"But EVERYONE in the world ALSO believed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq"
Well, first of all, not EVERYONE believed that -- Scott Ritter didn't, Hans Blix didn't -- and those two had actually been there and seen what there was to see, and were saying it right out loud early in 2002.*
As for the rest -- well they were pretty much relying on the word of Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Rice who got it from Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, and he told chapter and verse on the ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda only after we turned him over to the Egyptians in January 2002, to be tortured until he said exactly what Rumsfeld and Cheney and Bush and Rice wanted him to say -- that there were ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda and those included training in explosives and chemical weapons.
Mr al-Libi later said he had invented the stories to escape harsh treatment.
A Defense Intelligence Agency report in February 2002 let the air out of the balloon that was Mr. Libi's credibility on questions related to Iraq and Al Qaeda -- mostly because they were pretty damn sure he'd been tortured (they called it "harsh treatment) into saying it. Which, of course, was why they turned this poor schmuck over to the Egyptian Gestapo to twist his balls until he told them what they wanted to hear -- that the only man in the world that Osama Ben Ladn hated more than George Bush -- Saddam Hussein -- was playing a patty-cake game of "kill the infidels" with him.
Just makes me wonder what we would have learned had we done that to Dick Cheney when we wanted to find out what went on in the energy policy meetings. Wonder what he might do if we just threatened a dire something-or-otherusing that wonderfully creepy phrase that resounds through English history: "He was shown the instruments and confessed."
How about a press conference with electrodes attached to George Bush's balls -- and Helen Thomas holds the switch?
How about waterboarding Donnie Rumsfeld? Or pouring hot lead up Karl Rove's ass?
Just a thought. Since they have the power (if not the authority -- not when everyone is either laughing at them or howling in anger), at least we can have the fantasies.
*I recall seeing Scott Ritter on the Politically Incorrect show, and he carefully phrased his opinion. And I recall hearing Dennis Miller mock Ritter for the way he spoke. And I decded then that it would be a good thing if Dennis Miller ended up with his only broadcast presence doing commercials for a second-rate internet provider. Needless to say I have been delighted with the way his career has plummeted like a turd falling off the top of the Bank of America building -- a simile not exactly far-fetched. There's a line between sharp-edged comedy and just being a pure mean-spirited unpleasant shit. And that's aside from the fact that each passing year has him looking more and more like Richard Nixon.
As for the rest -- well they were pretty much relying on the word of Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Rice who got it from Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, and he told chapter and verse on the ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda only after we turned him over to the Egyptians in January 2002, to be tortured until he said exactly what Rumsfeld and Cheney and Bush and Rice wanted him to say -- that there were ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda and those included training in explosives and chemical weapons.
Mr al-Libi later said he had invented the stories to escape harsh treatment.
A Defense Intelligence Agency report in February 2002 let the air out of the balloon that was Mr. Libi's credibility on questions related to Iraq and Al Qaeda -- mostly because they were pretty damn sure he'd been tortured (they called it "harsh treatment) into saying it. Which, of course, was why they turned this poor schmuck over to the Egyptian Gestapo to twist his balls until he told them what they wanted to hear -- that the only man in the world that Osama Ben Ladn hated more than George Bush -- Saddam Hussein -- was playing a patty-cake game of "kill the infidels" with him.
Just makes me wonder what we would have learned had we done that to Dick Cheney when we wanted to find out what went on in the energy policy meetings. Wonder what he might do if we just threatened a dire something-or-otherusing that wonderfully creepy phrase that resounds through English history: "He was shown the instruments and confessed."
How about a press conference with electrodes attached to George Bush's balls -- and Helen Thomas holds the switch?
How about waterboarding Donnie Rumsfeld? Or pouring hot lead up Karl Rove's ass?
Just a thought. Since they have the power (if not the authority -- not when everyone is either laughing at them or howling in anger), at least we can have the fantasies.
*I recall seeing Scott Ritter on the Politically Incorrect show, and he carefully phrased his opinion. And I recall hearing Dennis Miller mock Ritter for the way he spoke. And I decded then that it would be a good thing if Dennis Miller ended up with his only broadcast presence doing commercials for a second-rate internet provider. Needless to say I have been delighted with the way his career has plummeted like a turd falling off the top of the Bank of America building -- a simile not exactly far-fetched. There's a line between sharp-edged comedy and just being a pure mean-spirited unpleasant shit. And that's aside from the fact that each passing year has him looking more and more like Richard Nixon.
posted by Saintperle at
12:52 PM
