Tuesday, May 22, 2007

GWB Waives his 5th Amendment Right against self-Incrimination

The Bush administration has declassified some information in hope to justify the war in Iraq. According to CNN.COM this evening (Bin Laden wanted Iraq as a new base), the information being released shows that in 2005 Bin Laden sought to use Iraq as a training base and a launching pad for Al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. All of this information is now being released so GWB can use it in his commencement speech at the Coast Guard Academy.

The meat of the proof is this:

Bin Laden and a top lieutenant -- Abu Faraj al-Libbi -- planned to form a terror cell in Iraq in order to launch those attacks, Johndroe said.

Al-Libbi was a "senior al Qaeda manager" who in 2005 suggested to bin Laden that bin Laden send Egyptian-born Hamza Rabia to Iraq to help plan attacks on American soil, Johndroe said.

Johndroe noted that bin Laden later suggested to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, then leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, that America should be his top priority. That was followed in the spring of 2005 with bin Laden's ordering Rabia to brief al-Zarqawi on plans to attack the United States, Johndroe said.

Johndroe added the intelligence indicates al-Libbi later suggested Rabia should be sent to Iraq to carry out those operations.

But al-Libbi was captured in Pakistan and taken into CIA custody in May 2005. After al-Libbi's capture, the CIA's former acting director, John McLaughlin, described him as Bin Laden's chief operating officer, the No. 3 man in al Qaeda.

Interesting that this information is just now being declassified, there is nothing here that warrants keeping this as classified information. With this administration's shaky past as far as intelligence goes and their current battles with Congress and public opinion, I find this a little suspect.

But let's assume it is true. What does this revelation truly prove???

It actually proves quite a lot, just not what George W. hoped it would.

The information clearly indicates that Bin Laden was looking at Iraq as a new base in 2005, not 2002 prior to the invasion, nor in the first year after the invasion. Had Saddam Hussein still been in power or the Bush administration not completely bungled things afterwards, there is no way that Bin Laden would have seen Iraq was a possible base. (Of course, had the same effort applied to get Saddam been applied to get Bin Laden, none of this would be relevant).

So, George Bush has constantly refuted claims that his actions haven't caused an increase in terrorism, and now he is about to give a speech that actually proves he has. Wonder if he asked for his lawyer first.

2 comments:

Clif said...

I agree, it was a huge mistake to invade Iraq, even if we believed they had WMD's. Russia had WMD's since the late 40's. We never invaded them and we were able to defeat them by simply outliving them. We should have done the same with Sadam.

That said, now that we are there, we should try to win it. I don't support pulling out without a doing everything we can to leave a free and stable government behind. No matter how long it takes.

My son is there now, trying to liberate these people. Hopefully, most of the Iraquis he meets are somewhat grateful we are there. But I wouldn't blame them if they were really PO'd about the whole thing. Bush has basically screwed it up from day one. He seems to make decisions based on his gut feelings and doesn't listen to anyone but his lackies.

... and don't even get me started about the freedoms we've lost here at home due to misguided "patriotism".

Curtis Dutiel said...

What is there to win? The current policy and ideology of the Bush administration will prevent anything but failure.

This, inspite of GW's claims, is just like Vietnam: a government that we basically installed, one that we are keeping propped up against two or three different factions that do not want us there. A neighboring government (China then, Iran now) that has vested interest in controlling and has a deep seated mistrust/hatred of us.

I don't think that we should pull out instantly, but to stay until there is a stable government would be insane. There won't be a stable government as long as we have troops there. We need a phased, well planned pullback and pullout.

This isn't about cutting and running, but doing what is best for this country. This war has been a drain on families and is leaving us with a huge debt that we take a generation or more to erase.

I pray that your son and all of our soldiers return home safe and sound.