact really wasn't exactly reality until it was.

    Heck, he had Wolfowitz screaming afterward that the Iraqi's had WMD and were responsible for the bombing (not that Iraq had anything to do with it), Wolfowitz was the expert on WMD, he said bomb, we bombed, he lied and got sent out to pasture at the World Bank (where he continued to wreak havoc). Years later, memories lapse, 4,000 Americans and Lord knows how many tens of thousands of Iraqis dead, Wolfowitz is back in charge of WMD policy with Iran in his cross-hairs, Iran has no WMD, but all is right with the world . . . dub'ya wasn't properly briefed more than a year ago, he's been screamin' WWIII, and hot damn, we've got an election on the horizon.

    And all is right with the world.


  139. Keith Says:

    rockyroad,

    Spring 2001, The Lone Gunmen tv show had someone takeover a commercial airliner by remote control and fly it into the WTC! But Rice and W tell us that noone could have foreseen such a thing.


  140. JPark91 Says:

    "I used to support Israel wholeheartedly…but they lost me when they built that damned wall. "

    Really, annie? Why? The wall is an admission that they can't hold their settlements. Which are against international law and have been for decades. I am glad you realize the Israelis are not exactly on the up and up but I am curious why you think they were before?


  141. darladoon Says:

    oh no, israel disagrees. and they're always right.....


  142. rockyroad Says:

    Keith:
    World Trade Center bombing #1, al Quaed's penchanchant for returniing to the scene of the crime, known Saudi terrorists training to fly airplanes but not to land, FBI agents standing on their heads screaming that Arab terrorists planning to bomb the Trade Centers with airplanes, a National Security Briefing detailing the possibility that Arab terrorists planned to attack American financial institutions and monuments with airplanes . . . who had the imagination to imagine the fact that terrorists planned to attach the World Trade Centers during the first week of September 1991 with airplanes . . . I dunno know. Certainly not Bush, who was busy reading a story about goats to children while on vacation in Crawford, Texas, while that briefing laid "unread" on his desk.


  143. rockyroad Says:

    Poor spelling, I know. I will no longer apologize. My passions run fairly high on the subject.

    Perhaps I was a child left behind. . . . In fact, I believe that dub'ya counts on the ignorance of the masses.

    Anyone who can't add up the inconsistencies in Bush's statements (and for that matter all GOP candidates and a couple of Democratic positions) needs rudimentary math classes. This is a topic about which I am passionate. Fingers fly faster than I can type.

    Worst president ever. He has forever changed our concept of democracy. "We've got the best democracy on the planet . . . an example for all" . . . hell, get over it.


  144. Doc Rock Says:

    O what tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive!


  145. Menehune Says:

    With no consequences for deception, Doc, the web can be as tangled as necessary.


  146. nitish Says:

    is this the same seymour hersh who admits to lying on a regular basis when speaking in public ?

    Then there’s Sy. He’s the public speaker, the pundit. On the podium, Sy is willing to tell a story that’s not quite right, in order to convey a Larger Truth.
    “I can’t fudge what I write. But I can certainly fudge what I say.”
    Hersh insists that he takes great pains to be right when it counts the most—that is, when he writes, not when he talks

    that well known right wing outfit NY Mag came up with a profile titled "Sy Hersh Says It’s Okay to Lie (Just Not in Print)"

    so is sy hersh going for the "larger truth" here ?
    or is he actually telling the truth ?


  147. bernard quatermass Says:

    DreamCrusher ... wait ... stay perfectly still ... what is that stuff coming out of your face??

    OH!

    It's CRAP!

    I guess I should have known.


  148. J Says:

    "Never mind that he’s been claiming Bush was about to bomb Iran for about 4 years straight now."

    Are you now denying that the Bush Administration has wanted to bomb Iran? Really?

    "Who the hell cares if he got the date wrong? What relevance does it have?"

    Christmas will be celebrated on Thur Dec 27 this year. Enjoy.


  149. Diana Moneymaker Says:

    The powers that be must HATE the Internet. Lol. If it wasn't for the Internet then we'd love Bush and think he's the best President in history.

    Thank you Internet :)

    Love,
    Diana Moneymaker



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