Bush administration begins pass-the-buck game on who has the "evidence" that Iran is behind attacks in Iraq

This is just sad. From tomorrow's Washington Post:

Asked by reporters yesterday to provide more information on the charge, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "The Iranians are up to their eyeballs in this activity." He called the Baghdad presentation a "very strong circumstantial case," saying that he was "not going to try to embellish that briefing" and that "any reasonable person . . . would draw the same conclusions."

White House spokesman Tony Snow offered similar responses. "Let me put it this way," he said. "There's not a whole lot of freelancing in the Iranian government, especially when it comes to something like that."

Pressed repeatedly, Snow answered, "Look, the Department of Defense is doing this. What I'm telling you is, you guys want to get those questions answered, you need to go to the Pentagon."

A call to the Defense Intelligence Agency brought a referral to the main Pentagon press office. That office referred a caller to the Washington office of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, which responded with an e-mailed copy of Sunday's briefing slides -- containing no mention of the "highest levels" allegation and a request for questions in writing. Written questions brought no response. An official from the Pentagon Joint Staff said last night that Pace had seen the briefing slides but had "no personal knowledge of any senior involvement by senior Iranian officials."

So, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs says he's seen no evidence, and everybody else says the evidence exists but the other guy has it. A wise man once said:

Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.

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John McCain fears Americans may turn against Iraq war, while polls show 62% of Americans already have turned

What world does John McCain live in? He's worried that Americans "may" turn against the Iraq war? From AP:

"By the way, a lot of us are also very concerned about the possibility of a, quote, 'Tet Offensive.' You know, some large-scale tact that could then switch American public opinion the way that the Tet Offensive did," the Arizona senator said.

Last month, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that 62 percent said the United States made a mistake in going to war in Iraq.

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Bush, YET AGAIN, has failed to give the troops the armor they need - this time to stop the supposed Irani explosives

We learn in today's Washington Post that the reason those supposed "Irani explosives" are causing so much damage is, in part, because Bush has, yet again, failed to get our troops the armor they need for their vehicles. And the armor won't be there until at least July, well into the "surge." So the reason our troops are dying is because of Republican malfeasance, again.

Now who's empowering Al Qaeda and demoralizing the troops? Read the rest of this post...

Top US military officer, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Pace, says he's not convinced Iran govt sending weapons to Iraqi insurgents

Yep. The White House and the Pentagon (the folks working under Pace) lied to the media again, and the Washington Post and the New York Times fell for it, again.

From the Voice of America, via ThinkProgress.

The top American military officer, General Peter Pace, declined Monday to endorse the conclusions of U.S. military officers in Baghdad, who told reporters on Sunday that the Iranian government is providing high-powered roadside bombs to insurgents in Iraq. General Pace made his comments during a visit to Australia, and VOA's Al Pessin reports from Canberra.

General Pace said he was not aware of the Baghdad briefing, and that he could not, from his own knowledge, repeat the assertion made there that the elite Quds brigade of Iran's Republican Guard force is providing bomb-making kits to Iraqi Shiite insurgents.

"We know that the explosively formed projectiles are manufactured in Iran. What I would not say is that the Iranian government, per se [specifically], knows about this," he said. "It is clear that Iranians are involved, and it's clear that materials from Iran are involved, but I would not say by what I know that the Iranian government clearly knows or is complicit."

Let me also add that Pace is doing a rather courageous thing here, finally standing up for the truth. It's a skill that military leaders have lost over the past six years, and it's nice to finally see someone with the backbone and ethics to refuse to lie about yet another war. Let's hope this isn't the last time. Read the rest of this post...

We've added a few updates to the site, including news links

I've added a few updates to the site that you might find useful.

1. News links

In the bottom of the left-hand column you'll see that I've added a number of links to good news sources, both foreign and domestic. These include political cartoonists and columnists, in addition to newspapers, magazines, and the like.

2. GLBT RSS Feeds

In addition to our standard RSS feed, which includes every post we write on AMERICAblog, I've also set up, on a trial basis, a GLBT RSS Feed which only streams the gay and lesbian content. I'm just trying this as a test to see if issue-specific RSS Feeds might interest folks.

As for what the heck an RSS feed is, it's basically a way to have the new content on a Web site (or blog) sent to you, so you don't have to come to it.

For example, I have a "My Yahoo" page set up, basically a home page on which I can put lots of stuff that interests me, tailored to my interests - including the weather in various cities, air fares for certain destinations, my retirement portfolio, and the latest news and blog updates from various sources which I've chosen to put on the page. The latest news and blog updates come from the RSS Feeds of those news sites and blogs that I've selected to include (and for all I know, the other content I have on the page, weather etc., may also come from RSS). I've taken a screen capture of the news and blog updates that I receive, here it is:

(click image to see larger version)

RSS feeds are a really nice to way to keep up to speed with the content on various blogs/sites, without having to jump around all day on those sites. You can have all of your favorite sites on the same page, and then when you see a blog post you like you can click to read that specific post.

If you have a question about how this works, post it in the comments, I suspect someone will help you understand this better than I can explain.

3. CafePress ads

You may have noticed some odd-looking graphics in the right hand column and at the bottom of the page, including political puns, etc. They're actually ads for political products over at CafePress. Most of the products should be "liberal" in nature, but sometimes an occasional conservative one pops in (it's the software, it's a bit buggy). If you click on the ads and buy any of the merchandise, AMERICAblog gets a cut.

4. Political donations for 2008

I've set up a page on ActBlue where you can safely and securely donate money to your favorite 2008 presidential candidate.

5. AMERICAblog on facebook

I've set up an AMERICAblog community on the popular social networking site "facebook." We already have over 300 people who have joined the group (but those bastards at ThinkProgress have a larger group, help us beat them :-). Feel free to check it out here.

6. SpamArrest

I've had the link up for a while, but will reiterate - it's the spam filtering service I've been using for a few years now. It rocks. I highly recommend it. And if you buy the service via this link, we get a cut. (FYI, I'm paying for the service myself, I just happen to love it.)

7. Classified text ads

Remember, we offer one-week classified text ads, located towards the bottom of the left-column below the news links, to small poor bloggers and/or small organizations or small small small businesses (and I'm mean SMALL, we're talking a person running a hobby from their living room small) for 75 bucks a pop. You can only buy the ad for one week - they're so cheap, I don't want someone monopolizing the space by buying a month or two. And yes, the placement isn't prime, but that's what you get for 75 bucks on a site that often gets 100,000 visitors a day (in the past, the number of click throughs has not been bad at all). You can order them here, and be aware that we'll probably only run 3 to 5 ads at a time, so if you're ad number six to come in, you'll have to wait until the first group of ads finishes, so we don't have 50 ads up at once.

8. Flash and RSS Ads

And finally, we're now offering both RSS and Flash ads in our blogads space in the left-hand column of the blog. You can see an example of a flash ad in the John Kerry ad we just posted today. This ad is pretty cool, and it shows the kind of innovative things a smart advertiser can do - in the case of Kerry's ad, you can enter all of your data IN THE AD, and the click submit, AND you can see real-time how many people have already joined his effort. It's pretty cool.

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I laughed out loud

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White House: Energy conservation is dumb, build more corporate toll roads

I know that this administration isn't very keen on reading history and they prefer acting as though we are living in a distant era, but building more roads in cities does not alleviate traffic but only encourages it. Add to that the damage to neighborhoods, the ugliness and of course, the additional opportunity to pollute they bring. Robert Moses figured out in the 30's and 40's that building roads does not help traffic and built a political empire based on toll roads, all while telling people how much better roads were compared to public transportation.

Considering the past six years of insider deals, no-bid contracts, incompetence and mismanagement, one has to be suspicious towards the suggestion of building toll roads by this administration. It always seems to be a game of "follow the money" with this crowd, so who are their friends who might benefit with such programs? With the GOP spending history and their love of corporate welfare on the back of the middle class, it might be a better idea to just take a pass on this.

What's so difficult about conservation and why does this crowd hate it so much? Read the rest of this post...

Novakula testifies in Libby/Plame trial

And he fingers Rove and Armitage. Up to date reporting from Editor & Publisher, and FireDogLake. Read the rest of this post...

FBI laptops with highly sensitive data missing

Who is in charge?

The FBI lost 160 laptop computers in less than four years, including at least 10 that contained highly sensitive classified information and one that held "personal identifying information on FBI personnel," according to a new report released today.

The bureau, which has struggled for years to get a handle on sloppy inventory procedures, also reported 160 missing weapons during the same time period, from February 2002 to September 2005, according to the report by the Justice Department inspector general's office.

In addition to the 10 or more laptops that were confirmed to contain classified information, the FBI could not say whether another 51 computers might also contain secret data, the report said. Seven were assigned to the counterintelligence or counterterrorism divisions, which routinely handle classified information.

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Bush top spokesman Ari Fleischer leaked Plame's CIA identity as well

That means this wasn't just a rogue operation out of the Vice President's office, it also was an operation involving the President's office. And if Ari Fleischer, George Bush's top spokesman, was involved, and had to seek immunity in order to testify, then something else much bigger may be going on here.

More from the NY Daily News:

It’s finally becoming clear why ex-White House mouthpiece Ari Fleischer took the fifth and had to be granted immunity from prosecution in the case: Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus testified that Fleischer leaked the identity of ex-CIA spook Valerie Plame in a July 12, 2003, phone call.

“It was Ari Fleischer,” Pincus testified as the first witness called by the defense. Pincus recalled that Fleischer wondered in that phone call why Pincus was writing about Plame’s husband former Ambassador Joe Wilson: “Don’t you know his wife works for the CIA as an analyst?” barked Fleischer.

Not to mention, we now have Scooter Libby (the chief of staff to the vice president), Karl Rove (the White House's most powerful and senior political operative), and Ari Fleischer (the White Houses's top spokesman) all involved in leaking Plame's identity. Just coincidence that the three most powerful guys in the White House were all involved? Uh huh. Read the rest of this post...

Barack and me, separated at birth

You'll recall that this week the conservative Australian Prime Minister John Howard attacked Senator, and Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama's plan for eventual withdrawal from Iraq. From CNN:

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who will face his own re-election bid later this year, said Obama's proposed deadline would spell disaster for the Middle East.

"I think that will just encourage those who want to completely destabilize and destroy Iraq, and create chaos and a victory for the terrorists to hang on and hope for an Obama victory," Howard said on Nine Network television.

"If I were running al Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory, not only for Obama but also for the Democrats."

You'll then recall that I had a few words for Mr. Howard yesterday:

Since the conservative Australian Prime Minister John Howard is such a hawk, I hope we can count on Australia sending more troops for Bush's escalation in Iraq, and the new war in Iran. Seriously, where are the additional troops from Australia? Prime Minister Howard has a paltry 850 troops in Iraq, compared to our going-on 150,000. So, let's see if big-brave Prime Minister Howard is willing to put his money where his mouth is - after all, Al Qaeda is watching, and when they see Mr. Howard afraid to send more troops, it just serves to empower them.

Now check out Obama's spokesman, quoted today:

"If Prime Minister Howard truly believes what he says, perhaps his country should find its way to contribute more than just 1,400 troops so some American troops can come home," he said. "It's easy to talk tough when it's not your country or your troops making the sacrifices."

Great Illinoisans think alike.

Oh, and the 850 and 1400 figures are both correct. The Australians have about 850 troops in Iraq, and a total of 1400 in Iraq and the surrounding area. Read the rest of this post...

Iran: just how badly can we screw up the Middle East?

(NOTE FROM JOHN: AJ is a former Department of Defense civilian Intelligence Officer who was decorated for his recent civilian service in Iraq.)

National security professionals, especially those on the Democratic/progressive side, are currently in a weird place with regard to Iran. Virtually anyone with any military, foreign policy, or Middle East expertise thinks that it would be an absolute disaster to act militarily against Iran. We understand that a ground invasion is logistically impossible, an airborne attack would not end nuclear development and might even accelerate it, and either "option" would result in massive recriminations against U.S. troops in Iraq and possibly counter-attacks against U.S. interests and allies in the region and beyond. In short, people who know about these issues (and plenty who don't, but have an iota of common sense) view any kind of attack against Iran as so monstrously wrong-headed, so profoundly against U.S. interests, as to be beyond the realm of possibility. Some of these people are even irritated with those who are anxious about an Iran strike simply because it is, to them, incomprehensible and impossible.

I'm not unsympathetic to this position. I, too, think it would be disastrous to take military action against Iran. I think it would represent all the worst aspects of the Iraq war -- manipulated intelligence, overheated rhetoric, ideology overtaking reality, greatly harmful to U.S. foreign policy, etc. -- without even the superficial salve of democracy-promotion, and I think the blowback in Iraq would be swift and severe.

But here's the thing: I have no faith in the current administration to recognize any of this. I believe it is unlikely we will attack Iran. Various reports in recent years have predicted attacks on Iran and been wrong, and I think there would literally be a near-mutiny from senior military officials were they ordered to attack Iran. However. Stranger things have happened, and we are dealing with a president who doesn't feel constrained by public opinion or an electoral future, and he keeps increasing the rhetoric and accusations against a nation that has no more ability to harm U.S. national security than Pakistan or North Korea or any number of similarly equipped states.

So in the face of irresponsible administration words and policies, yes, there is a responsibility to push back. And that's not to say Iran isn't an adversary: One can recognize that Iran is a potential threat and a hostile actor without advocating counter-productive violence. Diplomacy. Engagement. Carrots and sticks. These things could all be accomplished by a competent administration, and all are lacking. Similarly, the press should ask questions about half-cocked assertions rather than producing absurdly-sourced schlock that makes the Judith Miller years look incisive.

When this administration acts like it wants to do something horrifically foolish, it's not unreasonable to think that it might, y'know, do it. Whether "everyone" thinks it's a crazy idea doesn't seem to have any bearing on the actual decision-making process, which is why it's absolutely responsible for Congress and the American people to assert opposition to idiocy in Iran policy just as vigorously as that stupidity is being advocated. Read the rest of this post...

NBC is Scooter Libby's lifeline

The Bush Administration has great disdain for the media. Karl Rove thinks the press corps is a bunch of "patsies." Scooter Libby's trial has exposed just how much the Bush/Cheney team used the press -- and, how the press were willing accomplices.

Now, AP is reporting that Scooter is counting on the NBC news crew to get him off:

Libby's attorneys want to show that Russert had heard that Plame worked at the CIA. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer has already testified that he told NBC reporter David Gregory about her. If Libby can show that Mitchell knew, too, they think they can persuade jurors to believe Libby's account of the Russert conversation.

Plame was outed in a July 2003 syndicated column. Three months later, Mitchell said in a television interview that she had known Plame worked for the CIA before the column.

"It was widely known among those of us who cover the intelligence community," Mitchell said.

Russert, Mitchell and Gregory. The cracker jack NBC political team. In reality, they've been White House puppets. Read the rest of this post...

House GOP prepares for "mini-political campaign" over Iraq resolution

For Republicans from the White House to Capitol Hill, the Iraq War has been, first and foremost, a political issue. It's a losing political issue because it's been a horrible policy mistake. But, the GOP can't stop playing politics. We see that in the Senate as the GOP blocks the Iraq debate. In the House, the GOP can't stop the debate, so they are treating the debate like a political campaign according to The Washington Post:

Democrats will file a nonbinding resolution against the Bush plan while Republicans will try to broaden the dispute and seed doubt in the Democratic approach. Although Senate Republicans were able to block debate on a resolution condemning Bush's war policies last week, it will be much easier for Democrats in the House to bring a measure to the floor.

The GOP, whose members have conceded they are likely to lose, is treating the debate like a mini-political campaign, deploying a rapid-response team to counter Democrats' statements, aggressively trying to get its leaders on television and radio, and creating a "resource center" off the House floor where members can fill their arms with maps, research material, videos or other visual aids to use during their floor time.

"We may lose the vote, but we'll win the debate," said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

Kevin Smith and his boss should be more concerned that we're losing the war and that we're losing more and more U.S. soldiers every day.

Some of the GOP rats are trying to jump off the sinking ship:

"What we have now is a dispute in tactics," said Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.), who once supported the administration but is opposed to the troop increase. "This is a situation where we've been dealt a bad hand, where we've made a lot of mistakes, where we should have addressed the problems in Baghdad a long time ago, and now a surge on the scale the president has proposed is unlikely to move us forward."

One House Republican close to the GOP leadership spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to be blunt. "This next week is going to be a very tough one for us to get through," he said. "The Democrats know that. We can sit back and hope they overplay their hand, but I don't think they will."

Every week in Iraq is tough for our soldiers and the people of Iraq. The Hill Republicans can't run from this war. They enabled it. The sick thing is that for the GOP, Iraq is still mostly a political issue. Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

Well, the presidential race is off to a very fast start...wild week of campaigning. One suggestion/request for candidates: when you're talking about George Bush, say "George Bush." I keep hearing Democratic candidates refer to "this president." That's too nice. This president's approval rating is hovering around 30%. Use Bush's name. Say "George Bush" and "Dick Cheney" as often as you can -- especially when you're talking about the war that George Bush and Dick Cheney started. Saying "this president" might work on the Senate floor. On the campaign trail, speak his name -- often.

And, while we're on the subject of speaking out about George W. Bush, congrats to the Dixie Chicks for winning big at the Grammys last night -- including country music song of the year for "Not Ready to Make Nice." The NY Times reports that country music industry ignored that song. We won't ignore it. We agree with the Dixie Chicks. We're not ready to make nice:
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Baghdad bombings leave at least 68 dead

Multiple bombings again today on the anniversary of the Golden Dome shrine bombing. Where is John Howard and his combat troops when you really need him? Read the rest of this post...

Giuliani touts gun control

Charlton Heston is not going to like this news.

Rudy Giuliani addressed a potentially troublesome issue with conservative voters, saying his policies as mayor to get handguns off the street helped reduce crime in New York.

"I used gun control as mayor," he said at a news conference Saturday during a swing through California.

Doesn't he know that China has gun control? Why does Giuliani hate America? Read the rest of this post...

Sego-mania campaign launches

And what a dud. Ugh. If churning out same-old, same-old was supposed to be the plan for creating new momentum in the campaign, perhaps she should have just stayed quiet for a few months longer. New ideas are obviously not of any interest to Royal so they might as well just move up the election and start the coronation process for Sarkozy now. What an absolute disappointment.

Although Mme Royal, 53, presents herself as a non-ideological politician, close to the people, her programme was mostly a standard, left-of-centre litany of proposals for state spending and intervention. She did, however, promise to de-centralise and reform the state machine; to lift the tax burden on businesses that invest in new techniques or create jobs; and to create military boot camps for delinquent youngsters .

At one point, Mme Royal promised that, if elected, she would care for France - especially young French people - "like a mother".

Speaking of the country's troubled multiracial suburbs, she said: "As a mother, the things that I wanted for my own four children, I want for all the children of France." Mme Royal was then interrupted by five minutes of cheering and chants of "Ségolène Presidente". She blinked tears from her eyes before continuing.

"Like a mother?" What the hell is that? If she actually did give a damn about the suburbs and society as a whole, she would have been discussing solutions for this considerable problem instead of talking about mothering the country. Read the rest of this post...