“The administration wasn’t matching its deeds to its words in the war on terrorism. They’re making us less secure, not more secure,” said Rand Beers, who until now has remained largely silent about leaving his National Security Council job as special assistant to the president for combating terrorism. “As an insider, I saw the things that weren’t being done. And the longer I sat and watched, the more concerned I became, until I got up and walked out.”
“The focus on Iraq has robbed domestic security of manpower, brainpower and money, he said. The Iraq war created fissures in the United States’ counterterrorism alliances, he said, and could breed a new generation of al Qaeda recruits. Many of his government colleagues, he said, thought Iraq was an “ill-conceived and poorly executed strategy.”
“A third of the American public believes U.S. forces have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to a recent poll. Twenty-two percent said Iraq actually used chemical or biological weapons. But such weapons have not been found in Iraq and were not used.
“Before the war, half of those polled in a survey said Iraqis were among the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001. But most of the Sept. 11 terrorists were Saudis; none was an Iraqi.”
Jesus. I know I usually set the curve, but this is really fucking ridiculous.
Courtesy Democratic Underground. In which Bill O’Reilly threatens to shoot Al Franken because Franken is smarter than he is and made him look bad at a book expo. Aw, poor Bill. Also, the Catholic church accuses gay people of hate crimes for kissing. Gee, that’s so similar to Matt Shepard being beaten to death and tied to a fence post.
Now, far too late to save to save Kirk Straseskie or console his father, the press and the intelligence community have begun to wake up to the fact that they and the American people were deceived. We�re finding out that Colin Powell denounced some of the claims about Iraqi weapons as �bullshit� before his speech to the UN in February. A newly formed group called Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity wrote a letter to the President protesting “a policy and intelligence fiasco of monumental proportions.” An Army intelligence officer told Time Magazine that Donald Rumsfeld was �deeply, almost pathologically, distorting the intelligence“. Greg Thielmann, recently retired from the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research says that the Bush administration �was grossly distorting the intelligence� on both weapons and the Iraq-Al Qaida connection.
Interesting — John Dean is saying that George Bush’s lies about mythical weapons of mass destruction are enough to warrant him being impeached. And John Dean would know, wouldn’t he?
And in other news, historians are confirming what I said all along; that the Clinton impeachment attempts were unconstitution and illegitimate, and right-wing partisanship at it’s worst. It was indeed a “vast right-wing conspiracy” and it undermined the ability of both the president and congress to do their jobs — and lead directly to the events of September 11th. If it had not happened, Al Gore would be president; if Gore were president the intelligence memos would not have been ignored; if the intelligence memos had been followed up on, the WTC attacks would have been prevented.
Swazi king blames trousers for all world’s ills
MBABANE – Swaziland’s absolute monarch has singled out women wearing trousers as the cause of the world’s ills in a state radio sermon that also condemned human rights as an “abomination before God”.
The Times of Swaziland reported that the monarch, who reigns supreme in the landlocked country run by palace appointees and where opposition parties are banned, went on to criticise the human rights movement.
“What rights? God created people, and He gave them their roles in society. You cannot change what God has created. This is an abomination before God,” the king told an audience of conservative church leaders.
Women on the streets of capital Mbabane were not impressed.
“The king says I am the cause of the world’s problems because of my outfit.
Never mind terrorism, government corruption, poverty and disease, it’s me and my pants.
I reject that,” said Thob’sile Dlamini.
Mswati is Africa’s last absolute monarch.
He is currently married to nine wives, with a wedding pending for wife number 10, and has chosen an additional fiancee after reviewing videos of topless maidens performing a traditional Reed Dance ceremony. – Nampa-Reuters
Women, don’t wear pants in Swaziland
MBABANE, Swaziland — Swaziland, one of Africa’s most traditional and conservative nations, has urged women to wear modest clothing and know their place in society.
Prime Minister Prince Bhekimpi Dlamini, addressing Parliament Tuesday, called for the banning of see-through blouses, mini skirts and women’s trousers.
He also took a swipe at Women’s Liberation as the work of extremists.
‘Women who have such clothing should throw them away and buy decent clothing to wear in public,’ Bhekimpi said. ‘Such clothing is unacceptable to the Swazi nation.
‘Although Swaziland wants its women to progress in all sectors of institutional life, they must respect their place as women.’
Informed sources in Mbabane said there was deep resentment at the prime minister’s remarks among young Swazi women who favor jeans rather than traditional tribal clothes.
‘But nobody has come out openly to criticize the government. It’s a heavy issue here,’ one source said.
Under the late King Sobhuza II, who died in 1982, Swaziland cautiously adopted some facets of Western life while honoring the tribal traditions of one of Africa’s oldest kingdoms.
If Swaziland introduces legislation outlawing revealing and Western clothes, it will be following the example of Malawi where a Victorian moral code inculcated by President-for-life Hastings Banda frowns on mini skirts, jeans and men with long hair.
2022-03-12 Update:
This mother fucker is still in charge of their country.
Bush questions accuracy of Auschwitz memorial during tour of death camp, then accuses Europe of not remembering the horrors of the holocaust. I think they remember better than we do, George.
“What I mean by that is: the best way to stop any illegal act, terrorist or otherwise, is to make sure that those terrorists do not have support structures in society in general. In order to eliminate those support structures, you have to make sure life is good and secure and that the people around those ne�er-do-wells have some sort of investment or loyalty in the larger community.”
“The USA Patriot Act is probably the biggest example of legislative malpractice in the last 50 years.”
“A library is a temple to the notion that knowledge is not just for the elite and that access should be low cost if not free, that doors should be open. Investing in libraries monetarily, spritually, intellectually, legally is one of the best things we can do for our immediate state and for the life we hope we can build for the rest of the century.”
