The Cheney-Rumsfeld "Cabal"
The Cheney-Rumsfeld "Cabal"
From Salon.com's War Room
In an extraordinary speech Wednesday at the New America Foundation, Col. Larry Wilkerson, the former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that a "cabal" led by Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has been making decisions on "critical" international issues without the knowledge or participation of others in the administration. The Bush administration and the American people are now "paying the consequences of making those decisions in secret," Wilkerson said.
As the Washington Post notes, Wilkerson has a long working relationship with Powell and was often thought to be someone who would say aloud what Powell thought himself but was too cautious to reveal. If that's what was happening Wednesday, the former secretary of state has a lot to get off his chest.
----Ok, you KNOW the administration is circling the toilet bowl when their threats to keep people silent don't work anymore.
Wilkerson says the administration has "courted disaster in Iraq, in North Korea, in Iran" and has failed to prepare for disasters back home. "And if something comes along that is truly serious, truly serious, something like a nuclear weapon going off in a major American city, or something like a major pandemic, you are going to see the ineptitude of this government in a way that will take you back to the Declaration of Independence," he said.
Although Wilkerson had some praise for the president he served, he said that Bush's ignorance of -- and lack of interest in -- the details of foreign policy left an opening for Cheney and Rumsfeld to take over. He said Congress has abdicated its oversight responsibility, that Condoleezza Rice has traded away her independence in order to win favor with Bush, and that former Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith is one of the dumbest men he's ever met. He also argued that top Pentagon officials "condoned" the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere.
We can expect more and more of these revelations to come out as the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Rove Gang of Four gets weaker and weaker.
Not quite like rats leaving the sinking ship (I KNOW rats, and these guys have a looong way to go to work their way UP to that level -- and even then, I doubt they have what it takes) -- More like Nazi's saving a Jew or two as the Russian Army moves west to Berlin.
Remember, Powell and Wilkerson and the rest we have yet to hear from took the money and the perks, played the game, rained death on strangers according to orders.
Ultimately, "Silence means assent."
So while we're grateful for the information coming from these former war criminals, well, the Gang of Four couldn't have done it without them squealing like little piggies to get their perks and limos and swagger-rights and the best-tables at restaurants.
Just because the journalists who knew all this and said nothing are MORE despicable, doesn't make the government boys good guys.
Just bad guys looking to deal for a reduced sentence.
Link
From Salon.com's War Room
In an extraordinary speech Wednesday at the New America Foundation, Col. Larry Wilkerson, the former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that a "cabal" led by Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has been making decisions on "critical" international issues without the knowledge or participation of others in the administration. The Bush administration and the American people are now "paying the consequences of making those decisions in secret," Wilkerson said.
As the Washington Post notes, Wilkerson has a long working relationship with Powell and was often thought to be someone who would say aloud what Powell thought himself but was too cautious to reveal. If that's what was happening Wednesday, the former secretary of state has a lot to get off his chest.
----Ok, you KNOW the administration is circling the toilet bowl when their threats to keep people silent don't work anymore.
Wilkerson says the administration has "courted disaster in Iraq, in North Korea, in Iran" and has failed to prepare for disasters back home. "And if something comes along that is truly serious, truly serious, something like a nuclear weapon going off in a major American city, or something like a major pandemic, you are going to see the ineptitude of this government in a way that will take you back to the Declaration of Independence," he said.
Although Wilkerson had some praise for the president he served, he said that Bush's ignorance of -- and lack of interest in -- the details of foreign policy left an opening for Cheney and Rumsfeld to take over. He said Congress has abdicated its oversight responsibility, that Condoleezza Rice has traded away her independence in order to win favor with Bush, and that former Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith is one of the dumbest men he's ever met. He also argued that top Pentagon officials "condoned" the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere.
We can expect more and more of these revelations to come out as the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Rove Gang of Four gets weaker and weaker.
Not quite like rats leaving the sinking ship (I KNOW rats, and these guys have a looong way to go to work their way UP to that level -- and even then, I doubt they have what it takes) -- More like Nazi's saving a Jew or two as the Russian Army moves west to Berlin.
Remember, Powell and Wilkerson and the rest we have yet to hear from took the money and the perks, played the game, rained death on strangers according to orders.
Ultimately, "Silence means assent."
So while we're grateful for the information coming from these former war criminals, well, the Gang of Four couldn't have done it without them squealing like little piggies to get their perks and limos and swagger-rights and the best-tables at restaurants.
Just because the journalists who knew all this and said nothing are MORE despicable, doesn't make the government boys good guys.
Just bad guys looking to deal for a reduced sentence.
Link
posted by Saintperle at
9:27 AM
