The Blue State

The Great Iraq Swindle

You have to check out this article in Rolling Stone: The Great Iraq Swindle  .

As if you needed more reason to oppose this fiasco, this article follows the theme of Robert Greenwald's great documentary, "Iraq for Sale."

If this does not generate anger, you have lost the emotion of outrage.

Dick in Charge?-- The Dangers of the Exodus

The latest to leave ahead of the posse (Gonzo) is just the most recent Bush confidante to flee. While it is gratifying to see the corrupt, incompetent and evil lose their grip on power, the departures of Rove, Gonzo, Harriet Myers, and the rest of Bush's inner circle is ominous on another front.

We all know that Bush is an intellectual lightweight and must rely upon his advisers to think him through any decision. With this latest resignation, the battle for Bush's ear is essentially left to only 2 trusted sources - Cheney and Condi Rice. The more that Cheney influences policy, the worse things will get. Rumors abound that he is agitating to bomb Iran. Allegedly, Rice is opposed. Without his other confidantes, does Bush have the ability to countermand Cheney? Will he listen to the (apparently) more moderate Rice or will he go all the way over to the dark side? Stay Tuned.

Editorial: Too much loyalty can sometimes bite you

Earlier this morning, Tony noted on Alberto Gonzales' sudden resignation.  I was away when the news broke.  Nonetheless, I wrote down a few brainstormed bullet points:

• I remember thinking yesterday there was a strong chance of him resigning after news broke on Saturday night that Michael Chertoff would be the leading candidate to replace Gonzales "if he resigned."  When those kinds of strategy hypotheticals get leaked, it means that someone inside the Administration was making contingency plans because something was about to happen.  That was probably when President Bush learned of the news himself.
• President Bush is really on his own.  He has Cheney and Rice butting heads with one another over Iran, so there certainly is not a steady foreign policy message coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  It is likely that any future Iraq strategy will be developed based on what the Administration wants to do about Iran.  To this day, there is no consensus.
• Lastly, and most important, it took George W. Bush six years to learn that in Washington there is no such thing as loyalty.  He gave Gonzales his 100% support, even during the Justice Department scandal, and then the Attorney General suddenly cut and ran on him.  When you blindly let people run all over you, they use you and then leave you hanging.  Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales, two of President Bush's few close friends over the years, could not muster up the respect to dig their heels in and stand by his side for one more year.  So much for loyalty.

The CIA's difference between 'classified' and 'secret' information

Joseph Weisberg used to work for the CIA.  Like many Americans, Weisberg does not always buy it when Congress, the judiciary or an independent body are denied permission to publish information because some of it is 'classified'.  What he explains is that there is a difference between 'classified' and 'secret' information.  Almost anything the CIA does can be listed as 'classified':

It’s simple. Classified information is not the same thing as secret information.

WhenI worked in the C.I.A.’s directorate of operations (now called thenational clandestine service) in the early ’90s, we were told thatinformation was classified when it involved sources or methods. Itseemed logical that sources were classified. These were actual agentswho would be put in jeopardy if their identities were revealed.

Butpractically everything the C.I.A. does could be considered a “method,”so the C.I.A. can decide that almost anything relating to its work isclassified. You’d probably want this latitude if you were running anintelligence agency. But one of its unfortunate byproducts is that noone, inside or outside the intelligence community, really knows whatclassified information is.

Had never heard that before.  Very interesting.

Christmas in August: Alberto Gonzales Resigns

Well another Bushee has left the building! I'd like to think I helped by signing a few of the many of petitions out there calling for Gonzales's resignation. "I can't recall" exactly how many I did sign, but as they popped up, I signed.

'Embattled Attorney General Resigns'

WACO, Tex., Aug. 27 — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales,whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjurybefore Congress, announced his resignation in Washington today,declaring that he had “lived the American dream” by being able to leadthe Justice Department

Mr. Gonzales, who had rebuffed calls for his resignation for months,submitted it to President Bush by telephone on Friday, a senioradministration official said. There had been rumblings over the weekendthat Mr. Gonzales’s departure was imminent, although the White Housesought to quell the rumors. Readon...

Robert Greenwald's Brave New Filmswas a major player in getting the word out.

'The President Won't Fire Him -- But You Can'

'New Impeach Gonzales Video. Part 2: The Crimes'

'True Majority Action' was also another big player in getting the word out.

I am sure this will be an interesting week of news. I suppose we'll have FNC(Fox) telling us "come on, the guy wanted to spend time with hisfamily", then go into a few rants about some of the fallen Democrats.

Have a Good day All!

Pentagon official accused of corruption, drunkenness and harassment

This falls under the category of "why was this guy hired in the first place?"  Paul Brinkley, who heads the US effort to grow business in Iraq, is being suspected of mismanaging US tax dollars:

A Bush political appointee and former Silicon Valley executive who hasfaced opposition in his bid to bail out Iraq's struggling factories isunder investigation by the Defense Department on mismanagementallegations.

Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Paul A. Brinkley, who heads aneconomic task force in Baghdad, is accused of mismanaging governmentmoney and engaging in public drunkenness and sexual harassment, aDefense Department spokesman said last week.

The allegations stem from a 12-page memo filed this month by twoformer members of the task force. The charges are being investigated bythe Defense Department's Office of the Inspector General.

The allegations were submitted by two former staffers that filed a 12-page memo.  In addition to his alleged corrupt ways, Brinkley was bad at his job anyway:

But critics note thatdespite Brinkley's effort and millions of dollars spent on the formerstate-owned factories, only nine out of about 200 have been restarted,creating about 4,000 jobs - fewer than the 11,000 Brinkley's task forceprojected in December.

Mike Brown, Dick Stickler and now Paul Brinkley -- what a waste!

Blue Radar

As I post each morning, here are some of the political stories thatmight not be worthy of their own posts, but are nonetheless newsworthy:

• Burglars broke into Senator Chris Dodd's (D-CT) office on Saturday, "taking undisclosed items and leaving evidence at the scene," according to the AP.  (I will keep a close eye on this story!)
• Barack Obama, Sam Brownback and Ron Paul are unveiling the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.  According to the Washington Post, the measure would create an "online search engine that allows citizens to look up any company,organization or other entity receiving federal contracts, grants andearmarks."  (Full disclosure.  Not so bad in these corrupt times!)
• The Iraqi government reached an agreement late on Sunday to release thousands of Iraqi prisoners and reform a law barring Baath Party members from joining the government.
• Nouri al-Maliki criticized Democratic lawmakers for pointing out the lack of progress in Iraq on the political front.  "There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one oftheir villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin," Maliki said.  (Maybe because we have spent $500 billion on an investment that has backfired in our face.)
• The new National Geographic program "Road to War" revisits the politicking and planning in the run-up to the Iraq war.  The program will be shown on Sunday, September 2nd.
• On Fox News Sunday, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell predicted that President Bush will call for a new direction in Iraq: "But I think it’s entirely possible that the president will lay out astrategy that takes us into a different place, which hopefully, at theend of the day, ends up with some American troops forward deployed inthe Middle East at the end of this draw down that many of us areanticipating over a period of time."  (Don't bet on it!)
• First Lady Laura Bush, who is undergoing physical therapy for a pinched nerve, will not join President Bush on his trip to Australia in early September.
• When asked whether he would oppose President Bush's surge strategy after Petraeus testifies on September 11th, Warner replied, "It’s an option we all have to consider."  Warner added that "the Maliki government has failed."
• Barack Obama rallied younger voters in Lexington, Kentucky on Sunday.  More than 1,800 showed up at the campaign event.  "You didn't come out here today because you are against something -everyone is against something; everyone has something to be cynicalabout," Obama said. "Just like citizens in other parts of this nation,you are here because you want to be for something."

If we left something out, it's because we either wrote about ityesterday or are scheduled to do so in an individual post later today. Otherwise, feel free to add any stories in the commentbox.

Blue Nightowl Clips

As we post in the middle of each night, here are some of the political clips making their rounds on the blogs at this hour:

1. CNN anchor: Ron Paul doesn't have a chance.  (Well that was very nice)
2. Ted Nugent wants to run for office.
3. Mark Foley might not be charged after all.

More clips on Monday.

Senator Warner: "We Have a Problem, and We Better Solve it" (What a genius)

Today on MTP (Meet The Press),one of Tim Russert's guests was Senator John Warner (R-VA). Warner who recently calledfor a limited troop withdrawal from Iraq,   "I say to thepresident respectfully, 'Pick whatever number you wish.' . . . Say, 5,000 couldbegin to redeploy and be home to their families and loved ones no later thanChristmas of this year. That's the first step."

To me, that sounds like a political move...5000 out of 160,000 which are deployedin Iraq.

He has recommended Bush announce the beginning of a U.S. withdrawal inmid-September, after a report is released from the top U.S. officials in Iraq,and that those troops should be back in the United States by Christmas.

"In my humble judgment, that would get everyone's attention -- theattention that is not being paid at this time," Warner said.

He added: "I really, firmly believe the Iraqi government, under theleadership of Prime Minister [Nuri] al-Maliki, let our troops down."

Maybe it's me, but when I watched Warner's interview this morning, it soundedlike he was agreeing with everyone's point of view, opinion and plan, and notplaying hardball (like a kid in a candy store that wants to have one of each)

What put the icing on the cake for me, making it sound like a political movewas when Russert questioned Warner on what the answer was:

Russert: "What's the answer"

Warner: "The answer is clear, we have a problem and we need to solveit"

After almost 10 minutes of complimenting everyone on the job/s they aredoing, he comes up with "we have a problem"? I think it's time for himto move to Florida.

I could be missing the boat here, but watch and weigh in with your opinion.

 

Senator Warner (R-VA) on MTP

Sectarian death toll double since surge began

You can bet that the September White House report on Iraq will not contain this:

•Iraq is suffering about double the number of war-related deathsnationwide compared with last year — an average daily toll of 33 in2006, and 62 so far this year.

•Nearly 1,000 more people havebeen killed in violence across Iraq in the first eight months of thisyear than in all of 2006. So far this year, about 14,800 people havedied in war-related attacks and sectarian murders. The AP accounted for13,811 deaths in 2006.

•Baghdad has gone from representing 76percent of all civilian and police war-related deaths in Iraq inJanuary to 52 percent in July, bringing it back to the same spot it wasroughly a year ago.

InJuly, the AP figures show, 35 percent of all war-related killingsoccurred in northern provinces. The figure one year ago was 22 percent.

Or you can just continue believing the little fairytale.