Where’s the Outrage?

That just doesn’t look right. Al Qaeda is or is it Al Qaeda are? Anyway, more to the point, the Bush administration continue to tell us that Al Qaeda remains dangerous but it appears that we aren’t doing anything to decrease that danger. It appeared that we tried to bomb an Al Qaeda outpost in Pakistan and instead bombed some Pakistani soldiers. Look for me it is very simple, if Al Qaeda cause 9/11 we need to hunt down these guys no matter where they are. If they surrender, then they will be put on trial. If they don’t they should be shot. It is very simple.

—————

From NYT:

Late last year, top Bush administration officials decided to take a step they had long resisted. They drafted a secret plan to make it easer for the Pentagon’s Special Operations forces to launch missions into the snow-capped mountains of Pakistan to capture or kill top leaders of Al Qaeda.

Intelligence reports for more than a year had been streaming in about Osama bin Laden’s terrorism network rebuilding in the Pakistani tribal areas, a problem that had been exacerbated by years of missteps in Washington and the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, sharp policy disagreements, and turf battles between American counterterrorism agencies. (more…)

Tags: Al Qaeda, Bush Administration by ecthompson
No Comments »

• Surprisingly, FEMA is getting good grades from midwest flood victims then again midwesterners are really nice people. Good for FEMA, finally.
• What? McCain doesn’t know how to use a computer? Heck, my 4 yo grandson tells me to go to Disney.com and then I need to let go of the mouse. My 72 yo father who died several years ago, could send those racy internet jokes and could type of letter in Word. McCain is running for President and can’t use a computer. Now, who is elitist? I’m guessin’ that Senator McCain has someone do his computer work for him.
• Nice article on how doctors know a ton of stuff but we still have a lot to learn with Cardiology in specific and Medicine in general.
• Jerry Seinfeld wrote an Op-Ed about George Carlin. “We were talking about Tim Russert and Bo Diddley and George said: ‘I feel safe for a while. There will probably be a break before they come after the next one. I always like to fly on an airline right after they’ve had a crash. It improves your odds.’
• Violence in Iraq.

[Read more →]

Tags: Al Qaeda, Domestic Issues, Healthcare, Media by ecthompson
No Comments »

this is the late-night weekend edition

• In spite of the criticism and outright bashing that comes from bloggers and politicians about the mainstream media, in general, and the New York Times, in specific, there are a few things in the New York Times (and papers like it) do better than anyone else. Scott Shane has a fabulous article on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind 9/11. The article takes us inside the interrogation. He shows us the good and the bad inside the CIA. This is a must read article!
• Did you miss this article? 1200 prisoners escaped from a prison in Afghanistan. 350 of them were Taliban fighters. What is this a Hollywood movie?  Oh yeah, we have Afghanistan under control.
• Oil producing and Oil consuming counties are meeting in Saudi Arabia. With $140 per barrel oil, it seems that the oil-producing countries are somewhat worried about oil prices. I guarantee they do not have our best interests at heart.
• The banking industry has yet another reason to worry. It appears that Americans are cash-strapped. Therefore late payments are at an all-time high for car loans, small business loans, construction loans — everything.
• Barack Obama and John McCain see the government’s role in flood protection a little differently. The levee system is a mess and only the government can coordinate and fix them. Regional and not local plans are needed.
• I’m sorry. I paid too little attention to Zimbabwe. The situation in this African country has been deteriorating for a while. National election results have been ignored. Robert Mugabe is enacting an all too familiar story. The one-time liberator has now become the oppressor. Government assassins are roaming the countryside gunning down opposition leaders.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Domestic Issues, Foreign Affairs by ecthompson
1 Comment »

We have known about the President and Vice President’s web of lies which led up the war in Iraq for some time. The book Hubris, by David Corn and Michael Isikoff, does an excellent job of documenting what was wrong and why we knew them to be wrong. The Los Angeles Times runs a story today about the findings of the Senate intelligence committee. The article had to do with the difference between what the president and vice president said and what was actually known. These facts are in Hubris but it is the first time that a government committee has come to the same conclusion.

From LAT: Statements in dozens of prewar speeches and interviews created the impression that Baghdad and Al Qaeda had forged a partnership. But the report concludes that such assertions “were not substantiated by the intelligence” being shown to senior officials at the time.

Claims that Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta had met with an Iraqi agent in Prague, for example, were dubious from the beginning and subsequently discounted. The idea that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had provided chemical and biological weapons training to Al Qaeda hinged on intelligence from a source who soon was discredited.

Bush officials strayed even further from the evidence in suggesting that Hussein was prepared to provide weapons of mass destruction to Al Qaeda terrorist groups — a linchpin in the case for war.

In October 2002, for example, Bush warned in a key speech in Cincinnati that “secretly, and without fingerprints, [Hussein] could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.” The threat was repeated frequently in the run-up to war but was “contradicted by available intelligence information,” the committee says.

On post-war prospects, the report contrasts the rosy scenarios conjured by Cheney and others with more sober intelligence warnings that were being presented to senior officials.

Cheney’s prediction that U.S. forces would “be greeted as liberators” was at odds with reports from the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency, which warned nearly a year earlier that invading U.S. forces would face serious resistance from “the Baathists, the jihadists and Arab nationalists who oppose any U.S. occupation of Iraq.”

I interview Michael Isikoff about the Scooter Libby trial. I chat with David Corn about this important book. also.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Bush Administration, Iraq, Valerie Plame by ecthompson
1 Comment »

Monday’s News:

• Remember the story about Al Qaeda members who were associated with the USS Cole bombing that were walking around free in Yemeni. Well, a Yemeni judge has picked up Jaber Elbaneh and thrown him in jail. I’m not sure what that means or how long he will stay there, but this is a good first step (seven years too late. )
• Dick Morris, who regularly appears on Fox “News,” wrote an incoherent piece in the Washington Post yesterday. I’m still trying to deconstruct it. I think he is trying to say that Senator Barack Obama is ahead of Senator John McCain now, but that McCain can close the gap. I think that’s what he means, but I’m just guessing.
• An American soldier was using the Koran as target practice. Major General Jeffery Hammond held a meeting with Iraqi leaders and officially apologized to a group characterized in the article as Iraqi leaders. Did they mean the religious leaders or the other guys? If it was religious leaders, then it was a meaningful gesture. If not, then it doesn’t mean so much.
• There was a great series in Washignton Post on childhood obesity. Physical Education, which should be re-named “physical activity” since there isn’t a lot of education going on, needs to be mandatory in our schools. If a student has a physical handicap, then they should do best they can, but everyone needs to exercise. As a country we can save billions if we would all exercise.
• The Supreme Court was able to agree on something that wasn’t a five to four decision. They upheld a child pornography law with a seven to two vote. I found the dissent by Justices Souter and Ginsberg rather thoughtful.
• Obama picked up a couple big endorsements by today Senator Robert Byrd and Billionaire Warren Buffett. This comes just ahead of tomorrow’s primary in Oregon and Kentucky.
• I almost forgot something, which is statement in itself. The suffering in Myanmar is going to get worse before it gets better. More outside relief is being let into the country. And in China, there was a moment of silence for those who died in last week’s earthquake. The whole country stood in silence at 2:28 in the afternoon. The numbers that are slowing coming in are mind-boggling. Since the start of the rescue effort, 158 rescue workers have died in landslides .

Tags: Al Qaeda, Domestic Issues, Supreme court by ecthompson
Comments Off

It has been a little while since Keith Olbermann had a “Special Comment.” Olbermann has four major points about an interview yesterday that President George Bush gave to Politico.com and the users of Yahoo.

• The election of a Democratic President could emboldened the enemy. This, of course, is nonsense. It is fear-mongering. It is so 2004. The country has moved past this.
• I was told they had Weapons of Mass Destruction, said Bush. This is the “It wasn’t my fault” defense that Bush has used in the past. Olbermann is not letting him get away with that weak answer because the buck stops at the President’s desk. The President is the one that appointed those knuckleheads. He was the one that didn’t ask for objective opinions.
• Finally, there was that great quote: “I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the Commander in Chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.” President Bush has said some painfully uninformed things over the last 7 years, but this may be the worst. It seems that he gave up golf not for Lent but not for the Iraq War.  Olbermann really lets Bush have it on this one, and he should because the idea is more than condescending. Oh, but, is this just another spin job? The Associated Press has photos of President Bush playing golf after the death of the UN envoy.

Olbermann’s “Special Comment” might of been a little over the top but he was correct. Bush isn’t sprinting to the finish line like he said. He is limbing. If he were a boat he would be listing to one side. I guess the one thing that is clear is George W. Bush is the worst president in the last 50 years. In fact, he maybe the worst president, ever.

 

 Countdown - Special Comment [12:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Al Qaeda, Countdown, Iraq by ecthompson
4 Comments »

When I read this, I couldn’t believe it. I thought that the guys who plotted the attack on the USS Cole were caught, sentenced, and now behind bars. I guess I missed something. Some of those who were caught were thrown in jail only to be later released.

So, what kind of cooperation are we getting from the Yemeni government? The bad kind, I guess. This is why I don’t believe that we are truly waging a war on terror. We should do what is necessary to protect our citizens. I know that the Israeli government would take out these suspects if the Yemeni government would not do the “right” thing.

—–

From Washington Post:

Almost eight years after al-Qaeda nearly sank the USS Cole with an explosives-stuffed motorboat, killing 17 sailors, all the defendants convicted in the attack have escaped from prison or been freed by Yemeni officials.

Jamal al-Badawi, a Yemeni who helped organize the plot to bomb the Cole as it refueled in this Yemeni port on Oct. 12, 2000, has broken out of prison twice. He was recaptured both times, but then secretly released by the government last fall. Yemeni authorities jailed him again after receiving complaints from Washington. But U.S. officials have so little faith that he’s still in his cell that they have demanded the right to perform random inspections. (more…)

Tags: Al Qaeda, Bush Administration, Foreign Affairs by ecthompson
3 Comments »

Obama thoughtfully questioned Petraeus and Crocker in an effort to figure out the end point in Iraq. Of course, we know that neither Crocker nor Petraeus can or will give a straight answer. That’s because there is no end point- that’s the whole purpose of the War.

The War’s goal posts keep moving. First, we needed to oust Saddam Hussein. Done. Then, we needed to set up an Iraqi government. Done. Then, we needed an elected Iraqi government. Done. Now it seems we need peace and tranquility without Al Qaeda and without any Iranian influence before folks like John McCain will believe that we can withdraw. What? How is that possible?

Tags: Al Qaeda, Election 2008, Iraq by ecthompson
2 Comments »

Senator John McCain asks if Al Qaeda in Iraq is a major problem. Interestingly, McCain further asked if Al Qaeda is a minor sect of Shiites. The fact is, Al Qaeda is a Sunni sect. This isn’t the first misstatement that McCain has made.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Election 2008, Iraq by ecthompson
2 Comments »

Somebody pinch me. Did the president just pull out an oldie but a goodie? Al Qaeda is on the run. Isn’t it time for us to catch these guys who are “on the run”?

From October 25, 2006 -

Q Are we winning?

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely, we’re winning. Al Qaeda is on the run. As a matter of fact, the mastermind, or the people who they think is the mastermind of the September the 11th attacks is in our custody. We’ve now got a procedure for this person to go on trial, to be held for his account. Most of al Qaeda that planned the attacks on September the 11th have been brought to justice.

Extremists have now played their hand; the world can clearly see their ambitions. You know, when a Palestinian state began to show progress, extremists attacked Israel to stop the advance of a Palestinian state. They can’t stand democracies. Extremists and radicals want to undermine fragile democracy because it’s a defeat for their way of life, their ideology.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Bush Administration by ecthompson
2 Comments »

I remember some story about Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader,  flashing across my computer a week or so ago.  I can’t remember what it was about.  Omar fired somebody for not following orders.  My question is why is this guy in charge of anything besides a prison cell?  Why isn’t he pushing up daisies?  Somebody help me understand.

Tags: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda by ecthompson
3 Comments »

Did you see the initial reports on this incident? 5 gunboats approached one of our Navy groups. Gunboats? What is that? Is that a destroyer? Is that a PT boat like McHale’s Navy? I suspect that everyone remembers the damage that even a small boat can do to one of our large boats like the USS Cole. 17 US Sailors were killed. So, I think that most Americans were aware of the dangers when one of our boats gets approached on the open water.

Code words were being throw around. “Provocative.” by the Americans while the Iranians were using phrases like “ordinary encounter.” Well, which is it? A quote from one US official stated that the Destroyer was very close to firing. This can’t be good. We can’t be ordinary on one hand and very close to firing on the other hand. Then the video comes out. On the video you can hear a voice clearly say, “I am coming to you. … You will explode after … minutes.” Officials were telling us that this was an Iranian voice. Okay. If you say so, but it sounds weird. It sounds not right. It sounds like a college prank like some dubbed in the voice and did a rather bad job of it.

Now, we have to add to the mix a story that really didn’t get much play but was very important. 2 F-18 Hornet fighter jets crashed in the area on the same day. 2 pilots and one crew member were recovered in good condition. The planes were lost in the sea. Were these incidents related? The Pentagon didn’t think so.

Let’s turn up the heat on this. We have the Republican debates where each candidate tried to out Clint Eastwood the other. Huckabee, with his preacher background had the winner of the night, they (the Iranians) would be introduced to the gates of Hell (not an exact quote but close). (An honorable Eastwood should go to Fred Thompson who delivered the “they will be introduced to those 40 virgins” line.) President Bush, not one to let an opportunity to get by him without bashing the Iranians, stated, “We viewed it as a provocative act.” He went on to say, “It is a dangerous situation, and they should not have done it, pure and simple.”

The Iranians put out their own version of events. It sounds nothing like the American version. Now, finally, we have an opportunity to look at everything that transpired. The Iranian boats were nothing more than modified fishing boats. I have seen the same type of boat out at many area lakes. The Iranians did have weapons but they were clearly no match for a Destroyer, a Cruiser and a Frigate. It is not clear where the voice came from. This is key. We have no idea if the voice came from one of those gunboats or the shore or from a sailor on one of our ships. We have no idea. I would like to commend the Commander of this group and their crew for not firing. A huge and ugly international scene could have been started right there. (this is very much like that Tom Clancy movie with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, Crimson Tide, but this was for real.)

Tags: Al Qaeda, Bush Administration, Iran by ecthompson
Comments Off

Now, I don’t what to be picky but US supported politician Benazir Bhutto is dead. Supporters of Nawar Sharif have been shot with a high powered rifle just a couple of days ago and what’s up with Osama Bin Laden? Has there been any attempts on his life in the last week or so. How about the last month? I thought we wanted him dead or live?

 

 Where's OBL? [1:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Al Qaeda, Bin Laden by ecthompson
Comments Off

Okay, so you remember that British Al-Qaeda plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airlines?  The plot was revealed last summer (2006) if I’m not mistaken.  The mastermind of that plot was a guy named, Rashid Rauf.  He was arrested in Pakistan back in August.  This was a good thing.  Well, it seems that somehow, he has escaped from Pakistani intelligence.  One minute he is being transported from a court appearance, the next minute he is gone.  Nobody knows nothing.

Friends of Rauf believe the escape was staged and he was shot by security forces.  Unfortunately, nobody has found a body therefore, it is hard to prove this theory.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Pakistan by ecthompson
Comments Off

I’m not sure that I have the answer to the question - Who killed Bhutto? First, she has as many enemies as friends in Pakistan. Secondly, Al Qaeda benefits from chaos but not from the increased attention that the US would put on the organization. Thirdly, Pervez Musharraf and his guys seem to benefit the most. President Musharraf is deeply unpopular for the resent crackdown on freedom, liberty and the people of Pakistan. If he can calm the unrest without Marshal Law and jailing thousands, then he could be seen as an effective leader. No matter how he plays his cards, Bhutto was really the only opposition that had a chance at winning in the January election.

———

From WaPo:

Even before the official search got underway in Pakistan, U.S. intelligence agencies yesterday were drawing up their own list of possible suspects in the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto — a list that includes al-Qaeda as well as elements of Pakistan’s own intelligence service.

In the initial hours after the slaying, intelligence officials had no firm indication of who was behind the attack and no independent means of verifying any early claims of responsibility. But it was quickly clear that numerous groups possessed both the means of carrying out the assassination and a deep antagonism toward Bhutto and the moderating influences she embodied, according to several current and former officials closely tracking the situation. (more…)

Tags: Al Qaeda, Pakistan by ecthompson
Comments Off

When you operate on someone who has a life-threatening injury, it is usually pretty clear why the patient died. We have heard nothing from the hospital where she was treated. Instead, we have heard several different types of rumors. Benazir Bhutto was killed by an assassin’s bullet. She was killed by shrapnel. Now, the government has stated that she died by hitting her head and sustaining a skull fracture. Now, as a surgeon, I can say without any doubt that who ever took care of former Prime Minister Bhutto knows the real answer. This isn’t even hard.

The finger pointing continues.

———-

From WaPo:

The government, contradicting earlier reports that she had been killed by bullets or shrapnel, said Friday that Bhutto died from a fractured skull sustained when her head slammed into a sunroof lever on top of her armored SUV, apparently as a result of the blast from a suicide bomber’s explosives.

Pakistan’s interior minister, Hamid Nawaz, blamed the attack on the al-Qaeda terrorist network and Afghanistan’s Taliban movement — radical Islamic groups that have found support in Pakistan’s unruly tribal areas after being driven from power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2001. But Bhutto supporters assigned responsibility to the government of President Pervez Musharraf, charging that, at a minimum, it refused to take adequate steps to protect Bhutto following her return from exile in October, when she narrowly escaped an even deadlier assassination attempt. (more…)

 

 Video moments before Bhutto's death [5:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Al Qaeda, Pakistan by ecthompson
Comments Off

As usual, we only get half of the story.  Waterboarding worked.  We got information which disrupted several plots.  On the other hand, Brian Ross of ABC News didn’t really ask about false information that sent federal agents on wild goose chases.  He didn’t mention that Abu Zabayduh was mentally disturbed from a head injury that he suffered years earlier.  He also didn’t mention that James Risen reported that the FBI was getting good information out of Zabayduh without torture.

Why did this CIA operative speak out now?  Do you smell a book deal in the air?

——–

From ABC News:

A leader of the CIA team that captured the first major al Qaeda figure, Abu Zubaydah, says subjecting him to waterboarding was torture but necessary.

In the first public comment by any CIA officer involved in handling high-value al Qaeda targets, John Kiriakou, now retired, said the technique broke Zubaydah in less than 35 seconds.  (more…)

 

 ABC News interview [4:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Al Qaeda, National Intelligence, Torture by ecthompson
1 Comment »

President Bush had 2 very close friends on the world stage. They were Tony Blair of Britain and John Howard or Australia. I’m not sure that it is necessary to point out the complete and utter failure of the Bush doctrine. For those who still believe, they will continue to see nothing but good that has come from our muscular myopic foreign policy. The good can not be over estimated because it is almost non-existent. The bad can be measured in a number of ways including the defeat of Tony Blair and John Howard.

John Howard was so taken with the Bush doctrine that he attacked Barack Obama right out of the gate. The day after Barack announced that he was going to run for president, Howard pulled a Cheney. He shot someone in the face. He basically said that a vote for a democrat was a vote for Al Qaeda. (see video below)

Glen has a great post on Howard’s defeat with 2 cents from Atrios.  Words of wisdom added from TCR.

———-

From NYT:

Australia’s prime minister, John Howard, one of President Bush’s staunchest allies in Asia, suffered a comprehensive defeat at the hands of the electorate on Saturday, as his Liberal Party-led coalition lost its majority in Parliament.He will be replaced by Kevin Rudd, the Labor Party leader and a former diplomat. “Today Australia looks to the future,” Mr. Rudd told a cheering crowd in his home state, Queensland. “Today the Australian people have decided that we as a nation will move forward.”

Mr. Howard’s defeat, after 11 years in power, follows that of José María Aznar of Spain, who also backed the United States-led invasion of Iraq, and political setbacks for Tony Blair, who stepped down as Britain’s prime minister in June. (more…)

 

 Howard loses [2:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Al Qaeda, Bush Administration by ecthompson
1 Comment »

America is my home. We have great traditions. I love my home and my traditions. One of our quaint traditions is based on Judeo-Christian heritage. It is the tradition of trying to do the right thing. The Bush Administration has changed this to - anything that we do because we are Americans is by definition the right thing.

One of those people that hate America and our traditions is Deroy Murdock. He penned an article last week for the National Review. He begged Bush to embrace waterboarding. He states that Bush should, “reinstate waterboarding, proudly and publicly, so America can get the information we need to prevent Muslim-fanatic mass murder and win the Global War on Terror.”

Earlier in the article, Deroy uses Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the 9-11 mastermind, as the example that waterboarding is a great technique and one that “every American should be proud.” He lists a number of Al Qaeda operatives that KSM turned over. Mr. Murdock doesn’t reveal that we don’t know if KSM told investigators this information before or after he was waterboarded. He also leaves out the volumes of false information that KSM spewed. A NYT article questions KSM’s claims - It is not clear how many of Mr. Mohammed’s expansive claims were legitimate. In 2005, the Sept. 11 commission said that Mr. Mohammed was noted for his extravagant ambitions, and, using his initials, described his vision as “theater, a spectacle of destruction with KSM as the self-cast star, the superterrorist.”

[Read more →]

 

 Another Murdock among the world's worst [2:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Al Qaeda, Torture by ecthompson
Comments Off

I know. I know. The neocons are going to say that because of the “surge” more Americans are in harm’s way. Yep. That is correct. My question is why are they over there in the first place. What is our goal? A Jeffersonian Democracy? Iraq able to defend itself from whom? Iran? If that’s our goal, then we should have left Saddam in place.

So many lives lost for no clear reason. Very troubling. Very sad.

(BTW, when did the spelling of Al Qaeda change?)

————-

From MSNBC:

Six U.S. troops were killed when insurgents ambushed their foot patrol in the high mountains of eastern Afghanistan, officials said Saturday. The attack, the most lethal against American forces this year, made this year the deadliest for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion.

The six deaths brings the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan in 2007 to at least 101, according to a count by The Associated Press — the highest annual death toll for the American military here since it invaded to oust Taliban and al-Qaida fighters after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The war has evolved into an increasingly bloody counterinsurgency campaign.   (more…)

Tags: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Iraq by ecthompson
Comments Off