Osama-Bin-Forgotten??

[Gimpy]

It sure as hell looks like it!

######
Published on Monday, July 19, 2004 by the Capital Times / Madison, Wisconsin


Bush's Iraq Invasion Hurt War on Terror
by Dave Zweifel

The president made another electioneering foray through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the eastern edge of Wisconsin?last week and repeated his contention that the Iraq war is a war on terrorism and even though we haven't been able to find any weapons of mass destruction, the war was still very much worth it.

The United States is safer as a result, he said.

There are many who will beg to differ with that "safer" notion, some suggesting that it, too, is one more presidential lie.

As a matter of fact, the cover story in the current issue of the national investigative journal, Mother Jones, concludes that the United States is severely less safe than it was before our unilateral invasion of Iraq and the war on terror has suffered a setback.

"In more than a dozen interviews, experts within and outside the U.S. government laid out a stark analysis of how the war has hampered the campaign against al- Qaida," author Peter Bergen wrote. Not only, they point out, did the war divert resources and attention away from Afghanistan, seriously damaging the prospects of capturing al-Qaida leaders, but it has also opened a new front for terrorists in Iraq and created a new justification for attacking Westerners around the world.

Bergen even quotes Kenneth Pollack, one of the leading experts on Iraq, whose book "The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq" trumpeted the case for overthrowing Saddam Hussein, as saying, "My instinct tells me that the Iraq war has hindered the war on terrorism. You had to deal with al-Qaida first, not Saddam. We had not crippled the al-Qaida organization when we embarked on the Iraq war."

A former FBI counterterrorism official, Harry "Skip" Brandon," told Bergen that the Iraq war has served as "a real rallying point, not only for the region, but also in Asia."We've seen very solid examples of them using the war for recruiting," Brandon commented. "I have seen it personally in Malaysia. The Iraq war is a public relations bonanza for al-Qaida and a public relations disaster for us the longer it goes on."

Bergen concluded:

"If the al-Qaida leadership had been wiped out in Afghanistan during the winter of 2001, President Bush might have gone down in history as one of the more adroit wartime presidents. Instead, al-Qaida's leaders and many of its foot soldiers went on to fight another day.

"We deposed the secular socialist Saddam, whom (Osama) bin Laden has long despised, ignited Sunni and Shiite fundamentalist fervor in Iraq, and have now provoked a 'defensive' jihad that has galvanized jihad-minded Muslims around the world. It's hard to imagine a set of policies better designed to sabotage the war on terrorism."

######

And it will get WORSE unless we get rid of Bush & Company!

[zuni_rocket]

Clinton adviser probed about removing classified terror memos
By Kevin Johnson and Susan Page, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON ? Samuel Berger, President Clinton's national security adviser, is the focus of a criminal investigation into whether he improperly removed notes and classified documents from the National Archives during preparations for hearings by the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks.

Gee what do you think about this little matter??And notes by Richard Clark too!He is the guy who tried to embarrass the president, Why would they want to sneak out notes belonging to him HUMMMM?? Oh BTW I am sure you.ve notice the NY Times buried this article and I am sure CNN will not want to carry it so guess you'll only hear about it on Fox.

More News from the most ethical administration !

[SuperScout]

Most people with an IQ equivalent to or slightly below that of a rutabaga will understand that tactical operations/objectives are not broadcast, presented in the mainstream or any other news sources, or generally made public. So it also pertains to Task Force 121, a composite group of special operations folks out playing hide and seek with UBL. A cursory review of the terrain in which they are operating will also reveal to discerning minds that vst difficulty awaits around every nook and cranny, especially in an area replete with nooks and crannies.

Or, if you believe such stalwart achievers of Clintonian foreign policy objectives, Madelaine Allbright, UBL has already been captured by the dastardly Wepublicans, and just waiting to be sprung upon the voting public in the long-awaited October surprise.

Gentle readers will also be reminded that the #3 man in Al Qaeda has been in custody for months, and that many others of lesser import have been sent to their 72 virgins. And don't yo just love it when alleged authorities write, "... If the al-Qaida leadership had been wiped out in Afghanistan during the winter of 2001, ..." only makes one want to ask the question: "If a frog had a pocket, would he carry a gun and shoot rattlesnakes?" Playing conjectural games is cheap journalism, and very suspect as well.

[Seascamp]

This journalistic musing is an excellent example of the workings of the first law of synergistic sewage. This law clearly states that one glass of fine wine in a vat of sewage yields a vat of sewage.

First point to be made is that nobody except someone driving a false agenda would describe Saddam or the Iraq during his tenure as ?secular socialist?. Yikes, talk about describing a rabid, hungry, mangy wolf as a friendly, fat, pissy puppy. Alas, the Tjites prefer this re definition as it makes their associated bluster, blather and defense of Saddam go down sooooooooooooooooo much easier.

How about Baathist Nationalists coupled direct drive to a corrupt, brutal rubber stamp dictatorship, eh? About the only ?socialist? aspect were the generous helpings of loot and Iraqi national wealth Saddam and his family/tribesmen and Baathist cronies gave to themselves and friendly helpers in France, the UN, etc.

Secular for sure, but Saddam advertised himself as a very, very pious man and did all kinds of stagy stuff where he was going through the obligatory five time daily prayer routine. Pure Saddam hypocrisy in action, absolutely, and produced for the sole purpose of wooing the faithful. Ha, where is the ACLU when ya need them, LOL.

Scamp

[firemedic]

The war on terrorism was delt a very big blow when we put our bootprint on Afganistan and Iraq. America has now geographically and politically divided the Middle East, eliminated a large number of Al Qaeda operatives, and now has bases of operations directly in their back yards. I suggest that anyone complaining is just whinning because their political party isn't in office. Quit whinning and support the troops!

[reconeil]

Your: "Whinning because their political party isn't in office", pretty-much sums up most all Democrat Leaders and Democrat wannabe leaders and their propagandists,...truly quite well.

Still, it is too bad that so many of their duped followers actually believe their greatly deceiving, quite duplicitous and self/clique aggrandizing above all others incessant WHINNINGS (Bush bashings also).

Regardless, and in fairness to such fanatical ideologues, "They" are just as UNITED in mind, body, soul and effort,...as are our enemies and/or terrorists. It's really too bad that such: "United We Stand and Divided We Fall" political mind sets don't similarly help-out America, as once did long ago.

Nowadays, Leftist Ideologues (both foreign and domestic) have DIVIDED Americans more so today,...than ever before in Our History. Hope such power hungry ABOVE ALL ELSE fools and their duped followers eventually come to their senses,...since Terrorist WMDs won't just kill Conservative Republicans ALONE.

Neil

[Seascamp]

Ah, just something that Dave Zweifel would never, ever report on as it is not PC (politically convenient) or advisable for a healthy media career to be honest or factual. But he wanted to put up hotshot, levered editorial pap that included Asia, zo?.

Recently we were presented the anti-Iraq involvement demonstrations from Miranda Plaza in Manila. P.I. President Gloria Arroyo struck some kind of deal, and the Iraqi terrorists have released the Philippino hostage. On the negotiation plate was the removal of the Philippine team from Iraq. In that the P.I. has a significant Moslem population, the assumption was made or forced or presented by our media that it was the Moslems that were demonstrating. More stinky fish as it turns out. One of the demonstrators had a placard stating, ?Tuta Ngkano? or ?American Dog?. Ha, dead give away, flash from the past, a page from my VN War 7th fleet days.

The demonstrators weren?t Moslems at all but leftist activists from the University in Manila and that type placard has been around since Hector was a pup. Those who passed through the Philippines during the Vietnam War probably remember the warnings about the Huks and the ongoing war against the Soviet-backed Huk guerillas. These days the Huks have morphed into the NPA or ?New People?s Army? and the war is still going on and on and on some four decades later. It is strongly alleged that the NPA is a direct associate the University leftists and, of course, this is vehemently denied by the named University Profs.
NPA machine gun attacks on the farmer?s market areas in Tayabas and more recently in Pagbilow resulted in a number of deaths and one was the sixteen-year-old daughter of a Manila Judge. She was a member of the attacking/machine gunning NPA and on her ?right of passage? mission. As well, she was a freshman at the supposedly ?not involved? University (In the P.I., first year university age is sixteen). I guess that the young neophyte revolutionary hadn?t been taught that people shoot back when shot at and a shotgun blast ended her brief revolutionary terrorist career right then and there. The head Red is Joseph Maria Sison but has the trick nom de guere of, ?Joma?. Joma lives a luxurious life in Switzerland and I suppose that the neo definition of ?power to the people? is a posh Swiss villa and 400 hp Mercedes Benz touring cars in the garage, or so it is alleged and documented. Joma is on hard times these days as the international financial pressure put on terrorist groups has resulted in his Swiss bank accounts being frozen. So yah, he has good reason to break out the old placards and get after the, ?Tuta Ngkano?. Then that begs the question as to where is Joma has been getting his copious amounts of money and where is he influence peddling, etc. Maybe the ?Tides? of time will reveal all that information but I do know that the NPA engages in extortion, summary executions, ad hoc road blocks for the collection of, ? revolutionary taxes?, kidnapping for ransom, intimidation and similar cash flow generating activities for the benefit of ?poor? Joma and associated Red Lieutenants. The Red terrorist boss in Quezon Province goes by the name of Ka Roger or ?Brother Roger?. Hell of a ?Brother?, I?d say. On the other hand, no quarter is given or expected when the P.I. Marines or Army corners a group of NPA terrorists and that is an ugly, ugly story, for sure.

Also, the term ?Philippine Troops? is being used by our media with regard to the Iraq situation so that begs the question as to what kind of troops the PI sent? Well, not troops at all, but a medical team, unarmed police instructors and security instructors were sent.

With the Abu Sayeff (Arm of Al Qaeda) and the decades old MILF (Moslem International Liberation Front) in Mindanao, and the NPA in Quezon Province, the P.I. Government has their hands full so I?m surprised they sent a contingent at all. But not to worry, the newly anointed Tjite VP candidate has already insulted the hell out of the PI with his alarmingly stone dumb, ignorant, comments and that has been the buzz of Manila town editorials and reason to question the wisdom of sending a humanitarian aid contingent to Iraq in the first place. Gloria Arroyo was just up for reelection so any connects anywhere were on the plate for cussing and discussing, etc., etc. Her opponent was Fernando Poe, the P.I. actor/movie version of our action movie creation the ?Terminator?. Zo, the PI could have got the ?Presinator?, but no election luck for Poe this time around. At 4?10? tall I?d say President Gloria Arroyo has to be a real ball of fire to deal with all that is going on and mighty, mighty tough as well. But that?s my opinion.

Scamp

[Gimpy]

Kenneth Pollack, one of the leading experts on Iraq, whose book "The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq" trumpeted and laid out the case for overthrowing Saddam Hussein, was quoted as saying, "My instinct tells me that the Iraq war has hindered the war on terrorism. You had to deal with al-Qaida first, not Saddam. We had not crippled the al-Qaida organization when we embarked on the Iraq war."

:cd: :cd: :cd: :cd: :cd: :cd: :cd:

[Seascamp]

There is a difference between expert analysis and instinct, not the same thing at all. However, the more one knows about something, the better chance that gut feel is in the ballpark. As well, the better the chance that gut feel and past prejudice can influence a bad call so care must be taken. Plus rendering a spot call with a fluid situation or with the parameters moving around, yet to happen or with incomplete information, has a high probability of rendering the call obsolete the instant it is given.

The lack of reliable digits and stats about Al Qaeda limit judgment making to known and verified things and that is on an ?as ya go basis?. No doubt that the known and core information about Al Qaeda is now substantial and growing, highly classified, but still incomplete. Now, I will digest the 9/11 Commission report and see if we are self-critical about knowing very little or nothing about Al Qaeda/Al Whabbi and if not, why not. We had well over a decade to get a handle on all that, so why were/are we caught up so horribly short when the chips were down. If we can?t answer these basic questions then we can fully expect to get hit time and again no matter what we are doing or where, or who is supposedly in charge.

So with all due respect given to the instincts of Mr.Pollack, I would like to know on what date these instincts were provided and I would like to see the full context of the thought and where the he was heading and what point was being argued. And as an associated thought, why was an expert of such obvious high caliber going on gut feel about such an important issue? Now that is scary, I?d say.

A couple of carefully selected sentences that are cut-pasted in an opinion may be interesting but are not conclusive or representative of anything but an opinion supported by carefully selected information, no more.

Scamp

[reconeil]

That: "Expert analysis" is flat-out nonsense, and only Clinton Era and/or internationally inept or uninterested in foreign affairs fools could buy into such a "Chamberlain"-like and naive sort of advice.

Besides, wasn't as The Iraq Expert (expert my ass) suggested: "...deal with al Queda first, and then Sadam", physically impossible? That would've been just as smart as saying back in WWII to: "...deal with The Nazis first, then Hitler", or more recently: "...deal with al Queda first, and then Osama".
All three are quite stupid, since all intertwined and one and the same.

Neil