Month: September 2006

Like Shooting Fish In Barrel

by tristero

The Bush administration is lying so often and so poorly these days they’re not even bothering to make it even slightly tricky to catch ’em. One recent whopper couldn’t withstand more than a few hours before it fell:

A memo received by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shortly after becoming National Security Advisor in 2001 directly contradicts statements she made to reporters yesterday, RAW STORY has learned.

“We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al Qaeda,” Rice told a reporter for the New York Post on Monday. “Big pieces were missing,” Rice added, “like an approach to Pakistan that might work, because without Pakistan you weren’t going to get Afghanistan.”

Rice made the comments in response to claims made Sunday by former President Bill Clinton, who argued that his administration had done more than the current one to address the al Qaeda problem before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. She stopped short of calling the former president a liar.

However, RAW STORY has found that just five days after President George W. Bush was sworn into office, a memo from counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke to Rice included the 2000 document, “Strategy for Eliminating the Threat from the Jihadist Networks of al-Qida: Status and Prospects.” This document devotes over 2 of its 13 pages of material to specifically addressing strategies for securing Pakistan’s cooperation in airstrikes against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Pakistan obstacle

The strategy document includes “three levers” that the United States had started applying to Pakistan as far back as 1990. Sanctions, political and economic methods of persuasion are all offered as having been somewhat successful.

Other portions of the passages relating to Pakistan – marked as “operational details” – have been redacted from the declassified memo at the CIA’s request.

The document also explores broader strategic approaches, such as a “need to keep in mind that Pakistan has been most willing to cooperate with us on terrorism when its role is invisible or at least plausibly deniable to the powerful Islamist right wing.”

But Clarke also made it clear that the Clinton Administration recognized the problem that Pakistan posed in mounting a more sweeping campaign against bin Laden: “Overt action against bin Laden, who is a hero especially in the Pushtun-ethnic border areas near Afghanistan,” Clarke speculated in late 2000, “would be so unpopular as to threaten Musharraf’s government.” The plan notes that, after the attack on the USS Cole, Pakistan had forbidden the United States from again violating its airspace to attack bin Laden in Afghanistan.

The memo sent by Clarke to Rice, to which the Clinton-era document was attached, also urges action on Pakistan relating to al Qaeda. “First [to be addressed,]” wrote Clarke in a list of pending issues relating to al Qaeda, is “what the administration says to the Taliban and Pakistan about ending al Qida sanctuary in Afghanistan. We are separately proposing early, strong messages on both.”

A disputed history

The documents have been a source of controversy before. Rice contended in a March 22, 2004 Washington Post piece that “no al Qaeda plan was turned over to the new administration.”

Two days later, Clarke insisted to the 9/11 Commission that the plan had in fact been turned over. “There’s a lot of debate about whether it’s a plan or a strategy or a series of options, but all of the things we recommended back in January,” he told the commission, “were done after September 11th.”

The memo was declassified on April 7, 2004, one day before Rice herself testified before the 9/11 Commission.

Truly pathetic, Dr. Rice.

Y’know, sooner or later the press will have to consider whether it is in the country’s interest to disseminate any info asserted by the administration that hasn’t been indepedently verified for factual accuracy.

April National Intelligence Estimate

by tristero

I’ve read the parts of the National Intelligence Estimate cherry-picked by Bush for release. They say exactly what the news reports said they say and they demonstrate that Bush is is full of it:

Excerpts from the report, released late this afternoon, show that intelligence agencies found that “the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success there would inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere.”

“The Iraq conflict has become the ‘cause célèbre’ for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement,” the excerpts said. “Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight.”

Torture And National Security Are Entirely Different Subjects

by tristero

Yesterday, in making the case that the only strong argument against torture is that nearly every value system, religious or otherwise, condemns it, I criticized Matthew Yglesias for trying to argue against torture by pointing to its inutility. Despite some very intelligent objections to my postion in comments, I still hold to this view: Torture does not become acceptable if it can be shown to be useful in some real world circumstances. Torture simply is immoral. Period.

I’m happy to say that Matt, too, has come to the same conclusion. In his post on American Prospect Online, Rogue State, Matt relies on the moral argument in making his case against torture (the utility arguments he make – that torture lowers our already low world standing – depends upon the centrality of the moral argument).

However, in reading over Matt’s post I realized that there is another, very different issue – national security concerns – that has become deliberately mixed up with torture by the rightwing in their bizarre effort to turn America into a torture capital. While banning torture under all circumstances is an extremely simple-to-grasp moral imperative, a serious discussion about what improves or undermines national security and law enforcement is not. Mixing the two, as the right does, creates an opportunity for them to advance an obscene moral relativism, to base the morality of torture solely on its potential utility for national security.

But these are entirely separate issues that occupy entirely different epistemological domains! Torture is a moral issue and we understand how and why torture is unacceptable by studying the moral codes most human beings live by. On the other hand, discussions of national security focus on tactical and pragmatic concerns, not primarily moral ones. We understand how to improve national security and why certain techniques succeed and fail by examining the empirical evidence, not by passing moral judgment.

Within that latter discussion – how to make us safer – Matt rightly argues you’d have to be a fool to countenance torture, let alone advocate it. Why? Because not only national security but ordinary law enforcement has been shown to dangerously deteriorate if torture is used, an assertion Matt backs up with a relevant link.

I realize that many of you will read the above and think I’m just being political. As if I’m merely trying to say that I realize I foolishly attacked an ally in the fight against Bushism but without directly apologizing. Furthermore, I suspect that some of you will think that my distinction of when the inutility of torture is appropriate is just an academic distinction. Not so.

If I felt I owed Matt an apology earlier, I would apologize, but I see no reason to apologize for a criticism that I believe was quite fair, sincerely made to sharpen both his and my ability to oppose the rightwing, and delivered without resort to ad hominem (which I’ve used in discussing Matt in the past and which use does deserve an apology from me. Sorry!). More to the point, I think the distinction I’m drawing is far from an academic one but a fundamental one. I believe Matt also understands it simply must be drawn in order to have a coherent discourse on either issue. It is a distinction – the moral and the pragmatic – that the incompetent, cognitively challenged pro-torture gang has deliberately blurred and the only way to fight back is to start by clearing up the confusion. In other words, and briefly:

Torture is wrong AND it makes security worse. That’s a helluva lot different than saying torture is wrong BECAUSE it makes security worse.

The latter is the playing field the rightwing wants us to accept as the only valid one. But it’s a false one as it confuses a moral and pragmatic issue to generate the appearance of moral relativism vis a vis torture where there simply is none at all.

Hope that’s clear…

Mou oshimai da

by digby

Republican leaders said Monday that they had reached a tentative agreement to garner political support for legislation on domestic surveillance, in part by sidestepping the question of whether the president has the constitutional authority to order wiretapping without a court order.

There was wide disagreement about the plan’s impact. Supporters billed the most recent version as a way of requiring a court order for most domestic wiretaps. But civil rights advocates and even some administration officials suggested that it would maintain the status quo in allowing the continuation of wiretapping without warrants under a program approved by President Bush.

Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who leads the Judiciary Committee, said that in recent negotiations, the White House had agreed to delete language from his bill that critics said would have implicitly acknowledged the president’s constitutional authority to order wiretapping without a warrant.

Three Republican senators — Larry E. Craig of Idaho, John E. Sununu of New Hampshire and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — had raised concerns about this and other aspects of the Specter bill, which would submit the wiretapping program to a secret court to rule on its constitutionality. With the changes, they said they could support the legislation, and Mr. Specter predicted he would have enough Senate votes to gain passage.

[…]

Some lawmakers and civil rights advocates said they believed that the three senators had mischaracterized or misinterpreted what they had agreed to and that the White House was retaining the right to order wiretaps without a warrant.

The administration declined to say when it would choose to seek warrants under the new plan.

The program approved by Mr. Bush “does allow for the interception without court order of international communications where one end is within the United States, and this agreement would provide this authority and would establish a process for moving to individualized court orders with respect to individuals within the United States,” said Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman. He declined to elaborate.

Some opponents of the wiretapping program said they saw the new plan as a step backward because of technical language that would narrow the definition of what constitutes “electronic surveillance” that requires a court order and would effectively make warrants optional.

“This is a major setback for the Fourth Amendment and civil liberties,” said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Securities Studies.

As Norman Ornstein said about the torture cave-in: “It sure doesn’t look to me as if they stood up and did anything other than bare their teeth for some ceremonial barking, before giving the president a whole lot of leeway. I find it really troubling.”

Yes, it is “troubling” to see three more brave Republican defenders of civil liberties (and Arlen Specter) pretend to be standing up for truth and the American way make yet another one of those last minute “deals” with the president that legalizes every heinous thing he’s done and giving him explicit congressional authority to keep doing it.

I hear the Senate is planning to put the combined the torture and spying bill that Mitch McConnell introduced last Friday to the vote. It’s much more efficient to destroy the constitution with one big bill they can hold over Democrats’ heads like a samurai sword if they fail to vote for it. Very clever.

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WWJD

by digby

Following up on tristero’s post below which links to David Niewert’s observations on the torture debate, this video says it in pictures:

Link to the video on YouTube, here.

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Neiwert On Torture

by tristero

David Neiwert says it:

The baseline problem with torture, after all, is that it is prima facie immoral, a violation not just of the Golden Rule and basic Christian precepts, but of nearly any system of ethics. Even the most hard-nosed rationalist will come to this conclusion (see, e.g., Kant’s Categorical Imperative). It’s an obvious one if you’re a Christian.

All you have to present to any Christian, when it comes to torture, is their own favorite moral-guidepost aphorism: What Would Jesus Do?

To anyone familiar not just with Jesus’ teachings but the story of his martyrdom — including his torture at the hands of authorities — the answer is crystal clear.

Exactly. Torture is unacceptable and immoral behavior. It is not for nothing that Bush and Cheney are going to exceptional lengths to hide what they’re doing to people right now. And what they’ve done in the past.

Oh, and Matthew Yglesias? Arguments from inutility vis a vis torture? Uh uh, no good. They are extremely poor arguments to advance in the torture debate. What if I could prove torture did work? Would THAT make it a reasonable “interrogation technique?” It would not. The only strong argument is that torture simply is immoral. It is a gross violation of what it means to be human.

Clinton And Kerry Stood Fast When Republicans Wanted To Cut ‘N Run

by tristero.

Hoo, boy, lots going on today, what with Dems holding hearing on the conduct of the war today and so many other things.

But let’s not forget a recent story, the Clinton/Wallace confrontation where Clinton showed the kind of brilliance and anger towards the rightwing that we can only hope all politicians opposed to Bushism and modern Republicanism will show in the next month or so.

Wallace accused Clinton of providing aid and comfort to bin Laden by withdrawing from Somalia after Blackhawk Down. You may not remember the Somalia story too well or you may be too young to remember. But the standard line propogated for years by the rightwing, and recycled by Wallace in his question to Clinton, is that Clinton cut and ran; therefore bin Laden took from that ignominious flight the lesson that Americans are cowards. The implications are:

1. Clinton behaved like a coward who wouldn’t stay the course and he emboldened the terrorists by leaving.

2. By extension, all Democrats cannot be trusted with foreign policy and national security.

It’s a complete lie. Let Glenn Greenwald tell you who really wanted to cut and run from the terrorists. It was Republicans including St. John McCain.

More importantly, let Greenwald show you who fully understood the implications of withdrawing from Somalia precipitously after Blackhawk Down. It was Clinton and Kerry who got it exactly right and understood the situation.

Knowing the truth of what happened regarding the fight over staying or leaving in Somalia, we can apply the “logic” of the rightwing to historical reality. And the implications are very clear:

1. Republicans, including McCain, behaved like cowards who wouldn’t stay the course. They emboldened the terrorists by calling for the US to leave.

2. By extension, all Republicans, including McCain, cannot be trusted with foreign policy and national security.

Note to rightwingers and others who have cognitive difficulties understanding English prose: I do NOT agree with the “logic” of the rightwing. I dislike McCain intensely, but his Vietnam record, like Kerry’s, demonstrates he is no coward. I believe the real implications of this inexcusable piece of historical revisionism are:

1. Republicans, including McCain, were fools for failing to gauge the effects of a precipitous withdrawal. They emboldened future terrorists by their panic in hysterically calling for the US to leave.

2. By extension, all modern Republicans, including McCain, have demonstrated they do not have the judgment or character to conduct competent and robust foreign policy in a sober manner. They can, and they have, made the US far less safe when they are in power than when Democrats have been.

One more note. There are very few parallels between the Somalia situation back then and what is going on in Iraq today. It is utterly fallacious to compare the Republican fools immediately after Blackhawk Down with a majority of the world calling for a US withdrawal more than three years after an illegal invasion.

And for the record, back in 0’3 it was not only liberals horrified that Bush had invaded Iraq in the first place who urged a rapid withdrawal from Iraq. Deluded neoconservatives who were the instigators of the war did as well, confident that the mission was codpieced, I mean accomplished, the only piece missing being the installation of Chalabi as Emperor of Ir…I mean president.

Truly incredible, the extent of the right’s projection and lying. and that they are allowed to get away with it. As Greenwald writes, “As always, no matter how many times it occurs, it is truly disturbing how there seems to be no limit on the false propaganda and rank historical revisionism which can be disseminated by this administration and its followers and uncorrected by our national media. “

Bush’s Comma

by tristero

Many blogs have linked to the comma quote as one more indication that Bush epitomizes the callous conservative. I agree: it’s a disgusting remark. But I perceive something even more distressing about it than obscene sociopathic indifference to human suffering.

Let’s say I was president of the United States and when someone asks me about my central achievement, I respond that one day it will look like “just a comma.” I think you’d be quite justified in thinking I was very depressed and unsatisfied with my record. Why? Because I’d just told you I hadn’t done anything much more important than an historical speck, a squib, a doodle. And being president, I’d be wanting to accomplish something really big, really memorable. Like, say, attacking a really large country. Like being the first since Truman to drop a nuclear weapon in war. Now we’re talking. That’s worth at least a paragraph in the Book of Human History Before The Rapture.

In other words, I think Bush’s comma is a signal to the world that he’s barely started with the bang bang and the carnage. The casualties he’s already inflicted around the world are too small to mean anything to someone as narcissistic and grandiose as the Churchill of Crawford. He expects – no, he needs – many, many more battles, bigger targets. Real men, after all, go to Tehran. And we know that Bush – Oedipus Tex, the black sheep awol drunk loser who failed at business – has some problems thinking about himself as a real man.

But how realistic is this? That is, setting Bush’s truly dubious mental health aside (and regardless of whether you buy my speculations above, he is not the tightest of screws at the best of times), can the US military actually give Bush something more than a comma to remember him by anytime soon?

Well, there’s a post over at Talking Points Memo which makes a pretty convincing argument that logistically the US military, quagmired in Afghanistan and Iraq, is in no condition to attack Iran anytime soon.

It seems likely this could be true. Unless you consider a first strike nuclear attack as part of a concerted effort to effect regime change. Which is insane. Which, coming full circle, brings up the relevance of the mental state of a president who would characterize the ghastly horrors of the Bush/Iraq war as a mere comma in history.

Please, people. Do not misunderestimate him or this administration. They are crazy, and I am not speaking metaphorically here. They were crazy to ignore the warnings in the summer of ’01. They were crazy to invade Iraq. They were crazy to pass laws keeping a brain-dead woman hooked up to a feeding tube. They are crazy to write into law that George W. Bush has the right to torture people at will. Indeed, they are crazy in their lust to assert their will over anything and everything.

And they are crazy to plan any kind of attack on Iran (in both senses: it’s nuts to consider it, and they really, really want to do it). They are crazy to think that threatening something like that will put pressure on the Iranian government to capitulate; if anything it will increase Iranian nationalism, fuel anti-Americanism and increase the Iranian government’s support.

They are also crazy to think that retaliation will come only via terrorist attacks on the US and those attacks will increase domestic support for the Bush regime (“we’re the ones serious about national security”). No. Retaliation for a pre-emptive strike on Iran will be swift, brutal, and on numerous fronts. The US will be economically and culturally quarantined. The world will unite to fight the US on trade agreements, will implement sanctions and make international business deals impossibly difficult. To those rightwingers who say, “Yeah? The Frenchies gonna threaten us? Haha! Bring ’em on!” I say, be careful what you wish for. They don’t call this a global economy for nuthin’.

Again, as unlikely as it seems, as offhand as it appears to be, I see the comma remark as one more indication that Bush expects to attack Iran very soon. And, while he doesn’t go so far as to believe it will involve nuclear, I note that Gary Hart writes, “It should come as no surprise if the Bush Administration undertakes a preemptive war against Iran sometime before the November election.” It’s not just inconsequential bloggers who are very worried, dear friends.

This ain’t no party. This ain’t no disco. This ain’t no fooling around.

[Update: As pointed out by a coupla folks in comments, Steve Gilliard has a terrific take on Bush’s comma:

When Bush said Iraq was a comma, he was speaking in dog whistle to the fundies. It comes from a saying “Never put a period where God puts a comma”.Which means things will get better. Which is, of course, insane.

Indeed. And while I agree with Steve, and glad he mentioned it, I’m not sure that necessarily invalidates my psychoanlytic interpretation, although, it’s true, it seems less convincing to me in the light of Steve’s post.]

Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions

by tristero

As mentioned in a previous post, my copy of Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions by Iranian author Shahram Chubin arrived and it looks very good, very compact, and very detailed.

Assuming that those of you who expressed interest in reading the book together will receive it by today/tomorrow, I propose we read up throught the first two chapters, to page 43, and discuss it this Friday, when I’ll post a summary and some thoughts of my own.

In glancing through it, it’s dispassionate, clearly the work of a serious and knowledgeable author, and seems to be free of polemics. Heaven knows we need more resources like this.

False Advertising

by tristero

Jonathan Wells, the Moonie from the Discovery Institute who is one of their principle shills for “inteliigent design” creationism – and, incidentally, a man who actually believes that the earth is about 6,000 years old, tops – has released a book with a title so misleading it amounts to blatantly false advertising. As the delicious multi-part series at The Panda’s Thumb makes quite clear, it should be titled “The Thoroughly Incorrect Guide to Darwinism [sic] and Intelligent Design.”

Check it out.

And by the way, those of you who object to my calling Wells a Moonie and referring to him in an obviously contemptuous fashion, perhaps you should remember that Wells is the stupid sonuvabitch who once compared biologist Ken Miller to the Hitler’s propagandist Heinrich Himmler, thus simultaneously exhibiting the gutter level at which his department at Discovery operates, his historical ignorance and the sheer sloppiness of his “scholarship.”