carnal knowledge

WAR
* must read interview with scottritter. is rawstory the best media company in the country? i think they have only 2 people - larisa and john.
"Ritter: [Rice] had just come back from Europe, and this is what I was talking about during that speaking engagement, [Rice] said that military plans were not on the table at this time. I said that she was a liar; either she is being really cute or she is lying. Military plans are on the table and the President has signed off on those plans. That does not mean we are going to bomb" and "The US cooked the election in Iraq." LINK

* ritter again:
"Suddenly, we have a secret recount and ballots appear, disappear. This is not Florida and you don't have TV cameras holding up the chads in front of
everybody," explained Ritter. Prime Minister Allawi, a U.S. creation and reviled by
almost all Iraqis for cooperating with their occupiers, received between 2-5% of the vote (and sources indicate even that may be invented). Ritter continued, "Suddenly the Shia have 48% of the vote and Allawi has 13%. Alawi is now a viable force and can deny the Shia control. This is what was wanted from the beginning." LINK

* ""The United States, despite protestations to the contrary by President Chavez, was not involved in that coup, to my knowledge," Rice said. "To my fullest knowledge, the United States was not involved in any way."
"And that's very important because we do respect the democratic process."
Rice was President Bush's national security adviser at the time of the coup in Venezuela and privy to sensitive intelligence... Rice said "What we would like to see is a leadership in Venezuela that is dedicated to the democratic enterprise internally and dedicated to noninterference in the affairs of his neighbors.""
its possible, to my knowledge that she lies LINK

* "Speaker Nabih Berri responded Friday to British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's comment on the reappointment of Prime Minister Omar Karami by urging him to name "the Lebanese prime minister he wants, to dissipate his concern.""
he also said something about him choosing the next britPM. cheeky bugger. LINK


SGRENA
* "After the shooting, Sgrena said: "A soldier opened the door on the right-hand side. When he saw us, I had the impression that he was upset. I seem to remember him saying, 'Oh shit!' And when more turned up in an armoured car, I had the sensation that they were unhappy about what had happened."" LINK

* "Italy's Justice Minister has urged former hostage Giuliana Sgrena to stop making "careless" accusations after being shot by US forces in Baghdad, saying she had already caused enough grief... "Sgrena, I think, should perhaps be more careful. She has said a load of nonsense, speaks somewhat carelessly and makes careless comments," Mr Castelli said."
shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh LINK

* i posted this at digby: "the key thing to the nergroponte connection is that it took a week or more for this news to come out. in the meantime, how many stories did we see about 'the dangers of checkpoints' and 'inexperienced trigger-happy kids', and casey's dissembling: 'i personally have no information' and 'we'll have an expedited investigation' & all the rest of the nonsense.
think about it - it took 10 days to work out that the ambassador's personal security detail is involved in an international incident. " LINK