Book: Bush Secretly Ordered Iraq War Plan

[Florida_Geek]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq-Woodward-Book.html

April 16, 2004
Book: Bush Secretly Ordered Iraq War Plan
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 5:19 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush secretly ordered a war plan drawn up against Iraq less than two months after U.S. forces attacked Afghanistan and was so worried the decision would cause a furor he did not tell everyone on his national security team, says a new book on his Iraq policy.

Bush feared that if news got out about the Iraq plan as U.S. forces were fighting another conflict, people would think he was too eager for war, journalist Bob Woodward writes in ``Plan of Attack,'' a behind-the-scenes account of the 16 months leading to the Iraq invasion.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the book, which will be available in book stores next week.

``I knew what would happen if people thought we were developing a potential war plan for Iraq,'' Bush is quoted as telling Woodward. ``It was such a high-stakes moment and ... it would look like that I was anxious to go to war. And I'm not anxious to go to war.''

.......more at AP...

[MrSlayer]

1. Yeah he's so not anxious to go to war that he....went to war.

For no good reason. What a tool.

[Disturbed]

3. Habits

This dolt of a Preshas a habit of saying one thing and doing the opposite. Top of my list, "I am a compasionate conservative." He immediately cuts Social Programs. He doesn't fund Unemployment Extension Benefits. There is a long list of such here.

http://truthout.org/docs_04/020504B.shtml

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Franks's "obscenities" and Cheney as "hawkish" and"decisive"

"The book says Gen. Tommy Franks, who was in charge of the Afghan war as head of Central Command, uttered a string of obscenities when the Pentagon told him to come up with an Iraq war plan in the midst of fighting another conflict.

Woodward, a Washington Post journalist who wrote an earlier book on Bush's anti-terrorism campaign and broke the Watergate scandal with Carl Bernstein, says Cheney's well-known hawkish attitudes on Iraq were frequently decisive in Bush's decision-making."

[qanda]

4. If there's anything we *do* know about Bush*

It's that *he's* not anxious to go to war! But he is anxious to send somebody else to war and there is the problem.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Important distinction!

The Uniter of the United States.

[Florida_Geek]

11. the man is short on TIES

that is the same funny tie he wore at his "press conferance".

[maggrwaggr]

16. Good god, what a picture

that really captures his arrogant smug and power-hungry personality

[SammyWinstonJack]

45. Is that a real pic of bush*?

What an arrogant creep!

[unblock]

5. he's so worried what people would think that he TOLD A REPORTER

he was just lining up his excuses and so on.

of COURSE he was eager for war. no one can argue that iraq ii was anything other than OPTIONAL at best.

[Florida_Geek]

12. If you go to Clarke's book and 9-11 testimony

Some of the most damning statements were from Bush to a reporter.

Not only is this man dumb, he runs his mouth to reporters.

[Stuckinthebush]

21. I wondered about this too...

However, I think at the time of the interview, Bush probably believed that his Iraq decision would be hailed as brilliant once we found WMDs and won the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. So, he tells Woodward about this secret plan to make it look like he was a very insightful leader. What it really shows is that he was Jonesing for an Iraq war with little to no reason after 9/11. In light of the Iraq war quagmire and no WMDs, Bush is made to look like the fool that he is.

Bad gamble for Bush.

[Athame]

31. that makes some good sense n/t

[hang a left]

32. Bob Woodward is a curious character at best.

A Yalie and a Secret Society Member
The staunchly conservative Bob Woodward grew up in Wheaton, Illinois. A good student at Yale, he was ultimately one of fifteen seniors "tapped" for one of that university's secret societies, Book and Snake, a cut below the more infamous Skull and Bones, but the top of the second-tier fraternities. Woodward had his first journalistic experience working for the Banner, a Yale publication. In his 1965 yearbook he was referred to as a "Banner mogul." Havill writes,

Certainly, with the CIA encouraged to recruit on the Yale campus, particularly among history majors and secret societies, it is more than reasonable to assume Bob may have been one of those approached by the agency, or by a military intelligence unit, especially after four years of naval ROTC training. Although it would answer a lot of questions that have been raised about Bob Woodward, at this point one can only speculate as to whether he was offered the chance to become a "double-wallet guy," as CIA agents who have two identities are dubbed. It would certainly be understandable if he decided not to adhere to the straight and accepted the submerged patriotic glamour and extra funds that such a relationship would provide. It would also explain the comments of Pulitzer Prize-winning author J. Anthony Lukas, when he wrote in 1989 that Bob Woodward was "temperamentally secretive, loathe to volunteer information about himself," or the Washingtonian's remarks in 1987: "He is secretive about everything." As Esquire magazine put it, summing up in its 1992 article on Bob, "What is he hiding?"

The "Floating Pentagon" Assignment
Three days after graduating from Yale, Woodward was sent by the U.S. Navy to Norfolk, Virginia, where he was commissioned as an ensign by none other than U.S. Senator George Smathers from Florida. Bob's assignment was to a very special ship, called a "floating Pentagon," the U.S.S. Wright. The ship was a National Emergency Command Ship-a place where a President and cabinet could preside from in the event of a nuclear war. It had elaborate and sophisticated communications and data processing capabilities. It had a smaller replica of the war room at the Pentagon. It ran under what was called SIOP-Single Integrated Operation Plan. For example, in the event of nuclear war, the Wright was third in line to take full command if the two ahead of it, the Strategic Air Command in Omaha (SAC) and NORAD, were rendered incommunicado. Woodward-straightfacedly-told authors Colodny and Gettlin (Silent Coup) that he guessed he was picked for the ship because he had been a radio ham as a kid.

Aboard the Wright, Woodward had top secret "crypto" clearance-the same clearance researcher Harold Weisberg found had been assigned to Lee Harvey Oswald when he was himself in the Marines. Such clearance in Woodward's case gave him full access to nearly all classified materials and codes on the ship. Woodward also ran the ship's newspaper. Woodward has insisted that possessing a high security clearance is not necessarily indicative of intelligence work.

The Wright carried men from each of the military services, as well as CIA personnel. One of Havill's government sources reported that the CIA would likely have had additional informants on a ship of such sensitivity, adding that "the rivalry between the services was intense."

After a two and a half year stint on the Wright, Woodward was assigned to go to Vietnam. Woodward wrote the Pentagon asking to serve on a destroyer. The wish was granted. One naval captain told Havill that it seemed reasonable Woodward would have a little pull from his previous duty to avoid getting assigned to Vietnam. Another former naval officer disputed that, saying "Nobody got out of going to Vietnam in 1968."

But Woodward did. He was stationed aboard the U.S.S. Fox, based in Southern California. The personnel on board the Fox included an intelligence team, many of whom had studied Russian and Asian languages at the famous armed services language school in Monterey, California.

By 1968, Woodward ran the ship's radio team. In 1969, Woodward was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for his communications work. From there, Woodward moved on to a Pentagon assignment, a job that included briefing top officers in the government. Admiral Thomas Moorer and former secretary of defense Melvin Laird are both on record noting that Woodward briefed Al Haig at the White House during this period. What is suspicious is Woodward's semi-admittance to Hougan that he had done some briefing, and his complete denial to Colodny and Gettlin that he had ever briefed anyone at the White House. Havill notes:

Considering the evidence, Bob Woodward's denial more strongly suggests intelligence than it does his uninvolvement in White House briefings.
Woodward's secrecy about his past, his choice of associates, and what is known of his activities caused Havill to write:

The question, then, begs itself once more. Was Bob Woodward ever a free-lance or retained Central Intelligence Agency liaison officer, informant or operative . . . ? This author got various forms of affirmative opinions from intelligence experts. It would explain his assignment to the Wright and his misleading statements to interviewers. It would make understandable his being able to get out of going to Vietnam in 1968, his extension for an additional year at the Pentagon, his being chosen to brief at the White House and his denials as well. It would also help explain his subsequent high-level friendships with leaders of the U.S. military and the CIA.
It would also explain the role Woodward and Bernstein wittingly or unwittingly played in keeping the CIA's nose clean while making sure the world saw the President's nose was dirty.

http://www.webcom.com/ctka/pr196-woodward.html

[Athame]

30. I am really getting confused about Bob Woodward

He shills for *shrub nonstop and then writes this? You know the WH had control over what came out in that book. What gives? :shrug:

[JoFerret]

41. If he has always been CIA

....then this would be significant. payback time for all thye blame shifting and etc?

[Athame]

43. yes, but the CIA-Bush connection is so tangled

and the fact that the WH had to have seen this book before it was published. Woodward still has access, doesn't he? I haven't heard any attempts to discredit him as they have done with Clarke, O'Neil, and Wilson, etc. So it does not seem like CIA payback.

I think another poster on this thread has a good point that the interview was done while they still thought that there would be sweets and flowers, or at least that with victory comes the justification.

[fishnfla]

6. Secret war plans? Nixon, is that you?

Woodward better be careful, there no way in hell I believe the chimp uttered these words: "enormous international angst and domestic speculation"

He better be careful because people know shrub does not talk like that, or think like that either for that matter.

[KoKo]

36. Good Point! Bush doesn't talk like that...and this whole article is all

over the place. I can't get the dates of Woodward's interviews straight from the article. Why would Chimp tell Woodward this, and then say he doesn't remember and then the article says he talked to him two years later? :eyes: And interview two years later from what date? How are we to make sense of it?

Quote:

"In an interview two years later, Bush told Woodward that if the news had leaked, it would have caused ``enormous international angst and domestic speculation.''"

[JoFerret]

42. See

..we have firm stand for the fallen, resolving dignitude, see...

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. I don't know how worried he was about keeping it a secret since

he made it very loud and clear that he wanted to go into Syria and Libya at some point.

[Corgigal]

9. New update

"Iraq less than two months after U.S. forces attacked Afghanistan"- To be changed to two months before he stole the Presidency.

[corker]

10. must see video of why we are in iraq

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3995.htm

[Danieljay]

29. Wow..amazing video..thank you! eom.

[Nlighten1]

13. "There are no plans on my desk"

They were on Dick Cheney's so I guess he wasn't lying.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. This article is a major smokescreen! Please read the enclosed links...

Bush Advisers Planned Iraq War Since 1990s
<http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/100102_bush_advisors.html>

"Oct. 1, 2002, 17:00 PDT (FTW) -- The George W. Bush Administration's intentions of removing Saddam Hussein from power are not a recent development by any stretch of the imagination. Top White House officials affiliated with conservative think tanks and past administrations have been developing strategies for removing the Iraqi leader since the 1990s.

One such think tank, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), published a report in September 2000 recommending policies for preserving and expanding U.S. dominance in world affairs, including an aggressive policy for deposing Saddam Hussein. Members of this group include Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, convicted Iran-Contra perjurer and current National Security Council (NSC) staffer Elliot Abrams, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and I. Lewis Libby, Cheney's chief of staff and assistant for national security affairs."

Rumsfeld Urged Iraqi Invasion A Day After 911
<http://www.rense.com/general50/invasin.htm>

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld almost immediately urged President George W. Bush to consider bombing Iraq after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on New York and Washington, a former senior administration counterterrorism aide says.

In a forthcoming book, Richard Clarke, the White House counterterrorism coordinator at the time, recounts details of a meeting the day after the terrorist attacks during which top officials considered the U.S. response. Even then, he said, they were certain that al-Qaeda was to blame and there was no hint of Iraqi involvement.

'Rumsfeld was saying we needed to bomb Iraq,' Mr. Clarke said. 'We all said, ëBut no, no, al-Qaeda is in Afghanistan.'

Mr. Clarke, who is expected to testify Tuesday before a federal panel reviewing the attacks, said Mr. Rumsfeld complained in the meeting that 'there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan and there are lots of good targets in Iraq.'"

Cheney's Role In 911 Put On Center Stage By British MP
<http://www.rense.com/general41/role.htm>

"Meacher affirmed that 'the catalogue of evidence does, however, fall into place when set against the PNAC blueprint. From this it seems that the so-called 'war on terrorism' is being used largely as bogus cover for achieving wider U.S. strategic geopolitical objectives.' Indeed Tony Blair himself hinted at this when he said to the Commons liaison committee: 'To be truthful about it, there was no way we could have got the public consent to have suddenly launched a campaign on Afghanistan but for what happened on Sept. 11' (Times, July 17, 2002). Similarly Rumsfeld was so determined to obtain a rationale for an attack on Iraq that on 10 separate occasions he asked the CIA to find evidence linking Iraq to 9/11; the CIA repeatedly came back empty-handed (Time magazine, May 13, 2002).

In fact, 9/11 offered an extremely convenient pretext to put the PNAC plan into action. The evidence again is quite clear that plans for military action against Afghanistan and Iraq were in hand well before 9/11. A report prepared for the U.S. government from the Baker Institute of Public Policy stated in April 2001 that 'the U.S. remains a prisoner of its energy dilemma. Iraq remains a destabilizing influence to ... the flow of oil to international markets from the Middle East.' Submitted to Vice President Cheney's energy task group, the report recommended that because this was an unacceptable risk to the U.S., 'military intervention' was necessary (Sunday Herald, Oct. 6, 2002)."

[dusty64]

15. The fact that

chimp lied and got us into a quagmire ought to enrage everyone. Compare these lies which will cost thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of $$$ with a blowjob.

[swag]

17. Perhaps Woodward will reveal more in his 60 Minutes interview Sunday

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/15/60minutes/main612067.shtml

Woodward will answer the following questions, among others, in the interview with Wallace Sunday night:

How early did President Bush begin planning the war on Iraq?

In the war’s wake, which top administration officials now barely speak to each other?

What did the CIA say to President Bush to convince him that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction?

Which foreign dignitary was told of the plans to attack Iraq days before even key cabinet members were briefed?

Which key advisers did President Bush ask – and not ask – about whether he should go to war with Iraq?

Why did the CIA think Saddam had been killed before the ground war even began?

[kentuck]

18. It was reported on C-SPAN this morning....

that he did not tell Condi Rice about it or CIA's Tenet about it. He did tell Rummy. He kept it secret from his own security council!

[LizW]

19. Remember Bush* lying about this?

It leaked that there was an Iraq war plan on his desk, and he said, no there wasn't.

Clarke writes in his book that the focus was shifted to Iraq from al Qaeda and Afghanistan on the afternoon of Sept. 11. He tells of a meeting with Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Powell and Armitage, where Rumsfeld and Wolfiwitz were openly advocating "getting Iraq" and Powell and Armitage were resisting. Clarke thanked Powell for his stand after the meeting and said how he couldn't believe DOD was pushing for an attack on Iraq. Powell said, "It's not over yet."

The next morning, Sept. 12, Bush* ordered Clarke and his team to "go back over everything" and "see if Saddam was involved." He said he wanted "to know any shred..." Clarke says he told the President that there was no connection, that they HAD looked, and there was nothing. Bush* got testy and said, "I know, I know" and told them to look again.

After Bush* left the room, Clarke and his staff looked at each other with mouths hanging open. One of them said, "Wolfowitz got to him."

Folks, if, god forbid there is another al Qaeda attack on Americans, or anyone else for that matter, there is no one to blame but the Bush maladministration. The search for OBL was hindered FROM THE BEGINNING by the transfer of attention and resources to Iraq.

THIS is the important revelation of Clarke's book, and if the 9/11 commission doesn't have time to look into this, another investigative body should be convened to do so.

I would love to hear testimony under oath from Rice, Powell, Rumsfeld, and the political people, Hughes, Rove and Matalin, about how and when the Iraq war was planned and subsequently "sold" to the American people.

[mainer]

20. Everyone -- read this month's VANITY FAIR

Bryan Burroughs' article on "the path to war in Iraq" is superb. Lots of insider stuff in it. Another damning piece of investigative journalism.

[LizW]

22. Thanks

I'm going to buy this today.

[fishnfla]

23. VF has been great lately

graydon carter even got BBV religion.

The Jan/Feb ATLANTIC had an excellent piece as well, "Blind Into Baghdad"

[Snellius]

47. And check out Annie Liebowitz's photo of Cheney

It's an extreme stern close-up of the Big Vulcan himself with blood in his eye -- literally. A large blood vessel has burst in his left eye.

[dArKeR]

24. 'When we go into Iraq we will find double the WMD which the Pres. has

alluded to. This is the rule not the exception.' Woodward (paraphrase from Larriy King Live, CNN show, (pre-war Iraq.)) I personally saw Woodward say this.



http://www.webcom.com/ctka/pr196-woodward.html
Robert Upshur Woodward rose from obscure reporter working for the Washington Post to become one of the most famous journalists of recent times for his role, with that of Carl Bernstein, in "breaking" the Watergate story. Together, "Woodstein" broke one of the biggest news stories of all time: a chain of abuse by the Executive office of the Presidency that led to calls for impeachment, and the eventual resignation, of President Richard Nixon.

Immortalized by Robert Redford in the movie based on the book All the President's Men, the real Woodward is quite an enigma. Adrian Havill, in his recent book Deep Truth, presents the most comprehensive biography to date of both Woodward and Bernstein. He also details some of the fabrications that passed for nonfiction in the book from which the film was based. Most importantly, he gives us a great wealth of background on who Woodward really is, where he comes from, and what his connections are.

A Yalie and a Secret Society Member


The staunchly conservative Bob Woodward grew up in Wheaton, Illinois

[grytpype]

25. That fat criminal deserves to hang.

Cheney's well-known hawkish attitudes on Iraq were frequently decisive in Bush's decision-making.

And why was he so hawkish on Iraq? Here's a clue: pre-9/11, while he was ignoring the threat of terrorism, he was dividing up Iraq's oil fields in his super-secret energy task force meetings.

[dArKeR]

26. Woodward portraying aWol as a 'thinking' man is a bunch of lying Whore

crap! Even the hardcore fascist conservatives understand aWol is an non-thinking person. aWol just allows them to be put into positions of power so that they can financially benefit. Everyone understand they're dealing with someone who has 98% the intelligence of a cockroach.

[Mountainman]

28. I agree with you.

I find it very hard to believe Bush was directing anyone to do anything.

[kskiska]

27. This stuff seems like leftover information Woodward gathered

for the first book on *, theone he should have written instead of that suck-up piece he did. The White House gave him the run of the place and consented to interviews. I doubt they were interviewed on the record for this one.

It also verifies what O'Neill and Clarke said, especially Clarke. with * pressing him to find Iraq responsible for 9/11.

[Wickerman]

35. A lot of this sounds like it came from before

If so, why did Woodward he treat us to the Bush* at war crap? Oh, is it because Bob is a whore? Not interested in Journalism any longer but lining his own pocket as public opinion shifts? Sorry, Bob, you asshole, damage is done.

I hope the book does some good, but, frankly, due to all the early blow jobs folks like Woodward gave Bush* this will not have the impact it should.

[Snellius]

48. This may have been stuff he was afraid to use before

Or maybe stuff that he purposefully "touched up" to make his portrait of Our Great Leader look better than it was.

[bobthedrummer]

33. George W. Bush aka The War President

:grr:

[ConcernedCanuk]

34. I haven't read anything of the "White House Iraq Group" (WHIG) in here

.
.
.

It's title alone should indicate it's purpose
_______________________________________________

SUBPOENA TARGETS WHITE HOUSE DISINFORMATION UNIT

"the "White House Iraq Group" (WHIG), a propaganda unit created by the White House in August 2002, in which Dick Cheney's chief of staff Lewis Libby was a prominent participant.

The only known press coverage of the WHIG was a lengthy Washington Post article on Aug. 10, 2002, which described how White House statements on the alleged Iraq threat -- and particularly those made by Dick Cheney -- ran way beyond any actual intelligence.

The Post story focussed on the shift in the Administration's rhetoric and planning that took place in August 2002, when, the story notes, Cheney raised the alarm about the alleged Iraq nuclear threat three times.

LINK
_____________________________________________________________

Iraq: White House Description of Nuclear Threat Exceeded Intelligence

In August 2002, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card created the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), which was to create strategy for each stage of the U.S. confrontation with Iraq, according to the Post. Regular participants in the group’s meetings included Karl Rove, U.S. President George W. Bush’s senior political adviser; national security adviser Condoleezza Rice; deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley; and I. Lewis Libby, chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney.

One senior official described the group as “an internal working group, like many formed for priority issues, to make sure each part of the White House was fulfilling its responsibilities.”

LINK
___________________________________________________________

US: Neocons Huddled in the Eye of the Storm

As everyone knows, the Pentagon ‘cabal’ in the neocon-spawned Office of Special Plans subsequently went wild with the nuclear and other weapons charges against Iraq in the run-up to war. Now, another equally shadowy gang- the so-called White House Iraq Group- has been thrust into the spotlight. As Justin Raimondo reports, the characters in this cluster include not only Hadley but also

“…Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, Mary Matalin, James R. Wilkinson, legislative liaison Nicholas E Calio, and I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, the Vice President's chief of staff – and the leading suspect in this case. All will have been hauled up before the grand jury and questioned before this is over, and investigators dig deeper into the multi-leveled propaganda operation that lied us into war.”

LINK
_______________________________________________________________

How come we are not hearing about this group?

It sure seems specifically designed for the war in Iraq, I would expect more coverage, or at least discussion?

I know, I know,

the title of the group is a dubious as "Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US".

Silly me :silly:

[Nancy Waterman]

37. I think this belongs on another thread

but it got bounced here. Not only did they plan the war early, the stole 700 million from the Afghan funds appropriated by Congress to prepare for the war in Iraq in July 2002.

These are quotes from Woodward's 60 Minutes interview.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/15/60minutes/main612067.shtml

"President Bush, after a National Security Council meeting, takes Don Rumsfeld aside, collars him physically and takes him into a little cubbyhole room and closes the door and says, 'What have you got in terms of plans for Iraq?' What is the status of the war plan? I want you to get on it. I want you to keep it secret," says Woodward.

"...The end of July 2002, they need $700 million, a large amount of money for all these tasks. And the president approves it. But Congress doesn't know and it is done. They get the money from a supplemental appropriation for the Afghan War, which Congress has approved. ...Some people are gonna look at a document called the Constitution which says that no money will be drawn from the treasury unless appropriated by Congress. Congress was totally in the dark on this."

[indie_voter]

39. The quote in bold is a HIGH CRIME!

Two for the price of one, stealing money and lying to Congress.

COME ON AMERICA!! WAKE UP!

[0007]

38. Another piece of news that expose's the crime cabal

Wonder if the American folks will give junior another pass?

[osaMABUSh]

40. I think the fact that Woodward wrote it does more damage to *

Woodward has been playing suck up lately so folks might raise an eyebrow hearing Woodward report the secret plan for Iraq in Nov. 2001. America will hear and see only the juicy parts in the media: early plan, secret plan, Condi didn't know, Cheney pulled the strings.

I think this book is damaging. First question of Bush and Blair today was about the book and the Nov. 21 meeting.

It is becoming clear to most Americans now that he always intended to got to war with Iraq and WMD was always BS.

We at DU already knew that but for the majority of Americans to believe it is the end of *.

[CreekDog]

44. Isn't spending Afghan $$$ for Iraq war planning illegal?

Shouldn't this be an impeachable offense?

I've never said anything about impeachment, not once, but this just seems so obvious. He used $700 million in money for the Afghanistan operation for Iraq war planning.

What do you think?

From the Woodward book/interview on CBS:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/15/60minutes/main612067.shtml

"...The end of July 2002, they need $700 million, a large amount of money for all these tasks. And the president approves it. But Congress doesn't know and it is done. They get the money from a supplemental appropriation for the Afghan War, which Congress has approved. ...Some people are gonna look at a document called the Constitution which says that no money will be drawn from the treasury unless appropriated by Congress. Congress was totally in the dark on this."

[indie_voter]

50. YES!! Misappropriation of funds. This is a crime.

A HIGH CRIME!

Though not as horrible as adultry and the subsequent cover up I guess. :P

ARGGGGGGGGGG! History will not be kind to either party if they let this pass.

[Disturbed]

46. Charges

If charges are not brought forth on this illegal activity
then we will know that Bushco is immune from any criminal activity.

[struggle4progress]

49. No: it will only show that the Opposition is unorganized. eom

<edit: sp>

[checks-n-balances]

52. Foxes, Chickenhawks have already had their day

When Nixon was about to be impeached, there were enough Democrats and enough honest & gutsy Republicans to bring about the possibility. But now with all three branches of government dominated by rethugs, the foxes are in charge of all three henhouses. No way they'll do that unless - as another Duer suggested - their constituents wake up and demand they do so under threat of throwing them all out of office. But it's also unlikely that will happen unless the press gets fearless and helps them connect the dots.

Unfortunately, too many people have forgotten Watergate or were too young or not born yet to appreciate recent U.S. history.

I think that's the only hope for impeachment.

WHEN WILL THE CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST & TAKE BACK THE HENHOUSES?

[struggle4progress]

53. I honestly believe that people-power in the 1980s ...

changed minds (without changing main-stream press behavior) in several large media markets on apartheid and on US policy in Central America: I mean, organized leafletting and teach-in actions.

[peacetalksforall]

51. The future or the fall of Tenet is where they want everyone to focus...

If there is truth to a few things we know and can surmise ...

It is very obvious that Rumsfeld and friends want to control their own intelligence and his talk of having an official military intelligence is probably an announcement of what he already has. He may want to get a congressional blessing for it so that they don't have to launder so much money. The Rumsfeld gang may have been quite UNsuccessful in getting the CIA (Tenet) to bend to their will or do what they wanted in sufficient secrecy.

In addition, Rumsfeld didn't have to have linguists and spies because he had Chalabi and his friends. He only had to direct his money to one operative - saves time. An intelligence dept of convenience.

The theory is premised on the fact that Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfkowitz, Perle, Bennett, Kristol, etc. the Iraq war is six + years in the planning - documented in the public letter to Clinton in 1998.

Tenet may not have had enough opportunity to move in any direction. He may have pushed the pursuit of bin Laden too pointedly for their agenda.

If they can get Tenet to take the fall they will have less attention on themselves and will have another chance to 'officialize' a military intelligence.

In no way are they going to let Ashcroft take a fall.

Woodward will save Cheney, Rumsfeld and gang.

Bush may not be salvageable along with Tenet.