There's a fair amount of skepticism among well-known bloggers about the Presidential Commission to investigate the intelligence failures in the lead-up to Operation Iraqi Freedom. I don't have a lot to add myself, but I'd like to point out some good posts.
First of all, there's the executive order itself establishing the commission. Its mission, in an excerpt from the order:
Sec. 2. Mission. (a) The Commission is established for the purpose of advising the President in the discharge of his constitutional authority under Article II of the Constitution to conduct foreign relations, protect national security, and command the Armed Forces of the United States, in order to ensure the most effective counter-proliferation capabilities of the United States and response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the ongoing threat of terrorist activity. The Commission shall assess whether the Intelligence Community is sufficiently authorized, organized, equipped, trained, and resourced to identify and warn in a timely manner of, and to support United States Government efforts to respond to, the development and transfer of knowledge, expertise, technologies, materials, and resources associated with the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, related means of delivery, and other related threats of the 21st Century and their employment by foreign powers (including terrorists, terrorist organizations, and private networks, or other entities or individuals). In doing so, the Commission shall examine the capabilities and challenges of the Intelligence Community to collect, process, analyze, produce, and disseminate information concerning the capabilities, intentions, and activities of such foreign powers relating to the design, development, manufacture, acquisition, possession, proliferation, transfer, testing, potential or threatened use, or use of Weapons of Mass Destruction, related means of delivery, and other related threats of the 21st Century. (b) With respect to that portion of its examination under paragraph 2(a) of this order that relates to Iraq, the Commission shall specifically examine the Intelligence Community's intelligence prior to the initiation of Operation Iraqi Freedom and compare it with the findings of the Iraq Survey Group and other relevant agencies or organizations concerning the capabilities, intentions, and activities of Iraq relating to the design, development, manufacture, acquisition, possession, proliferation, transfer, testing, potential or threatened use, or use of Weapons of Mass Destruction and related means of delivery.Well! Looks like the questions *I* want to see answered won't be. The primary question is not "What went wrong with our intelligence analysis?" but instead should be, "Was this intelligence misused?" As Billmon says, the fix is in. Josh Marshall says so, too. Hesiod over at Counterspin Central points out that Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, a member of the commission, seems to have already made up his mind. And Atrios points out the Democractic response to the appointment of former federal appellate judge Laurence Silberman, as co-chairman of the commission. Lots of good reading.
Two things I’d like to know: First, the prez is supposedly the man in charge. Why isn’t he taking responsibility for his actions? What happened to the sign that says the buck stops here? Second, if we impeached our former president for lying about a sexual encounter, why are we not impeaching this president for lying about going to war. Maybe I’ve got my priorities backwards, but the consequences of the latter seem so much greater than those of the former.
Hear, hear, Tom Woods! So good to hear another sane voice crying in the wilderness.
This “investigation” is going to be nothing more than a huge, twisted, perverted [and very ugly] out-of-control Neo-Con Luv Fest - the likes of which Woodstock couldn’t hope to rival - I’d venture to predict. I’d rather be spared the pain of hearing all the s.o.s. over again, but there’s about zero chance of that I suppose.
Any way we could get the Bush family fortune to pay for such self gratifying festivities? It seems like another insult on top of injuries already inflicted that taxpayer money will be again swooshing down the huge Bush Economy Drains while a bunch of wealthy, balding N-Cs “party on dude”.
What did you expect?
And:
Do you think they were sucked in by their own propaganda?
David Neiwert at Orcinus also has some comments about the expected whitewashed outcome of this self-appointed — nay, self-anointed — parody of an investigation, with more comments to come he says. He especially puts the spotlight on former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Laurence Silberman, a conservative who served in the Nixon and Ford administrations. As David says:
“He’s not merely a conservative. He’s a jurist who has a proven track record of making decisions, and enforcing policy, based not on the law, reason or basic principles of fair play, but purely on how they will benefit or harm the Republican party. ‘Rabidly partisan’ is an understated description.”
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/20040201dneiwertarchive.html#107610489659604535
p.s. How does one do links and other HTML (like italics) in these comments? Standard HTML and other blog comment tags don’t seem to work.
I SAY TO YOU BLIND FAITH IN GOD__NOT MAN
THIS IS OUR COUNTRY. All Citizens Must Refuse To Submit Nor Allow Ourselves to be Deceived, Coerced, Manipulated into Becoming a SUBSERVIENT MONOLITHIC, OBEDIENT POPULATION.
To Blindly Follow,
a President {Who Many Profess Is APPOINTED By GOD} to Lead a Christian Crusade in The Name of War into The Middle East. NEVER TO BE CHALLENGED, SERIOUSLY QUESTIONED OR HOLD ACCOUNTABLE… Even When His Actions, Beacon Our Conscience For Answers.
THIS ADMINISTRATION REFUSES TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS.
THIS ADMINISTRATION MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO SELECT THE PANEL FOR THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION. THAT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY
OF CONGRESS, NOT OF A PRESIDENT.
IF THERE IS NO CULPABILITY FOR THE DISTORTIONS OF THE INTELLIGENCE ABOUT IRAQ’S WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, THEN AMERICAN CITIZENS MUST KNOW. BUT IF THERE WAS DELIBERATE DISTORTING OF THE INTELLIGENCE…WE HAVE AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT
TO KNOW! BEFORE THE ELECTIONS NOT AFTER!
IT MUST BE CONGRESS THAT APPOINTS THE PANEL__NOT THE PRESIDENT. THAT IS HOW A DEMOCRACY WORKS.
THIS PREVENTS ANY APPEARANCE OF IMPROPER INFLUENCE, FAVOR OR BIAS BEING USED, WHEN SELECTING THE MEMBERS AND HOW THE INVESTIGATION IS CONDUCTED.
THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION MUST RELEASE AN INTERIM REPORT REGARDING PRESIDENT BUSH AND HIS ADMINISTRATION’S PART IN {IF ANY} IN THE MANIPULATION AND DISTORTION OF INTELLIGENCE WHICH WAS PRESENTED TO THE UNITED NATIONS AND TO
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
AMERICA WENT TO WAR__ ON THE BASIS
WHICH PRESIDENT BUSH HAD STATED UNEQUIVOCALLY THAT SADDAM HAD WMDS.
THIS ADMINISTRATION HAD NO RIGHT TO ASSERT WMDS AND IMMINENT DANGER TO AMERICA…IF IT DID NOT EXIST.
NO MATTER HOW ==== MUCH A TYRANT SADDAM WAS AND ALL THE OTHER REASONS THE PRESIDENT MAY COME UP WITH. THE SHIFTING STORIES CANNOT BE TOLERATED IN OUR COUNTRY AS JUSTIFICATION FOR A PREEMPTORY WAR. AMERICA’S CREDIBILITY HAS BEEN SERIOUSLY DAMAGED. {PLEASE READ THE TEXT ENTITLED UNPROVEN: CONTROVERSY JUSTIFYING WAR IN IRAQ}
THE REASON IS OBVIOUS, REGARDLESS HOW
ONE FEELS, NOW, WHETHER YOU BELIEVE THIS PREEMPTORY WAR IN IRAQ WAS WORTH THE LIVES OF OUR SOLDIERS AND THE THOUSANDS OF CAUSALITIES OR NOT, WE NEED TO KNOW
THE TRUTH…CAN YOU TRUST THIS PRESIDENT?
THEN DECIDE DO YOU WANT A DEMOCRACY, OR A MONARCHY?
[The Controversy over Justifying War in Iraqi] http://www.fourthfreedom.org/php/t-d-index.php?hinc=Unproven.hinc
CONCLUSION:
“A strategy of preventive attack depends fundamentally on accurate intelligence and the proper use of that intelligence. Before using military force to strike against another nation or a terrorist network, decision makers must have solid information regarding the exact nature of the threat. But if political leaders and elected officials cannot know reliably whether an alleged threat is legitimate, how are they to decide when a preemptive attack is justified?”
“If the problem in Iraq was not intelligence but the way information was selectively interpreted and misrepresented, this raises doubts about the integrity of political decision making.”
If U.S. and UK leaders presented false or misleading information to their legislatures and world opinion, this threatens the very foundations of democracy.
” Government deceit is always a matter of concern, but it is especially troubling when it involves the most vital issues of national security and becomes the basis for a decision to go to war.”
It is vital that investigators get to the bottom of these issues as they Probe The Unproven Case For War. __UNPROVEN Justifying The case
“Much of what he said, was wrong. It did not match up at all with our information. The entire speech was misleading”
“The information Powell presented about Iraq’s nuclear program was simply incorrect”
“Much of what he said was wrong. It did not match up at all with our information. The Entire Speech was Misleading, __Siljeholm {Norwegian Weapons Inspector}
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/world/article.jhtml?articleID=511811
WHAT IS THE TRUTH? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR “THE INTELLIGENCE FAILURE” ONCE AGAIN?
AMERICA MUST KNOW… OUR CREDIBILITY IN THE WORLD COMMUNITY IS ON THE LINE.
{Permission to Post Everywhere is Granted and Encouraged} I Need Your Help In Getting The
Word Out!
MY NAME IS DESIREE YAGAN. I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT AND STAND FOR JUSTICE 4 ALL.
www.usacitizens4truth.com/desireeyagan.html
Your credibility is already long gone.
Seeing something natural as a naked breast on TV wakes up the whole nation, however invading other countries at will doesn’t wake up much. That’s where the American dream has arrived.
You might spend some time reading the book from Paul O’Neill. After that you might ask yourself who is more evil, Bush or Saddam ? The world would have plenty of reasons on the same criterias to invade the US, but it is much better to leave them to themselves. Who knows who is the next target of the worlds mad man. (Sure not the dangerous ones like North Korea :) )
George W. Bush And the Iniquitous Agenda of the Extreme Right.
America Do Not be Fooled...the threat posed by the Extreme Right is real, extensive, pervasive and DANGEROUS. Signal of AcknowledgmentPat Robertson resigned his position as President of the Christian Coalition On December 24, 2001.
The religious conservatives were extremely excited.
They believed Robertson had stepped down to allow the ascendance of the President of the United States of America to take his rightful place as the head of the true American Holy Christian Church.
Robertson’s act was symbolic, but it carried a secret and solemn revelation to the faithful. It was the signal that the Bush administration was a government under God that was led by an anointed President who would be the first regent in a dynasty of regents awaiting the return of Jesus to earth. The President would now be the minister through whom God would execute His will in the nation.
It is estimated that thirty-five million Americans who call themselves Christian, adhere to Dominionism in the United States, but most of these people appear to be ignorant of the heretical nature of their beliefs and the seditious nature of their political goals. So successfully have the televangelists and churches inculcated the idea of the existence of an outside “enemy,” which is attacking Christianity, that millions of people have perceived themselves rightfully overthrowing an imaginary evil anti-Christian conspiratorial secular society. Subversive and DangerousWhen one examines the progress of its agenda, one sees that Dominionism has met its time table: The Complete Takeover of the American Government was predicted to occur by 2004.[14] Unless the American people reject the GOP’s control of the government, Americans may find themselves living in a theocracy that has already spelled out its intentions to change every aspect of American life including its cultural life, its Constitution and its laws.
Born in Christian Reconstructionism, which was founded by the late R. J. Rushdoony, the framers of the new cult included Rushdoony his son-in-law Gary North {his son-in-law} Pat Robertson, Herb Titus, the former Dean of Robertson’s Regent University School of Public Policy {formerly CBN University} Charles Colson, Robertson’s political strategist, Tim LaHaye, Gary Bauer, the late Francis Schaeffer, and Paul Crouch {the founder of TBN} the world’s largest television network, plus a virtual army of likeminded television and radio evangelists and news talk show hosts.
READ 20 PAGE BRIEF Then DECIDE __CAN YOU TRUST THIS PRESIDENT?
TRUTH ABOUT BUSH CLAIMS ABOUT IRAQ’S WMDs {Published By Fourth Freedom Forum}
http://www.fourthfreedom.org/pdf/Unproven.pdf
Desiree has hit it exactly. Dominionism, Christian Reconstructionism, whatever you want to call it, is Machiavelli cloked in the church. The ends justifies the means, this has been observed in my lifetime before, the Nixon administration, some of the same players in that tragedy are with us again in this administration.
“When those states which have been acquired are accustomed to live at liberty under their own laws, there are three ways of holding them. The first is to despoil them; the second is to go and live there in person; the third is to allow them to live under their own laws, taking tribute of them, and creating within the country a government composed of a few who will keep it friendly to you. Because this government, being created by the prince, knows that it cannot exist without his friendship and protection, and will do all it can to keep them. What is more, a city used to liberty can be more easily held by means of its citizens than in any other way, if you wish to preserve it.” (p. 46)
“Everybody sees what you appear to be, few feel what you are, and those few will not dare to oppose themselves to the many, who have the majesty of the state to defend them; and in the actions of men, and especially of princes, from which there is no appeal, the end justifies the means.” (p. 93)
(Machiavelli , The Prince, original Oxford University Press translation by Luigi Ricci, 1903; revised by E. R. P. Vincent, 1935)
The real question is, “Is the US next at being despoiled?”
Some well footnoted research can be found here:
http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm
Forgot my email in the last post.
Here are a few more links:
http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/JABartlettReviewsTheDespoiling.html
http://www.harpers.org/JesusPlusNothing.html
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16167
On 911:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/022904degrand.html
Allen