meddling half-truths

FRANKLIN STUFF
* " Law enforcement officials have told reporters that the Franklin probe was not limited to AIPAC. It also has been examining whether classified intelligence on Iran was slipped to Ahmed Chalabi... one can wonder whether the Franklin investigation, if pursued vigorously, will cause any discomfort for Chalabi and the neoconservatives." LINK

* "Franklin, an Air Force reserve colonel who'd served in the Defense Intelligence Agency, worked in the Near East and South Asia branch of the Pentagon's policy office, headed by departing Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith.
Feith's group has been criticized for failing to plan adequately for the aftermath of the Iraq invasion and has been charged by some State Department and intelligence officials with trying to run its own foreign policy." LINK

* "When it comes to the Franklin affair, we hear not a peep out of the usually loquacious Instapundit; the cat seems to have got Roger L. Simon's tongue; someone pulled the plug on Powerline, David Horowitz & Co. have nothing to say, and even Charles Johnson, the failed musician who has now taken up hate-mongering over at "Little Green Footballs" -- usually barking at the moon at the least provocation -- is maintaining an embarrassed silence about a spy who sold out America for Israel.
What gets me is that these are the same people who have the nerve to bray about "patriotism" -- and habitually condemn others as less than loyal to this country. But only when it suits their political agenda." LINK


BOLTON STUFF
* "During his tenure as Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Bolton sought to sign up countries to Article 98 agreeements -- protecting US forces from jurisdiction from the ICC while overseas -- and used strong arm tactics, seeking to deny countries assistance until they signed the Article 98 agreement...
Again, Bolton was disengenuous, a loose cannon -- and not running consistently on the IMET/FMF commitments with Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic -- which was at odds with explicit Bush administration policy.
Bolton epitomizes the kind of person who unites America's enemies and divides our friends." LINK

* "There is real chaos about these intercepts at this point. If the Committee Members and staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee do not get them by Friday, watch out.
All deals will be off." LINK

* "Sen. Lugar has suggested to Secretary Rice that certain pieces of information that would purportedly document Bolton's alleged exaggeration of Syria WMD intelligence are not priorities, and now Lugar, as well as Senate Select Intelligence committee leadership, are also getting snookered by the White House on the NSA intercepts." LINK

* "In a boost for Bolton, however, Powell's closest friend, former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage, endorsed Bolton in a statement to the Associated Press. "John Bolton is eminently qualified," Armitage told a reporter as he entered an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "He's one of the smartest guys in Washington.... It was the president's choice and I support my president."" LINK

* "Meanwhile, Margaret Thatcher, who gained a reputation for outspokenness as Britain's prime minister, endorsed Bolton's nomination, largely for his ``capacity for straight-talking rather than peddling half-truths.''" LINK
hahaha ha ha haha

DELAY STUFF
* "There’s a backstory that lurks behind Bush’s decision to stand by DeLay. It involves Greenberg Traurig, the firm that employed the powerful lobbyist who paid for palatial DeLay junkets, and Abramoff staffers, who were footsoldiers in the Florida recount. Greenberg Traurig has yet to receive more than $314,000 in legal fees charged to a Bush committee during the 2000 Florida recount, RAW STORY can confirm.
As a corporation, Greenberg’s unpaid tab represents a massive in-kind campaign contribution, far larger than anything that went unreported by DeLay." LINK

* "Under pressure from nearly 20,000 citizen activists, American Airlines, Verizon and Nissan North America have formally pledged to stop contributing to Rep. Tom DeLay’s legal defense fund. For four weeks, individuals have sent nearly 150,000 e-mails to the three companies demanding action through DropTheHammer.org" LINK
wow. thats pretty cool. in some ways. altho it makes me uncomfortable as well.



FEITH STUFF
* feith: "The surprising thing is not that there are so many Jews who are neocons but that there are so many who are not." LINK

* feith:" (iraq) was an operation to prevent the next, as it were, 9/11, the next major attack that could kill tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of Americans"
LINK