A Blue Ribbon Commission, convened to "investigate" the Big Lies War.
Sheeeit.
Posted by Sonoma at March 24, 2006 04:39 PMOh the G WB Admin will build permanant bases in Iraq; and the fools will build them as far away from the oil fields with out giving any thought.
Posted by ROGNM at March 24, 2006 04:52 PMAw, Geez. "The President will pay attention?" Did he pay attention to the 9/11 Commission's recommendations?
Look, here's what happened. Bush I and his people thought that their pals Cheney and Rumsfeld and Powell would be the "adults" guiding Bush in the right direction. Instead, Cheney and Rumsfeld went crazy after (or possibly before 9/11), booted out Powell and cut off all contact with the evil-but-sane people like Bush I, Baker and Scowcroft.
Now the evil-but-sane people, representing Bush I and Clinton, are forming a kind of shadow government to try to counteract the certifiably insane Cheney. I wish them well because, evil as they are, they are better at governance (please compare the handling of Gulf War I to Gulf War II if you want to see what evil-but-sane foreign policy looks like). But it will do no good. Bush is nuts, Cheney is nuttier, Rumsfeld is the nuttiest of all, and they are not listening to anyone, not even Bush's dad.
Posted by M.A. at March 24, 2006 05:10 PMI am so tired of hearing myself make the same argument again. I believe Dubya is his own man. Yes, others have agendas and use their influence to achieve those agendas. But we invaded Iraq because Dubya wanted to, not because others desired to. I believe Dubya's primary reason for invading Iraq is to prove to himself (and everyone else secondarily) that he is a better man than his father. Dubya is serious about leaving the decision of whether to cut and run to the next President. He is not flexible enough intellectually to find alternate solutions and has backed himself into a corner given the claims he has made over the last 3 years. No commission, no matter how eminent, is going to be able to ovecome Dubya's need to prove that by defeating Saddam he is the alpha male. The risk to Dubya of backing away is that his victory will be snatched away from him. This commission doesn't need to have open access to all the bases, data, history, etc. They need to have open access to Dubya's emotions. If they are to have any hope of success their most important priority will have to be to find a way to allow Dubya to believe that he has won his victory over his father. Everything else is irrelevant unless that solution is found. Only then will Dubya allow America to win. I hope not but I believe so.
Posted by Paul Lucic at March 24, 2006 05:58 PMUpon hearing of the proposed Baker commission, the administration said, a la _Donnie Brasco_, "forget about it."
Bush and Cheny are NOT afraid of Virginia's Wolf.
Posted by TIKI AL at March 24, 2006 06:07 PMThe US military already has four "permanent" bases in Iraq. And they are not mobile.
Posted by tempus at March 24, 2006 06:49 PMSmoke and mirrors.
The die is cast, the Rubicon crossed, about 2 years ago.
The purser setting the clocks on the Titanic.
I hope he wore his crepe soles.
If the Baker commission's first task is to hand Bush and his co-conspirators over to the Hague, they might be able to end this mess; otherwise, they'll be whistling in the dark.
Posted by Brian Boru at March 24, 2006 08:49 PMI believe Dubya is his own man. Yes, others have agendas and use their influence to achieve those agendas. But we invaded Iraq because Dubya wanted to, not because others desired to.
Interesting take on things. And there is some truth to it. He's certainly stubborn and immature, with an inferiority complex vis-a-vis his father. If that's being one's own man, then I do suppose the shoe fits. Of course, the invasion of Iraq could never have taken place without the PNAC gang that surrounded this stubborn and immature twit, and propped him up for the half of the country that would vote Republican. We can't discount their influences and desires.
As for Baker not doing cartwheels upon learning he would have to figure out a solution to the mess the little brat has caused, uh, James, you were all gung ho to help him steal the election in Florida, so if you actually can help in some way or another, you should be doing so - on your knees begging for forgiveness in the process.
Is anyone really surprised that that Papa Bush would have to try to fix things? George W(orld's biggest failure) Bush has the reverse Midas touch. His dad has had to bail him out every time he has been given a project and turned it to crap. Why anyone - especially the American people, and incredibly especially the 33-36% that still believe him - keep giving him projects is beyond me, but the more he screwed up, the higher his folks promoted him.
Goodness, the bastard is still young, where's he gonna go next?
Posted by Liveliest Crib at March 24, 2006 09:26 PMI had thought about hearing Wilson speak last night here in Washington state but after reading today what he had said last night I am glad that I did not go. What is surprising is that Wilson has been a vociferous critic of the Bush Administration and a former diplomat but seems to be unaware of the findings of former General William Odom, who has stated that the presence of the U.S. military is primarily responsible for civil unrest in Iraq. Odom recommends establishing a coalition of forces from Europe, Japan, South Korea, China, and India which would help to secure the area from the eastern Mediterranean to Afghanistan and Pakistan. But Odom recognizes that this is not going to happen until and unless the United States withdraws its forces from Iraq.The journalist Nir Rosen, who has spent much time reporting on the fighting in Iraq, had reported a few months back in The Atlantic that the insurgency will collapse once the U.S. does the sensible thing and withdraws from Iraq because the resistance will have nothing to resist against. For a person of Wilson's intelligence to argue against withdrawal is simly stunning. How many more dead American and Iraqi and coalition forces will it take and how many more Americans will have to end up with fractured skulls, severed spines, limbs which have been ripped apart by bombs, eyes which can no longer see, psyches which have been brutally scarred from the horrors of war, Americans waking up screaming from what they have encountered in a combat zone, before Wilson and other miltaristic minded Democrats, as well as Republicans, think that it is finally time to withdraw the troops?
Posted by Erroll at March 24, 2006 09:44 PMSteve,
The idea of permanent bases in Iraq are very real. Halliburton got the contract to build them.
These are just any military bases though: try super, city-bases each with their own airport, apartments, fast food eateries and even car dealerships for families stationed there for years to purchase a car.
Nevermind Bush (and Joementum's) claim that troops will come home by 2009 -- no fucking way. Think Germany, Japan and Guantanamo Bay. It's a permanent deal.
Posted by Christopher at March 24, 2006 09:50 PMMy take on Amb. Wilson is that he believes we need to take responsibility for this mess, and not by saying it, but by doing it. Because we created it. If we just leave, then how much more blood will be on our hands?
But it will take a bigger man than george w bush to do that, or Lee Whitewash Hamilton or James the Fixer or Vernon Jordan or any other suite of DC Insiders.
Posted by Duckman GR at March 24, 2006 10:11 PMNo doubt James Baker's primary assignment is to get this sucker fixed BEFORE the 2006 midterm elections.
Posted by islander at March 24, 2006 10:32 PMit will go forward, bipartisan, the establishment must be righted..
Posted by rend at March 24, 2006 11:03 PMLivliest Crib, don't worry, Duh!bya ain't going anywhere after this gig. There won't be a speech circuit beyong the Waco Chamber of Commerce that will pay much to hear him poorly read someone else's words. He will shrink to Crawford and become a flaming jerk. Laura will move to Houston by 2011, and when bush follows he will be very uncomfortable. People will want to yell at him in public. He will shrink further into Crawford. He will be drinking by 2013. The healthiest president will be rubble by 2015. He will die relatively young, and when he does, he will leave hundreds of millions, with no explanation of where it came from. His daughters will still have no jobs or contribution to anything.
The end.
Today's New York Times lead story-
It turns out that New York State has a 2 to 4 billion dollar budget surplus this year, so lawmakers are looking at tax cuts. So much for the Dems' argument that "capital gains and dividends tax cuts don't work."
Richard W. Crews, interesting screenplay. Is there any way to fast forward to that "the end" part?
Posted by Sharon at March 25, 2006 03:43 AMBzezinski recently put forward a "three point" plan along these lines as well---announced withdrawal, a diplomatic "Congress of Baghdad", with more international commitment.
Dems running for House seats really need some coherent quasi-uniform message on Iraq that is being repeated or at least referenced in the press. As it is, they are being forced to propose 30 different Iraq "plans".
Of course, this would just be a campaign strategy. Our chances for an international commitment to resolve the Iraq Debacle ended with the disastrous election of 2004. No other sensible country will have anything to do with the insane Nero Jr and his team of clown-princes and unqualified, blindered reactionary operatives. By re-electing Nero, we showed ourselves to be mentally defective as a democratic people.
Hercules could not cleanse these Augean stables and the long term political and economic consequences of this nightmare are not calculable. Most likely result: Google "Spanish Empire".
Posted by euzoius at March 25, 2006 05:45 AMIt turns out that New York State has a 2 to 4 billion dollar budget surplus this year, so lawmakers are looking at tax cuts. So much for the Dems' argument that "capital gains and dividends tax cuts don't work."
NYS has the highest tax rate in the country. That's why they have a surplus, it has nothing to do with federal tax cuts on capital gains or dividends. And, you seemed to have missed this point, NY's debt has gone up 73% over the past ten years:
There is also concern about the state's level of indebtedness. From March 31, 1995, to March 31, 2005, New York State's debt grew to $48.2 billion from $27.9 billion, up 73 percent, and increased to $2,509 from $1,537 per capita, according to an analysis by Alan G. Hevesi, the Democratic state comptroller. Under Mr. Pataki's budget plan, debt would increase more than 17 percent by the end of the decade, to $56.6 billion. It is unlikely that the Legislature will cause that number to shrink.
"Having these high debt levels in a state where local taxes are the highest in the country is driving the economic condition of the state into peril," said Elizabeth Lynam, deputy research director at the Citizens Budget Commission, a business-backed policy organization. "If they end up increasing spending by as much as they're talking about and supporting it with surplus money, it's going to represent a real lost opportunity," she added.
Posted by ann at March 25, 2006 05:53 AMWhen his own defense couldn't even convince himself, Ben finally comes clean. How about that....a conservative finally forced to take some personal responsibility. Unfortunately, this about the same as when Bush "took responsibility" for the failures of the federal government in the Katrina resonse - pretty much meaningless.
Posted by ann at March 25, 2006 06:31 AM"No doubt James Baker's primary assignment is to get this sucker fixed BEFORE the 2006 midterm elections." Posted by islander
I suspect that you are correct Islander, since the War is going to be a political issue in the midterm elections, and in the 2008 elections. However, I cannot fathom GWB listening to anyone. By what criteria would Bush I measure the feasibility of Bush II listening to others, much less those who were associated with his Administration like Baker? One has to remember that we are not dealing with a mature, thoughtful, centered and psychologically healthy pResident. If we were, we would not need an Iraq Rescue Team to intervene and we certainly would not be involved in this War. Bush will not listen because he doesn't want the history books to say his Daddy had to intervene to save his butt.
Posted by Judith at March 25, 2006 06:55 AMhttp://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article353501.ece
Battle lines being drawn in Baghdad. Said to closely resemble Beirut just before it began to blow itself apart.
So now that this little adventure has turned out exactly I said it would four years ago... now what? Will the region live through it or is this the start of the end of the world as we know it?
Posted by TheTruth at March 25, 2006 07:29 AMPoppy can send his fixer if he wants, and I heartily approve that grown-ups are going to intercede.
But it won't work, this thing is too far gone.
We are headed for a big crash, and multipal cat 4 and 5s during this globally warmed summer season will signal the begining of the end of our current geopolitical way of doing business.
Predicting the outcome is difficult, but all efforts at trying to get back to the right path will help to cushion the blow.
One thing is clear, the cargo cult once known as conservitism must be eradicated, and the earth salted. W did not execute consevitism incompetently, he is the very face of what conservitism is. Conservatism, like communnism, was tried and found lacking.
It is a dead worldview, only held by a few denialists and lunatics. I hold that lobotomies are appropriate for those who still cling to their delusions. Enforced if necessary.
Posted by SnarkyShark at March 25, 2006 07:30 AMGolly, it'd be swell if the eminences grises could salvage something out of this mess, but wouldn't they need the White House and Pentagon to go along with their plan? Like that's gonna happen. Does HRH George W. show any signs of willingness to take advice, or to hand over control of his "historical" Iraq initiative? Unless James Baker and GHWB have incriminating photos they've kept in reserve, this bipartisan commission idea is like suggesting we solve Iraq by convincing Sasquatch and his cousin Yeti to herd unicorns into Baghdad.
Posted by biggerbox at March 25, 2006 08:20 AMEuzoius posted on 25 March 2006 at 05:45 AM:
Hercules could not cleanse these Augean stables and the long term political and economic consequences of this nightmare are not calculable. Most likely result: Google "Spanish Empire".
Euzoius, I presume you're referring to the Spanish effort to retake the Seven Provinces, which resulted in completely bankrupting the Spanish treasury. Their war also destroyed the Spanish economy because of the inflation and imported specie the Spanish used to fund the war. Of course, it also kicked off the Thirty Years War (a war of religion I might point out) which finally resulted in the complete collapse of the Spanish military (Roicroi comes to mind and the last of the Spanish tercios).
Condi's, Rummy's, Dick's and the Dummy's Great Mesopotamian Adventure has all of the hallmarks of the Spanish effort to subdue the Dutch. It looked easy on paper, but the target just didn't cooperate as everybody thought. I guess the real question is do we settle for a metaphorical defenestration this time or do we get the real thing. If the Czechs can persuade Baker to hold the conference in Prague, maybe we will have some real hope.
Finally, isn't this great plan for which Baker will be working exactly the same thing that Kerry put forward in his campaign? What makes anybody think that Dubya and the posse are going to accept it? What makes anybody think that the world community is going to accept working with Dubya? They might have agreed to work with Kerry, with the US using the argument that the previous administration was an aberration. They know the American people returned this idiot and butcher to the office knowing what he was doing. Only Dubya's and Cheney'e removal from office would seem to offer a way out for the US. Will Baker and Poppy Bush support his son's total humiliation? That's the price they must be willing to bear to make penance to this nation for illegally foisting this incompetent on the nation. Let's see just how manly they prove to be.
"Unless James Baker and GHWB have incriminating photos they've kept in reserve, this bipartisan commission idea is like suggesting we solve Iraq by convincing Sasquatch and his cousin Yeti to herd unicorns into Baghdad." Posted by biggerbox
Biggerbox, unless they are going "to make an offer he can't refuse."
Posted by Judith at March 25, 2006 09:00 AMI agree with Judith. Dubya will only dig his heels in when the Baker-Hamilton Commision reports its findings for Iraq. Dubya cannot admit to making mistakes, and changing course in Iraq would be admitting to a whopper of a mistake, and that is not going to happen. Also, unless by some miracle Democrats take over the House and Senate after the 2006 Election, there is no one to force Bush to change course with regards to Iraq. Republicans in Congress are like the impotent Roman Senate during the reign of the Emperor Caligula. No matter what crazy shit Dubya does, the Republicans in Congress will only look on in horror and do NOTHING to stop Dubya.
Posted by Merlin1963 at March 25, 2006 09:05 AMOr maybe there is another way:
Senate Sets Hearing On Call To Censure Bush...
Associated Press | March 25, 2006 at 08:03 AM
The Republican-led U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Friday it would hold a hearing next week on a call by a Democratic lawmaker to censure President George W. Bush for his domestic spy program.
In a one-sentence notice, the panel said the hearing would be held next Friday by the order of its chairman, Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who has opposed censure.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060324/pl_nm/security_eavesdropping_dc
Posted by Judith at March 25, 2006 09:26 AMEven if the Russians were feeding Ant Man false information on how many times Bush fell off his bicycle, that doesn't stop the reality that Saddam was not as threat and had no WMD.
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Is anyone really surprised that that Papa Bush would have to try to fix things?
What no one yet has pointed out is that there i sonly one person with the power to 'make' Poppy take this job on - Bab$!
What this fact demonstrates is that Dubai-yeah is a Mama's boy, which explains a whole lot about his Oedipal fixation on proving he's more of a tough-guy than Poppy was.
Poppy - for all of his willful conservative blindness and willing support of Carlyle Group projects - isn't a stupid man, or the Chinese would have eaten him for breakfast while he was Ambassador and asked for seconds. He's too smart to get into Dubai-yeah's problems without a powerful force pushing him - and if Bab$' 'beautiful mind' is bothered, that is a tempest as powerful as Katrina that no Bu$h male can withstand.
Posted by pessimist at March 25, 2006 11:21 AMif Bab$' 'beautiful mind' is bothered, that is a tempest as powerful as Katrina that no Bu$h male can withstand.
pessimist - I remember some talk last January that babs was unhappy with cheney - he was making jr look bad - and she was going to force some changes in the Spring. Speculation at the time centered on job changes with bushco. Maybe this is the way babs is exerting her influence.
Posted by Jim Faith at March 25, 2006 12:47 PMWell, if Babs is unhappy, everyone in the Bush family is unhappy. Momma may tell Junior that if he doesn't make some changes, he will no longer be welcome at family gatherings (and she would mean it).
Posted by Judith at March 25, 2006 01:41 PMjoe wilson remains a spook working for the sr bush array of spooks.
if consigliere baker gets involved with the iraq misadventure, it will be a "hoovering" mission. engorged and dick'em have failed to collect the loot for the bushit crime family - now jimmy has to figure out how to extricate the looted funds from iraq. a challenging task. at this stage, perhaps beyond jimmy's shady ways.
Posted by albertchampion at March 25, 2006 06:58 PMBlue ribbon retreads- what a sack of shit
Posted by k at March 25, 2006 08:45 PMSteve,
The idea of permanent bases in Iraq are very real. Halliburton got the contract to build them.
These are just any military bases though: try super, city-bases each with their own airport, apartments, fast food eateries and even car dealerships for families stationed there for years to purchase a car.
Nevermind Bush (and Joementum's) claim that troops will come home by 2009 -- no fucking way. Think Germany, Japan and Guantanamo Bay. It's a permanent deal.
Posted by Christopher at March 24, 2006 09:50 PM
*****
Christopher speaks the truth.
This war will be indefinite.
Posted by God Of War at March 25, 2006 10:15 PMAlpha male??
Bush is more likely to take the spot of "Alpha Snail". He is slippery, slimy, and certainly conveys roughly the same IQ.
Posted by tempus at March 26, 2006 10:02 AM