Colin Powell: “Army is About Broken”

This is the Colin Powell we wish we had heard from before during the eve of the Iraq invasion: a man skeptical of an ill conceived war plan. On Face the Nation Colin Powell question the wisdom of the latest establish group think, the so called "surge" of troops — video courtesy of Crooks and Liars:

Blair Knew There Were No WMDs

I trust that you’ll not be shocked to learn, yet again, that there’s more evidence indicating that Bush & Co. with the help of their poodle across the pond, Tony Blair, deceitfully lead their respective peoples to war.

Of course, just before the invasion of Iraq we were constantly told by Bush and Blair that Hussein posed an imminent threat against the U.S. and U.K. — there was something about mushroom clouds — if I recall.

America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof — the smoking gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.

President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat
Remarks by the President on Iraq
Cincinnati Museum Center - Cincinnati Union Terminal
Cincinnati, Ohio
October 7, 2002

That was then, many thousands of lifetimes before today.

Today we know that there were no WMDs, that there was no "Yellow Cake" uranium, that Iraq did not pose any sort of eminent threat, and that the Iraqi people did no welcome us with sweets and flowers. And guess what, Bush and Blair knew all this back in 2002… even as they told the American and British public the exact opposite at the time.

And now, once more, we have evidence demonstrating in what low regard these men hold the truth, and the trust that their respective peoples’ placed on them at such a crucial time. The head line on The Independent story tells it all:

Diplomat’s Suppressed Document Lays Bare the Lies Behind Iraq War

By Colin Brown and Andy McSmith
Published: 15 December 2006

The Government’s case for going to war in Iraq has been torn apart by the publication of previously suppressed evidence that Tony Blair lied over Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.

A devastating attack on Mr Blair’s justification for military action by Carne Ross, Britain’s key negotiator at the UN, has been kept under wraps until now because he was threatened with being charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act.

[...]

Mr Ross revealed it was a commonly held view among British officials dealing with Iraq that any threat by Saddam Hussein had been "effectively contained".

He also reveals that British officials warned US diplomats that bringing down the Iraqi dictator would lead to the chaos the world has since witnessed. "I remember on several occasions the UK team stating this view in terms during our discussions with the US (who agreed)," he said.

"At the same time, we would frequently argue when the US raised the subject, that ‘regime change’ was inadvisable, primarily on the grounds that Iraq would collapse into chaos."

[...]

The Foreign Office had attempted to prevent the evidence being made public, but it has now been published by the Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs after MPs sought assurances from the Foreign Office that it would not breach the Official Secrets Act.

It shows Mr Ross told the inquiry, chaired by Lord Butler, "there was no intelligence evidence of significant holdings of CW [chemical warfare], BW [biological warfare] or nuclear material" held by the Iraqi dictator before the invasion. "There was, moreover, no intelligence or assessment during my time in the job that Iraq had any intention to launch an attack against its neighbours or the UK or the US," he added.

Mr Ross’s evidence directly challenges the assertions by the Prime Minster that the war was legally justified because Saddam possessed WMDs which could be "activated" within 45 minutes and posed a threat to British interests.

Yes, yes. The allegation isn’t new. By now any one that continues to defend the motives and circumstances that led to the invasion of Iraq is either not paying attention or is wilfully deceitful. So what are we to do with this new revelation?

I think that the twelfth, yes, the twelfth paragraph of the article provides a partial answer:

[Mr Ross'] hitherto secret evidence threatens to reopen the row over the legality of the conflict, under which Mr Blair has sought to draw a line as the internecine bloodshed in Iraq has worsened.

What do I draw from this? First, lemme grant that as the national focus has moved to "What do we do now that we’re in Iraq?", it is nearly impossible to change the focus back to the circumstances that lead us into Iraq to begin with. However, if evidence such as what’s described above were to be forcefully pushed onto the national stage… that is, if someone or some ones were to "reopen the row over the legality of the conflict," Bush’s choices on what to do in Iraq now may be constrained. Additionally, if the "legality" of the war were to be reopened, Congress, er, the Democratically led Congress, may be forced to look at cutting off funding for an illegal war.

More Shakeups at the Pentagon

Looks like more people may be vacating their desks at the Pentagon, and elsewhere in Bush’s administration:

The military experts met with Bush, Vice President Cheney and about a dozen aides for more than an hour. The visitors told the officials that the situation in Iraq is as dire as the study group had indicated but that alternative approaches must be considered, said one participant in the meeting. In addition, the experts agreed that the president should review his national security team, which several characterized as part of the problem.

[...]

The group suggested the president shake up his national security team. "All of us said they have failed, that you need a new team," said one participant. That recommendation is likely to fuel Pentagon rumors that Bush and his new defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, may decide to replace Marine Gen. Peter Pace as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Juan Williams: ‘Sometimes I Just Want To Scream’

As I watched FauxNews this Sunday I couldn’t help but to blurt, Juan, you’re my hero. Here’s what prompted my reaction, via ThinkProgress.com:

After enduring years of posturing on Iraq by Fox’s Brit Hume and the National Review’s Bill Kristol on the Fox News Sunday roundtable, Juan Williams reached his limit. This morning, Williams said, “Sometimes I just want to scream. You guys have been going on since this thing began.”

Williams noted that Hume and Kristol “don’t give credit to people…who said from the start this is a mistake.” Instead, “now it’s everybody’s a surrender monkey or impatient or squeamish or weak.”

[...]

Transcript:

WILLIAMS: Squishy, impatient, you know, they’ll be in the land of milk and honey? What do you imagine, an American administration is coming in, Republican or Democrat, after President Bush that’s just going to lay down and run away like scared little —

HUME: It will not be phrased that way. Listen, Juan, it’s very simple.

WILLIAMS: This is really — sometimes i just want to scream. You guys have been going on since this thing began. I mean, you don’t give credit to people, Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean, Barbara Lee, people who said from the start this is a mistake. You put them down. Now it’s everybody’s a surrender monkey or impatient or squeamish or weak. Why can’t you say, hey, there’s a real problem in Iraq?

UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has a longer clip of the Fauxnews segment.

Iraq Civil War: The American Cost

Via BagNewsNotes.com… I’m speechless…

Katherine Cathey, 23, embraces the coffin of her husband James C. Cathey, 24, a Marine Second Lieutenant, after it was placed in a hearse at Reno Airport. He was killed by a booby-trap explosion in Al Karmah, Iraq. Before getting out of the car at the airport, she said "I wish it was daytime for the rest of my life. The night is just too hard."

When the coffin came down the luggage ramp on the tarmac, she had let out a series of screams, wails and moans that were, naturally, unanswered. She leaned in, clutching the coffin, not letting go until Major Steve Beck, right, offered to let her ride up front.

[...]

Shortly before the final inspection, Katherine Cathey, pregnant with their unborn son, rubs her belly against the coffin. Of all the photographs in the group, this is the most searing; it’s as impossible to forget as it is to imagine. Of all the memories, the sense of touch seems to be the first to fade, and here is the sense of a last touch. It cuts deeply as love, birth and death merge until our heads spin.

[...]

And finally, the night before her husband’s funeral, Katherine Cathey lies on an air mattress in front of the flag-draped coffin. Before he went to Iraq, they were married in a civil ceremony, and planned a church wedding when he returned. They hadn’t planned on a return like this, and now she listens to music they had picked for the wedding. She insisted on spending that final night next to his body.

The photographs were captured by Todd Heisler (be sure to visit his Website, http://www.toddheisler.com/, where you’ll find more of his amazing work).