Even ex-CIA men are getting into the forefront of this vast....evil.. left-wing conspiracy to discredit the Bush administration. The nerve of these guys... http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/23/cia.iraq/index.html "Drumheller said the administration officials wanted no more information from Sabri because: "The policy was set. The war in Iraq was coming, and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy." CBS said the White House declined to respond to the charge and that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said Sabri was just one source and therefore not reliable. But Drumheller said it was not unusual for the administration to rely on single-source stories when those stories confirmed what the White House wanted to hear. He cited a report the CIA received in late 2001 that alleged Iraq had bought 500 tons of uranium-containing compounds from Africa. "They certainly took information that came from single sources on the yellowcake story and on several other stories with no corroboration at all," he said. OK guys...let's fess up and call a spade a spade. If some of you think that because Saddam was the baddest of the bad...the most evil of the evil and he needed to be singled out amongst many evil leaders out there for removal to ensure the survival of the free world then I guess I'll have to believe that's the way you feel......in spite of the facts that suggest otherwise. Evil yes...a threat to the free world? Come on....
<<<Drumheller said that, before the U.S.-led attack on Iraq in 2003, the White House "ignored crucial information" from Iraq's foreign minister, Naji Sabri, that indicated Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.>>> Gee, can you believe that we didn't believe the Iraqi foreign minister. I guess that we should have listened to Baghdad Bob about how well the Iraqi army was doing and surrendered. So if you're a cop and going after a suspect and you're told by someone he's armed. Someone else says he isn't do you act as though he is armed or are you plain stupid? Just so we're clear, we know Saddam had WMDs and had used them on Kurds and Iranis in the past. Some reports said he didn't have WMDs, some did. If you're going to be wrong, which way is the more intelligent way to go?
I questioned that too Gipper but the jist of the article is that the CIA person here feels that credible intel was there to suggest no WMDs. Strange source for the article not to elaborate further though on why that individual was credible.
What I don't understand is that we know Clinton, with similar intel believed that there were WMDs. I've read where Russia, Britan and Egypt believed there were WMDs. Part of the problem was that Saddam wanted his neighbors to believe that he had them even if he'd gotten rid of them. If the ahole had let the inspectors do their work unfettered, if he'd allowed his scientists to be interviewed, if he'd been open about it he wouldn't be in a cell. This country has more monday morning QBs discussing foreign policy than China has rice.
The real problem is that he DID have them...and moved them to Syria while we negotiated and he stalled for time, and where they're still available to be used against us...
I want to preface this by saying “I don’t think that the US controls Israel.” I do believe that we do influence them. What if the America was to go to Israel and say: “We are going to withdraw our troops from all areas of the Middle East and let you go play.” I am sure that we would very quickly find where those WMDs went. Israel would sustain high losses but they would engage in all out war… not a police action after a few months. Israel would end the terrorism issue buy making a parking lot out of all Middle Eastern countries that harbor those criminals. Israel does not have bleeding heart liberals that divide the country. They have the resolve that this country used to have a long time ago. If all of Islam hates us and wants to see us dead, then I see no room for negotiation. Wage war and once begun, take it to the end. Ask the leaders of Islam: “What can the US do to end this anger towards us?” If the answer is nothing (and it is), then they have just signed the death warrant for even the civilians (men women and children) of Islam. The vermin must be eradicated. Now, what is the difference between the terrorist view and my view? I am willing to live with Islamist people without any anger toward them if they would do the same. I only care to eliminate them BEFORE they eliminate me, a defensive posture since they have expressed a desire to see all Americans dead and have acted upon that desire. When was the last time that you heard anyone from Islam giving the Rodney King speech: “Why can’t we all just get along?”
Cindy and I did the tourist thing in New York City this past Sunday. We used the MTA rail system to get from Fishkill into the city, a 91 minute train ride to Grand Central Station. Taxis and “hush puppies” were our only source of transportation around the city. We saw many different nationalities of taxi drivers. One stands out in my mind. We left Time Square going to lunch at a highly recommended restaurant called “Virgil’s”. The taxi driver took us past the “Diamond district”. He was quick to tell us that the Jews owned this area. He went on to tell us about a driver that found a case of diamonds left in his cab and actually returned it to the Jews. “They have too much money already, those Jews. He could have lived comfortably and they would not have missed the money.” It never crossed his mind that it was the right thing to do. Was it a hatred for the Jews or greed that made him think this way? I think that it was hatred. He was from an Islamic country in North Africa. He is one of those that kindles his anger in front of Americans in order to make a better living than he could in his country.
Actually, we used 6 taxis throughout the day. All six of the drivers understood enough english to get us where we were going. I was amazed. :wink:
A while back a friend of mine went to NYC to visit his daughter who'd moved there. He was trying to describe my home town to me. His best line was that NY was a lot like Paris except a lot more people in Paris speak English.
We were only able to make assumptions about driving. Assumption 1: After living in New York for at least 6 months, you lose the ability to drive if your horn does not work. Asssumption 2: Italian New Yorkers cant drive and talk at the same time. (Left hand out the window animating their words and right hand on the horn) :wink:
I just returned from NYC myself. Virgil's by the way has great BBQ as you now know Tom. Someone suggested to me this week that in NY they already have alternative fuel that makes cars go......it's called a horn. :lol:
Cindy and I both had the pulled pork platter. They do BBQ right. That means something coming from a person that lives in Texas. :wink: