Cheney Admits No Iraq-Al Qaeda Link, Sorta

Dick Cheney has been a busy talker these past few weeks, and to continue the trend, he had no short supply of comments yesterday. Apart from the pro-gay marriage statement, there was also a mention of the supposed link between Iraq and al-Qaeda. Back before the war the Bush Administration and Cheney specifically made heavy use of a purported connection between Hussein and the terrorists that attacked us as a rationale to go to war with Iraq. Several years later, he has finally begun to acquiesce on that point, just a little bit.

From Bloomberg:

June 1 (Bloomberg) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney disavowed intelligence he once cited to suggest that then-Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein collaborated with al-Qaeda to stage the Sept. 11 attacks.

Cheney said today that information by the Central Intelligence Agency of collaboration between Iraq and al-Qaeda on Sept. 11 “turned out not to be true.” Still, Cheney said a longstanding relationship existed between Hussein and terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, that justified the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“I thought it was strong at the time and I still feel so today,” Cheney said at a National Press Club lunch in Washington. “There was a relationship between al-Qaeda and Iraq that stretched back 10 years. That’s not something I made up.” Citing 2002 Senate testimony by George Tenet, then the CIA director, he said, “We know for a fact that Saddam Hussein was a state sponsor of terrorism."

We also know for a fact, that Dick was using false intelligence to make claims that were simply not true. We knew it then, he knew it then, but only now is he beginning to admit that there was no smoking gun, even if he still tries to push that there was a valid reason to invade and occupy Iraq.

Honoring The Fallen In Iraq By Acknowledging Them

For the entirety of the war in Iraq, George Bush banned cameras from Dover Air Force Base when our dead soldiers came home. To him, it was better that we not think about the consequences of his action and go on with our lives as if the war was something that happened "over there," not here at home. Now with a new President, we as a nation can finally start to honor those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Obama To Reduce U.S. Presence In Iraq 10% By September

Talking about reducing the amount of our troops in Iraq is one thing, but actually doing it is democracy in action. America selected Barack Obama to be President for many reasons, but this is certainly one of the bigger issues. Hopefully we'll see the rest of them out of there as soon as humanly possible.

Neo-Con Fred Kagen Shows Us How To Win The Hearts And Minds Of Iraqis

Now that George Bush has gone to Texas, the neo-cons left in his stead or trying to remain relevant in the political discourse. It's hard when the majority of America rejects them for the eight years of destruction that they brought upon us, but try, try, try they might. Take for example, Mr. Fred Kagen of the American Enterprise Institute, who had something rather brilliant to add to the discussion about Iraq.

From ThinkProgress:

At an AEI panel Wednesday, Kagan drastically overplayed Iraqis’ tolerance for “collateral damage” resulting from U.S. military incursions. Comparing Afghanistan and Iraq, Kagan said that a notable difference between the two wars is that Iraqi civilians “were not bitching” when civilians were killed:

KAGAN: The interesting thing is that when we were fighting those battles and doing that damage, on the whole the Iraqis were not bitching about collateral damage. You had nothing like the degree of upset about how many civilians were being injured and how much damage was being done to the infrastructure in Iraq at a much higher level of destruction than you have in Afghanistan at a much lower level of destruction.

Kagan then attributed the differences between Iraqis’ so-called tolerance for civilian deaths — and Afghan’s intolerance — to “cultural reasons”:

KAGAN: I think there’s a cultural reason for that: Afghans don’t fight in their cities. Iraqis do. For good or ill, Iraqis expect to fight in their cities. That’s where the insurgents dug in, Saddam Hussein planned to dig in to the cities or lure us into an urban fight. It’s sort of understood that the battlefield is going to be there, that doesn’t mean that they don’t complain about it, that doesn’t mean that it’s not a problem, but it does mean that when the insurgents dig in and we root them out, the Iraqis don’t on the whole say “darn it, you shouldn’t have blown up all of our houses.” They sort of accept that. Afghans do not.

It is thinking like this that has gotten nearly 5,000 of our troops killed, gunned down or bombed by thousands of insurgents created by the massacres we inflict on their civilian population. Kagen is an idiot, pure and simple. If the Republicans follow this type of heartless and nonsensical rationalizations, they beatings they took in 06' and 08' are just the beginning of their permanent minority status.

Barney Frank Reminds Republicans Where The Wasteful Spending Is...In Iraq

The GOP has miraculously overnight become the party of fiscal conservatism yet again, claiming that Obama's stimulus package is too expensive. Creating tax cuts for the wealthy is a much higher priority than creating a job in the minority party's eyes. However, Congressman Frank reminds them where all the money really went.

Tenet Blames The Jews For His Problems

George Tenet, winner of the Medal of Freedom, is reported to have said some not-so-nice things about the members of Bush's inner circle who happen to be Jewish. Yes, Jewish. He had been designated as one of the scapegoats for faulty intelligence that gave Bush the impetus to go in and invade Iraq. Well according to some inside sources, Tenet made his displeasure loud and clear. Well, it might have been a little bit on the slurry side.

From The Atlantic:

A servant appeared with a bottle. Tenet knocked back some of the scotch. Then some more. They watched with concern. He drained half the bottle in a few minutes.

"They're setting me up. The bastards are setting me up," Tenet said, but "I am not going to take the hit."[...]

"According to one witness, he mocked the neoconservatives in the Bush administration and their alignment with the right wing of Israel's political establishment, referring to them with exasperation as, "the Jews."

Stay classy Mr. Tenet, and watch out for that dastardly Scotch!

Bush: Anything Bad Wasn't My Fault!

Candy Crowley takes on this latest legacy interview with President Bush and surprise, surprise, the blame (according to him) doesn't fall anywhere near the White House. Make sure you hear the last line of this clip, Bush lays out another drinking analogy to the economic crisis!

The Shoes Heard Round' The World

Just in case you haven't seen the video of Bush barely ducking a pair of shoes being thrown at him, here it is:



Oh and now the guy is being called a hero all across the Middle East.

Senate Determines Rumsfeld Guilty Of War Crimes

The Senate Armed Forces Cmte. concluded an investigation this week that Donald Rumsfeld is indeed a war criminal. The report did not say it in such language, but if the evidence shows that you directed soldiers to torture prisoners of war, then you are by default, a war criminal. Of course many people that have studied Rumsfeld's actions while he was Defense Secretary. The difference now is that the Senate has no excuse not to act.

From RawStory:

A Senate Armed Services report issued Thursday asserted that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other members of the Bush administration "conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees."

According to the committee, prisoners were tortured in the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib, the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other US military installations. Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (R-AZ) were responsible for the content of the Senate's findings.

The report determined that placing the blame on "a few bad apples," as Bush administration officials attempted to do in the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib scandal, is inappropriate.

Well I am glad that the Senators realize the "bad apple" theory was as rotten as the name suggests. The tree of the Pentagon was the real problem and Rumsfeld was one of the principles in charge of it. And I am almost sure that Cheney and Bush had a heavy hand in it as well. With the facts out there, there should be no delay to getting a trial started that will prosecute Donald Rumsfeld and his cabal to the fullest extent of the law.

Why is it though that I don't think holding my breath on this outcome is a good idea?

Bush Sheds Crocodile Tears Over Disasters He Helped Create

With less than fifty days to go, George Bush decided on trying to rebuild his shattered image. See, he thinks that history will remember him far differently than how we know him now. Bush believes a bit of faux humility and "compassion" for the plight of the nation will warm a few hearts. The problem is he is completely full of shit.

From RawStory:

He apologized for the economic crisis, saying, "I'm sorry it's happening, of course... Obviously I don't like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401(k)s. On the other hand, the American people got to know that we will safeguard the system. I mean, we're in. And if we need to be in more, we will."

Of course, he was presented with information long ago that the mortgage crisis was going to explode across the economic spectrum. Yet times were good for his financial market buddies, so Bush let the "good times" continue until the fiscal bombs went off. And speaking of bombs, he tried to escape the blame on Iraq as well.

"I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess," Bush tells ABC's Charlie Gibson in an interview to be broadcast tonight, and said he didn't know if he'd have gone to war if he didn't think there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

"That is a do-over that I can't do," Bush said.

He said incorrect intelligence about Saddam Hussein's arsenal was the "biggest regret of all the presidency."[...]

"A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein," Bush said. "It wasn't just people in my administration. A lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington, D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence."

"I listened to a lot of voices, but ultimately, I listened to this voice: I'm not going to let your son die in vain," he said. "I believe we can win. I'm going to do what it takes to win in Iraq."

If Bush had listened to voices that weren't inside his bubble, then maybe he would have done differently. Though there was a reason the bubble was in place, specifically because he only wanted to hear what sounded good to get his war on. Bush can claim to "feel bad" about how America has rapidly regressed over the eight years of his tenure, but when push comes to shove, all he cares about is himself and a select few that helped him get to his position of power.

What The Army Doesn't Want You To Know

Change and transparency have been promised to be delivered by Barack Obama when he takes office two months from today, but that is a long time a way when it comes to cover-ups and the low level of trust Americans should have in their nation's military. The scandal surrounding the death of Pat Tillman was a sad story, but unfortunately this "friendly-fire" occurrence was not an isolated incident. In fact, it was one of the better ones because at least his mother could piece the details together, unlike what the army is doing with the similar tragedies that befell other troops.

From RawStory:

In late 2006, two American soldiers from Fort Carson died in Iraq. The army said the privates were killed by enemy action. But in October of this year, Salon revealed that the two men had in fact been killed by friendly tank fire.

Now, Salon has found that the documents related to the men's deaths were shredded just hours after the story was published.

"Three soldiers at Fort Carson, Colo. -- including two who were present in Ramadi during the friendly fire incident, one of them just feet from where Nelson and Suarez died -- were ordered to shred two boxes full of documents about [Albert] Nelson and [Roger] Suarez," reporter Mark Benjamin writes. "One of the soldiers preserved some of the documents as proof that the shredding occurred and provided them to Salon. All three soldiers, with the assistance of a U.S. senator's office, have since been relocated for their safety."

The night the Salon story ran, Oct. 14, 2008, a staff sergeant told three soldiers to shred two boxes of documents relating to the privates' deaths.

That is exactly the type of accountability (or lack there of) that needs to be quashed. If someone screws up, they must face the consequences of their actions. If it was a mistake by another soldier, then it should be dealt with out in the open, not hidden, not lied about and not leading to a situation that desecrates those that die from friendly fire. The families of our brave men and women need to be told the truth, even if it embarrasses the Pentagon.

The New York Times I Dream To Read

A group called the "Yes Men" helped to pull off a stunt this morning that gave thousands upon thousands of a fake New York Times Frontpage that shows how how much we can accomplish under Obama in less than a year. I especially love the "maximum wage" idea. Bravo!



See more of it here!

Army Touts Obama Presidency For Recruiting

The army always needs to meet recruiting goals to keep the army strong, but lately they've had a lot of trouble filling the ranks. Thanks to Bush and his illegal war, the army has driven young men and women away from signing up and the fear of going into Iran troubles the parents of children a few years away from turning eighteen. So now with Barack Obama coming into the White House, at least one recruiter is running away from Bush and embracing the anti-Iraq war Barack Obama.

From ThinkProgress:

Within 24 hours of Barack Obama’s election, an Army career counselor sent out a recruiting e-mail promising that the new president would “get us out of Iraq,” reports VetVoice’s Brandon Friedman. “What are you waiting for?” the e-mail asks, arguing the election of Obama makes now the perfect time to join up:

Though it’s not clear whether this recruiter is acting alone, it signals that President Obama might be used as a new, forceful recruiting tool. “If so, this would symbolize a stunning — if not totally rational — renunciation of the Bush administration and its handling of the military,” Friedman writes. “If this becomes an Army policy, it represents a true ‘ding-dong the witch is dead’ moment for the service.”

There are plenty of advantages in joining the army in terms of money for college and learning valuable skills and trades. The problem over the last several years is that the plague of the Iraq war has negated those pluses. Time will tell if we get out of Iraq and if recruiting increases, but this definitely has the potential to beef up the ranks.

Joe Biden Sent His Son Off To War Today

Last night's debate must have been tough for Senator Biden to prepare for but nothing comes close to what he had to do today. Like too many other worried parents, Joe Biden saw his son Beau off to Iraq, along with his National Guard unit.

Obama To McCain: "You Were Wrong" On Iraq

This was one of my favorite scenes from tonight. Obama consistently called McCain out on his lies (though didn't use that word once) and pointed out the facts of John McCain's record, like he did here about the war in Iraq.

In Iraq, Mercenaries Outnumber Troops

We are well into our sixth year of war in Iraq and the costs of the occupation continue to increase. While the "surged" troop level has roughly stayed the same since last year, costs are rising and now we know what that is attributable to. Trust me, it isn't for any type of large bonus for our soldiers.

From TPM:

Today private military contractors supporting the U.S. occupation in Iraq far outnumber U.S. troops inside the country.

All together, these non-uniformed workers have cost nearly $100 billion, accounting for roughly 20 percent of the total U.S. budget for the five-year war.

That's according to the most comprehensive study to date (.pdf) of private contractors in Iraq, released today by the Congressional Budget Office.

The CBO estimates that more than 190,000 contractors were working on U.S.-funded contracts in the Iraq theater as of early 2008. This is somewhat higher than past estimates and far outnumbers the roughly 150,000 U.S. troops inside the country.

Now many of these contractors are from the region, but the companies that employ them are largely U.S. based. Using employees from local countries or from Africa is much cheaper for these corporations, such as Halliburton, KBR or Blackwater USA. The biggest problem with this set up of course is the accountability factor. Under the Republican Congress, no one looked at what was going on. Now that the Dems are in charge, they come up with the numbers, facts and figures, but as for doing anything about it.....well, the only thing we've seen are stern statements and terse letters, nothing that would include actual justice.

Iraqis Look To Chinese For Oil Deal

So much for that "liberator" loyalty from the Iraqis to the United States, the oil minister reported that serious discussions for a $1.2 billion dollar deal with China is in the works to develop Ahdab oil field. Western oil companies have been salivating over the oil in Iraq and expected to get all of it, but that hasn't been the case, much to chagrin of those that donated so much to Bush for that desired outcome.

From RawStory:

The announcement came after a meeting between Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani and China's ambassador to Baghdad.

No further details were released, but if the deal is signed it will be the first Saddam Hussein-era oil deal to be honored by the new Iraqi regime.

In 1997, Saddam's government signed an agreement with the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp., despite United Nations sanctions that barred direct dealings with Iraq's oil industry.

That is perhaps the most significant aspect of this story, that a Saddam-signed contract is being honored. Now that he has been gone for over five years, foreign companies are starting to clamor for their oil. With demand rising exponentially (as in China) sources of oil, especially those that are easy to extract are sought out with greater intensity. Just like any other rich developed nation, China is going to do whatever it takes to get raw materials and is not afraid to make themselves look bad in order to do it, as we've seen many times already and especially in Darfur.

Talking About Iraqi Infrastructure, Hayes Is Clueless

During this exchange on CNN, Cafferty points out many different facts about the status of Iraq infrastructure. Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard seems to paint a picture that the infrastructure was "deplorable" before we invaded, despite the truth of the matter. Perhaps he's only concerned with the state of the oil rigs, since that is all Iraq is worth to people like Hayes.

Forget 100 Years Or Even 16 Months, We Can Get Out Of Iraq In A Year

Dr. Lawrence Korb knows his stuff when it comes to our nation's military. Thankfully he decided to go to work for the Center for American Progress and not become another parrot for the Bush Administration. He has a plan that can get us out of Iraq in a year's time and while that may not be much less than sixteen months, it is still four less months where our soldiers run the risk of dying in a country they have no business being in.

Fox News Falls For A Finger Lickin' Hoax

Fox News, in their desperate attempt to show any sign of good news coming from Iraq, fell for a hoax of fried chicken proportions. Apparently there is a sign above a storefront in the war-torn city of Fallujah that has a picture of the Colonel next to the letters "KFC." So the *cough* journalists *cough* at Fox News decided to put it on the air, even getting a comment from General Tommy Franks. Yet, something about it just didn't add up and Talking Points Memo did the math.

From TPM:

Last Thursday, Fox News ran a brief segment on a KFC restaurant opening in Fallujah before segueing into an interview with former CENTCOM Commander Tommy Franks, who was asked to comment on the presence of an American fast food restaurant in the notoriously violent Iraqi city. "Do they have a drive-thru window?" Steve Doocy asks. "They get in and get out. And, so far, they do it safely," answers Brian Kilmeade.

Now, call us cynical, but something about that segment seemed off -- oddly upbeat even. On Friday I put in a call to KFC headquarters to ask if the Fallujah chicken joint is the real deal. KFC told me they were looking into the matter. Today, Yum! Restaurants International spokesman Christophe Lecureuil wrote me back:

I understand you wanted some details about the store in Falluja that looks like a KFC. This store is not approved by KFC International and we have working with the US Military to warn the troops of this situation.

Details are still hard to come by. Lecureuil said that the company doesn't have more information at this stage because "we've just started investigating the matter." Asked how KFC was working with the military, Lecureuil wrote only that: "Concerning the military, we have a long-standing and excellent relationship with them as we have quite a few KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut stores in military bases outside the US."

You'd think that those highly paid, qualified and journalism-degree-holding people at Fox News would check on the facts of the story by calling KFC's parent company before airing this (like TPM did). I guess "fair and balanced" doesn't exactly cover "getting the story straight" at Fox News, of course that isn't anything new over there when you have a running theme of glossing over the news coming out of Iraq for the last five or six years.