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

apj.us / correntewire.com
Pundit Pap
for Sunday, March 12, 2006
Port, 'Peachment Pap!
by the Pundit Pap Crew
JJ Balzer| Lambert Strether | Xan | Shystee

March 12, 2006 (correntewire.com / apj.us)

Picture the scene: Working overtime, the janitors have set up the wide screens in the Clemons Auditorium of The Mighty Corrente Building, and, faces raised to read the gigantic lips, rows of skilled transcriptionists are feverishly typing the words of the gasbags, in real time. A cry goes up—"Copy person!"—and the latest pages are whisked, by uniformed messengers, to Room 42, where haruspicationists, faces white with strain, square their shoulders and begin the laborious task of decrypting Tweety's latest utterances… And those of his guests… A nation waits…

-- Lambert Strether

The Sunday schmoozefests are already making headlines:

• On ABC's This Week, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-MN) got the festivities off to a high-voltage start by announcing he is introducing a motion in the Senate to censure former Texas governor George W. Bush for illegally spying on American citizens using a warrantless wiretapping scheme concocted by his so-called "justice" and "security" henchmen. The fun continued as TV's George Stephanopoulos seemed eager to get Feingold to back the impeachment of Bush. Bill Frist also appeared and, in a logical stretch that spans a couple galaxies, suggested that Feingold's censure motion weakens America and brings aid and comfort to the nation's enemies: "[I'm] hoping deep inside that the leadership in Iran…[was] not listening." [Oh, we see — daring to stand up to Dear Leader's abuses of power means that the terrorists win! And Terri Schiavo was smiling with joy on that videotape, too!] Frist also pandered to the bigot and xenophobe vote with a lot of talk about "tightening the borders." No animals were harmed during the filming of This Week.
  
  
• On NBC's Meet the Tim, Sen. Joe Biden (D-MBNA) drastically changed his Iraq tune, telling overweight GOP operative Tim "Li'l Russ" Russert that the incompetence with which the Iraq war has been managed has "stunned" him. Well, isn't that special? Someone should tell Joe we were stunned within days as Iraqi museums and banks were looted — and deeply disturbed weeks later when the world learned that Iraq's munitions storehouses had been looted, a sure indication that civil war would emerge over time.
  
  
• Someone must have told Chris "My Brother's a Republican candidate" Matthews that today is "Trash Hillary" day on Tweety & Friends. You get the feeling that Karl Rove has miscalculated because of that, er, Valerie Plame distraction — he wants his media stooges to "set up" Hillary so that the claque of Clinton-hating television characters (or lack thereof) can verbally tear her down. Once again, Tweety presided over a session of straw man silliness at its most vapid, sponsored by GOP-aligned corporate players.

This page will be updated as the pap pops fresh out of the metaphorical Information Super-EZ-Bake Oven, courtesy of Corrente and APJ.

ABC This Week With George Stephanopoulos
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-MN), Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN), and the Round Table

Russ Feingold chose This Week to announce that he is about to introduce a resolution of censure against George Bush, specifically in reference to his having violated the Constitution in the matter of wiretapping without any legal basis. For this, sez Russ, he must be held accountable.

Russ noted that while Bush has claimed no less than three legal bases for the tapping—the FISA court, the resolution authorizing the Afghan war, and inherent authority as Commander-in-Chief—none of these has been upheld by any court, no impartial legal scholars find them plausible, and they all come down in the end to "because I'm the Preznit and I sed so." [Heavy paraphrasing here].

George S asked, why not just impeach him?

Russ noted this was still an option if the Preznit did not mend his ways, but said that the censure offered an opportunity for a bipartisan statement, by members of Congress who also take oaths of their own to follow the Constitution, that the Preznit has violated it, and needs to stop doing so, and apologize.

(George S. was just about to fall down in a laughing fit at this point, just contemplating George W. Bush doing any of these things. Russ has just a little twinkle in the eye too at the prospect.)

Some dialogue is swapped over whether censure is itself in the Constitution, it was noted it has been used on presidents including Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, so it has precedent and meaning. And it would avoid putting the nation through a Constitutional crisis, while still allowing those Congresspersons who were tired of serving as the Preznit's personal roll of toilet paper to register their desire to cease this function. And stand up for the Constitution and the Rule of Law too. "The Constitution and Bill of Rights were not repealed on 9-11" is perhaps our sound bite du jour here.

They then took on the political aspects of this, and here (IMHO) the true genius of Feingold's move became clear. Democrats, he noted, must be tough on national security. We are, he noted, the party of the Rule of Law and civil liberties. [Yay Russ! That's our framing right there.]

George S: Will this halt the fraying of the Republican party and force them to reunify back around Bush, who they have been trying to skooch away from as the poll numbers continue to drop?

Russ (big grin, while noting the nonpartisan nature of this): It simply puts the Senate on record, he sez. Are they for the Constitution and Rule of Law, or are they going to cling to the lawbreaker? [You can just about hear the jaws of the trap snapping shut at this point.]

[Minor babble about the Dubai ports deal, but very brief. On the "Are you running in '08" question the answer was the usual "too busy to think about it right now, ask me in '07" but what was nice was to hear him say he was "Too busy trying to reverse the disastrous course in Iraq, and reverse the Patriot Act." More of that, Russ! More like that, other Democrats! Although if we can remember to phrase it as "the badly-misnamed "Patriot" Act" or at least the "so-called "Patriot" Act" this would be even better.]

So after barely 10 minutes with Sen. Feingold we go to Sen. Catkiller Frist. He seemed just a tad flustered by what he had just heard, both what Feingold was saying and the fact that Steph was having the temerity to ask him about it as if it was something he was supposed to take seriously.

He flat out babbled. We must Protect the American People at a time like this! Let's just hope Our Enemies weren't listening to the Sabbath Gasbag Shows, as this would encourage them, when we Should Be Encouraging Our Preznit! In a Time of War! 9-11, 9-11, 9-11!! Unprecedented! Iran! Wrong! Enemies!

George S: Do we need some shakeups on the white House staff?

CK Frist: Dodge, dodge, duck. Wiretapping IS legal! And Constitutional! And its perteckin the Murkin peepul. And stuff!

Chanting this mantra appeared to calm him somewhat, or else operators of lie detectors are right and it IS less stressful to tell the truth. Because the topic went to the Dubai ports, which he was against before he was for, which he denied even after George S. put some of his quotes, with dates, on the screen.

But he then went into a riff about reforming the FICUS committee was important, and getting Congressional oversight of the process was important, despite what he had just said earlier about Anything The Preznit Wants To Do Is Okay Because He's The Preznit And He Sez So. He was at least speaking much slower and more calmly through this segment though; perhaps the meds had just kicked in. Good thing he's got better insurance than TennCare because they completely quit paying for Valium and barbiturates for any disorder, including epilepsy, as of Jan. 1. But we digress….

Final questions were about the South Dakota abortion "War on Women Act." They put up a chart of all the R's at the Memphis Hootenanny with whether they would sign such a law if it were presented to them; all said "yes" except Romney [probably because he thought it was too lenient, with that "life of the woman" exception in it.] Frist said he was as anti-woman as anybody, by gum, but he would rather have life/rape/incest exceptions. Wuss.

Final subject was "Immigration Reform," which Fristy the Snowman is doing his best to be on both sides of as well. Snore. He did say "there will be a guest worker program" and did actually mention the word "employer" but just once, with no details or mention of what punishment they would incur or what country they would be deported to.

After that was the Round Table but due to the water tank problem* being discovered around that time I didn't see much of it. Donna Brazile was the "liberal" at the table so I kinda doubt I missed too much.

*Apologies for brevity this time, but I am awaiting a callback from a plumber as to the matter of the pressure tank on my water well having sprung just a little teeny pinhole leak. He's probably at church, and probably I should be too, as a little Miraculous Mechanical Healing is along the lines of what I can afford at the moment. Anybody have Robert Tilton's prayer line number? Naw, never mind that, just kidding.

CNN Late Edition
The Ghostface Blitzah Show!

Wolf Blitzer AKA Ghostface Blitzah is one of the worst Sunday talk shows. As opposed to say, MTP where guests get almost 20 uninterrupted minutes, Ghostface only allows 3 minutes per topic. Yes, Blitzer’s interviews are short and to the point, but you have to sit through two hours, almost half of which is ads, to get to them.

Quotes/summaries from notes, not transcript, which should appear here eventually.

Iraq

Ghostface Blitzah: Who killed peace activist Tom Fox?

US Ambassador in Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad: The terrorists did. They want nothing good. Today was a good day in Iraq… As far as the formation of a coalition government is concerned.

Jack Kemp: The ambassador is doing a heckuva fabulous job. The US must announce unequivocally: no permanent bases, that we plan to get out by 2008. Set a time certain for pullout.

Ghostface Blitzah: John Edwards, is your position on Iraq closer to Murtha or Lieberman’s?

John Edwards [sitting in a dark room somewhere in Cackalacka, his head framed by a halo-like backdrop] Let me speak for myself. We should reduce number of troops.

Portgate

Jack Kemp: Congress’ reaction to the Dubai Ports deal was the betrayal of a friend. Thanks for going to Dubai, Ghostface. This is a Globalization thing. Tom Friedman is right, the world is becoming flatter.

John Edwards: The key question is “Who is going to provide for the security and operation of our ports?” It should be American companies.

Russia/Putin

John Edwards: Not confident Putin is a small D democrat. There has been good economic development. But Putin is moving in the wrong direction politically. Controlling the press, suppressing political parties, abolishing direct election of governors. At this point we only have a selective partnership with Russia.

Jack Kemp: the upcoming G-8 meeting in St. Petersburg is important. Economical liberalization leads to political liberalization in my study of history. Get them into this flattening thing a la Tom Friedman.

I think Jack should get back to studying his history and throw crazy Tommy’s books in the garbage where they belong (except maybe From Beirut to Jerusalem).

Democrats in 2006, Howard Dean

Poll: Do Democrats have a clear plan for Iraq?
No: 70%
Yes: 24%

Dean said something like of course we have a plan. He missed the opportunity, as so many Dems do, to say that George Bush has no plan for Iraq.

That said, I can’t see what’s stopping the Democratic party from putting together a proposal for Iraq designed by experts (military, academics, diplomats, etc.) Well, sometimes I think I can see it: their carefully crafted plan is to sit on their hands and watch Bush and the GOP turn Iraq into a bloody mess that gets worse every day.

Howard Dean: There’s resolution in Congress, a letter by Levin, saying this is a transitional year, it’s time to start reducing troop levels.

The Democratic Party stands for real security, openness and honesty in government. Bush hasn’t been truthful. He misled us on Katrina, Iraq, on his promise to fire any White House leakers of classified information.

Ghostface Blitzah: So are you saying Bush is lying?

Sorry, Chicago Dyke, even the human scream wouldn’t say the L-word.

Howard Dean: It’s no secret, I look at Newt Gingrich’s Republican Revolution as the model, strategically. We need to give a consistent message about what democrats want. But we won’t call it Contract with America. It’s going to be about real security, jobs, healthcare, education…

In other words, the same old Democratic “safe” issues. Nothing about the War, nothing about abuse of power, nothing about Corporations screwing working people.

Ghostface Blitzah: The Democrats have raised far less campaign money than Republicans

Howard Dean: The DNC had a record year. We have 200 organizers in every state. If money won elections we would be in office now. Infrastructure is what you need.

Bombshell

Ghostface Blitzah: Hillary’s consultant Harold Ickes has basically given the DNC a vote of no confidence as far as their database infrastructure.

Howard Dean: The DNC has to be the one to build and maintain the party’s voter database, it’s mandated by law. I’ve got good tech people. Candidates can build their own databases if they want to. But the DNC database is not just built for congressional races, it needs to be useful for state level races: mayors, governors, etc.

Ghostface Blitzah: My Democratic sources tell me that if the Democrats don’t take advantage of W’s disastrous blunders there will be hell to pay.

[You got that right, at least, Wolfie]

Howard Dean: I don’t look at it at taking advantage of Republican mistakes. This is about the future of this country. Democrats are the only ones who have run a surplus. Homeland Security means Hometown Security. We’re the most diverse party in the world, if you look at our voters, the people who put us in power.

Things are Going Grrreat in Iraq

Fredericka Whitfield from CNN HQ’s in Hotlanta: 35 people dead, 100 wounded in marketplace bombings today in Sadr City, a Shiite district in Baghdad and home of the Mahdi Army, the militia controlled by Topo Gigio-looking Radical Cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr. Security breach at Baghdad Airport: Cigarette box containing explosives found next to airplane. No travel for US officials. Trial of Saddam continues.

Ghostface Blitzah: Thanks Fred.

Anesh Raman reporting from Baghdad: Khalilzad was putting a putting a diplomatic spin on the situation earlier. [I don’t know what the hell he was talking about with his “Today was a Good Day” in Iraq nonsense.] Prime Minister Al-Jafa'ari shows no indication he wants to step down, he thinks the opposition to him is personal.

To Pull Out, and When, Those are the Questions

Carl Levin: We have to make it clear we’re not there for an indefinite time. Unless they come to a prompt political solution, we have to pull out. This is the only way to defeat the insurgency.

Ghostface Blitzah: The counterargument is that it encourages the insurgents if we set a timetable.

John Warner: it’s up to the people on the scene not Congress. [Civil War is the Iraqi’s problem]

Carl Levin: The Terrorists don’t need encouragement. The only hope is for them to reach a political solution or this thing is doomed. The only leverage we have is to put our presence on the line. We’re not setting timetable, but conditions. It’s a mistake when the President says we’re there as long as they need us.

Portgate

John Warner: Americans did not have the whole picture. I wish we had had more time. We NEED the UAE and moderate [what does that mean? What are the requirements, if any?] Arab states as allies in the WOT.

We’ve complicated immeasurably this sale. It looks in all respects like a total divestiture. [Yeah, I’m sure it looks that way] I don’t think congress should take any more action on this issue. 75 to 80% of US ports are foreign owned.

Carl Levin: We’re supposed to have checks and balances in this country, but it hasn’t worked that well with this administration. They tried to sidestep the 45 day review required by law.

Feingold’s initiative to censure Bush over Warrantless Wiretapping

Carl Levin: Even though I think Bush was wrong, I think we should wait for investigation.

[In other words, he won’t support Censure. Jeebus, can’t even the two most liberal Senators get on the same page?]

John Warner [with disdain]: Feingold failed to mention he’s running for president. We have to support a strong presidency. This weakens the president’s power in his diplomatic relations with the world.

I support writing a law so that there is not a perception that the president is breaking the law. The president must be allowed to act quickly.

[It sounded really bad, as if the most important reason for new legislation is to make Bush look good].

Sexy Saxby does Dubai

Saxby Chambliss, semi-live from Dubai: Well, the deal is over and done with with now

[not quite, Saxby, we have yet to find out who the US entity will be].

We’ve made assurances to the UAE rulers that the strong relationship will continue, great allies in the WOT. Members of PM’s cabinet were educated in the US. The leadership is on board. We’ve explained to them that we’re living in very political times.

[Basically Saxby is on an ass-kissing mission]

Ghostface Blitzah’s Dubai Infomercial: Vegas on the Gulf

Ghostface Blitzah: I had exclusive access to DP world. Dubai customs have mobile X-ray machines that scan containers while their still on the truck. They also have radioactivity meters and strange computer graphics.

And [thank goodness] they are not worried about political correctness, it depends where the cargo is coming from.

Customs Official: Some countries we inspect 100 percent, some countries no, some countries 30%.

Dubai Ports Official: Can you imagine the value of the shipments that come through here? Why would companies bring their ships to our terminals if they didn’t trust us.

US Navy Official: I feel very safe. At least one US ship per day in Dubai. DP World handles services, fuel, logistics. What grade would I give them? At least an A+

Ghostface Blitzah: It is true two hijackers were from UAE

Sultan bin Sulayem: Eh, it’s a country of 3 million people. How can you blame 3 million people?

Ghostface Blitzah: Dubai is fa-bu-lous! Why shouldn’t we trust them?

The Burj el Arab Hotel, 321 feet tall. One of the most expensive in the world. Suite is $5K per night.

They have a mall. They have snow: Ski Dubai indoor slopes.

Construction is amazing. World’s tallest building under construction. They also have Robot Camel jockeys.

That’s why they call it Vegas on the Gulf.

Bonus Ghostface Killah Lyrics:

The arsonist, who burn with his pen regardless
Slaying all these earthlings and fake foreigners
In the Philippines, pick herbal beans, bubbling strings
Body chemical CREAM, we burn kerosene
The conviction of my tape is rape, wicked like Nixon
Long-heads inscriptions with three sixes in
Kiss the pyramid experiment with high explosive
I slapbox with Jesus, lick shots at Joseph
Zoomin like binoculars, the rap blacksmith
Money’s Rolex, with sparkles, Chef’s ragtop is spotless
I’m Iron Man no cheap cash metal I’m steel alloy
True identity hidden inside secret tabloids
—“Daytona 500” from Ironman (1996)

— Shystee

NBC Meet the Press
Prez wannabes and Pumpkinhead's Book Club

Tim "Pumpkinhead" Russert's main attractions this week were billed as anointed Presidential contenders: George Allen (R-VA) and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-MBNA). Then we had two very familiar talking heads from the runup to the war shilling their book: Michael R. Gordon (Times man) author, and Bernard Trainor (professional retired Marine Lieutenant General). The topics were Iraq, Iran, and, not so much, the Ports controversy.

Interestingly, Biden supports an embargo on Iran. Gosh, could the Iranian nukes be another ginned up crisis? Because if there were a crisis, Biden wouldn't be supporting an embargo, since that takes time to work.

[As usual, I've bolded the BCW talking points.]

Biden, Allen

Just looking at the two of them, they're peas in a pod; both Beltway apparatchiks. Allen is a real Chatty Cathy—the talking points just roll off his tongue, a paragraph at a time, sometimes so fast he can't stop himself. And Biden—though this may be due to my extremely old, extremely snowy, one-channel TV—doesn't look nearly his age. Both of them got off some good lines, especially Biden, but are either one of them Presidential timber? From the visuals, from the body language, from the tone of voice, from the tropes, I'd say No, regardless of Pumpkinhead's blessing. Neither has the gravitas the times demand. They just don't look serious enough.

RUSSERT How's it going in Iraq?

ALLEN “Tough.” That Reichstag fire where the Sunnis burnt that mosque was a setback. They're made “lots of progress politically.” But it's hard to form a government because of the 2/3 vote required.

RUSSERT General Pace says Iraq is going “very very well.” Are you as optimistic?

ALLEN Things moving forward.

RUSSERT Were you wrong to vote for the war?

BIDEN Never imagined they'd be this incompetent. Stunned me. Pace is wrong, we're at a point where in the next 6-8 weeks we have to decide whether to go to plan B, to “contain rather than build.”

RUSSERT Should we get out?

BIDEN No! [Vehement] The administration is already drawing down to 100K. That's not much different from the Murtha plan. [Senator, why are you not throwing Bush an anvil?] We have vital interests there, and a regular war would be worse than a civil war. The President should get on a plane and convince these folks to get together.

RUSSERT Knowing what you know now, no WMD, would you still vote yes?

BIDEN No. Knowing how the President used the powers he gave him. The Resolution was to give the President the ability to pressure. [That was the fig leaf In reality, with the troops prepositioning by March, it was quite clear Bush was going to war to anyone with the eyes to see.] I didn't think they'd be as incompetent as they were.

RUSSERT 62% say the war is going badly and 57% say the war wasn't worth it. Can we continue the war without the support of American people?

ALLEN The war is vitally important. It's important to get information out about the positive aspects. It's important for the elected representatives to form a government, but that's hard. In this country, if we had to get a 2/3 vote, we'd still be fussing over 2000 election. [Nice!]

RUSSERT If the Iraqis can't form a government, what do we do?

ALLEN We have to. Regardless of how it's done, we do need to get it done.

BIDEN We're worse off; we traded a stable dictatorship for chaos, you even have generals on the ground [saying this].

RUSSERT When do we know?

BIDEN If they haven't formed a government by this summer, it's game over.

RUSSERT Do you agree?

ALLEN We have to look at the situation. The longer we wait, the longer the terrorists can create uncertainty. I don't want a deadline. There Needs to be some credibility in the security forces.

BIDEN This is a test of the President's leadership. [Now comes the anvil.] We need to bring international pressure. This is not terrorism, it's a gigantic civil war!

RUSSERT [Plays a clip of Cheney's line: “impose meaningful consequences.”]

RUSSERT Must the President go to Congress for authority to strike Iran?

ALLEN He should and would [NOTE: Not “must”] Back to Iraq, let's not get everyone so depressed that it's definitely going to fail. [That is the lamest talking point I've ever heard.]

Fortunately, we have the French [!!], Germany, the UK, the Russians. Russia is the most important, because of the technology offer it's made to Iran. Will be a step by step approach. We're dealing with a theocracy that is deadly serious. They want to take Israel off the map. They're dangerous to Israel, dangerous to our friends, dangerous to us.

RUSSERT What would you do?

ALLEN Sanctions. Embargoes need other countries. Internally, you hope for a change from within but that's a long shot [after Iraq, certainly]. Ultimately, you never want to take military action off the table, but you never want to go that far.

RUSSERT Do you agree with Cheney?

ALLEN Yes. We can't allow a nuclear Iran.

RUSSERT Senator Biden, must the President go to Congress for authority to strike Iran?

BIDEN He must. The administration has gotten it right, finally, on Iran. [Why give them anything?] They joined with the international community. Why hasn't the administration done a cold calculation on the oil embargo? Iran cannot sustain an embargo, they import everything manufactured. If they were going to get the bomb in six months not 10 years the embargo wouldn't work—but we're not allowed to talk about that. But there is time here. [Good heavens! Can Biden be saying that Iran is a manufactured issue for 2006?] It is critically important keep pressure on, go to sanctions. Obviously no president can take force off the table.

Iran will not get nukes, all states agree: Europe, Russia, China, all agree.

BIDEN Ultimately we can stop them short of war.

ALLEN I agree with Joe on this, it's essential we have the rest of the world with us on this. In addition to Israel threat, they are a state sponsor of terrorism, they could give nukes to Hamas. [Another lame talking point. As if!] This is also a time to realize we need greater energy independence.

RUSSERT What about the straw poll, where Bill Frist came in first?

ALLEN It was fun. The main thing was the great hospitality. We all got rejuvenated. It's a pick up game.

RUSSERT Not even an intra squad scrimmage?

ALLEN No.

RUSSERT Would you like to see South Dakota's abortion law apply to the whole US?

ALLEN I think each state should make the decision. I support rape and incest exceptions, “I look at that person as a victim.” These laws should be determined by the states.

RUSSERT If a state had unlimited abortion on demand, would you support it?

ALLEN That would be the right of the people of that state, the law does reflect the will of the people. Roe v Wade has been interpreted to preclude rights of the people to make these decisions.

RUSSERT What has the ports controversy done to the President?

BIDEN Stripped away the curtain that there was any competence on homeland security. In 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 we proposed legislation to protect the ports and they spurned it. These guys have priorities that are backwards and are dangerously incompetent, and this is the next place it's going to show.

RUSSERT [Shows the 35% poll. Are you proud to run as a Bush Republican?

ALLEN I run as a commonsense Jeffersonian conservative… [a whole paragraph more like this, it just rolls out. Guy can filibuster with the best of them.]

RUSSERT 96% of the time you support Bush. Are you concerned that you are a rubber stamp?

ALLEN Look at the votes. I'm for tax cuts [for small business]. We need oil exploration on the North Slope. Regardless of President's position, I felt that way when I voted.

RUSSERT If the 2006 election held today, what would happen?

BIDEN The Democrats would take back the House and maybe the Senate.

Gordon & Trainer

These two sound like they’re doing The Great Conservative Walkback together. And watching them do it has about as much appeal for me as synchronized swimming does. I mean, Gordon was an in bed embed, and Trainor’s been a talking head for years, so they were busily manufacturing the BCW way back when Rummy and Inerrant Boy first shit the bed. And only now do they sense, from the aroma, that things didn’t turn out as not planned? Please. Plus, they’re shilling a book (Cobra II. Despite the title, it’s not a novel. Rats. I was hoping for some classic Republican manimal on manimal action.)

Russert is oddly undisciplined in this interview; he starts with the first of five errors that Trainor and Gordon list in their book, but never to the second point. FWIW, here’s error 1:

1. Underestimated opponent and failed to understand the welter of Iraqi tribes

RUSSERT How did we misread the Iraq situation so much?

GORDON We fought the last war. [See also this week’s Foreign Affairs.] We thought the enemy was the Republican Guard. [It is! It is!] We failed to see that the Fedayeen were the main enemy. We had the simplistic view that if you take the enemy’s capital you win. The center of gravity was not Baghdad but the Sunni triangle.

RUSSERT What about the assumption that we would be greeted as liberators?

GORDON The core assuumption: We didn’t want to do the “heavy lifting of nation building.” The concept was of a turnkey operation, we’d hand it over to the Iraqis and and international forces.

RUSSERT You write that in April 2003 Franks had planned for 30,000 troops by September 2003.

GORDON Yes, Franks gave that guidance.

RUSSERT Did not bring right tools to the fight. Shinseki said we’d need hundreds of thousands for years. There were other studies too.

TRAINOR It was a philosophical thing with Rummy. He’s a businessman, he wants efficiency and lowest price. [I’m really starting to think that the best definition of fascism, or at least authoritarianism, in the American context, is “running a government as a business.” Fortunately or not, that’s not possible. Hence the bad results, framed as “incompetence.”] Great lethality. OTOH, the military is conservative; “if 1 is good 3 is better.” So thhe military estimated 385,000 for governing. The administration said, that’t nots needed for victory, which is correct, but Rummy had pooh-poohed the idea of a long occupation, and so we went in with less. The smaller number was enough to win the war, but not the peace. [Funny, that was exactly the position Kerry took in the debates; we were right again. Does anyone mention this? N-o-o-o-o-o.]

RUSSERT Should the military have been tougher?

TRAINOR Rummy has a management technique of endless questioning. It wears you down. The miilitary in effect gave up. [Sounds exactly like what Cheney did with the intelligence community.]

RUSSERT What about the attack on Saddam at the start of the war?

GORDON The CIA, in the 48 hour ultimatum right before the war started, said that they had absolute knowledge of where Saddam was. We did airstrikes and 40 cruise missiles. Then Saddam comes on TV! Now, we know now Saddam was not there, and hadn’t been there in years. Later we discover that not only was Saddam not there, there wasn’t even any bunker.

RUSSERT We were wrong about WMD, wrong about the insurgency, wrong about the bunker.

TRAINOR The whole buildup to war was flawed by intelligence. [To this very day, these guys carry water for the administration. No mention of cherry picking, no mention of the Downing Street Memo. And, oddly or not, no mention of Judy Miller’s “flawed” reporting on WMDs. Appalling. I hope CraigsList guts these guys.] Our intelligence is stretched thin across the world. We’re looking at Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan. We had no agents in Iraq, so our intelligence was imperfect. But there was also a mindset. If you are convinced there is a threat, you don’t cook the books, but you look for evidence that supports the preconception. [So very, very plausible. And what part of “fixing the intelligence and the facts around the policy” does not translate to “cooking the books”?] Our assumptions were almost consistently wrong and never adjusted. The people in the field realized that but from Franks upward the administration completely misread events on the ground

RUSSERT Differing military and political perspectives were discouraged. [And, see above, still are.”] General Wallace said, “The enemy we are fighting is different from the one we wargamed against.” Wallace was almost removed from his command.

RUSSERT [Goes to the tape of Bush on the Lincoln. Jeebus, he looks shifty and weak. ] “Major combat operations have ended.” That was nearly 3 years ago. What do we do now?

TRAINOR The war has changed in its complexities. Stages: (1) open battle, (2) the rise of the insurgency, and now (3) the target is Iraq governance, moving (4) into sectarian war. Each time we have seen a different complexion. At this time, America is like policeman on the beat getting involved in a domestic dispute. No policeman wants to do that. Hopefully someone in Iraq will step foward with a unity plan, and we can stay in the background. We should look and accept the fact that this will require an Iraqi solution.

RUSSERT The ambitious plans the President announced to for transforming the military conflicted with the ambitious plans to remake the region. [Translation: Rumnmy’s Revolution in Military Affairs didn’t help us win the peace in Iraq at all, and now the RMA is in doubt too, having failed in war.]

GORDEN We wanted to take Iraq and make it a friend, and teach the Iranians and the Syrians an object lesson. [Which we have in fact done.] But the resources committed were insufficient for that task. In 2003, alomost all senior military officers thought there was a window of opportunity….

RUSSERT What are your fiernds at the Pentagon telling you?

TRAINOR They’re frustrated. Hopefully both Shia and Sunni want a national conciliatary govennment. But whatever happens, we are somewhat helpless. This is an Iraqi problem that requires an Iraqi solution. [Translation: We’re fucked.]

-- Lambert Strether

CNN Late Edition!
The Beard Touts Our Triumph in Iraq

We tuned in for the first half-hour of CNN's Late Edition. Christian Broadcasting Network alumnus Leslie "The Beard" Blitzer, who now uses the moniker "Wolf," hosts this all-too-ignored Sunday show. Earlier this week, The Beard had been "covering" (read: not so subtly plugging for) the dubious Dubai port deal from Dubai itself, but was back in his Washington studio for today's show.

Iraq was at the top of CNN's Sunday agenda, and The Beard even mentioned "escalating sectarian violence" (translation: simmering civil war) as he welcomed his first guest, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq. Khalilzad had just emerged from a meeting with Iraq's anointed leaders, and announced new agreements between numerous political factions about maybe, possibly getting a government in gear (or not). Khalilzad hedged on Iraqi PM Allawi's future as well as that of the legislature's speaker; he also said Shi'ites will show flexibility about a nominee for PM. The Beard said Ibrahim al-Ja'afri has emerged as the Shi'ites' preferred candidates, and asked how much longer it will take for a new government to be formed; Khalilzad rattled off a list of what it will take, but refused to answer the question with a guess as to the timetable. The Beard quoted US Gen. Maples, who said that Sunnis feel they have no major stake in a new government. Khalilzad said Sunnis had participated before and forecast a rosy scenario of full participation, a government of national unity governing from the center, and terrorists on the retreat (uh-huh...).

The Beard turned to a NY Times article in which Shi'ites claim that Khalilzad "betrayed" them. Khalilzad said he had been talking to Shi'ites, government of national unity, blah blah -- then, "I hope they have not grown tired of me." (Sounds like they have already, according to the Times.)

Khalilzad and The Beard then succeeded in conveying a bit of unsubtle saber-rattling toward Iran before wringing their hands over the death of proselytizing Evangelical activist Tom Fox (without mentioning the troubling fact that his very presence in Iraq, along with that of other pushy Christian missionaries pretending to be aid workers, is looked at by many Muslims as a "crusade" and provocation).

Segment two: once again, Jack Kemp and John Edwards faced off by remote feeds from Florida and South Carolina respectively. The segment condensed to a two-minute read:

Beard: Is Iraq headed toward civil war?
Kemp: They'll have democracy -- if we do the right thing. Khalilzad is fabulous. By 2009, we have to say to Iraqis we're out of there. Keep those insurgents out!
Beard: Timetable?
Kemp: Unambiguous! And NO bases there!
Beard: How about redeployment?
Edwards: I heard the ambassador. We have to reduce our force numbers. We're doing more harm than good, Iraqis must govern themselves, and that means drawing down -- by 40,000 troops. Khalilzad and I both believe that Iraqis have to do it themselves, along with the work that a democracy needs.
Beard: But, who knows what might happen if we draw down troops?
Edwards: There already is a low-level civil war. The key to whether it goes full-blown is not with US forces but the Iraqis.
Beard: How much damage did the Dubai deal do to our strategic interest in the region?
Kemp: Congratulations on your reporting and nabbing that interview with their trade minister! She's cool! Dubai wants continued good relations! There are US Navy ships that are being securitized by them! Our Air Force uses the UAE. They're great! This is the betrayal of a friend. We acted small.
Beard: I just want to make it clear: you have no financial stake. You're your own man.
Kemp: Tom Friedman is right! Tom Friedman's great! Betrayal!
Edwards: Jack and I are good friends. We don't agree. Our relationship with UAE is great, they've helped thwart terrorists. But who will provide for security and operation of ports? American companies should do it.
Beard: Is Vladimir Putin a small-d democrat?
Edwards: No. But the Russian economy is strengthening, but they are moving in the wrong political direction. No one in Russia argues that they're already a democracy. Do we have a full partnership, or a selective partnership on common interests, such as Iran? This is a HUGE issue.
Beard: Should Russia be put on probation with respect to the G8 summit?
Kemp: This is the 30th anniversary of G7/G8 -- that partnership with Russia is important. We have to get them to be nicer to Latvia and Georgia. More free trade! Economic liberalization yields political corporatiza... er, liberalization!

We had to cut out before Howard Dean's appearance, but Jane Grice passed this on:

Great appearance by The Dean. He dropped some major talking point Tootsie Rolls in Karl Rove's Kool-Aid punchbowl:
• The GOP is backing away from lobbying reform; Democrats will push for comprehensive, fundamental ethics reforms
• Dean trashed the media narrative of "no message, disorganized Democrats" by spelling out the 2006 agenda: honest and open government, health care reform, jobs to bolster American national and economic security, retirement security.
• "Homeland Security is really home town security." This fits well with Dean's campaign to get Democrats to organize and act locally and at the state level.

-- JJ Balzer

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