The Pearl Harbor Effect

9/11 has been compared to the surprise attach by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor which started WWII for the U.S. Our invasion of Afghanistan seemed to have the same Pear Harbor effect as in WWII, a united America against an obvious enemy. And, the rest of the world was in agreement with us – we had passed that global test I’ve heard mentioned.

I was wondering if there was not another analogy to the Pearl Harbor effect that, like the beginning of WWII, went totally unnoticed at the time. Few knew the concept of the atomic bomb when WWII started, but everybody knew it when WWII ended. The story of the bomb's development during the war is a story for the ages.

Is there some technology currently know to only a few that will become a major force in all our lives in the future – something as big as nuclear power.

Maybe it is some development in spyware that will affect us all in couple of year, or maybe nanotechnology. I don’t know; I have only ideas. I’m probably wrong about what, but am I wrong about the analogy? Is there something out there, known by few, but destine to affect many? Who knows, maybe it’s blogs. Go figure. btfoom

Explosive Conclusions

Before I start: the Liberal/Conservative Dictionary has been up dated with new entries.

On hearing of the missing high explosives from an Iraqi dump, I drew the same conclusion as many others. Namely, this is another example of the Bush administration’s naïve planning for war’s aftermath. However, a little problem has been nagging me since the invasion of Iraq and the discovery that there were no WMD. Even discounting Chalabi’s snookering the necons in the Pentagon and The New York Times, I couldn’t believe our intelligence was that wrong.

I was against the invasion, but I accepted the common knowledge that Saddam possessed WMD. We had proof: He had gassed Kurds and the Iranians. Surely he had stockpiles of WMD. Don’t most countries? How could our intelligence have been that wrong? This is the nagging question in the back of my mine that has not gone away. I just cannot believe our spooks missed it so badly. And then, the story of the missing high explosives hits the news.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the 377 tons were there just shortly before the war started, and now, they are not. Maybe the explosives were taken by the looting that occurred after our takeover, just as the pundits seem to be charging. That’s probably how it happened. However, the story touched that itch that’s been bothering me about the missing WMD.

The missing WMD and the missing high explosives, it's just a coincidence, right? Our invasion did not caused Saddam to do what we were afraid he would do if we did not act, right? Or, did he covertly move both WMD and high explosives out of the Iraq?

Good intel does not believe in coincidences.
Good intel takes nothing for granted.
Good intel check out any lead. Wait! There's a loud knock at my door – gotta go.

Christ's Man in the White House

When I read Ron Suskind article, in The New York Times about George Bush's faith based presidency, it brought back many memories of growing up here in the South. That holier-than-thou attitude is quite common. We had freedom of religion. What we didn't have was freedom from religion. "And it's good you don't," I can hear them saying.

I'm sitting here drinking a vodka tonic, listening to good modern rock, proselytizing via my blog for a greater good. Three things bible-thumpers find sinful.

First, Christ taught that it does not matter who controls Iraq: the U.S, Saddam, the mullahs, or here's a long shot, an acutal democary. What is important is that you, me, or any individual has accecpted God (or Allah) into your life. Even though you may live in the worse of places and in the worse of situtations, you will feel a greater satisfaction and comfort than those that put you in that situation or hold you that place. Beside, after your pursecutors die, they will feel all the pain you felt. (Saddam will feel the pain of thousands -- if that's not hell, I don't know what is.) Heaven is not something you have to die to experience, accept God into your life, let his will be yours, and the kingdom of God is yours.

Second, the religious group in which George Bush is a notable member acts in God's name but they do not represent God any more than the Muslims who kill in Allah's name. Those righteous bastards in a rush to do right crucified Jesus.

That's all this country needs: the religious right with neocons in in control of forgien policy. If we don't vote them out of office come November, there will be hell to pay -- literally.

A New/Better CIA

Why not turn intelligence gathering over to the press? It seems no secret is better kept than those leakers who inform to the press. I know about every thing that happened in the White House from Nixon to Bush2, but I don't know who Deep Throat is, or who leaked the Valerie Plame position, or anything else that has ever been leaked to the press.

When someone leaks to the press; their name goes in the "lockbox." No one knows who and never will. Maybe the Washington press corp knows who all the leakers are, but that just confirms my argument: Once it is leaked to the press; it is as safe as safe can be. The CIA could take notes from the Washington press.

No one leaks on the leakers. The longer I live the more wonder I have about the phenomena. The Washington press corp lives on leakers. Can no new event occur in Washington that there is not a unnamed source involved? Send me a story about Washington in which all sources were attributed. Send it to me and to Ripley's -- they'll want it for there list of the rare and unkowns.

The New York Times comes out with a new policy about leakers and attributions after it got way burned by using unnamed sources. And what happens, in the same issue where they make a declaration about unnamed sources, they have stories in which some source who wishes to remain anonymous supposedly says a newbite. gmafb

It's like crack. The press can't keep from it. "Well if the other guys do it, we have to do it, also." My parents had a reply to that, but we wont go into that.

I'd like to see one organization -- "fucking PBS" maybe -- give us the news in which no news is unattributed. If the NYT or WP says something with unattributed sources, then you report it as coming from the NYT or WP. However, nothing goes unattributed unless it is an obvious fact. Probably never happen, but it would be interesting to see.

Don't they realize that maybe the reason for the leak is the bigger story, but that would mean the source is the story. Duh. Oh yea, that violates the apparent first rule of journalism. (You know: The 5 W's and a "H" except when it applies to you source.)

Jack Shafer has written often in Slate about "anonymice." All devotees of journalism should read his ...entry? column? blog? What are they doing at Slate? If Romenesko has covered it, I missed it. At any rate, it is a cancer in the body jounalistic. Where is going to stop; who can stop it? Should it happen in journalism classes or some crusty old reported lead the way? We are making a pack with the devil. Shafer's anonymice will infest us and one day we will pay a greater price than Judith Miller's loss of face for publishing anonymice claims, or going to jail to protect what is the greater news story under the cause of a "reporter's sources." Our responsibility is to news and truth not sources, readership, or ratings. Don't sell your journalistic soul to a source for print space or air time.

Well, maybe I go to far. I don't report for a living. Working for a pay is prostitution no matter what you do. I write, but it's not news. It is journalism if you believe journalism is writing for your reader. Maybe, those who can't report, blog. So it goes.

However, as much as I malign them, the Washington press do have one thing to their credit -- they can keep a secret. And, not just their own secret, they keep the secret of their fellow journalist. "If you keep my secret, I'll keep you secret." CIA, eat your hard on. As I said, there are no leaks about leakers.

They should be running intelligence. It is just an idea, but I'm the source for attribution.

If you missed it, don't leave without checking my Right/Left Dictionary at http://jetage.blogspot.com/2004/09/liberal-conservative-dictionary.html

I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die (Again) Rag

I must of sung the original version of this song about a hundred times to myself standing watch down in the hole off the coast of Vietnam. Was “Woodstock” our “Casablanca?” Do those who pay the most for Iraq get a movie? Anyway, with apologies to Country Joe McDonald, I thought this was needed.


I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die (Again) Rag

Give me a “F”
Give me a “U”
Give me a “C”
Give me a “K”
What’s zat spell? What’s zat spell? What’s zat spell?

Well, come on all you big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
Got himself in another jam
This time it’s against Saddam.
So, put down you books, and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for?
Don't asked me and I don't give damn,
Next stop’s the war again’ Saddam.
And it's five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates.
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why – Whoopee! We’re all going to die.

Come on all you Neocons, let’s move fast,
What you’ve always wanted is here at last.
A preemptive strike to change the régime,
Iraq’s just the first in your scheme.
Just hope and pray when you make life better,
You haven’t increased the cause for terror.

And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for?
Don't asked me and I don't give jack,
Next stop is in Iraq.
And it's five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why – Whoopee! We’re all going to die.

Come on all you people at Haliburton,
Money to be made, that’s for certain.
No bid contract to rebuild Iraq
Pad the bill, lot’s of slack.
Don’t worry about auditors or court cases,
‘Cause you’ve got fiends in highest of places.

Refrain

Come on now Ahmed Chalabi,
Plenty to be made for your INC lobby.
Your talk of weapons and Saddam’s crimes,
You fooled the Pentagon and New York Times.
Just hope and pray when they make you the man,
They do it before they learn you spy for Iran.

Refrain

Hey! There is must be about a hundred million of you bloggers out there, and we’ll never end this madness unless you can’t sing any louder than that. Come on! Sing!

Well come on you people on the right,
America image is at state -- you got to fight.
Come on you necons don’t hesitate,
You chose not to fight in Vietnam but it’s not too late,
Be the first one on your block,
To have your child come home in a box.

That’s all!