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Hadn't Realized That
You may recall a while back the administration saying the "postwar" phase of Iraq was really just like the occupation of Germany. I knew that was specious, but I hadn't realized it was an out-and-out lie. But yes, I know, John Kerry said he was in Cambodia on Christmas Eve when really that happened later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can you trust the man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the hat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my God the hat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile, GWB claims that the exposure of AQ Khan's global nuclear sales ring was a major success in the war on terrorism when, in fact, one of the most dangerous people on the planet has gotten the harsh, harsh penalty of house arrest and the US has not been allowed to interrogate Khan. Why? Pakistani government doesn't want an embarassing inquiry that would reveal their own complicity, Bush cut a deal: they try to get some high-value al-Qaeda targets before the election, and Bush continues to look the other way on Pakistani proliferation. But John Kerry said he voted for the resolution before he voted against it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 19, 2004 | Permalink
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» COMPARING AND CONTRASTING CRITICISM from Heretical Ideas
I think there's something to be said for this.John Kerry said he was in Cambodia on Christmas Eve when really that happened later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can you trust the man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... [Read More]
Tracked on Aug 19, 2004 8:54:00 PM
» Intellectual Laziness from Kalblog
Matthew Yglesias links to a Slate article that states that the "Werewolves" of post-war Germany really didn't do much. First, it's interesting that Yglesias accuses them of lying when the article doesn't say that, but that's minor, and I'm not... [Read More]
Tracked on Aug 20, 2004 10:37:28 AM
» Intellectual Laziness from Kalblog
Matthew Yglesias links to a Slate article that states that the "Werewolves" of post-war Germany really didn't do much. First, it's interesting that Yglesias accuses them of lying when the article doesn't say that, but that's minor, and I'm not... [Read More]
Tracked on Nov 15, 2004 10:37:02 AM
» Gift Basket
from Tom Jamme's Blog
Sweet Blessings, a new Christian-based online shop featuring cookie bouquets, candy bouquets and gift baskets, opens with a campaign to donate a portion of all profits to Habitat For Humanity. The devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, while not a... [Read More]
Tracked on Oct 6, 2005 11:40:13 PM
Comments
shrill
Posted by: praktike | Aug 19, 2004 11:59:24 AM
Nice stuff ! What was that about hackdom again ?
Posted by: j mct | Aug 19, 2004 12:03:22 PM
I hadn't realized it was an out-and-out lie.
Uh, no. A difference of degree, not of kind. (BUT BUSH WAS AWOL!!!! AND THOSE SEVEN MINUTES!!!)
they try to get some high-value al-Qaeda targets before the election, and Bush continues to look the other way on Pakistani proliferation
And your proposal is? (HALLIBURTON!!! BUSH LIED AND PEOPLE DIED!!! SWIFT BOAT VETERANS ARE SLIME!!!)
Posted by: Al | Aug 19, 2004 12:05:04 PM
Bush continues to look the other way on Pakistani proliferation
Uh, no. Quite the opposite.
Posted by: j.scott barnard | Aug 19, 2004 12:07:47 PM
Have I been away? Is Bush actually doing anything about Pakistani proliferation?
Posted by: Haggai | Aug 19, 2004 12:11:14 PM
It appears that Matthew can't help but flip-flop between the inquisitor and the shill. I like the inquisitor better.
I love to watch the lefties scrambling for cover as the Kerry dream-talk continues to unravel. It's fair game to attack the Swifites credibility but the fact remains that many were eye-witnesses to the events that Kerry has used to construct his image, and their observations were not the same as the erstwhile Senator has reported.
Kerry's decorations for gallantry like the Silver Star should have after-action reports and supporting affidavits in the file. Let's see them. What if it turns out that the only "witness" supporting Kerry's Silver Star is John Kerry?
Posted by: Warthog | Aug 19, 2004 12:33:53 PM
More seriously, there's even greater ammunition you can bring to bear against the "Iraq as Germany" nonsense: the German state remained highly functional and was both far more competent and far more intact after the war.
Not to mention that there wasn't a hardcore guerilla war going on in Germany.
Posted by: praktike | Aug 19, 2004 12:33:54 PM
very good point, praktike. also in postwar germany the war was actually, um, you know, over.
Posted by: Olaf glad and big | Aug 19, 2004 12:41:19 PM
You're right Warthog. Jim Rassmuseen does not really exist and hasn't spoke on the topic.
Posted by: Rob | Aug 19, 2004 12:57:20 PM
Warthog,
Click on my name of go here:
http://www.eriposte.com/media/liars_inc/swiftboat#4
Learn about John Kerry, his Silver Star, and George Elliot.
Posted by: walter | Aug 19, 2004 1:00:39 PM
I suppose that the word is out, but in case it's not, Charles "I'd walk over my own grandmother to get Nixon reelected" Colson was the one who recruited John O'Neill to form the Veterans for a Just Peace, because the Nixon administration was really spooked by Kerry and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Kerry was an articulate and convincing spokesman, so there was a need to counter his criticism of the war. For O'Neill to say that he is not and was not political is a crock. He may well have believed what he said at the time, and may still be upset with Kerry for the anti-war activities, but he was a tool of the Nixon folks, and there's no excuse for lying about it.
I know that Kerry was effective, because his testimony before Congress turned me around about the war, and I began writing letters to my representatives and senators soon after. I am, therefore, apt to cut Kerry more slack than some, because he was a hero for me in his anti-war activities.
Posted by: janeboatler | Aug 19, 2004 1:02:59 PM
Nicely done Matt. Sometimes you just have to talk down to their level;
This kind of stuff you report truly concerns me.
The lies and covering up over Pakistan will ending up getting americans killed in the long run. For an administration that liekes to run on "values" they sure are bankrupt of any. They are quite simply shirking their duty, and should we expect anything less from two guys that ran from their own personal obligations in the past and then lied about it?
Hell, Bush has been AWOL in his current job as well.
Posted by: Waffle | Aug 19, 2004 1:05:50 PM
I agree, Warthog. Those guys who awarded Kerry the medals were in on it, too. As well as the Masons, and the Trilateral Commission, and...
Posted by: scarshapedstar | Aug 19, 2004 1:12:44 PM
I knew that was specious, but I hadn't realized it was an out-and-out lie.
I'll be darned. I thought it was common knowledge that it was an out-and-out lie. except of course that it isn't a lie if you believe it.
in fact, if Slate had done a little research, they wouldn't have to wonder whether "the British have some intelligence on the matter that still has not been made public" because they would have known that the origin of the story was a satirical piece by Rand Simberg which was published by Fox News.
that piece was apparently disseminated by wingnuts without the cues (such as misspelling Reuters as Routers) that Simberg had included to mark it as satire, and presumably made its way to Condi, who apparently believes everything she reads in her morning wingnut email...
and lest you think that Condi and GW are the only gullible boneheads in our national security apparatus (as if that weren't bad enough), read Simberg's rebuttal of a hostile op-ed. the part about the story "[finding] its way past the firewalls even into the five-sided building itself" is choice...
Posted by: radish | Aug 19, 2004 1:16:30 PM
walter
Thank you for the link.
Posted by: Warthog | Aug 19, 2004 1:21:31 PM
Matt, congratulations on this mature and considered piece of policy analysis.
Posted by: ronb | Aug 19, 2004 1:30:57 PM
US has not been allowed to interrogate Khan.
Either Eisenhower or Churchill said that "in war truth is so important that it must be protected by an army of lies."
Do you really believe that US or Pakistani intelligence services would publish what they got or didn't get from Khan in interests of full disclosure? I'm sure there are exceptions but you'd have to be a little naive to think that anything "leaked" by an intelligence service was not part of an orchestrated plan.
A big stink in Pakistan politics is that the NSA (with Mushareff's cooperation) is monitoring every bit of electronic communications in Pakistan. If the NSA is that deep into the infrastructure I would be hesitant to make a blanket call that the USA is ineffective in other aspects of what's going on in the country, including Khan and proliferation issues.
Posted by: Warthog | Aug 19, 2004 1:33:18 PM
Warthog, Kerry is not an erstwhile Senator. He's a Senator.
Posted by: next big thing | Aug 19, 2004 1:42:55 PM
It was Churchill.
Posted by: Walt Pohl | Aug 19, 2004 1:43:01 PM
Slightly OT but related to proliferation.
I'd be astounded if there is not a major poliicy speech before November incontrovertibly linking Iraq to Libya's nuclear weapons program. I believe this is the reason that GWB smugly said that he would not change his decision about invading Iraq, and why Kerry was so quick to say that he would have voted for the invasion if he had to make the decision today.
Posted by: Warthog | Aug 19, 2004 1:43:56 PM
Desperate people weave desperate fantasies. It's much easier than admitting error.
Posted by: Morat | Aug 19, 2004 2:11:34 PM
Desperate people weave desperate fantasies. It's much easier than admitting error.
Given Iraq's complete lack of a nuclear program, exactly what help could they have given Libya? Encouraging words? Pats on the back?
Two thumbs up?
Utilize the meat-lump between your ears, Warty.
Posted by: Morat | Aug 19, 2004 2:12:20 PM
"Uh, no. A difference of degree, not of kind. "
809 killed vs. zero killed. A difference of degree and not of kind? I guess in the sense that 809 and zero are both integers...
Posted by: tennin | Aug 19, 2004 2:53:13 PM
Warthog, Kerry is not an erstwhile Senator. He's a Senator.
Ersatz was my first choice but I'm being civil.
Posted by: Warthog | Aug 19, 2004 3:12:40 PM
Warthog:
"Kerry's decorations for gallantry like the Silver Star should have after-action reports and supporting affidavits in the file. Let's see them."
Last I heard, Kerry has released his records (unlike Bush). Go to Kerry's website and check around.
"What if it turns out that the only "witness" supporting Kerry's Silver Star is John Kerry?"
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
Are you really that stupid, or just think that we are? A Silver Star, awarded to somebody soley on their say-so?!?!
Posted by: Barry | Aug 19, 2004 3:14:57 PM
