Thank you Keith

Olbermann: A Look Backward at the Commander’s Credibility

Any meaningful assessment of the president's next step in Iraq must consider his steps and missteps so far.

So, let's look at the record:

Before Mr. Bush was elected, he said he was no nation-builder; nation-building was wrong for America.

Now, he says it is vital for America.

He said he would never put U.S. troops under foreign control. Today, U.S. troops observe Iraqi restrictions.

He told us about WMDs. Mobile labs. Secret sources. Aluminum tubing. Yellow-cake.

He has told us the war is necessary…Because Saddam was a threat; Because of 9/11; Osama bin Laden; al Qaeda; Because of terrorism in general; To liberate Iraq; To spread freedom; To spread democracy; To keep the oil out of the hands of terrorist-controlled states; Because this was a guy who tried to kill his dad.

In pushing for and prosecuting this war, he passed on chances to get Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Muqtada al-Sadr, Osama bin Laden.

He sent in fewer troops than recommended. He disbanded the Iraqi Army, and "de-Baathified" the government. He short-changed Iraqi training.

He did not plan for widespread looting, nor the explosion of sectarian violence.

He sent in troops without life-saving equipment.

Gave jobs to foreign contractors, not the Iraqis.

Staffed U-S positions there, based on partisanship, not professionalism.

We learned that "America had prevailed", "Mission Accomplished", the resistance was in its "last throes".

He has said more troops were not necessary, and more troops are necessary, and that it's up to the generals, and removed some of the generals who said more troops would be necessary.

He told us of turning points: The fall of Baghdad, the death of Uday and Qusay, the capture of Saddam, a provisional government,the trial of Saddam, a charter, a constitution, an Iraqi government, ¤elections, purple fingers, a new government, the death of Saddam.

We would be greeted as liberators, with flowers.

As they stood up–we would stand down, we would stay the course, we were never 'stay the course',

The enemy was al Qaeda, was foreigners, terrorists, Baathists.

The war would pay for itself, it would cost 1-point-7 billion dollars, 100 billion, 400 billion, half a trillion dollars.

And after all of that, today it is his credibility versus that of generals, diplomats, allies, Republicans, Democrats, the Iraq Study Group, past presidents, voters last November, and the majority of the American people.

Crooks and Liars has the video.

Not much of a post I know - but I just had to Bush that Jabba picture off the top of the page.

- rob 4:43 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Recently we’ve been making allusions to Dune when talking about Iraq, unfortunately too easy to do.

Jabba the Hut is a character that alludes to Dune as well, so in that honor I thought I’d share this with you.



One of those is Raymond Lee the former head of Exxon, and like Jabba has enriched himself with slave labor (1 and 2).

Not sure what if anything Raymond Lee has done to Han Solo.

- rob 5:52 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The Oil Must Flow

Back in July 18, 2003 TCS linked to an interesting discovery from Judicial Watch. In their on going lawsuit about the Cheney Energy Task Force they found:

a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as 2 charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects, and “Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts.”

So in 2001 Cheney and his oil pals were already thinking of the spoils of war.

Makes the huge oil giveaway to Exxon, Shell, and company that is going to the Iraqi parliament in the next view days (see a post below) all the more interesting.



CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE DOCUMENTS FEATURE MAP OF IRAQI OILFIELDS

- rob 5:48 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Wrote this over at The Office of the Independent Blogger, my blog, and just had to share it as I was quite proud of it. It is my response to the news that George Bush had hired Fred Fielding to replace Harriet Miers.

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George W. Bush has fielded teams consisting of players that have been passed by time during each of the last three seasons, spanning the course of the past six years. Therefore, it should be no surprise that Harriet Miers' replacement at third base is Fred Fielding.

A veteran Washington lawyer who has been through the legal battles of Watergate and served both Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan is President George W. Bush's choice to be his White House counsel. Fred Fielding's appointment was likely to be made Tuesday, according to a Bush administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the move has not yet been publicly announced. Fielding will become Bush's top legal counsel just as Democrats, once again the majority party in Congress, plan to take a more critical look at the administration. From the Iraq war to environmental policy and secret surveillance, the Democrats who now control both the House and Senate are armed with subpoena power and ready to summon panels of witnesses.

Fielding, of course, played for Ronald Reagan's Iran-Contras and on the famed Watergate Bombers team of the 1970s. At his current age, he should probably be playing for The Old Folk's Team (managed by Bill Clinton, with Ace starting pitcher George H.W. Bush and featuring the occasional appearance by Jimmy Carter at first base, along with Gerald Ford in the outfield...before he died) or at the Local County Jail (if not his hometown's AAA affiliate) but now, he's going to the show.

Which means, of course, that he'll be playing for the Washington Nationals as managed by George Walker Bush, making a 100-loss season about inevitable. The only way to solve this, I say, is to appoint Donald Rumsfeld Assistant Skipper to Pitching Coach Robert Gates and hope that Condoleeza Rice can play every other position at all times.

--

Seriously, though, Mr. President. There's a little thing called sex, and it sometimes causes a little thing called life, and that life carried to term often brings about little babies, and those babies grow up into adults. Adults wind up becoming senior citizens, but in between, there's a such thing as youth, which often brings vigor and insight. It's nice to sometimes bring in a veteran who'll swing for the fences and teach the kids how to steal (second, not loot the Treasury...), but it's probably for the best if you don't fill your whole team with them.

- ThePoliticalPenguin 2:13 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The Oil Must Flow

Future of Iraq: The spoils of war

Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days.

The US government has been involved in drawing up the law, a draft of which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday. It would give big oil companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalised in 1972.

The huge potential prizes for Western firms will give ammunition to critics who say the Iraq war was fought for oil.

It is called plundering. And America is better than that.

Bush is not.

Who's bright idea was it to put two oil men in charge of the country? - oh right, Katherine Harris.

- rob 5:44 PM - [PermaLink] -

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In's been out of the new lately, but the Jennings vs. Florida "Elections" folks story continues.

TPM Muckraker has got the goods: FL-13: Dem Sends Shot across The Bow

If there was any doubts as to whether Democrats would take a hands-on approach to the election dispute in Florida's 13th District, Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA) resolved them late last week.

Millender-McDonald, the Chairwoman of the committee in charge of handling Democrat Christine Jennings' challenge of the election results, sent a pointed letter last Thursday to the Florida appeals court hearing the case, warning that if the courts did not adequately investigate the case, then Congress would be forced to get involved.

- rob 5:43 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The Truth Will Set You Free

Exxon will spend millions to prevent that from happening.

Group: ExxonMobil paid to mislead public

WASHINGTON - ExxonMobil Corp. gave $16 million to 43 ideological groups between 1998 and 2005 in a coordinated effort to mislead the public by discrediting the science behind global warming, the Union of Concerned Scientists asserted Wednesday.

The end of oil as the world's primary source is coming to end even sooner then the end of world supply (which is looming).

But instead of dealing with the reality and mounting a huge investment in making sure they are at the forefront of supplying new energy sources they want to spend their money kicking and screaming at the facts. They will hold their breath until they turn blue if you don't ride around the block a few more times in you SUV.

They are hurting the world, and they are hurting their investors. But hey their CEO made $400 million, so its all good.

- rob 5:37 PM - [PermaLink] -

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