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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (104219)	7/7/2003 11:40:17 PM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Hi Neocon; Re: "It [conspiracy to fabricate intelligence] is rather incredible. People who think Rumsfeld could ride into town and, with a few allies, dictate what the bureaucracy is willing to sign, especially without leaking immensely to the media, don't understand Washington very well." There were plenty of leaks. They were reported on the front pages of the New York Times. But the American public didn't want to hear about it, and it was ignored. For example: Washington Post, July 28, 2002 Despite President Bush's repeated bellicose statements about Iraq, many senior U.S. military officers contend that President Saddam Hussein poses no immediate threat and that the United States should continue its policy of containment rather than invade Iraq to force a change of leadership in Baghdad. The conclusion, which is based in part on intelligence assessments of the state of Hussein's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and his missile delivery capabilities, is increasing tensions in the administration over Iraqi policy. ... The senior officers' position -- that the risks of dropping a successful containment policy for a more aggressive military campaign are so great that it would be unwise to do so -- was made clear in the course of several interviews with officials inside and outside the Pentagon. ... Active-duty members of the military have not publicly questioned the direction of Bush's Iraq policy, but in private some are very doubtful about it. ... Retired officers and experts who stay in touch with the top brass, and are free to say what those on active duty cannot, are more outspoken in supporting the containment policy and questioning the administration's apparent determination to abandon it. ... #reply-17803981 -- Carl P.S. For that matter, there were also plenty of leaks to the effect that Rumsfeld was going into Iraq with forces too light to keep the place under control. The local crowd were all in favor of the idiocy. For example: LindyBill, October 13, 2002 The NYT has a good article on the "Top Down" pressure being put on the Military to go to new tactics. I think history will later record how lucky we were to have Rumsfeld as Sec Def at this time. We would never have had the Afghanistan war fought the way it was with an inexperienced Sec Def at the helm. Saved a lot of American lives. The man has been at or near the top of the pyramid forever, it seems, and knows what it takes to get them to change their ways. ... [NY Times] Also, once victory is at hand, it might require an even larger force to pacify Iraq and search for weapons of mass destruction than it took to topple Mr. Hussein. ... #reply-18107240 These were not complaints being voiced by badly bathed left wing cry-babies. These were complaints voiced by the right wing itself. Your man Bush led us into an unwinnable war against the advice of the professionals. And his next step will doubtless be to blame the professionals for giving him bad advice, LOL. What a moron.

To: Neocon who wrote (104219)	7/8/2003 10:03:21 AM
From: Win Smith	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

What's really incredible is the "conspiracy theory" straw man the local W faithful have cooked up. Christine Whitman couldn't keep the political operatives from rewriting everything that came out of EPA to reflect conservative orthodoxy, and Whitman's domain was hardly central to much of anything. With legendary infighter Rummy leading the propaganda campaign, anything remotely resembling truth in the conventional sense of the word didn't stand a chance. Rummy got his war, there was never much doubt about that. The only question is how much it's going to end up costing us. Contracted out on a cost-plus basis to the inner circle of the Friends of Cheney, it sure ain't gonna be cheap.