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January, 2005 Archives
Oops! We Did it Again: $9 Billion More Missing in Iraq
The Associated Press reports that we've apparently misplaced another $9 billion or so in Iraq. A damning report by a special U.S. Inspector General says that an audit reveals that we turned over billions of dollars to various Iraqi agencies, but never asked where the money was going or how it would be accounted for. Apparently there were quite a few "ghost" employees on the payroll: people who never existed. Furious at the implied slur, Paul Bremer, our former head guy in Iraq, issued a blistering written reply to the findings, saying the report had "many misconceptions and inaccuracies" and lacked professional judgment. Bremer also attacked the assumptions in the report, saying the report "assumes that Western-style budgeting and accounting procedures could be immediately and fully implemented in the midst of a war." Hmmmm....Bremer did have one good point in his rebuttal. Apparently, there are more than one million Iraqi families who depend on government salaries, and stopping everyone's salary until we completely overhauled the antiquated Iraqi record-keeping methods would have incited more people to join the insurgents. Ok, fair enough. But isn't this just further evidence of the poor planning of this entire venture by Rummy and the boys? Oh well, what's a few billion between friends? It's not like we could use the money for anything else here in the U.S.
Posted on January 31, 2005
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Iraqis Brave Bombs and Hit the Polls
8 million Iraqis talked back to the insurgents today and headed for the polls. The New York Times has a good summary of what's going on today in the country which is finally lurching towards democracy and stability. As expected, turnout in the Shiite-populated south and in the Kurdish north has been high. The Sunni Triangle, or the Triangle of Death, as journalists have taken to calling it, had a much lower turnout of voters. Nevertheless, Sunnis in the dreaded triangle did show up to vote in numbers that were higher than expected. Of course, it's too early to tell if our latest nation building effort is going to have a happy ending. Many moderate Iraqis wanted a delay in the elections to give them time to negotiate with the Sunnis and many Iraqis--accustomed to Saddam Hussein's periodic rigged elections--don't really believe that the election is legit. But, for today, for the people who managed to vote without being killed, it's a happy day.
Posted on January 30, 2005
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Is Bush Moving to the Center?
Conservative commentator Bob Novak asks that very question in an interesting column. Novak, like Peggy Noonan, wasn't thrilled about the Bush inaugural speech. But what he finds more disturbing is Bush's reluctance to push forward with the gay marriage ban and the departure of some hardliners from the administration. Condoleeza Rice won the battle against John Bolton and picked her own second and third in command at the State Department, who are both career diplomats -- not neocons. But the real irritant is the selection of pro-choice Republican Jo Ann Davidson as the new co-chairman of the Republican National Committee. Of course, all of these comments relate to domestic issues. Seymour Hersh, appearing on The Daily Show last night, told Jon Stewart that his CIA sources tell him that it's full speed head with attacking Iran this summer and reforming the Middle East in the neocon image. And privatizing social security is certainly not moderate. So, I think that the signals are not as clear as Mr. Novak seems to think. But we'll see.
Posted on January 27, 2005
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Condi's Confirmed and the Senators Place Their Bets
Bruised but not battered by the fractious confirmation process, Condoleeza Rice was confirmed by the Senate as the next Secretary of State. The vote was 85-13. It was the first time that a Secretary of State was not unanimously confirmed since 1981. There was nine hours of debate on the Senate floor yesterday, in which a number of Democrats blasted Rice for her handling of the Iraq war and her cavalier attitude towards the truth. What's most interesting about the Rice debate is what it reveals about the 2008 presidential election. Senators are placing their bets now about how President Bush's Iraq policies will be viewed by history and the voting population. Will the American public be sick of Iraq and angry about the troop casualties in four years? Or will Bush go down in history as a liberator of Iraq? Or as someone who meant well and just made some mistakes? Barack Obama (D-Illinois) voted yes on Rice. Senator Finestein (D-California) voted yes and gave Rice a glowing recommendation in front of the Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) said during the floor debate that we shouldn't hold Rice accountable for things that aren't her fault. But Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) had a different take. She flat out says that Rice is a liar and should not be confirmed. Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) said Rice "has been a principal architect of policy errors that have tragically undermined our prospects for success" in Iraq. "The list of errors is lengthy and profound, and unfortunately many could have been avoided if Dr. Rice and others had only listened to the counsel" of lawmakers from both parties, Bayh said. "This is no ordinary incompetence. Men and women are dying as a result of these mistakes." Freshman Colorado Senator Ken Salazar tried to split the baby. He talked about Rice's accomplishments but then said he was concerned "about what can only be called a lack of candor" that contributed to "the massive intelligence failures that preceded" the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Although Rice was assured of confirmation, she got the most "no" votes since World War II. Seven senators voted against Henry Kissinger and six each against Dean Acheson and Alexander Haig. So, how did the two New York Senators vote? Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer voted "yes."
Posted on January 26, 2005
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Christian Right Plays Hardball With Bush
The New York Times reports that the religious right is calling in its markers. Extremely unhappy with President Bush's comments that he wants to privatize social security and overhaul the tax code before worrying about a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, the Arlington Group fired off a letter to Karl Rove which is rather threatening in its tone. It basically says that Bush either pushes forward on the gay marriage ban or the Christian right is going to block the social security reforms. The Arlington Group is jam-packed with heavy hiters from the Christian right: Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, the Southern Baptist Convention, the American Family Association, Jerry Falwell and Paul Weyrich. It's pay the piper time for Bush on gay marriage. And phoning in his support to the giant pro life rally outside the White House yesterday instead of walking outside his house for a photo op has further infuriated the group. Bush does not have the Senate votes for the anti-gay marriage amendment right now and hates to waste his political capital on a losing issue. But either he gives it the old college try, or the Christian right is going to revolt. Will he make it through the political minefield? It's too early to tell, but I know they're grumpy in the West Wing today.
Posted on January 25, 2005
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The Speech Heard Round the World
The fallout from President Bush's inaugural speech has surged around the world like a comforting blanket of ionizing radiation. USA Today provides some tasty reaction soundbites from world leaders and commentators, which range from The Guardian's David Aaronovitch saying that Bush "seems to have terrified a good portion of the world," to Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Younessi's: "We are eagerly looking for the Americans' commandos to come to Iran since they are chicks which would rapidly be picked up by our eagles." Perhaps that last one lost something in the translation -- it probably sounds more menacing in Farsi. The Lebanese paper Daily Star said people in the Middle East were "unimpressed, or moved to frustration or even anger" by Bush's words. The paper urged Arab governments to engage him or risk seeing "U.S. forces toppling statues in ... Tehran and Damascus and who knows where else." But the most bitter blow came from inside the Beltway. The Wall Street Journal ran a column by Bush loyalist Peggy Noonan entitled "Way Too Much God:
Was the President's Speech a Case of 'Mission Inebriation'?" When Peggy Noonan writes that the speech was "God-drenched" and that it "left this Bush supporter yearning for something she does not normally yearn for, and that is: nuance," that's when you know the speech was over the top. Mission inebriation, indeed.
Posted on January 24, 2005
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Bush's Inaugural Speech: To Infinity...And Beyond!
In the weeks leading up to the Bush Inaugural Speech, commentators have argued back and forth about the signals Bush will send about the direction of the next four years. Some argued that, mindful of his legacy, Bush will moderate his stance on foreign policy and strike a tone of reconciliation with our disgruntled allies. Others said that, mandate firmly in hand, W will come out of the chute like a wild bronco -- riding hell for leather towards the neocon utopia. The latter group appears to have won out. The speech was breathtaking in scope. Our president said that our liberty depends on every other country in the world being free. "So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." End tyranny in the world? Would that happen to include the dictatorships of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan? "Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know: America sees you for who you are: The future leaders of your free country." Some one get Bandar Bush on the line, quick. Because I don't think the Saudi royal family is going to be particularly pleased at Bush's endorsement of the reformers who want to overthrow the monarchy. (Woe betide the freedom-hating Doubting Thomases, who want to know exactly what this prolonged campaign of liberty is going to cost in money and American lives.) So, after we end tyranny in every country in the world, free every person on the globe and spread liberty as easily as peanut butter goes on a piece of Mrs. Baird's bread, what's next? Spread American-style democracy to alien worlds? Sounds great! To Infinity...And Beyond!
Posted on January 20, 2005
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Lowering Expectations for the Iraqi Vote
The Washington Post has a mind-boggling article today entitled: "U.S. Lowers Expectations On Iraq Vote
Process Emphasized, Not Turnout or Results." The White House tells us that although a) many parts of Iraq are so dangerous that elections simply can't be held; b) that many election officials have been either killed or intimidated; and c) the Sunnis are going to just sit this one out; these are not signs that anything is wrong in Iraq. We should really just lower our expectations. Just the fact that anyone at all is going to vote shows that things are going just swell. "The election is not going to be perfect," said White House press secretary Scott McClellan, showing his mastery of the art of understatement. Well, I will say this for McClellan: my expectations of a democratic, post-war Iraq have certainly been lowered. So, in that sense, their post-war strategy is working.
Posted on January 13, 2005
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It's Official: The WMD are MIA
The Washington Post reports what most of us figured out long ago -- there were no WMD in Iraq when we invaded. That's the official report, folks, from the White House's own guy. The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) folded up shop before Christmas, sent the spooks home to Langley and called it a day. No nukes, no biological weapons, nada, zip. Saddam was no threat at all. What a surprise. Now, we've taken out the only secular regime in the Middle East, killed around 200,000 Iraqi civilians and put on the kind of recruiting campaign for Al-Qaeda that money just can't buy. As far as bungled foreign policy, the Iraq War is heading for top honors.
Posted on January 12, 2005
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Tucker Carlson Caught in the Crossfire
CNN's Crossfire is no more. The new head of CNN's news programming, Jonathan Klein, also gave Tucker Carlson the boot. Klein let it be known to the media that he thinks that programs in which panelists scream at each other are so yesterday. He said he supposed he was more in the Jon Stewart camp, when it came to the value of screaming pundits. Carlson wants to host a prime time show and Klein had him sub in for Aaron Brown to see how that went. It didn't go very well, apparently. Never fear, Carlson, his bowtie and his rapier wit will most likely join old friend Bill Press over at MSNBC. And he still has his new show over at PBS. I, for one, think Klein made a mistake. He should have kept Carlson and sent Bob Novak packing.
Posted on January 6, 2005
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Clinton and Bush, Sr.: Ex-Presidents to the Rescue
No, it's not a Saturday Night Live skit; it's real life. Stung by the worldwide "stingy" criticism, President Bush stepped up to the plate and finally asked his dad for some help. And I, for one, am all for it. President Bush has asked former Presidents Bush and Clinton to head up fundraising efforts in the private sector to assist victims of the Tsunami disaster. Appearing tonight on Larry King Live in a network first, the two ex-presidents agreed that it was time to put partisan politics aside and show the world that the American people really do give a damn what happens to everyone else around the world. Answering questions from each of their respective homes, both Bush, Sr. and Clinton sounded at ease as they discussed their visits earlier in the day with current President Bush, Jr. to the four embassies of the countries hardest hit by the tragedy. Bush, Sr., now 80, looked and sounded good. He was charming and self-deprecating, even joking that Clinton "beat me soundly in 1992" but that they could still work together. It was shocking really -- we haven't seen that kind of good-humored non-partisan comraderie in years. I think that having the two former presidents visit the embassies in the company of the sitting president sends a message of solidarity to the rest of the world. It's civil, it's caring, and it's the kind of grand gesture that really means something, especially now that it's backed up by an initial $350 million in aid. And it's already working. As Bush, Sr. and Clinton got into the limo after the news conference at the White House this morning, Bush, Sr. got a message on his Blackberry -- a friend offered $1 million. Just like that. And the Blackberry messages kept coming, Clinton said; they'd already raised several million bucks via text messaging. And to all the Luddites out there; if 80 year-old Poppy Bush can use a Blackberry, so can you.
Posted on January 3, 2005
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