Pundit Pap for February 9, 2003
Is Old Europe Sabotaging Smirk's Feud With Saddam?
by the Pundit Pap Team

Feb. 9, 2003, 3 PM -- NEW YORK (APJP) -- What a difference a news cycle makes.

On Friday, it looked as if we were headed into a weekend of pundit palaver in support of Powell's "strong" presentation to the UN Security Council in support of immediate action in Iraq.

Never mind that Powell saluted a helpful "intelligence report" from the UK that turned out to be plagiarized from a grad student and ten-year-old data. Never mind the fact that the "terrorist training camp" Powell cited is in an area of Iraq outside of criminal despot Saddam Hussein's control. Never mind the fact that hot intelligence from all over the globe shows no plausible alliance between strongman Saddam and Osama bin Laden, the criminal moneyman-thug behind Al Qaeda.

But, as the saying goes, we digress.

Yesterday afternoon, most of former Texas governor George W. Bush's cabal went ballistic when it was learned that German news weekly Der Spiegel reported Germany and France would be presenting a plan to bolster inspections, including tripling the number of inspectors and deploying blue-helmeted UN troops in Iraq -- thereby extending the inspection timeline and allowing Saddam Hussein a path to a peaceful solution (or, perhaps, safe harbor and exile if enough Iraqi generals decide to oust the wily strongman).

Some were complaining that Powell and Shrub were being "blind-sided." What a joke -- especially after it is looking more and more like the one person who was blind-sided was Powell -- by erroneous "intelligence" he ended up foisting on the UN, by CIA hawks (who have been doing it ever since they decided to make Saddam THE election issue late last summer), and the screw-ups on Blair's intelligence team whose "portfolio" contained the same typos and grammatical gaffes as the originals they cribbed.

We can still remember the arrogant campaign point of Big Time Cheney and Junior Bush from the 2000 election theft: "We want to put the grown-ups in charge."

They got what they wished for> Smirk, "Doctor Dumbass" Rice, Rummy and Big Time are all on notice: the grown-ups are in charge. And they're not in the West Wing; they're in Old Europe.

And Powell had to adjust his spin to this development.

Here's a smattering of the Sunday spew:

ABC This Weak
Terror Alert -- and an admission of concessions

Players:
George "Steph" Stephanopoulos, boyish host
US Secretary of State Colin Powell
Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

George Stephanopoulos began the program by reminding us of the attempted "sound bite of the week" (Smirk's "Game over"line aimed at ol' Saddam) before conceding that Germany and France have a plan to avert war -- and it's serious.

At the top of the first segment, Steph asked Powell about the plan: triple the inspectors and ten of thousands of UN peacekeepers. Powell said he has not seen the plan (as he would say elsewhere) -- but dismissed it by asking whether or not Iraq will comply (setting an immediate tone of arrogance, which he does not look comfortable trying to carry off).

Powell talked the expected talk and injected the scripted spin lines into the mix early on: "material breach... what happened to the mustard gas?... bring forward EVERYONE to be interviewed." Steph rejoindered by mentioning the use of UN troops as an enforcement mechanism, and Powell essentially repeated the same "come clean" blather, adding that Blix reports back to the UNSC on Friday, but "week after week" Saddam is thwarting inspections and must face the consequences of Resolution 1441 (and there was a lot of the use of the words "week" and "weeks" this Sunday -- implying a message that the US may take military action in a matter of weeks).

Steph pressed on: so the US will not support the French-German plan? Powell's demeanor took on a testy tone as he said he has not seen the plan -- and then Powell channeled the Shrub himself and got snippy about comments from a German defense official -- then, for a THIRD time in the interview, asked, "What happened to all the [WMD] material?" Steph said that Blix now says they've made progress and need more time! Powell said Saddam is "stretching out the inspection process" (huh? didn't Blix say he needs more time?) and his "dictatorial regime" (no argument there) has not given up "a commitment to making WMDs".

Powell's problem, of course, is that he has not been able to substantiate that claim -- nor has the UN. And yes, it would not surprise anyone with half a cerebrum if Saddam is trying to whip up some fresh anthrax or VX.

Steph then showed video of a location Powell had labeled a "terrorist training camp," (in the middle of "Iraqi Kurdistan"), putting Powell on the defensive. Powell seemed to take on far more composure defending this point, saying initial looks at Iraqi video "proving" it not to be a danger can be deceiving, and the basis for the US claim that the location is a training camp for terrorists is based on far more than satellite photos. So why hasn't the camp been destroyed? Steph answered his own question when he mentioned that the AS Times actually said that if it had been taken out, it would remove a justification for war. Powell repeated calmly that the US has evidence it's a training camp. Steph then asked directly why it wasn't taken out -- and Powell refused to answer, citing security issues.

Steph then turned to the raising of the alert level. Powell sounded Ari-esque as he said, "The President and Homeland Security Secretary have said" to go about living your life as normal.

Steph then shifted the topic to North Korea: why not just get on a plane now and confront Kim Jong-Il? Powell said he did -- back in July, offering to help North Korea with food and economic aid. Assistant Secretary Kelly was also over in Pyongyang -- and confronted the Kim regime about their revived nuclear program in violation of four agreements. Powell said he is calling for a multilateral approach to resolving the problem.

Talk about your "disconnect" -- Powell having to shill for possible unilateralism against Iraq while approving a multilateral approach to defusing the North Korea mess -- which is a far more ominous threat to the US.

Steph returned to talk of threats by Iraq, North Korea and even the Taliban: why take Saddam out if his successor could be more dangerous? Powell's non-answer: Saddam has been a problem for 12 years and he has to be taken out by the US working either with the UN or a coalition. "It must be dealt with."

Nice bit of statesmanship there, Colin. You sort of have to feel sorry for him -- having to verbally give Old Europe and the UN the middle digit.

Following a slew of commercials, Steph then welcomed Rep. Dennis Kucinich -- who is running for President as a Democrat and antiwar candidate. Kucinich said that if regime change is called for, war is inevitable -- and Powell failed to tie Saddam to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Al Qaeda, or the anthrax attacks in America (funny how nobody wants to talk about that messy little matter anymore). The mere presence of WMDs in Iraq, added Kucinich, is not grounds for war -- inspections and surveillance, yes, but not war, as we have successfully contained Iraq. Steph said Blix has said there must be substantial behavior change on the part of Iraq for inspections to continue; Kucinich said the US should be guiding the UN toward a peaceful resolution of the crisis. Steph pressed him on taking action against Iraq; Kucinich said that Iraq is not an imminent threat, and if Iraq were a threat he would support whatever it takes to stop that nation. Steph cued Kucinich to talk about why going after Iraq makes the US more vulnerable, and Kucinich explained a link between increased terrorist threats and US foreign policy, and when Steph asked Kucinich about his candidacy, Kucinich said his top issue is foreign policy, using peace through diplomacy and deterrence for a more secure world with America leading the way, and on the domestic front he seeks retirement security and health benefits.

Steph then turned to Senator Joe Biden, who said that everything hinges on what Blix says on Friday. There is a need for a fundamental change in cooperation -- if Blix comes back saying there are other sites he needs to inspect, the France-Germany plan may be the ticket, but if it's going to take a very long time for Blix to handle suspected WMD sites, the story will be very different. Biden is setting the bar very high, saying that a "dribble" of WMDs won't do it for him, but if there are tons of material they need to inspect, then that changes everything.

Steph asked about a second UN resolution and a Saudi proposal that would grant Saddam asylum. Biden likes the idea -- then turned to "resolving" the views of Kucinich and Rumsfeld, saying that Saddam has made and broken promises to the UN in prior resolutions, and it is necessary to enforce these agreements.

Steph asked Biden about the camp -- and Biden said that if there was ricin (he was the first Sunday politico to name the suspected toxin being produced at this camp) coming out of the camp, it should have been destroyed -- but he is not second-guessing the decision not to destroy it (although he scathed the decision).

On the topic of North Korea, Biden essentially blasted Powell and Junior over their handling of the nuke mess. It's time, said Biden, to talk -- Kim has a record of misjudging the intentions of other countries, and we cannot take out the North's nuclear capability without South Korea's consent.

The fully expected final question from Steph: is Biden thinking about running? Yes!

FAUX News Sunday

Players:
Tony "Baloney" Snow, wisecracking FAUX conservative
Colin Powell
Carl Levin

Wow -- Tony Snow sounded upbeat and chipper: "More inspectors!... Blix and al Baradai in Baghdad!... Orange Alert!... The game is over!" Yep -- he and the FAUX gang must think war is imminent.

Tony welcomed Powell, asking about the France/Germany proposal, and Powell said he had not seen it -- immediately segueing to the need not for more inspectors but for Saddam to comply with UN resolutions. ON FNS, Powell was even more strident about noncompliance with UN resolutions, most particularly 1441, than he had been on ABC -- and started taking swipes mostly at France for supposedly not "reading" 1441.

Oh, Colin, we feel your pain over those meddlesome French -- and that of the rest of Smirk's wrecking crew and most FAUX News employees and viewers.

Tony tried to claim that a new resolution calling for more inspections would ruin UN credibility -- and Powell kept pressing his point. Tony then tried to tie "stalling" by France, Russia and Germany to their business (read: oil) ties to Iraq. Powell again repeated "noncompliance" ( the mantra he had selected to push on FAUX, probably because it's been poll-tested by Karl Rove as the best point to fool right-wing FAUX viewers into buying Smirk's war lust) and the need for the UN to "follow through" on 1441. Powell pushed the claim that the UN would be "irrelevant" if they do not act on Iraqi "noncompliance" (no surprise there -- the US tries to push its weight around, the rest of the world resists, so they are "irrelevant" -- typical Smirkthink).

Tony then mentioned Rummy's spin point to the effect that the longer this drags on, the more likely war is. Powell, sounding more like a parrot than a diplomat, again said something about "noncompliance" -- and claimed there has been no movement from Blix or al Baradai, just a few documents (unfortunately for Powell, CNN was almost simultaneously running tape of Blix and al Baradei from Baghdad talking about a "massive change of heart" and "breakthrough" in Iraq).

Tony then claimed that UN inspectors have only used a "fraction" of the intelligence provided by the US (well, no duuuh, Tony -- it's not as if Blix has 20,000 inspectors). Powell said he does not follow the matter on a day-to-day basis.

Tony then said that Iraq is claiming the Powell evidence is bogus. Powell claimed the material is solid despite Iraq taking the press to some of these sites.

Tony then gave Powell a wide berth to talk about Al Qaeda's quest for WMDs -- and terrorists finding safe haven and evil technologies in Iraq. (To be honest, Tony, it's the breakaway Kurdish region -- but what does a little detail like that matter?) Tony mentioned one terrorist group reportedly putting together a "factory for poison," and Powell said they could be sent to Western Europe -- but cautioned Tony in that the region of Iraq is out of Saddam's control (ha!). Powell turned to the Iraqi military -- cautioning Iraqi generals not to use WMDs or there would be consequences.

Tony then played footage of Rummy blasting NATO for denying Turkey support for action against Iraq, and Tony attacked NATO's credibility. Powell did the same, saying that Turkey is a logistical staging ground. Powell sounded a little miffed at NATO not standing by "one of our allies that could be put at risk."

So this is the new tactic of the unilateralists: label the UN "irrelevant" and question NATO's "credibility." Of course, one dare not question, say, Junior's "inability to think critically" or, for that matter, his "legitimacy" as a court-appointed Prince-Regent from Texas.

At least Powell forecast multilateral talks between North Korea, its neighbors and the US.

Tony and his cohort Brit Hume then put Carl Levin on the hot seat. And it was plenty of fun, because Levin knows how to handle this particular tag-team.

Levin praised the reported effort by Germany and France to avert war -- and blasted Little Chimpy's team by saying that the UN Security Council should not be treated as a "stumbling block" (nice spin point from Levin). Tony then tried a Russertesque trick -- pulling out an OLD Levin quote calling for military action against Iraq. But Levin was ready, telling Tony that he was talking at the time in the context of -- you guessed it -- a UN resolution! (Oh dear, Tony, did you somehow forget that niggling detail?) When Hume tried to force a point about Resolution 1441, Levin blasted Condi Rice for calling inspections "doomed," and when Brit tried to attack Levin on his stand on 1441, Levin scathed back -- for example, Hume claimed that Blix was calling Iraq non-cooperative, and Levin said that's not what Blix said -- or told him. Levin also had questions about exactly what intelligence data the US has shared with the UN. (Translation: is the US setting up the UN for failure and concealing data on where WMDs really are?)

Tony tried to attack Levin on the issue of whether or not Saddam has WMD, and Hume asked Levin about whether Saddam had violated 1441. Levin said yes, and, fending off rude interruptions from Hume, said that how we deal with his violation has to be carefully considered and requires international cooperation. He expanded on this point in response to a question from Tony: it is not certain that we will get authorization to use force, so we have to keep every avenue open.

Brit claimed there would be no 1441 without the Smirk Cadre, and Levin replied by saying that ultimate use of the teeth in 1441 "must be blessed by the world community."

Tony then tried tried to claim that France and Germany have "veto power" over our foreign policy (right -- through the "irrelevant" UN -- you just have to admire the sheer hypocrisy), and Levin again said this is the old "stumbling block" argument -- we need to keep the pressure up.

Levin also said that we should attack Al Qaeda wherever we find them -- then dismissed the sketchy evidence that Iraq "helped" one Al Qaeda operative with hospitalization, calling it nothing even approaching proof of Saddam and Osama being in bed with each other.

Levin then embarrassed Hume, who tried to attack Levin for voting against the latest Iraqi war resolution -- but Levin pointed out that he voted based on a recommendation of pushing for inspections from -- catch this -- Colin Powell!

And on the matter of North Korea, Levin again said that it is crucial to rally international support.

We changed channels at the end of that segment to check out...

Meet the Pest

Players:
Tim Russert, overweight and imperious NBC attack dog
Colin Powell
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Retired General Norman Schwarzkopf

We joined MTP late, as Tim Russert was asking Powell about the German/French proposal. This time around, we got a different flavor of Powell: "angry Colin" denouncing what he termed a non-solution and saying compliance trumps "more time" -- "it is time for him to comply" ( a variation on George W. GameBoy's "Game over" line).

Powell said there would be a coalition to take on Saddam if Iraq fails to comply and if the UN fails to call for action (we know -- you've already lined up Djibouti -- the excitement is palpable).

Tim put up a slide of a missile production facility Powell used at the UN -- and Powell claimed that he "knew" Iraq would "sanitize" the site because they got word that inspectors would be arriving (but according to the LA Times, Iraq got no specific warning). And Tim went on the attack -- reminding Powell of an evidence "gaffe" during Desert Storm and the brouhaha over the plagiarized and outdated British "cut-and-paste" dossier. Tim, naturally, had to ask Powell about that "terrorist camp" -- and immediately pointed out that it is in Kurdish territory! But Tim-meh followed through with a truly dumb question: why not ask the Kurds to close it down? Powell said something about an Iraqi intelligence operative; it fell flat.

Tim talked up the possibility that Saddam may give WMDs to terrorists if he feels his regime is on the verge of destruction. Powell went back into "must comply" mode.

Tim asked what would happen if Saddam uses chemical weapons -- will we use nukes? Powell gave an evasive answer that screamed, "Saddam had better consider it a real possibility."

Tim then quoted a passage from Powell's autobiography My American Journey concerning the hazards of going to war in the Middle East -- and Powell responded by praising the wisdom of "our national security team." (Gag me -- you mean Condi Rice, who ignored Sandy Berger's warnings about Al Qaeda? The piano-playing twit should've been fired immediately after 9/11/01.)

Tim claimed 24 bombers have been dispatched to the Korean region and asked if we will allow North Korea to develop any more nuclear bombs. Powell denied that there was such a deployment, and said that North Korea broke their promise not to enrich uranium. We now need an ironclad agreement with North Korea. China does not want a nuclear Korean peninsula. And there is now a corridor for movement between North and South Korea. A multilateral solution, concluded Powell, can work.

If we enter Iraq, will we be seen as liberators? And what about Kurds and Shiites that want to break away? Powell admitted we would have to be nation builders by saying that the US is committed to a united Iraq.

Next up were Albright and Schwarzkopf. Tim brought up a quote by Albright from last fall about the "irrational exuberance" for war with Iraq. Albright said she feels the war against terrorism and Al Qaeda is far more of a priority -- and too much attention is being paid to Iraq. Albright said that there is a strong possibility that Saddam has WMDs but we have him in a box; Powell did a good job of showing that Saddam's not a nice guy, but there are bigger priorities; Junior failed to mention Osama in the SOTU, and, she said emphatically, "North Korea is a crisis." If we go to war, she said, she'd support the "president" and our troops, and while she'll not say war with Iraq is a "mistake", Al Qaeda is a danger, and single-focus foreign policy is a danger.

Albright also asked why the terrorist complex in Kurdish territory -- where poisons apparently were manufactured -- was not taken out.

Tim then turned to Schwarzkopf -- who thinks that a new war with Iraq will not be fast or easy. Schwarzkopf said that depends on what Iraqi generals do -- a desert war would be easier than an urban campaign, which Tim called "urban jungle warfare." Division against division, we can take them, said Schwarzkopf, but urban warfare would result in a slow fight and likely huge civilian casualties. If Saddam uses chemical weapons, should we use nukes? Probably not. Can we capture Saddam? That, said Schwarzkopf, is the bottom line, and the possibility that Saddam is willing to use WMDs is a huge problem. Should we nuke Saddam's bunker? If you drop a nuke on a hole, you'll never know if you got him.

Albright said there are other ways to deal with Saddam, and using nukes is a dangerous game. As for Saddam, he is ultimately the problem in Iraq, and if there is to be a war, the goal must be toppling him from power.

What about the way Iraqis see us -- liberators or occupiers? Schwarzkopf said most will see us as liberators. Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds are another matter -- and Turkey has serious issues about a Kurdish state. Albright said that the US is highly disliked in the Arab world, and the Orange Alert is the result of a possible war ratcheting up the dislike; we do not know what the result of the Iraqi situation will be. We'll be seen as occupiers AND liberators, and occupying oil fields will not be viewed favorably in the Arab world.

Would Albright support going it alone against Iraq? Albright said that it is unlikely that we would go it alone if it comes to military intervention. Tim tried to "make" Albright a hypocrite by pointing out the US went alone in Kosovo -- but Albright explained how the situation was far different.

Tim asked Schwarzkopf about criticism of George the Lesser's team -- and the only player with real military experience being Colin Powell. Schwarzkopf said that it is important for civilian leaders to listen to people with military and combat experience -- and we're not seeing much of that today (ouch!). Albright said it is easy for those outside the government to criticize those in -- and they have a very hard job.

Finally, Tim attacked Albright about having "allowed" Osama bin Laden to leave Sudan. (Right -- as if it were her, or Bill Clinton's -- decision. This is another imbecilic and dishonestly "simplified" spin point that has been kicked abound for well over a year by ultra-right Clinton haters, including Jeff "Rush Limbaugh" Christie. The fact that Tim dared to bring up this bullshit shows which camp he clearly is in.) Albright said that the decision not to move was made on the basis of specific information they had at the time. So why not capture him? Albright said she could not answer that question (and it sounded as if she wanted to -- but should have added there are reasons she cannot answer the question). Tim then turned to some Clinton-bashing "background" on the Korea crisis -- but also acknowledged missteps by Bush. Albright: "And this is not a crisis?" (You go, girl!) She called for talks -- and said she has a problem with the Smirk Cadre for not following through on information they got from the departing Clinton team, reminding Tim that the Soviet Union also cheated on arms agreements. Tim sounded as if he wants the reactors taken out, but Albright wants talks and a freeze on both sides.

Tim asked Schwarzkopf how difficult taking out a nuclear reactor would be. Tough, he said, adding, "These are not rational people." Schwarzkopf said that isolation is one approach. What if he sells nukes to terrorists? We'll have to see what those cards hold, said Schwarzkopf.

-- JJ Balzer

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