Security
If you win the battle to keep the troops in Iraq, but then get forced to withdraw your pet security firm, have you actually won the battle to keep troops in Iraq?
The Iraqi government said Monday that it was pulling the license of anAmerican security firm allegedly involved in the fatal shooting ofcivilians during an attack on a U.S.
Too Late
Two more exhibits in too little, too late to keep the Republican party in the mainstream. First, Chuck Hagel calling General Petraeus General Betray-Us Bush's used car salesman.
Maher: Isn’t a dirty trick on the American people when you send a military man out there to basically do a political sell-job?â€
Hagel: It’s not only a dirty trick, but it’s dishonest, it’s hypocritical, it’s dangerous and irresponsible.The fact is this is not Petraeus’
12 People
The AP reveals how it is that a top legal scholar can be un-hired by the University that just signed him.
A conservative Los AngelesCounty politician asked about two dozen people in an e-mail last monthhow to prevent the University of California, Irvine from hiringrenowned liberal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky as its founding law schooldean, a spokesman for the politician said Friday.
Making Chemerinsky the head of the law school "would be likeappointing al-Qaida
Domestic Spying
I've got more questions about the Patriots spy scandal than I do answers. Will the Pats do measurably worse now that the league is going to be watching for them videotaping their opponents defensive calls?Are the great halftime coaches really just users of illegal spy techniques, as is the logical progression of Brian Dawkins' thoughts?
Public Intellectual
Kudos to Hugh Hewitt and Douglas Kmiec, who criticized Michael Drake's decision to "un-hire" Erwin Chemerinsky.
"Even though I agree with him on only about one out of 100 issues, Ibelieve he is one of the top legal minds in the United States," saidHugh Hewitt, a law professor at Chapman University and host of a dailyradio talk show.
It's All Zapruder's Fault
Jay Rosen posts and comments on a letter from an anonymous member of the WH press corps. Said anonymous journalist tells you everything you need to know about the WH press corps: It's all Zapruder's fault. Zapruder, of course, was the guy--the only guy--who filmed all of Kennedy's assassination. And apparently, the press corps has to subject itself to continual abuse from the Administration because once upon a time, some average
Novak's Counter-Proliferation Problem
Thank Jeebus for public libraries, where you can get propaganda written by conservative writers without putting any incremental money in their pocket. Yesterday I exchanged Hayes for Novak. While the Novak book has clearly been vetted more closely than Novak's blabber-fest last year, I'm just on page 6 and already Novak has a big problem.
More Inauspiciousness: Your Rent-a-Sheikh Gets Killed
As many of you have pointed out, the guy I called Bush's Rent-a-Thuggish-Sheikh last week died in a bomb blast today.
The leader of local Sunni tribes in Iraqwho have joined American and Iraqi forces in fighting extremist Sunnimilitants was killed by a bomb today, Iraqi police officials said,potentially undermining what has become a new thrust of United Statespolicy in the country.
[snip]
It could be a significant setback for American efforts to work
McConnell and Lieberman
Isikoff and Hosenball tell us what we already know--McConnell is a liar (only the crack headline artists at Newsweek call this "an error"). But here's an odd detail in their story about McConnell's petulant confession.
After questions about his testimony were raised, McConnell calledLieberman to clarify his statements to the Senate Committee on HomelandSecurity and Governmental Affairs, an official said.
Oil Oops
It is probably inauspicious for Bush that on the eve of his debut in the Magical September extravaganza, the elusive Iraqi oil compromise is falling apart.
A carefully constructed compromise on a draft law governing Iraq’srich oil fields, agreed to in February after months of arduous talksamong Iraqi political groups, appears to have collapsed.
McConnell: I'm a Liar
Oddly enough I just read this anecdote in Stephen Hayes' hagiography of Cheney. In an interview with Hayes, Mike McConnell confesses to the childish tactics he used to force CENTCOM to commit, one way or another, whether they thought Saddam would invade Kuwait.
"I'm going to see the chairman [Powell]," [McConnell] told his colleagues.
Aieieieie! The Dead Awake!!
I've been almost as skeptical of Silvestre Reyes as Chair of the House Intell Committee as I am of Jay Rockefeller as Chair of the Senate Intell Committee. Reyes approved of Ashcroft's testimony on the FISA program--though Russ Holt thought thought the same testimony was a big long filibuster. Even after hearing from Ashcroft, Reyes bought Alberto Gonzales' dishonest explanation for why his lies to Congress about warrantless wiretapping were not
Jim Webb Channels emptywheel
You think the former Secretary of the Navy keeps close ties with Navy officers? Or is Jim Webb calling on Carl Levin to ask Admiral Fallon to testify to the Armed Service Committee because he, like me, thinks Fallon will have a different perspective to offer?
WEBB: [T]here’s something of a kabuki going on right now.You know, the Petraeus report was brought in.
"The Math"
FWIW, I think this morning's NYT article naming Olson as Bush's nominee to be AG was just a plant floated by conservatives pushing the Administration to make this nomination into a confrontation. David Johnston is very susceptible to this kind of planted leak. And Mike Allen, who has better ties to the White House than Johnston, names Olson as just one candidate among five (though the one favored by conservatives)--and he
If the UC Regents Are So Susceptible to Political Pressure...
Then perhaps they could be persuaded to fire unitary laughingstock John Yoo?
Normally, I find it inappropriate to engage the David Horowitzes of the world on their McCarthyist ground. But if the UC system is comfortable rescinding an offer they've made to Edwin Chemerinsky, then it seems fair to ask them to fire the lawyer who has elicited--by far--the most controversy in recent years (and that's coming from someone who lives in
Free Press Asks for Details
Ask and someone shall FOIA it for you...
A couple of days ago, I wondered why it was that DOJ would decide to intervene against Net Neutrality--months after the comment period to do so closed. Well, Free Press was wondering the same thing and has submitted a FOIA request to find out.
Banana Republic
The Sentencing Memorandum the government filed in the Chiquita case reveals something rather interesting. Chiquita was an equal opportunity terrorist supporter. You see, from 1989 to 1997, Chiquita paid protection money to FARC and ELN, left wing terrorist groups. Then, after FARC and FLN were declared terrorist groups in 1997, Chiquita switched sides, paying protection money to right wing terrorist group AUC instead.
Tribute
Omar Mora and Yance Gray have died in Iraq, just weeks after they contributed to a powerful op-ed in the NYT. In tribute to their lives, I think it only appropriate to return to their op-ed, which offers a far more honest assessment of progress in Iraq than the Petraeus and Crocker dog-and-pony show.
Our Blabby Director of National Intelligence
You'd think Conyers would be looking forward to having Mike McConnell in for testimony. After all, Conyers has faced such a long string of Administration witnesses who, basically, "do not recall," he ought to be happy to have one who blabs too much. But Conyers is putting McConnell on notice that he's none too happy about that, either.
At the hearing held in our Committee last week, a number of seriousconcerns were
Invite Admiral Fallon to Tell Us if We're Safer
You've no doubt heard that General Petraeus has no fucking clue whether sustaining the surge and succeeding in Iraq will make us safer. (To some degree, this is appropriate, because his command is limited to Iraq, and his job is to do the best job in Iraq he can.) You've also probably heard that some at the Pentagon have their own plan to get us out of the Iraq, fast.
NEWSWEEK has