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TechnoratiCheney Tried to Stifle Dissent in Iran NIE
WASHINGTON -- A National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran has been held up for more than a year in an effort to force the intelligence community to remove dissenting judgments on the Iranian nuclear program, and thus make the document more supportive of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's militarily aggressive policy toward Iran, according to accounts of the process provided by participants to two former Central Intelligence Agency officers.
But this pressure on intelligence analysts, obviously instigated by Cheney himself, has not produced a draft estimate without those dissenting views, these sources say. The White House has now apparently decided to release the unsatisfactory draft NIE, but without making its key findings public.
A former CIA intelligence officer who has asked not to be identified told IPS that an official involved in the NIE process says the Iran estimate was ready to be published a year ago but has been delayed because the director of national intelligence wanted a draft reflecting a consensus on key conclusions -- particularly on Iran's nuclear program.
The NIE coordinates the judgments of 16 intelligence agencies on a specific country or issue.
There is a split in the intelligence community on how much of a threat the Iranian nuclear program poses, according to the intelligence official's account. Some analysts who are less independent are willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the alarmist view coming from Cheney's office, but others have rejected that view.
The draft NIE first completed a year ago, which had included the dissenting views, was not acceptable to the White House, according to the former intelligence officer. "They refused to come out with a version that had dissenting views in it," he says.
As recently as early October, the official involved in the process was said to be unclear about whether an NIE would be circulated and, if so, what it would say.
Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi provided a similar account, based on his own sources in the intelligence community. He told IPS that intelligence analysts have had to review and rewrite their findings three times, because of pressure from the White House.
"The White House wants a document that it can use as evidence for its Iran policy," says Giraldi. Despite pressures on them to change their dissenting conclusions, however, Giraldi says some analysts have refused to go along with conclusions that they believe are not supported by the evidence.
In October 2006, Giraldi wrote in The American Conservative that the NIE on Iran had already been completed, but that Cheney's office had objected to its findings on both the Iranian nuclear program and Iran's role in Iraq. The draft NIE did not conclude that there was confirming evidence that Iran was arming the Shiite insurgents in Iraq, according to Giraldi.
Giraldi said the White House had decided to postpone any decision on the internal release of the NIE until after the November 2006 elections.
Cheney's desire for a "clean" NIE that could be used to support his aggressive policy toward Iran was apparently a major factor in the replacement of John Negroponte as director of national intelligence in early 2007.
Negroponte had angered the neoconservatives in the administration by telling the press in April 2006 that the intelligence community believed that it would still be "a number of years off" before Iran would be "likely to have enough fissile material to assemble into or to put into a nuclear weapon, perhaps into the next decade."
Neoconservatives immediately attacked Negroponte for the statement, which merely reflected the existing NIE on Iran issued in spring 2005. Robert G. Joseph, the undersecretary of state for arms control and an ally of Cheney, contradicted Negroponte the following day. He suggested that Iran's nuclear program was nearing the "point of no return" -- an Israeli concept referring to the mastery of industrial-scale uranium enrichment.
Frank J. Gaffney, a protégé of neoconservative heavyweight Richard Perle, complained that Negroponte was "absurdly declaring the Iranian regime to be years away from having nuclear weapons".
On Jan. 5, 2007, Pres. George W. Bush announced the nomination of retired Vice Admiral John Michael "Mike" McConnell to be director of national intelligence. McConnell was approached by Cheney himself about accepting the position, according to Newsweek.
McConnell was far more amenable to White House influence than his predecessor. On Feb. 27, one week after his confirmation, he told the Senate Armed Services Committee he was "comfortable saying it's probable" that the alleged export of explosively formed penetrators to Shiite insurgents in Iraq was linked to the highest leadership in Iran.
Cheney had been making that charge, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, as well as Negroponte, had opposed it.
A public event last spring indicated that White House had ordered a reconsideration of the draft NIE's conclusion on how many years it would take Iran to produce a nuclear weapon. The previous Iran estimate completed in spring 2005 had estimated it as 2010 to 2015.
Two weeks after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced in mid-April that Iran would begin producing nuclear fuel on an industrial scale, the chairman of the National Intelligence Council, Thomas Fingar, said in an interview with National Public Radio that the completion of the NIE on Iran had been delayed while the intelligence community determined whether its judgment on the time frame within which Iran might produce a nuclear weapon needed to be amended.
Fingar said the estimate "might change", citing "new reporting" from the International Atomic Energy Agency as well as "some other new information we have". And then he added, "We are serious about reexamining old evidence."
That extraordinary revelation about the NIE process, which was obviously ordered by McConnell, was an unsubtle signal to the intelligence community that the White House was determined to obtain a more alarmist conclusion on the Iranian nuclear program.
A decision announced in late October indicated, however, that Cheney did not get the consensus findings on the nuclear program and Iran's role in Iraq that he had wanted. On Oct. 27, David Shedd, a deputy to McConnell, told a congressional briefing that McConnell had issued a directive making it more difficult to declassify the key judgments of national intelligence estimates.
That reversed a Bush administration practice of releasing summaries of "key judgments" in NIEs that began when the White House made public the key judgments from the controversial 2002 NIE on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction program in July 2003.
The decision to withhold key judgments on Iran from the public was apparently part of a White House strategy for reducing the potential damage of publishing the estimate with the inclusion of dissenting views.
As of early October, officials involved in the NIE were "throwing their hands up in frustration" over the refusal of the administration to allow the estimate to be released, according to the former intelligence officer. But the Iran NIE is now expected to be circulated within the administration in late November, says Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and founder of the anti-war group Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.
The release of the Iran NIE would certainly intensify the bureaucratic political struggle over Iran policy. If the NIE includes both dissenting views on key issues, a campaign of selective leaking to news media of language from the NIE that supports Cheney's line on Iran will soon follow, as well as leaks of the dissenting views by his opponents.
Both sides may be anticipating another effort by Cheney to win Bush's approval of a significant escalation of military pressure on Iran in early 2008.
© 2007 Inter Press Service
139 Comments so far
Show AllAfter reading, many of the posts regarding the latest NIE report I realize I need not add anything. However, I thought I would impart something I am doing to try to change the direction our Great Republic has been heading. Many are changing to independent. I applaud this as the Dems and Reps are the same and need to be ousted in their entirety.
Of all the candidates, the only one worth considering is Ron Paul. Yes, he is a Rep but it would behoove everyone to take a close look at Mr. Paul. There is a reason the media depicts him as a "kook". He has consistently voted constitutionally regardless of popularity of issues or his parties' preferences. If you research him in depth, you will see he is the only hope for the future of America. I would like to encourage anyone with a brain and a love of the Constitution and Bill of Rights that has served us so well for so long to do whatever it takes to be able to vote for him in the primary. Some states allow independents to choose a party to vote for in the primary, some only allow independents to vote for independents. I have changed to (Agh…) Republican so I can cast my vote for Mr. Paul in the primary. The day after the primary, I will change back to Libertarian. (After some research, I have decided the Libertarian Party hold the same values as I do. If I could not find a party I felt represented my beliefs I would be independent.) I am encouraging everyone to do whatever he or she has to in order to vote Ron Paul during the primary. If we cannot get him past the primary, we will be stuck with one of the other idiots that currently dominate the campaign.
Happy Holidays to everyone and lets get going! Let us see if we can TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY!!
Before Tenant made is famous "slam dunk" statement, the VP was over at the CIA on a regular basis trying to influence intelligence reports on Iraq. Not much intelligence involved in forcing preconceived conclusions into reports that are suppose to be based on facts.
I know the dems have taken impeachment of bush/cheney off the table, with the exception of Drennis Kucinich--the most level headed member of congress. But how much longer will this travesty these criminals have made of our democracy be allowed to continue? When are the republicans in congress going to do the right thing, rater than the partisan thing, and call for their heads? Nothing less than our democracy is at stake!
Give him an enema and he'd lose 190 pounds.
Quick--somebody give the veep an enema to put him out of his misery.
Guess I'm not an American then. Dang and I was born here. I ften see a far different American, there are many good ones, many of those blog here at CD.
There a many lousy people who are Americans, some are politicians. I've run across some lousy people who were not Americans. All of humanity is the same. Some are great, some are good, some not so good, __ some are evil. Then some are both evil and insane.
Two things Gore Vidal said that should be kept in mind:
1. Americans never learn. It's part of our charm.
2. If you want to understand American politics, all you have to know is that it is composed of only one political party--with two wings on the right.
Those were quoted here in the Mexican political magazine Milenio by Morris Berman--who lives in Guanajuato now.
Berman said that the US is not a society but a group of individuals that compete against each other and are unhappy because of it--that the ambience is one of AUTISTIC HOSTILITY.
My feeling exactly.
Sounds like the MSM bandwagon is starting to take on a few passengers. Olberman, Matthews, Raddatz (ABC), ol' what's her name that got yelled at by Perino. They are starting to lose their fear of the Bush White House and the neocon apologists. Maybe more will start venturing out from the bunker.
Great post there TheNinth.
I remain baffled by reports that allude to Iran's exportation of "high-tech weapons like 'explosively formed penetrators'."
In the pictures I saw, w/ munitions laid out by US Army folks, the shells and their "liquor sleeves" (they look like single-malt scotch containers) had markings in English. (Left over, no doubt, from the Iran/Iraq war when the US was supplying both sides.)
And here's how you can make a shape charge ("explosively formed penetrator" in neo-ArmySpeak). They are definitely NOT "high tech":
They can be cooked up by sticking a detonator through a hole in the bottom of an empty #10 can from the mess hall—or garbage dump—warming up an unfused artillery shell until the high explosive melts, pouring it into the can, two thirds of the way up, stuff a copper cone, point down, into the squishy explosive. You might need a stronger blast tube than the #10 can--a length of cast iron sewer pipe might do the trick.
Let set for an hour to harden, mount triggering device, install, wait for the "guests" to arrive, then serve.
The disks of copper can be cut or punched from a sheet of copper or cut out with tin-snips and spun into a cone by any tinker in an Arabian market stall. Calling these things "high tech" -- from the propaganda lexicon--would be like calling a FESROP "high tech" (pronounced "FEZ rahp," a Field Expedient Scrounged ROck for Pounding [I made that up]).
(PS: The shells, of course, were looted from the myriad (1,000+) ammo dumps Saddam's army had spread around the country, as he/they expected to be fighting a guerilla war. Kind of a WWII Field Marshal Rommel tactic. The looting started even before April 9, 2003, when Baghdad "fell."
(The US military was focusing on "WMD"s, not conventional ammo. And there weren't enough soldiers to "secure" the dumps (guard them), and I guess the search for the ghost WMDs was so frenetic, the troops had no time to blow the dumps or "depots."
(Sad, because c. 50% of our US casualties are caused by roadside bombs (IEDs) and the shape charges because we didn't take care of the ammo dumps.)
Sorry about that, the whole link didn't post:
http://www.natvan.com/who-rules-america/wra.pdf
RE: namoses December 4th, 2007 6:20 pm
You are absolutely correct that our real enemy in the ME is a little country called Isreal, but you forgot to mention the most dangerous lackey in this administration who holds dual US/Isreali citizenship, though...Chertoff. Aside from the truth of 'no man can serve two masters' isn't this a blatant conflict of interest? Oh, I forgot, the USA is now Isreal Lite, and the tail wags the dog, so I guess keeping Isreali spies employed is just somethng our massa(master) demanded. Yassa, boss, issa steppin'!
www.natvan.com/Âwho-rules-america/
Oh come off it:
When you sell you patrimoney--or your soul--for a plate of lentils, those lentils look like Dick Cheney and George Bush.
Apparently you couldn't be bothered to read my previous exhortation for you folks to LOOK IN THE MIRROR.
You are not going to change the degraded soul of your country by painting it pink.
Why do you think Dick has so many heart problems? He's his own worst enemy. Not to mention the World's.
'Americans', as in 'man on the street', are no-more "responsible" for the actions of their State than my Labrador is for my political-views or economic-actions...[and I tire of hearing-otherwise...if you think you have any 'power' in this evolved-arrangement, prove it by actually 'doing something' -- and, good-luck with that...]
Again, point-taken -- but I must wholeheartedly-disagree. America, and its economy/policies/governance/agendas-included is a VAST mix of competing and/or aligned Interests FAR/FAR more complex than any 'oligarchy' you can readily characterize/conceive-of.
It is, of-course, amoral and self-serving and 'dangerous' in-the-extreme, but you cannot/should-not think of it as an 'easy to define' or correct over-Simplification. [If you actually want to 'change the Beast' (and "be careful what you wish-for" if so-doing!), first attempt to 'understand it'...]
Yesterday on CNBC, Chris Matthews blsted Bush for his obvious lies, especially for his last lie, that he was UNAWARE of the contents of the NIE report until last week. I do believe at this point, this issue will not go away for Bush. It was well covered by the media and the press yesterday. We'll see if they continue to cover it. Matthews was flabbergasted by it all and it seemed to be apparent he has jusr had a rude awakening of what Bush really is.
Then Senator Biden came on the program and said in so many words, that Bush was a damn liar and had destroyed our nations credibility world wide, and that made him very angry. Well, Biden is a late comer to speak out, for one who is in a position to know what Bush has already done. CREDIBILITY? How can one destroy something they destroyed four years ago?
Then Biden said that he would not say we attacked Iraq for oil, but he would say, we did so to control the oil in the Mid-East. What a double talking pimp. That is saying the same thing, if it was for CONTROL of the oil, __ then it was for oil.
Then Biden repeated his 'THREAT', that if Bush attacked Iran he would attempt to have him impeached. Evidently Biden believes that Bush should be impeached if he commits a crime. Evidently Biden is selective of the crime. Bush has already committed a long list of impeachable crimes, and in the process, has destroyed our military and bankrupted our treasury and us. Why hasn't Biden and 99 other Senators demanded impeachment for Bush and Cheney for the numerous crimes they have already committed and not wait for them to bomb Iran? Biden is another whore and pimp who is a candidate for the presidency. Bush is far worse and he is our president.
It's weird, but it's true. Every time I see this particular picture of Dick Cheney, it reminds me of Gestapo agents. They looked just as scary and mean.
I've heard they expect 30 million of us to leave soon. But in February new rules go into effect so that, and this may still be pending, we will have to apply to "Homeland Security" to get on a plane in advance of any flight anywhere.... Dick Cheney has been stocking up on oil, filling the 'reserves' and HE'S NOT DONE YET.
Meanwhile, "The Democratic presidential candidates were incredulous that Bush did not know about the assessment's new finding.
Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called that explanation "unbelievable."
"Are you telling me a president that's briefed every single morning, who's fixated on Iran, is not told back in August that the tentative conclusion of 16 intelligence agencies in the U.S. government said they had abandoned their effort for a nuclear weapon in '03?" Biden asked in a conference call with reporters.
"I refuse to believe that," he added. "If that's true, he has the most incompetent staff in modern American history, and he's one of the most incompetent presidents in modern American history."
...
Biden just realized this? Incompetent? No, just plain EVIL.
These bastards won't let "the people" have the country back..
They have much too much to lose..
It is the DUTY of the US military, is it not, to defend the country and the Constitution, from all enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC.. That line seems pretty clear to me and I'm not an American.
This and some other things that have popped through the cracks indicates the professional military and intelligence brass are stalling Iran and waiting for the radicals to leave the White House. Petraus (like Powell and Tenant were) is a company man, but others have said they would refuse to attack Iran, and someone turned in the B-52/nuke plot beore it hatched. Most of these guys are better educated than Bush (even Yale must do occasional social promotions) and Cheney, and have a better understanding of history and law. They are probably pissed off about 8 years of minders and hacks infiltrating their organizations, too. There might not be a "palace revolt", but probably many resignations. Another good sign is Condi Rice breaking from the team (Cheney) on Iran.
Since you guys are going to split the opposition, I'm going to hope Huckabee steals the nomination. He seems like an honest decent fellow who might put a stop to the insanity of PNAC. The special interests will turn him into the next Jimmy Carter, but at least we might have 4 years without new military adventures abroad.
We have a pair of traitors in the White House - - impeach them and their hench-persons, then try them for treason!
You just pretty well summed it up there Iibertas.
As I have written elsewhere, Thomas Jefferson said, "The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."
The Congress and Senate have allowed and assisted the executive in cutting those chains, link by link, for the past seven plus years. We now have a criminal government and no functioning Constitution.
By allowing this to happen, and by blocking impeachment, they have established legal precedent for this criminal government. They are looking forward eagerly toward inheriting it, intact and functioning, for their own use.
BY legal precedent I mean that since it has gone on unchecked for almost eight years by those who are to be the watchdogs of our government, that will pretty well make it legal. Notice that the Supreme Court is either silent, or deciding in favor of the "Unitary Executive." They are overturning the civil rights and woman's rights that were so long fought for, they regularly decide in favor of corporate power over labor or the people's rights.
If the Congress were reestablish the Constitution as the basic rule and guide of our nation and using it properly, impeach the war criminals that are currently running things, then they would not have the current criminal form of government to inherit.
Sorry, but that is the way I see it. I've written, called, e-mailed all of my alleged representatives over a hundred times asking for a return of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, intact and functioning, to the Halls of Government. I have never received any answer to that subject whatsoever. I've even asked them to please give me some arguments to convince me that having a fascist government is necessary for our safety and happiness. All of it is totally ignored.
They are just giving us lip service and patiently waiting in the wings to inherit the wind and sow the whirlwind, upon We the People.
This is what Chimpy (sorry, not one of the brighter Chimps) meant by "Catapulting the propaganda.."!! We thought that was vaguely slightly funny...
Not funny now though..
How can anybody talk about modifying the National Intelligence Estimate .. to fit the agenda.. We know the knuts do it, but to be so blatant about it??
It is well past time that this poisonous, cancerous bunch of evil bastards were strung up as Enemies of the HUMAN RACE..
For Godssake..... What more is necessary to put this dreadful man, this blatant barbarian, this evil warmonger and profiteer, where he and his band of thugs belong??
Isn't this TREASON?? If not, how not??
What DOES he have to do??
Pork George up the arse on the Witehouse lawn???
WAKE THE FUCK UP AMERICA...
Or take what you get...
Does this surprise anyone? This administration has ruled by fear and will continue to do so. If there really was a threat from radical islam why would this administration want to cut terrorist funding at home in half. This is such a crock and a good majority of the people in this country believe them. That is truly sad. Impeach all of them congress included.
Hmmm....."Impeachment if off the table"
What happened to those commandos Bush authorized to penetrate Iran? Does the NIE not starkly reveal the illegality of the mission?
Whenever I see that picture of Cheney ___ I see Eichmann.
I was of the opinion, The New York Times published the entire NIE report yesterday. The press and media in Isreal are already saying the NIE report is wrong. Of course Bush is saying it is correct, but proves he has been right about Iran working to build nuclear bombs all along. This is rather humerous, except the issue is not.
"The White House has now apparently decided to release the unsatisfactory draft NIE, but without making its key findings public."
Are you tired of the "executive privilege" BS yet? I sincerely hope that we are entering a new era of consciousness within the intelligence community. I won't hold my breath but will certainly keep my eyes open looking for continued progress from that community.
Take him down, Dennis! Some of us are with you ALL the way!
Call in Fitzgerald to get him and the other asshole behind bars! (NOT the good kind)
To Dick Cheney in the inimitable words of comedian George Lopez, "Fuck You, Puto!"
Impeachment is not nearly enough.
Jail the bastard!
You are wrong there JROONEY. The report finally came out yesterday and it had been delayed by Cheney and Bush for 18 months. Read it, that fact was published by The New York Times.
Even you stated it seems VERY LIKELY Cheney put pressure on the intelligence agencies to bury the report, then you say it is sloppy reporting. You ever heard of the term wishy-washy? Well, you certainly fit that term with your comment. Bush and Cheney did the same with the 2001 NIE report and because of that, Congress authorized funding the war with Iraq.
It is long past time the piece of execrement that is Cheney was water hosed into the cesspool of history.
Cheney needs to stand a little closer to his microwave tomorrow morning. His appetite for murder and theft is a perversion and must be cured.
Blow Job = high crimes and misdemeanors = impeachment
A warpig administration responsible for the death of thousands, raping the US treasury, spying on American's, willful ignorance in the face of facts, wiping their asses with the most sacred document ever devised by Man, destroying the people confidence in their Government, politisizing every govt. agency, waging economic war on the working people of America =
Just 'BIDNeSS' as usual for the Republican's
God Bless 'merica
Interviewer: "VP Cheney, why did you not serve in Vietnam?
Cheney: "I had other priorities."
That's nice. My father had OTHER PRIORITIES too, Jack Ass, but he went. When will Americans wake up? How can anyone serve under these draft dodgers and feel confident about it? It AMAZES ME! They are a bunch of war profiteers. Bush is still claiming Iran is a threat despite the current weapons report. I think they all need straight jackets. I have no other rational explanation.
This is not news, this is supposition and op-ed. Just because Cheney supports an aggressive stance towards Iran, it does not necessarily follow that he "obviously instigated" a plot to delay or alter the NIE. Certainly, it seems very likely, but it really a guess more than a statement. Even the unnamed sources do not specifically cite Cheney as the reason for the delay.
The author of the story is jumping to conclusions without having any back up. This is sloppy reporting.
from Kem Patrick: "Within hours of the new NIE report being published, the White House Spinners were on the air and explaining that the "new" NIE report, PROVES that Bush and Cheney have been absolutly correct all along, telling us that Iran is on course to have atomic weapons."
I heard this on the news and my jaw dropped. Doublespeak, anyone? But tell me, just HOW do they get away with this? And then Bush claims he didn't know about this until just last Wednesday. Come on! I hope Keith Olbermann jumps all over this nonsense. I don't have much hope the rest of the MSM will take them to task.
for miserable COWARDS who did everything humanly possible to avoid ever, ever putting themselves in danger or serve their country with anything remotly resembling HONOR, Bush and Cheney sure love the idea of war....
they are WAR VOYEURS and PROFITEERS
I posted this comment under another article, but thought it might be more appropriate here.
I was browsing the archives at Thom Hartman's site, and came across an interview he did back in July with Paul Craig Roberts, former undersecretary of the Treasury during the Reagan administration.
It was absolutely chilling to hear this man, who has spent all of his working life in public service as a conservative Republican, vowing now never to vote for another Republican again under any circumstances. And he says the only way to save the country is to impeach.
But more to the point of this discussion, he is convinced that Bush & Co. has no intention of letting themselves or the neocons in the Repubs go down in flames in the 2008 election. Because, he says, he knows the complete cast of characters in the administration and how they think.
Roberts says the reason the Dems don't want to move on impeachment is that they visualize a huge Democratic electoral victory next year on all levels of government. Their plan is to resist impeachment calls until they win the election, thereby letting an enraged electorate "take them out." This way, they don't have to go through the messiness of an impeachment proceeding that they think could possibly backfire on them. And they will still get into office.
Roberts says this is a foolish plan, primarily because Bush, Cheney, and all their neocon friends have made enormous progress in pushing the PNAC agenda thus far, and they are not going to simply and quietly "go away," just because the voting public may want to boot them out.
His contention…and this is coming from a life-long conservative…is that there WILL be a fear-producing event that will turn the elections back to the Republicans or give the administration the impetus to declare martial law, and, as he said, this event will be either real or "orchestrated." (Most likely the latter)
He even gave Hartmann the text of a speech he predicts Bush would give right after the event, blaming the entire attack (or whatever it is) on the Democrats, the liberals, the progressives, the anti-war crowd, etc. Even Hartmann seemed stunned.
I recommend you all listen. It's only a 10-minute interview, but it's frightening.
Use the link below and then scroll down to the calendar for July. It's the July 19 program.
http://www.thomhartmann.com/archive.htm
For all you misguided 'end timers' I would like to point out Armageddon is not a time for you to choose; it is God's will alone to decide the when. If you are trying to speed it up through your own foolish acts, then don't count on being included in the rapture, because you will be guilty of either murder or suicide. Although I don't recognize the Bible as the incontrovertable uncontestable irrefutable 'word', I have read enough of it to proffer to you believers that murder & suicide are the worst of SINS. You are entitled to your own beliefs, but you are NOT entitled to drag we who seek peace down into oblivion because of your dogmatic non-rational non-thinking insanity. This applies to ANY people of ANY 'faith' worldwide.
"that long black cloud is coming down", slowly but surely. His eyes have the look of one in despair; such havoc his misery has unleashed.
iowairish is right. Who would choose to be that ugly, miserable excuse for a man? He was not born that way. I've seen pictures of him from forty years ago. But an old man is responsible for his face. His old pictures and current photos are like a before/after of Dorian Grey.
Karma is a bitch, as I'm sure dick would tell you if he were honest. If I could I would neither add to nor relieve his suffering. We all make our own heavens and hells. Unfortunately others sometimes have to live them with us.
We are ALL connected. He represents the worst in all of us. After all, it was his kind who got elected by using racists code words and encouraging the middle class to join the rich in making slaves of the poor.
Like I said, Karma is a bitch. Now we middle class dummies are finding ourselves
enslaved along with the poor. What goes around...
Contempt for thoughtful analysis. A classic feature of rulers drunk on power.
To the omnipotent man, analysis is a PR tool. The tool functions by granting the illusion of respectability to plans hatched completely by hormones and the crocodile brain.
The answer is known before the analysis begins. The decision process is unaffected by data, evidence, and all the foundations of critical thinking as typically honored in western culture going back to Ancient Greece.
The idea is, apparently, to subjugate the cerebral cortex to the animal passions of lust. The specific brand of lust is avarice.
What a vicious looking bastard. Looks like he bites........LOL
He doesn't have a heart, that is another lie.
To answer your last question, you might ask Bush, God talks to him on a daily basis.
I often wonder, "Why don't they just let him have his heart attack and die?"
Then I muse, "Perhaps he is so evil, even God doesn't want him."
Which leads to the final musing, "Did he make a pact with the devil? Is that why he is still alive?"
Final thought, "How long, dear God, must this go on?"
√ Inside Iraq's Oil Machine" by Luke Mitchell.
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/12/0081830
... it has been relatively easy for oil smuggling inside of Iraq and at the tanker terminal without meters to measure oil flow.
Like the soldier who raped the 14 year old Iraqi girl and then killed her and her family and set her body on fire, Cheney needs to expand the violence to Iran to cover up his crimes.
Plus, every once in a while he needs to fulfill his urge to shoot somebody.
The latest, but 18 month old NIE report was finally released and published by The New York Times yesterday. The NIE report states, Iran STOPPED their nuclear program entirely in 2003. Meanwhile, Bush and Cheney have been telling the world and our Congress, that Iran has actively been attempting to produce nuclear weapons. They knew that was another lie. They knew of the intelligence in the Top Secret NIE report 18 months ago. They thought until yesterday, they had squashed that report, like they had managed to squash Tennants top secret report that Iraq had no WMDs in 2001.
Now that the pussy is out of the sack, the White House staff are in a full mode of damage control,__ Red Alert. Whoop-
Whoop- whoop.__ Lie-lie-lie.
Within hours of the new NIE report being published, the White House Spinners were on the air and explaining that the "new" NIE report, PROVES that Bush and Cheney have been absolutly correct all along, telling us that Iran is on course to have atomic weapons.
Early this morning Bush had a press conference and when questioned if he was aware of the NIE report last year, he replied with, he was aware there was new intelligence concernig Irans nuclear program to have clean energy, but he didn't know what was in that Top Secret report until a few days ago.
Why a bolt of lightening didn't strike him in the head right then after mouthing that incredible lie is beyond me. ___ Will our press and media maintain pressure on this most important story? __ Probably not. __We'll soon see.
CHENEY Has to have the USA invade IRAN, in order to keep his dirty Haliburton cash flowing in...so he can disappear to south amercia wit hthe rest of the Nazis to avoid his War Crimes trial.
The reason Iraq cost so much American young life and resources in the trillions is based on agencies created to advise the president. In the ideal situation they would be non-partisan so they could not be manipulated by the administrations that usually appoints their hacks to support their distorted points of view.
THE ENTIRE SYSTEM OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT has to be revised to reflect an objective opinion based in experience of those agencies charged with security and understanding of where America fits in the affairs of nations. It is not the bastion of freedom as presently held nor is it the citadel of democratic thought. University think tanks should be advising all divisions of government.
I do not think that the USA is anything more than an oligarchy seeking maximum advantage economically and militarily to continue its way of life and power. I do not see that major changes whether Democrat or Republican rule the USA or that revision in the government policies or organizations happening very quickly.
The point of view above: that the American people reflect the quagmire America has created in the world and the results represented by its agencies and government is not far off the mark. There are at least two factions voting in the USA for direction of America and its world position, both support elements of violence and power to achieve hegemony of the USA with its naive view of the world and its people.
Iran is yet another example of distorted vision and a government steeped in paranoia mixing in the affairs of nations it considers to be alien TO ITS POINT OF VIEW!
"Surreal"? What did you expect...it was 'typical' (as it may-as-well be -- none of that crap changed/altered/reversed or influenced ANYTHING even back in the 60's/70's...).
But, 'I take your point'...
During a recent visit to LA, despite the anger that I see bloggers display on these pages, I found no evidence whatsoever of political opposition by ordinary Americans to these horrific rapes by the Bush gang. No demos, no strikes, no robust antiwar discussions even. Nothing that you'd see in places like Brazil, or Pakistan, or even Burma, say. Just shopping, minding their own business, the usual. It was surreal. There seems to be a fear of getting caught up in opposition to the Bushies, sort of like being surrounded by Stasi agents. An honourable liberal church in Pasadena has been effectively gagged by the Bush IRS. Activists are barred from crossing borders. East Germany 2007. No wonder the Dims aren't doing anything. Their constituencies aren't pressuring them. There are many wonderful and humane Americans --- some of whom blog on CD --- but the vast majority, despite the few demonstrations we've seen so far, seem paralysed. That makes all Americans complicit in these War Crimes.
Nonsense...
"Believe-it, the NIE is no 'ruse by Intel to stop any-attack'...in fact, the 'ruse' was the pretense that any attack against Iran was actually-desired or intended (we didn't spend covert-billions and all that 'hard work' over-decades creating this Ruse of 'Islamo-fascism' [an oxymoron, of-itself] and 'required'-GWoT [currently best-justified and rationalized in the ME/Caspian by our expensive paper-tiger, Iran] just to now 'show our hand now' and waste all that by/with any 'attack'). [Nor would we have any carrier-group a 'sitting-duck' in Strait if we feared-one in return...duh!]
When the Shaw 'weakened', these self-same NIE-'Strategists' manipulated all parties-concerned (as they did in '53, only in-obverse) to absolutely-insure a so-called 'Islamic-Revolution' there -- and directly received/achieved 'payment'&control by having the 'returned-from-France Ayatollah-Kocamami' hold our CIA-hostages long enough to usher-in R&B-41 and their 'conservative/pro-business-Era' here [the 'October non-Surprise', remember?], followed by a HUGE-degree of interaction between this nascent 'false-Enemy' and the Mossad/CIA/MI-5&6 [itself following that hugely-BS 'Carter rescue-attempt'], and diverse South American/Argentinian covert-entities, coordinated power-plays in the Gulf including countering our out-of-favor/'weakening-himself' Saddam, and we forced subsequent Iranian money-trails and 'support' for-and-to the 'terror' purportedly against-Israel and all those multiple-schemes regarding ISI-laundered and joint US/Israel/Iranian-nonsense re: Afghanistan, Paki-'terrorism', Syrian false-fronts with Lebanese-targeting, and Hamas/'Infantada'/Hezbollah-baiting, Kurdish&other 'instigation' and abuse, and Intel-'feedback' on a scale unheard-of -- even during the height of the ColdWar. Follow-that with some basic observation of just how eager Iran has been, since well-before '9/11', to covertly-AND-overtly 'cooperate' regards any real-terrorism and "What does that all tell you?" That we find it in our-Interests to attack-Iran, or that we instead continue to USE-it (in exactly the same-fashion we 'used' the USSR in decades-past)?
[Did you not note the 'smirks' on Ineedajob at Columbia, or B-43 just-yesterday -- if you don't know 'why they are smirking', you are just not paying-attention...nor did you notice how 'frowny' B-41 was when 'the USSR-'fell'...]
Iran has NOT been 'under threat' -- it's much-ballyhooed nuclear-program would still be at the stage it was when the Shaw reluctantly allowed the CIA/Westinghouse to 'nudge-it' into-such, had we and Israel/Britain not deliberately-allowed/directed our Paki/ISI-minions and Franco-enablers to elevate-it into today's-'threat'...in furtherance of this overall Propagandist/'GreatGame'-ruse and 'joke' towards a perfect/endless-'GWoT'. Israel and the US have NO (current) ill-intent towards Iran [quite the opposite] -- nor does Iran towards the 'West' [also, quite the opposite].
I've been telling-all this for months-now -- perhaps this 'leaked/surprise' NIE-report will 'offer some Evidence'?"
Can't we all 'get a clue'?
For one explanation of recent events that makes sense and may explain many other things in our lives, a little time spent--- perhaps as little as 30 minutes or so, may enlighten---- just copy and paste or type into " Google search" the following:
THE PSYCHOPATH - The Mask of Sanity
DREAMERTOO, You ask, is there any way we could have someone we trust to oversee the election votes? I would answer with a, big "NO".
We the people have no say anymore, we are just "the flock", and that is how it is. Of course that is becaue, we the people, have been asleep at the wheel and have allowed it to happen. If we the people had any real say, Cheney/Bush would have been impeached long ago.
Prior to our attack on Iraq, the NIE was pressured by Cheney/Bush to alter their annual intelligence report to Congress. They caved in under the White HOuse pressure at the request, or orders of, the Director of the CIA, George Tennent. Apparantely they are not doing so again. ____ So far at least.
In Sept of 2001, Goerge Tennet briefed Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld in the Oval Office with a top secret report which reported Saddam did NOT have ANY weapons of mass destruction and Iraq was not purchasing ANY enriched uranium from Africa. Colin Powell was not privey to that CIA briefing. In anger, Bush demanded that Tennet destroy that top secret document and never speak of it again. Tennent obeyed.
In Oct of that year, Colin Powell briefed Congrss and the public with the altered CIA report. Based upon the lies and shortly after their flawed briefing, Congress voted to give Bush the authority to attack Iraq. Powell later was branded as the one who misled Congress and the American public.
Watch/hear
KUCINICH: Takes House Floor, Moves for Cheney Impeachment
27 min -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJYbgouqlMw
No doubt about it! Dennis Kucinich is the Man!
Speaking truth to the corruptly emboldened kleptocracy...
It was too positive. :(
NIE redacted.
starofthesea agreed and I feel like Hillary vs Guiliani has already been selected for us...what a sham the whole system has become!
Is there any way we could get Ralph Nader's help to oversee the election process (someone Americans trust)?
starofthesea
I couldn't agree more, and I don't have a lot of confidence that the vote in 2008 will be without fraud either.
peacemaker--please clarify what "we" you are talking about. Don't you know yet that BushCo was installed in office. We, the people did NOT elect him. Before you make such claims read some of the volumes of evidence about the total rigging of the elections. In 2000, Gore won even Florda, in spite of all the rigging there and had around 5 million more polular votes nationwide. In 2004, they didn't need to storm the recount effort like the fascist thugs that they aredid in 2000, and have the SCOTUS crown W. They just rgged every state they could get their hands on. Kerry likely won the popluar vote by 11 million. He knew and admitted he knew that New Mexico's results were fraudulant and yet he conceded, despite cries and pleas from the voters who trusted him to insure that their every vote would be counted.
SO spare me the bullshit that WE elected Bush. He and his crime family staged a coup and the Dems collaborated! It's not rocket science and I am sick and tired of people refusing to see just how much work we have to do to take our government and our lives back from those who feel entitled to have it all.
Impeaching Cheney:
1) will be a way to prevent the bastards from bombing Iran
2) will send a message to the world that the USA is not quite as hopelessly lost as they might have thought
3) must be followed by the impeachment of Bush
4) must also be followed with criminal prosecution of both Cheney and Bush for their crimes against humanity, and their contempt for the U.S. Constitution and the human race
5) and the election of Dennis Kucinich - the only real man in the race for president
In response to peacemaker, I wouldn't consider a vote for a third party candidate a "wasted" vote. If a Democrat (eg., Hillary) is going to serve the same corporate, pro-Israeli, militaristic interests as the Republican candidate, and if, as a result of third party voting by disgruntled citizens the Republican wins again, then we do indeed get what we deserve and maybe next time we get a real choice. I have a feeling that things need to get worse before they get better because the American people, by and large, are lazy, stupid, and delusional. When the source of our collective outrage becomes the actions of our government and not the price of a gallon of gas, then we will be on the right track.
Cherry picked North Korean intelligence too?
N. Korea Offers Evidence to Rebut Uranium Claims
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 10, 2007; Page A01
"This is now in the process of being clarified," a senior South Korean official said in an interview. "The North Koreans are now ready to prove that they did not intend to make a uranium-enrichment program by importing some materials."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/09/AR2007110902364.html?nav=rss_email/com...
"Democracy, more than any other political system, depends on a modicum of honesty."
Norman Mailer
Judi, right; both George Bush and Dick Cheney are out-of-control, spoiled brats that demand their way or else. In fact, doesn't that describe all fascist Republicans? Bullies to the core.
The poor, feeble Democrats are scared to death of them.........LOL
Actually, I think the Democrats just go along with the Rethuglicans because they're part of the same one-party fascist system, unfortunately. :(
Excuse my profanity, but "son of a bitch" are the only words I can find for this sob.
Isn't a picture worth a thousand words: What you see in Cheney in this photo is a spoiled brat who will have a bloody tantrum if you don't give him what he wants. Iago incarnated.
Cheney is up to his old tricks again, I see!
Playing with the intelligence and once more going forward with a phony case for war! Cheney belongs behind bars. He does not need just impeaching; he needs a jail cell! Impeach and imprison!
I don't believe in free will, but the sickest among us should not be making decisions that effect the well being of everyone on the planet.
I hope a lot of American's have learned their lesson in voting Republican. But, from some of the comments I have read I don't think so. I think 2008 will be another fascist Republican warmonger in office. Because people won't stick together and vote for someone who can be elected. They are dissatisfied (as I am) with Democrat's so they will waste their vote on some third party candidate who has about as much chance of winning as a snowball in hell does! Then spend the next four years whining about the fascist Republican's! We have what we deserve in the White House folks! We elected him and haven't found the backbone to demand this bunch of thugs be impeached! People should be livid over the squandering, high crimes and abuses this administration has committed. But, no one seems to be able to find their voice! So get used to the abuses guys...it isn't over yet!
Hank said he agreed with "the spirit of Impeachment". So Hank, think about this: The Constitution says that once the House votes for Impeachment, the President does not have the power of pardon whether or not the Senate votes to convict. "The President has the power of pardon except in cases of impeachment".
This is the most important power of the House alone but is always ignored when the subject is discussed.
This Congress is not going to get anything done with the Bush Veto so it would be the best thing for us and the planet for the Impeachment debate to last through this term.... not as good as impeachment, but much better than sweeping it under the rug.
Doing them both together would be the best Justice but it looks like at this point we need to impeach Polosi first.
With Cindy, we will be much better next year in every way.
It seems, thanks to Kucinich, that the process of impeachment has begun and even the opportunistic Dims may not be able to stop it.
We need to put the pressure on our mis-representatives to support it and we need to make sure that the only politician willing to pursue justice and defend the constitution against all odds gets the credit. He has earned the presidency and we should not settle for less.
Hey Hank,
If a terminally ill man raped and sodomized your mama, should we just let him go cause he'll "be dead soon anyway"?
That line of thinking is just plain stupid.
It takes only a vote to impeach. What takes awhile is the hearings. But we shouldn't bother to have them, cause you don't want to know what's going on. Better to keep your head in the sand and wait it out. So what are you going to do when, because there are no consequences, the next idiot in chief continues with more of the same? Wait them out too?
Let's all sit around with our heads up our collective ass and by the time my grandchildren grow up they can live in "big brother" land and democracy will be just a quaint memory.
It's folks like you that are fueling the idiocy of the american people, buying all the crap BUSHCO can sell you. That's patriotism in a nutshell. Don't air your dirty laundry in public, sweep it under the rug and hope nobody notices.
Hope that spewing the partiesline buys you some peace, but be sure it won't be peaceful for long. After we attack Iran, there will be someone else we "need to go after", there will be "domestic terrorists" we need to take out, there will be rights we need to give up....all to keep from letting the world know that our elected officials have no clothes, hearts, or brains.
Yeah, that's the spirit.
Great plan.
Let's just hope that your not the one they toss in jail without charges and without representation. Let's hope it's not your kids or your family that is deemed "enemy combatants". As long as it's somebody elses family, you can keep your eyes closed in that dark, dark hole.
PS Clinton was impeached. The senate voted not to remove him from office. Big Difference.
Pssst. Have you heard from intelligent sources, that (whisper) "yellow cake from...,,, to Iran...."
"Don't worry, be happy" said the babble-on spokesman. Buy a hemi. Ignore the $3-5 sign at the station. We have a good 3 month supply to take care of you gas needs, fighter plane needs, navy needs, etc.,,,,etc.,,,,,etc.
America's $,economy,trust,faith,respect,value have all lost 60% since Bush/Cheneyco took the throne in the last coup ,bad(junnta) management needs replacing.
Impeach-prosecute...before it really is too late and it spreads more.
I'm waiting for Big Dick, Condi and Little George to tell us that the dirty bomb attack is imminent and that those airstrikes on Iran will be quick and painless. For us, that is.
Oh, and BTW, the Iranians will also greet us as liberators.
All the old fatcats like Cheney, Bush and Giuliani that want to "get tough on terrorists" need to buy a plane ticket to Baghdad or Kabul and do some fighting themselves instead of getting our children and grandchildren killed or maimed.
Here's my intuit-hit.
* Iran refuses US treasury notes for anything (oil).
* We launch cruise missiles.
* Russia & China respond & they through out - FLOOD US $$ everywhere.
* Our US economy collapses--we are in Chaos--most in fear.
* The super secret military pulls off a fake, (mock) negative ET landing (s).
* Martial law is imposed due to the most scariest "realities" taking place.
soon there will be no food or water...
on and on and they remain.why?
What is Cheney going to tell us next?? The earth is flat, sun revolves around it, and that he is an honest individual!!! What a joke!! These guys must think we were all born yesterday.