American Politics Journal -- Pundit Pap

Flush twice... it's a long way to Sally Quinn's place...

Pundit Pap
for November 24, 2002
Russert shills for Iraq attaq!
by JJ Balzer

Nov. 24, 2002 -- NEW YORK (APJP) -- Congress has wrapped up its inauspicious session. The Dry-Drunk-in-Chief has been touring Europe following the admission of more of eastern Europe into NATO -- schmoozing with freely-elected leaders (one intrepid photographer caught him toasting -- what was in that glass, Prince George? 'fess up), talking a good game about freedom as his henchmen John Ashcroft and the felonious John Poindexter look for new ways to trash the Bill of Rights and steal your right to privacy.

So, naturally, the pundits focused on more "pre-game" talk about an inevitable-looking war with Saddam Hussein along with plenty of pap about the weekend's "breaking" story, detailed in Newsweek, concerning a money trail leading from top family members of the House of Saud to two of the 9-11-01 hijackers.

With Dave away for a few weeks and my time limited by visiting relatives, I decided to take a gander at the king of spin disguised as probing journalism: Tim Russert.

Meet the Press
Had your Prilosec yet? You'll need it -- Tim shills for Woodward AND war!

The UN inspectors in Iraq! A big Al Qaeda fish caught -- is he singing? Then -- "inside the war cabinet"!

War cabinet? You mean the one that's at war with itself? The "Powellites" versus the "Big Time Dicks"? Now THAT is a war that could determine the fate of Western civilization -- and here's hoping that Colin Powell (a guy who, we would remind you, helped cover up Reagan-era shenanigans) beats out Dick Cheney (the guy who sold oil drilling gear to the Evilest Evildoer of Evil himself, Saddam Hussein).

And we would remind Tim that while the executive branch has the power to retaliate when we are attacked by a foreign power, it sure as hell helps for Congress to formalize a declaration of war -- even if it is not a state but a rogue cult of hatred and death.

Tim first turned to celebrity "anchor" Tom Brokaw, who is in Baghdad doing preview reporting for Desert Fiasco II.

We will at this point note that over on ABC's This Weak, George Stephanopoulos had as his first guest Saudi spokesman Adel al-Jubair, making the "Saudi Connection" story their top issue of the week. Steph was merciless and did his best in his questioning to put the articulate, always cool al-Jubair on the defensive. Sadly, al-Jubair, who usually wears western-style tailored suits, wore House of Saud drag -- but we suspect his bosses made that call, and therefore that blunder. We have been skeptical of the motives of many in the Saudi royal family -- but also know that there is a a huge amount of infighting within the family over support for extremist fundamentalist Wahabi Islam and the corrosive effect that ultra-fundamentalism is having on the kingdom.

The first comments from Brokaw assessed the situation with UN inspectors having just arrived to smoke out weapons of mass destruction. Brokaw noted that security in Baghdad was at a low level, evidently as a bit of window-dressing; he anticipates that Iraq will provide a long list of materials for "dual use;" the US, he believes, will claim that they can be weaponized. The problem for the US is that the UN will not have a full complement of inspectors in place until late December -- and will issue no reports until late January.

Brokaw also said that Iraqis are fearful to speak out against Saddam. One English-speaking Iraqi said that they "love" Saddam -- but quietly followed up by saying that Iraqis would welcome American intervention!

Now that bit of reportage can do nothing but bring a big smile to the likes of Rummy, Cheney, Wolfowitz and the other armchair warriors so eager to put our young men and women in harm's way.

Tim asked Brokaw if there was any sense that Saddam would be overthrown, and Brokaw said that there are "no rumbles" of a "nascent" coup.

Tim then turned to his two guests, Sens. Richard Shelby and Bob Graham, first asking Shelby what the odds of a coup are. Shelby said they are not good, but many Iraqi military honchos will run for cover assuming that the US is out to depose Saddam once bullets start to fly. Graham also said he has a sense that war with Iraq is inevitable.

What happens if Saddam provides a dual use list? Shelby said it would be deemed a material breach of UN resolutions (read: attack!). Tim asked about the possibility of Saddam using terrorist cells in a preemptive attack against Americans, and Graham said that when Saddam is cornered for his survival, that is when he becomes most dangerous -- and he may unleash terrorist attacks, possibly including smallpox, and possibly with help from other terrorist groups, against the US.

And that point should not be taken lightly. There is no question that Al Qaeda poses a direct and lingering threat to American security. Saddam does not pose anywhere near the threat Saddam poses -- but if His Petulance insists on war, Graham's answer means that not only uniformed men and women but innocent civilians will be at risk.

Should policemen, firemen, and first-line defenders be immunized against smallpox? Shelby said yes, but there are health downsides -- so care must be taken.

Tim then asked in an obvious setup for a long "of course, here's why" answer), "Is Abdal-Rahim al Nashiri an Al Qaeda 'big fish?'" Shelby said that half of Al Qaeda's top leaders have been killed and captured -- and gave all credit to the Smirk Regime; Graham said that Al Qaeda is now operating on a regional basis; al Nashiri was the Persian Gulf boss, and likely behind that recent attack on a French oil tanker near Yemen. To our disappointment, Graham called Osama more a symbolic figure than the top dog (the flip side of that coin is that his capture would be not only a symbolic but damaging blow to Al Qaeda's leadership, financing and plans) -- and said that taking him down is not the end of Al Qaeda (which begs the question: why the rush to go after Saddam?).

So are we losing the war against terrorists? Graham said we've not done much -- in fact, he added, we now have to take Hezbollah and Hamas more seriously, and news of "a foreign government" giving help to terrorists is disturbing. Tim prompted Graham to name that nation -- Saudi Arabia.

Tim did not turn his attention to this story -- quite yet. Instead, he asked Shelby if, based on the new Osama audiotape, Shelby accepts the fact that he is alive and was sending a message to his followers. Yes, said Shelby, who reminded Tim that he had said as much on his previous MTP appearance, and that the question is not if, but when, Al Qaeda will attack -- and whether or not it will be on the scale of September 11th or bigger.

This reply by Shelby should trouble every viewer. Again we ask: why the focus on Saddam when Shelby is saying -- more explicitly than the Rove administration wants -- that not only is Al Qaeda the most significant and imposing danger to America, but that after just over a year the Texas Dauphin and his Color-coded Clown College have absolutely failed to thwart these homicidal crazies?

Graham got the same questions from Tim; Graham agreed, adding that one issue is who the audience for the latest Osama diatribe is, with one theory being that the target audience is a combination of fringe groups and hangers-on to Osama's cause.

Tim then turned to the "Saudi Connection" story -- first, a report that the FBI and CIA failed to pursue leads that tied Saudi officials to Al Qaeda operatives,and a Newsweek article that links a Saudi princess and wife of an ambassador to a payoff to two September 11th hijackers. Shelby refused to comment on an ongoing investigation -- the focus should be on victims of the previous attacks and on stopping future attacks.

With the manner in which Shelby -- to steal a line from the Big Dog -- seems focused on Osama like a laser beam, does one get the feeling that Shelby considers Osama a helluva lot more important to deal with than Saddam, Kim Il Sung and Iranian mullahs combined?

What kind of ally is Saudi Arabia? At this point, Shelby had the line of the week: "Our entire relationship is transactional."

It's about time someone said it -- transactional. What's the top transactional commodity? Oil -- they sell it to us. What else is involved? Using Saudi Arabia as a military staging ground -- and again, it's the money that matters. Shelby's comment also suggests that there may well be more appropriate and agreeable nations with which to transact both petro-business and military deals.

Shelby continued -- slammed the House of S's history of harboring and supporting Wahabi sect extremists within Islam. Graham said he wants more details concerning the money trail reported in Newsweek along with information on individuals who left the US -- and, even more importantly, information on the financial-logistical infrastructure that would support future attacks against the US.

Tim pressed Graham for details on specific ties, but Graham provided the question: why were these two hijackers given money? Tim pressed the point of "direct to the Saudi Embassy", and Graham, though slightly evasive, suggested in his answer that there is more evidence pointing to individuals headquartered in the Saudi embassy. Shelby pushed the point that the money trail is telling.

Tim then brought up a report that Al Qaeda is out to turn Afghanistan into their training center. Shelby would not confirm it -- but certainly implied that he agreed in that it would in essence turn Afghanistan back into a haven for terrorists.

Tim also pressed Graham on a Miami Herald article in which he pointed out that Hezbollah has killed Americans, and indignantly asked if Hezbollah is a bigger threat than Saddam. Graham said yes -- they have targeted Americans, they are heavily armed, and the US should step up efforts to rout Hezbollah. The problem, as he pointed out, is that they have a large presence in Syria, which sits on the UN Security Council.

Tim then brought up the NY Times article explaining how North Korea helped Pakistan get the bomb. Shelby cited diplomatic reasons for looking the other way; Graham said that North Korea, with its missiles, is a real danger in that they can strike US troops.

After the break, Tim welcomed Bob Woodward to plug his book, "Smirk at War," and the lion's share of the interview looked at the outset to bolster not only the entirely artificial notion that His Fraudulence is a strong leader, but Smirk's 2002 campaign message that we are at war.

But things did get fun on a few occasions. We'll skip all the fawning over Smirk and cut to the juicy moments.

At one point, Woodward said that there is in fact friction within the Smirk Misadministration between armchair warrior Dick "Big Time" Cheney and actual-soldier-turned-statesman Colin Powell. But Tim quickly steered him away from (horror) something that might make his beloved Shrubbie look bad to talk about the "war cabinet" and the laughable notion that Team Smirk would not dare play politics with such a lofty goal as the war! Bravo, Tim -- that was definitely the laugh line of the week.

The tone quickly turned back to more brown-nosing by the alleged "investigative author" and the so-called "political journalist" in a segment that was designed to reinforce the notion of Chimpy the War President and to justify the shift of attention away from Al Qaeda to Evildoer Saddam -- but Woodward couldn't resist pointing out that Donald Rumsfeld sought to use the attack on the Pentagon to go after Saddam!

There was also an interesting exchange about Smirk's "deep" religious beliefs -- and his view that North Korea is "ripe for new leadership." Woodward said that Shrub is out to "achieve big goals" -- cloaked in the rhetoric of "world peace," "the human factor" and "the vision thing."

A shame that Woodward didn't go as far as Mike Hersh, whose sources told him that His Arrogance is under the delusion that he "talks to God" and God in fact has told him to take out Saddam.

The other interesting moment came when Woodward reminded Tim that Sandy Berger had warned Condi Rice that Al Qaeda was a threat -- and the Smirk Administration did practically zilch to prepare for an Al Qaeda attack!

Then, like an alcoholic falling off the wagon, Tim devolved to old behavior, attacking Hillary Clinton by plastering her statement about the Smirkster having an "old score to settle" with Saddam on the screen. Woodward denied he saw any push to settle old scores -- but once again, Hersh has sources that say Hillary is right.

The final "Meet the Press" moment was a clip from three decades ago by centegenarian segregationist Strom Thurmond. Why the hell does the "liberal" media treat Thurmond like some sort of sage elder statesman -- even if it's the Confederate states?

JJ Balzer is a former television news producer. He lives in New York City.