Saturday, September 11, 2004
Remember the reason for this anniversary: Followers of an ungodly religion followed it faithfully. All faithful followers of Islam, or any other religion with similar tenets, are enemies of our nation as well as of our God. Death is their just reward.
More than a dozen current and former owners and family members are among the president’s top re-election fund-raisers, an Associated Press review found. Seven are Bush “Rangers,” each raising at least $200,000, and six are “Pioneers” who have brought in $100,000 or more.
The Bush campaign has also received direct contributions from owners and executives of more than half of the sport’s 30 teams, the AP analysis of Federal Election Commission reports found.
Those include $2,000 contributions from owners George Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees, Fred Wilpon of the New York Mets, Carl Pohlad of the Minnesota Twins, Peter Magowan of the San Francisco Giants and Michael Ilitch of the Detroit Tigers.
For example, FEC reports show, Bush received $2,000 contributions from Orioles slugger Rafael Palmeiro, who played for the Rangers when Bush was an owner, and from New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, the highest-paid player in the game.
Three years after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency has fewer experienced case officers assigned to its headquarters unit dealing with Osama bin Laden than it did at the time of the attacks, despite repeated pleas from the unit's leaders for reinforcements, a senior C.I.A. officer with extensive counterterrorism experience has told Congress.
The bin Laden unit is stretched so thin that it relies on inexperienced officers rotated in and out every 60 to 90 days, and they leave before they know enough to be able to perform any meaningful work, according to a letter the C.I.A. officer has written to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.
MILWAUKEE, Sept. 14 -- Forget soccer moms and NASCAR dads. The most important demographic in these parts transcends gender and geography -- it's Green Bay Packers fans.
Both candidates are targeting them with the ferocity of a Brett Favre bullet, but only John F. Kerry has fumbled the name of the hallowed grounds on which the Packers play, the frozen tundra of Curly Lambeau Field.
PHOTO CAPTION: John Kerry stumbled in Wisconsin by botching the name of the Packers' field. (Laura Rauch -- AP)
At a campaign event last month, the Democratic presidential nominee called it Lambert Field -- a slip of the tongue carried on television, in papers throughout the state and on ESPN's Web site.
That's akin to calling the Yankees the Yankers or the Chicago Bulls the Bells. This is a place where Packers jackets often outnumber sports coats in church and thousands of fans wear a big chunk of yellow foam cheese atop their head with the pride of a new parent. President Bush's warning to terrorists is apropos to the passions of Packers fans -- you are either with 'em or against 'em.
"I got some advice for him," Bush told Wisconsinites a few days after the Lambert gaffe. "If someone offers you a cheesehead, don't say you want some wine, just put it on your head and take a seat at Lambeau Field." Vice President Cheney made the obligatory pilgrimage to Green Bay last week to pile on. "I thought after John Kerry's visit here I'd visit Lambert Field," Cheney told a crowd at a Republican fundraising dinner Thursday night. Then he went in for the kill. "The next thing is he'll be convinced Vince Lombardi is a foreign leader."
Growing evidence suggests that George W. Bush abruptly left his Texas Air National Guard unit in 1972 for substantive reasons pertaining to his inability to continue piloting a fighter jet.
A months-long investigation, which includes examination of hundreds of government-released documents, interviews with former Guard members and officials, military experts and Bush associates, points toward the conclusion that Bush's personal behavior was causing alarm among his superior officers and would ultimately lead to his fleeing the state to avoid a physical exam he might have had difficulty passing. His failure to complete a physical exam became the official reason for his subsequent suspension from flying status.
*****************
Even more significantly, in a July interview, Linda Allison, the widow of Jimmy Allison, the Alabama campaign manager and a close friend of Bush's father, revealed to me for the first time that Bush had come to Alabama not because the job had appeal or because his presence was required but because he needed to get out of Texas. "Well, you have to know Georgie," Allison said. "He really was a totally irresponsible person. Big George [George H.W. Bush] called Jimmy, and said, he's killing us in Houston, take him down there and let him work on that campaign.... The tenor of that was, Georgie is in and out of trouble seven days a week down here, and would you take him up there with you."
Allison said that the younger Bush's drinking problem was apparent. She also said that her husband, a circumspect man who did not gossip and held his cards closely, indicated to her that some use of drugs was involved. "I had the impression that he knew that Georgie was using pot, certainly, and perhaps cocaine," she said.
Although I'm a lifelong Republican, I will vote for John Kerry on Nov. 2. The choice seems simple under traditional principles of the Republican Party.
**************
The primary issue in November will be who can best lead us in the bitter struggle against the Islamic fundamentalists who perpetrated 9/11 and are willing to die to kill Americans throughout the world. The Iraq occupation has caused thousands of new suicide bombers to join the jihad against us; with Kerry as president, the nation will properly refocus the battle away from Iraq and against the true enemy, Al-Qaida.
As Kerry has stated, we desperately need the cooperation of every country in the world, friend and enemy, where terrorist cells can germinate and operate.
We need to be more humble in asking for this assistance. A return to the ``speak softly but carry a big stick'' philosophy of Teddy Roosevelt should be far more effective than the bluster, bravado and ``shock and awe'' firepower of the neocon advisers who have commandeered White House foreign policy.
*******************
In truth, John Kerry and John Edwards come far closer to the Republicanism of Teddy Roosevelt, Earl Warren, Barry Goldwater, George Bush the elder and, yes, even Richard Nixon, than does the present incumbent.
Ending secrecy and bringing truth and honesty back to the White House are reasons enough to elect Kerry and Edwards.
The CIA analysts told the commissioners that they put all the relevant information they could into the PDB in order to get the President's attention. The report tells us that this was the thirty-sixth Presidential Daily Brief so far that year related to bin Laden and al-Qaeda—though the first to warn of a possible attack on the United States itself.
After the alarming PDB was presented to the President, nothing happened. The commission reports dryly,
We have found no indication of any further discussion before September 11 among the President and his top advisers of the possibility of a threat of an al Qaeda attack in the United States.
An open letter to Dick Cheney on the anniversary of my daughter's murder:
Thank you for warning me about my vote for John Kerry. In this version of America, the one you all have crafted, clarity is very difficult to come by. Let me make myself perfectly clear: my daughter was murdered on 9/11/2001, on an absolutely clear, late summer morning. She was four months pregnant and, that morning, five minutes after the first of two planes hit the World Trade Center, she was told she was "safe." She was told to "stay at her desk." She was found whole and intact ten feet from an alley between Towers IV and V. I cannot tell you how I would have appreciated such a clear warning before September 11th, or even on September 11th. Before that day, there were warnings, clear warnings, but they only reached the desk of George W. Bush. And I note he did nothing to stop the events of 9/11.
Nothing.
BLITZER: Here's the bottom line, though. The president did get an honorable discharge from the Air National Guard from his military service.
BROWNSTEIN: Absolutely. Both the Democrats...
BLITZER: No one -- no one is questioning that.
I hate Wolf Blitzer & the rest of the faux journalists.
To win, the Kerry campaign has to convince a significant number of voters that the self-proclaimed "war president" isn't an effective war leader - he only plays one on TV.
This charge has the virtue of being true. It's hard to find a nonpartisan national security analyst with a good word for the Bush administration's foreign policy. Iraq, in particular, is a slow-motion disaster brought on by wishful thinking, cronyism and epic incompetence.
And here's what Krugman says Kerry should do:
If I were running the Kerry campaign, I'd remind people frequently about Mr. Bush's flight-suit photo-op, when he declared the end of major combat. In fact, the war goes on unabated. News coverage of Iraq dropped off sharply after the supposed transfer of sovereignty on June 28, but as many American soldiers have died since the transfer as in the original invasion.
And I'd point out that while Mr. Bush spared no effort preparing for his carrier landing - he even received underwater survival training in the White House pool - he didn't prepare for things that actually mattered, like securing and rebuilding Iraq after Baghdad fell.
Oh, I wish we had pictures of Prances in Flightsuit doing "underwater survival training" in the White House pool.
Everyone knows the presidential election is going to be a squeaker.
Liberals are mad at Bush, but conservatives love him. For every blue state,
there's a red state. November 2nd is going to be a long night.But what if it
isn't? What if it isn't even close?Let me go out on a limb: John Kerry is going
to win the 2004 election – not by a nose, not by a chad, but by a
landslide.
Go Lisa Leslie & the classy US women's team.
"Somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I'll have an investigation,"
Goss said."
These thugs -- they're Republican first, American second.
Kerry in a landslide, so he can fire this jerk.
August 7, 2004 -- The Pakistani computer expert at the heart of al Qaeda's communications network has been cooperating with an anti-terror sting operation, it was disclosed yesterday.
But the revealing of Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan's name by U.S. officials may have jeopardized the effort to track down al Qaeda members through their e-mail exchanges with him, Pakistani officials said.
LONDON (Reuters) - The revelation that a mole within al Qaeda was exposed after Washington launched its "orange alert" this month has shocked security experts, who say the outing of the source may have set back the war on terror.
Reuters learned from Pakistani intelligence sources on Friday that computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, arrested secretly in July, was working under cover to help the authorities track down al Qaeda militants in Britain and the United States when his name appeared in U.S. newspapers.
"After his capture he admitted being an al Qaeda member and agreed to send e-mails to his contacts," a Pakistani intelligence source told Reuters. "He sent encoded e-mails and received encoded replies. He's a great hacker and even the U.S. agents said he was a computer whiz."
Last Sunday, U.S. officials told reporters that someone held secretly by Pakistan was the source of the bulk of the information justifying the alert. The New York Times obtained Khan's name independently, and U.S. officials confirmed it when it appeared in the paper the next morning.
None of those reports mentioned at the time that Khan had been under cover helping the authorities catch al Qaeda suspects, and that his value in that regard was destroyed by making his name public.
A day later, Britain hastily rounded up terrorism suspects, some of whom are believed to have been in contact with Khan while he was under cover. Washington has portrayed those arrests as a major success, saying one of the suspects, named Abu Musa al-Hindi or Abu Eissa al-Hindi, was a senior al Qaeda figure.
But British police have acknowledged the raids were carried out in a rush. Suspects were dragged out of shops in daylight and caught in a high speed car chase, instead of the usual procedure of catching them at home in the early morning while they can offer less resistance.
"HOLY GRAIL" OF INTELLIGENCE
Security experts contacted by Reuters said they were shocked by the revelations that the source whose information led to the alert was identified within days, and that U.S. officials had confirmed his name.
"The whole thing smacks of either incompetence or worse," said Tim Ripley, a security expert who writes for Jane's Defense publications. "You have to ask: what are they doing compromising a deep mole within al Qaeda, when it's so difficult to get these guys in there in the first place? "It goes against all the rules of counter-espionage, counter-terrorism, running agents and so forth. It's not exactly cloak and dagger undercover work if it's on the front pages every time there's a development, is it?"
"Most recent polls show between 80 percent and 90 percent of Iraqis call
Americans not liberators, but occupiers. And by a clear majority, Iraqis
want Americans to leave the country as soon as possible.
How did America lose the Iraqis' support? For many Iraqis, the answer
is Abu Ghraib."
"The fighting in Najaf has included American F-15 fighter jets dropping
bombs, U.S. Apache helicopters shooting missiles and American tanks letting
loose with barrages of fire. "
"300+ dead in a matter of days in Najaf and Al Sadir City. Of course, they
are all being called 'insurgents'. The woman on TV wrapped in the abaya, lying
sprawled in the middle of the street must have been one of them too. Several
explosions rocked Baghdad today- some government employees were told not to go
to work tomorrow.
So is this a part of the reconstruction effort promised to the Shi'a in the
south of the country? Najaf is considered the holiest city in Iraq. It is
visited by Shi'a from all over the world, and yet, during the last two days, it
has seen a rain of bombs and shells from none other than the 'saviors' of the
oppressed Shi'a- the Americans. So is this the 'Sunni Triangle' too? It's deja
vu- corpses in the streets, people mourning their dead and dying and buildings
up in flames. The images flash by on the television screen and it's Falluja all
over again. Twenty years from now who will be blamed for the mass graves being
dug today?"
By RICK MORRISSEYChicago Tribune
CHICAGO - Day 4 of the attempted demolition of Nomar Garciaparra included an assertion by Red Sox owner John Henry that his former shortstop recently had to be talked out of demanding a trade.
This followed accusations in Boston that Garciaparra was a slacker, a malcontent, a clubhouse cancer, selfish, weird, an injury waiting to happen, a faker, a liar and anything else you can think of except a cheap tipper, although that's being nvestigated.
The way it's going, Day 6 will dawn with news that Garciaparra often wore lacy Yankees-logo undergarments and that close personal friend Osama bin Laden, though thinking the bra was a bit much, approved.
The Red Sox know they messed up. We know the Red Sox know they messed up because, ever since they dealt him to the Cubs, they have tried to tear him down. This is what you do to buildings that are dilapidated and lack character. You don't do it to one of the best players in team history.
But the Red Sox carry on, sledgehammer in hand, because they know they received the weaker part of the deal. They know their fans are upset about losing a Boston icon, a man with a career .323 batting average.
I'm not sure I can recall such a lengthy, all-out verbal assault on one player after he had been traded. Know this: The harsher the attacks, the more indignant the protests, the more likely it is that a team is doing the backstroke. The Red Sox have backstroked so much, they're halfway to Europe and spitting out saltwater.
Garciaparra is a Cub now, and although it's all that matters, he would need news conferences between innings to answer the onslaught of charges against him. Somehow he has managed to play well.
The most surprising thing is that his Achilles' tendon, the one that kept him out 57 games this year, hasn't turned into angel-hair pasta. The Red Sox seem to be waiting for that to happen. That, or they're waiting for his Pinocchio nose to take out about seven Cubs' kneecaps in the team clubhouse. They can't seem to decide whether he's delicate or disingenuous.
The Red Sox are getting heat for acquiring Doug Mientkiewicz and Orlando Cabrera in the four-team trade that sent Garciaparra to Chicago. You'd get blow-torched, too, if you made that deal. What they'd like everyone to know is: It's not our fault! That's what all this petulance is about.
The Red Sox weren't able to sign Nomar to a four-year, $60 million contract extension, presumably because Garciaparra didn't like the deferred money in the deal. The Red Sox didn't like their chances of signing him when he became a free agent after this season. So they traded him. Fine. But be adults and swallow it.
They aren't talking much about their role in the lead-up to the trade. They're the team that tried to acquire superstar Alex Rodriguez in the off-season. They're the team that would have traded Garciaparra if the Rangers had traded Rodriguez to Boston.
If you were trying to offend a man who considers himself one of the best shortstops in the game, the best way to go about it would be by trying to acquire Alex Rodriguez.
They expected a proud superstar to put it all behind him? To remember it's just business and to not take it personally? And yet, despite the slap in the face from the Red Sox, Garciaparra and his agent both have denied that he wanted out of Boston.
Trying to put the blame on Garciaparra for Saturday's trade is like blaming Hawaii for Pearl Harbor. This is about Red Sox officials Larry Lucchino and Boy Wonder Theo Epstein attempting to clean up their mess without getting dirty. The egg on their faces would seem to indicate they haven't succeeded.
So almost a week after the trade, Garciaparra is still defending himself against an extremely defensive franchise. Character witness Todd Walker, a former teammate in Boston and a current one in Chicago, said Garciaparra was well-liked in the Red Sox's clubhouse. That doesn't match up with the characterization in the Boston media of him as "cancer."
Wonder where that could have come from.
How the trade will be remembered will depend on how well Garciaparra plays and whether, perish the thought, he wins a World Series ring somewhere other than Boston. It won't be the curse of the Bambino, but it will feel like a close relative.LINK From the ObeyPedro blog:
The best quote I've read so far concerning the Garciaparra trade has to be from Larry Mahnken:
Meanwhile the Red Sox pointed a shotgun at their face, pulled the trigger, and said, "I think we look better now." A lot of reports list the Red Sox as trade deadline winners, which is true only in the sense that everyone who participates in the Special Olympics is a winner.
I don't necessarily agree with him, especially now that Bellhorn is on the DL with a broken thumb, but it's funny nonetheless.
I read the NYTimes and the WashPost this morning but it was not until I went on the Knight-Ridder site that I saw this little gem about Halliburton: Knight-Ridder story
"Three whistleblowers Thursday charged - and top executives strongly denied - that spending by Defense contractor Halliburton in Iraq was reckless and wasteful. They said the company's KBR unit charged the government $45 for cases of soda, submitted $100 bills for laundry, put up personnel in five-star hotels and abandoned $85,000 trucks on roadsides because of flat tires.......
Truckers Warren and David Wilson of Venus, Fla., said KBR did almost no routine maintenance on its vehicles, which at times meant trucks had to be abandoned when they broke down.
KBR transportation chief Keith Richard denied those charges, saying regular maintenance was performed every two weeks.
Ten other current and former KBR truckers who spoke with Knight Ridder sided with Wilson and Warren, however.
"I never got a truck maintenanced the whole time I was there," former driver Shane Ratliff of Ruby, S.C., told Knight Ridder in April. "
But of course, the Republican-controlled House refuses to do anything.
The Abu Ghraib revelations also clashed with remarks Deputy Solicitor General Paul D. Clement made to the court during oral argument in the Padilla case.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg posed a scenario for Clement's response: "Suppose the executive says mild torture, we think, will help get this information," she said. "It's not a soldier who does something against the code of military justice, but it's an executive command. Some systems do that to get information."
"Well, our executive doesn't," Clement, the administration's second-ranking Supreme Court advocate, replied. "Where the government is on a war footing . . . you have to trust the executive to make the kind of quintessential military judgments that are involved in things like that."
Comey said his announcement followed an intensive government effort to declassify information gained from the interrogation of Padilla and others.LINK
"A new book on the Bush dynasty is set for release just six weeks before November's knife-edge presidential election. The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty by Kitty Kelley will have an initial print run of 500,000, and the main source is believed to be Sharon Bush, the ex-wife of Neil, President George W Bush's wayward brother."
Posts
All Comments
