The Cool Blue Blog

The President Lied and People Died

Most people have suspected for a very long time that the incident that precipitated a build up of military might in Vietnam, the Gulf of Tonkin event, was a lie perpetrated by President Johnson to justify increased military operations there.

Now there is proof that the incident was indeed a fabrication and that people knew it.

The U.S. National Security Agency has kept secret since 2001 a finding by an agency historian that NSA officers deliberately distorted critical intelligence during the Tonkin Gulf episode that helped precipitate the Vietnam War, according to two people familiar with the historian's work.

The historian's conclusion is the first serious accusation that communications intercepted by the NSA, the secretive eavesdropping and code-breaking agency, were falsified so that they made it look as if North Vietnam had attacked American destroyers on Aug. 4, 1964, two days after a previous clash.

President Lyndon B. Johnson cited the supposed attack to persuade Congress to authorize broad military action in Vietnam, but most historians have concluded in recent years that there was no second attack.

The NSA historian, Robert Hanyok, found a pattern of translation mistakes that went uncorrected, altered intercept times and selective citation of intelligence that persuaded him that midlevel agency officers had deliberately skewed the evidence.

Hanyok concluded that they had done it not out of any political motive but to cover up earlier errors, and that top NSA and military officials and Johnson neither knew about nor condoned the deception.

The research by the NSA historian was detailed four years ago in an in-house article. It remains classified, in part because agency officials feared its release might prompt uncomfortable comparisons with the flawed intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq, according to an intelligence official familiar with some internal discussions of the matter.

Matthew Aid, an independent historian who has discussed Hanyok's Tonkin Gulf research with current and former NSA and CIA officials who have read it, said he had decided to speak publicly about the findings because he believed they should have been released long ago.

"This material is relevant to debates we as Americans are having about the war in Iraq and intelligence reform," said Aid, who is writing a history of the NSA. "To keep it classified simply because it might embarrass the agency is wrong."

Ooops.

The CIA may have got many things wrong in Iraq, but it is quite obvious that Democrats believed Iraq had WMDs BB (Before Bush)

But one thing that was clear to everyone was that he was not complying with the UN inspection regime that ended the first Gulf War. And while the particular meme of historical revisionism involves "remembering" that the whole invasion rationale was based on WMDs, it was not. And we have as proof the Congressional authorization for a War in Iraq which lists a whole laundry list of reason for finally calling Iraq in breech of the agreements that the ended the Gulf War.

Was Johnson to blame for the Gulf of Tonkin event? This report may actually vindicate him, not indict him. The report may implicate bad intelligence, not malice.

But for Bush, not only will he not be given the benefit of the doubt with regards to WMDs, but people are actively misrepresenting the history of our involvement and their relationship to WMDs.

Intelligence mistakes or no, we had more justification to invade Iraq, as detailed in the Congressional authorization for war, than President Johnson had because his decision was based solely on bad intelligence.

Bush's was not.

Detroit voters: They're not all dead but...

It appears many who voted absentee in the Detroit Mayoral race are dead while others registered at abandonded or demolished buildings.

Among findings by News reporters were ballots cast by people registered to vote at abandoned and long-demolished buildings; a master voter list with 380,000 incorrect names and addresses -- including people who have died or moved out of the city; and a practice of hand-delivering ballots from senior citizens and disabled voters that were filled out in private meetings with Currie's paid election workers....

But the most poignant findings were stories from those in nursing homes who had recently voted absentee.

Among them is Charles B. Allen, a resident at the Passion Caring Home for the Elderly who stared blankly one day last week when asked to name the mayor of Detroit. He's never heard of Kwame Kilpatrick and can't recall whether he voted in August.

"I just don't know," Allen said. Six years ago, a Wayne County probate judge declared the 87-year-old legally incapacitated due to dementia and Alzheimer's.

But according to city records, he voted in the August primary by absentee ballot.

Detroit City Clerk Jackie Currie is unconcerned

Currie refused to explain any of the problems uncovered by The News or outlined in court cases.

She, along with her deputy, Vernon Clark, denied there are any problems with the vote in Detroit.

"Prove it," Currie said. "P-R-O-V-E."

Looks like the Democrat Machine is alive and well in Michigan and look what its done for Detroit. It's the most violent city in America and the most impoverished city in the nation.

And the voters keep voting Democrat.

Or do they......

Witch University

If you want to be a witch, the best place to live is the Netherlands: Witch school is tax-deductable.

Dutch witches were guaranteed a financial treat when the Leeuwarden District Court reaffirmed their legal right to write off the costs of schooling — including in witchcraft — against their tax bills. Those costs run to thousands of euros.

Thousands of Euros? Yikes! I didn't know it took so much schooling to become a witch. But why is it tax-deductable?

The court found that a witch can declare schooling costs if it increases the likelihood of employment.

There must be a great demand for professional witches in the Netherlands.

Hmm. Perhaps the Netherlands is synonomous with the Nether World....

Ghost Town

Former al Qaeda Training Site Now a Ghost Town

By Pfc. Vincent C. Fusco, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Oct. 28, 2005 – The compound within the 10-foot-tall mud walls resembles a basic training-meets-OK Corral ghost town.

Barbed wire is snarled around posts low to the dirt, a concrete tunnel keeps vermin out of the sun, and small ramps and stairs to nowhere stand like monoliths.

This place is known as Tarnak Farms, a deserted al Qaeda training outpost just outside Kandahar Airfield that was bombed at the beginning of the global war on terror. If the site appears familiar to some, it should be. Released al Qaeda training videos featured anti-coalition militia training there. It was the third-largest al Qaeda training center in Afghanistan, next to Tora Bora in Nangrahar province and Zaewara in Paktia province.

"When I got here, I did a little research and discovered that Tarnak Farms was the headquarters for al Qaeda and could possibly even be where al Qaeda got its name," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Todd Hutchings, a DuPont, Wash., native. "It means 'the base.'"

Indictment

As Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald ends his two year invesigation into the Valerie Plame affair, the result must be very disappointing to the enemies of the Bush Administration. First and foremonst, no indictments were forthcoming regarding the underlying charge that there was a conspiracy to "out" a CIA operative. And almost as bad for the Bush-hating crowd, Karl Rove was not indicted. "Scooter" Libby was not as fortunate.

The Vice President's Chief of Staff was indicted yesterday for lying to the FBI and Federal investigators.

It seems clear that Mr Libby has some 'splainin' to do about why he did that.

But this indictment also makes it quite clear that the man who was supposedly wronged in this case, former Ambassador Joe Wilson has even more 'splainin' to do, though you won't see anyone in the press pressing this fact. And Joe Wilson will not be indicted by a grand jury because he didn't lie to the FBI or a Grand Jury.

He only lied to the American people.

Patrick Fitzgerald's indictment of Mr Libby makes that abundantly clear and because most in the press, and certainly none in the New York Times will be following up or amplifying that fact, blogs continue to have a reason to exist.

In July of 2003, Joe Wilson wrote an Op-Ed in the New York Times called "What I Didn't Find in Africa" that was full of lies and misrepresentations. He wrote, for instance

I thought the Niger matter was settled and went back to my life. (I did take part in the Iraq debate, arguing that a strict containment regime backed by the threat of force was preferable to an invasion.) In September 2002, however, Niger re-emerged. The British government published a "white paper" asserting that Saddam Hussein and his unconventional arms posed an immediate danger. As evidence, the report cited Iraq's attempts to purchase uranium from an African country.

Then, in January, President Bush, citing the British dossier, repeated the charges about Iraqi efforts to buy uranium from Africa.

The next day, I reminded a friend at the State Department of my trip and suggested that if the president had been referring to Niger, then his conclusion was not borne out by the facts as I understood them.

However, a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committe report found none of this was true.

The panel found that Wilson's report, rather than debunking intelligence about purported uranium sales to Iraq, as he has said, bolstered the case for most intelligence analysts. And contrary to Wilson's assertions and even the government's previous statements, the CIA did not tell the White House it had qualms about the reliability of the Africa intelligence that made its way into 16 fateful words in President Bush's January 2003 State of the Union address.

So it seems that Ambassador Wilson was misrepresenting the situation for political purposes and it seems the Vice President's office wanted to set the record straight.

In May of 2004, Joe Wilson wrote:

Instead of firing the official who had put the lie about Niger in the president's mouth, the administration had turned its sights on me.

And that would be because Mr Wilson was the one lying about Niger and he was not fireable. He could only be discredited.

Wilson claimed that he was sent to Niger by the CIA because of an inquiry the Vice President made. But he was not a CIA employee why would they send him? It's pretty clear now that Mr Libby wanted it made clear to the press that the reason Wilson was sent was not because the Vice President or the CIA hand-picked him to investigate, rather he went at the behest of his wife who worked for the CIA and is an anti-Bush partisan. Wilson denied this repeatedly, and most famously in his book.

"Valerie had nothing to do with the matter," Wilson wrote in a memoir published this year. "She definitely had not proposed that I make the trip."

This too was a lie as the Fitzgerald Indictment makes pretty clear

• on or about June 11 or 12, 2003, Libby was orally advised by the Undersecretary of State that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA and that State Department personnel were saying that Wilson’s wife was involved in the organization of his trip;
• on or about June 11, 2003, Libby was informed by a senior officer of the CIA that Wilson’s wife was employed by the CIA and was believed to be responsible for sending Wilson on the trip;

It appears to me that Mr Libby, in his righteous attempt to discredit the lies of Joe Wilson, wound up revealing that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA. It also seems to me that he was not trying to "out" Valerie Plame to harm her or blow her cover; had this been the case, Mr Fitzgerald would have indicted Libby on that too since he clearly found that Libby was the source.

At the end of the day what appears is that Mr. Libby's story that he was at the tail end of a chain of phone calls, passing on from one reporter what he heard from another, was not true. It was false. He was at the beginning of the chain of phone calls, the first official to disclose this information outside the government to a reporter.

If Fitzgerald believed that Libby intended to "out" Ms Plame, then "Scooter" would be in more hot water than he is. The problem for Libby is not that he told people about Plame's connection to Wilson's Niger trip, the problem was that for whatever reason, he lied to investigators and made them believe he was at the end of the chain of information, not the beginning of it.

The irony of all this is that Joe Wilson's many lies to the public which was done with obvious malice towards the Bush Administration, and specifically intended to undermine a legal Foreign Policy action undertaked by Democratic means, approved by Congress, and executed by the President, will go unpunished.

And will, in fact, be brushed under the table by a Media which will attempt to hype the Libby indictment as the second coming of Watergate.

(As an exercise, count the number of instances where the press will give credence to Wilson's story that he found no evidence that Iraq attempted to purchase "yellow cake" from Niger by either stating or implying that this is true when it clearly is not.)

The Libby indictment indicts the Wilson's as agents provocateur in a dangerous game to undermine the Democratic institutions of the United States and subvert the confidence of the people in the President of the United States while the country is at war.

And for this, Mr and Mrs Wilson, I so indict you.

Running the Marine Corps Marathon...from Iraq

Marine Lt. Col. Steve Grass is currently stationed in Iraq. But that's not going to stop him from running the Washinton Marathon.

As thousands of runners circle the monuments in the nation's capital, Grass will be taking part in the Marine Corps Marathon, too. But he'll join the marathon remotely, running 26.2 miles around the Iraqi training base where he's stationed.

He'll be running for charity, Destination Cure -- The Race Against MS, a national organization which raises money for Multiple Sclerosis research.

Last year, Grass and his fellow runners raised $300,000.

Semper Fi

Outsourcing education

Just when you thought it was just IT and telemarketers needed to worry about their jobs being shipped to India, it seems teachers need to worry too. Or at least tutors....

14-year-old Princeton John sits at his computer, barefoot and ready for his hourlong geometry lesson. The high school freshman puts on a headset with a microphone and clicks on computer software that will link him through the Internet to his tutor, Namitha, many time zones away.

It's called e-tutoring -- yet another example of how modern communications, and an abundance of educated, low-wage Asians, are broadening the boundaries of outsourcing and working their way into the minutiae of American life, from replacing your lost credit card through reading your CAT scan to helping you revive your crashed computer.

And they're making money because there's a market full of people who are concerned about falling standards in the US. What teachers in the US can't do because they are busy making sure the pledge isn't being said or that safe sex is being practiced, tutors in India can do.

Zarqawi: we defend the Muslims, not kill them

From CentCom

On 21 October, "Murasil Akhbar 4," a moderator of the Global News Network forum, posted a statement issued by the Media Division of al-Qa'ida Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers, in which the group responded to "lies" made by Islam Memo, saying that this was not the first time Islam Memo makes up such lies. The original post was attributed to "Abu-Maysarah al-Iraqi" of the Media Division of al-Qa'ida Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers. The Global News Network at www.world-news-network.net was established in July and immediately became the major source of statements issued by insurgent groups in Iraq

On 13 October, "Murasil Akhbar 4," a site moderator of the Global News Network forum, posted a statement issued by Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's al-Qa'ida Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers [Tanzim al-Qa'ida fi Bilad al-Rafidayn] in which the group condemned moderate Sunnis who "reject terrorism," and participated in the writing of the "constitution of infidelity." The statement was attributed to "Abu-Maysarah al-Iraqi" of the Media Division of al-Qa'ida Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers.

The most recent press release posted by the so-called “Media Division” of the so-called “al-Qa’ida Organization in the Land of Two Rivers” expressed frustration with the Islam Memo which accused the group of killing Sunni voters in Ramadi. “These are lies,” said Zarqawi’s statement, reacting angrily to the question of when the group would stop the trail “of bloodshed against the Muslims under differing pretexts” In particular, targeting Sunnis voting either yes or no on the constitutional referendum, attacking the Islamic Party and arming themselves against other mujahidin. While Zarqawi’s group vehemently denied all accusations and claimed its goal was to “defend the Muslims, not kill them,” just days earlier it lumped “the rejectionist Crusader-Jewish alliance” in with “another enemy,” referring to those who “claim to be Sunnis.”  These people who liked to call themselves moderates or enlightened, it said, “obscure the religion of the prophets for people and pushes them to take the road to annihilation and to use methods that conflict with the rules of the faith.  It is not supported by the fundamental truths of tradition or intelligence. In essence, Zarqawi declared them to be non-Muslims and thus – in accordance with all its previous messages – eligible for a jihad-backed death: “We will not differentiate between a rejectionist who cooperated with the Crusaders and someone who claims to be a Sunni who sold himself to the enemies of this religion, betrayed God and His messenger. The “al-Qaida Organization in the Land of Two Rivers” is clearly experiencing the consequences of it own stated actions and must now, with the round approval of the Iraqi Constitution, ponder its own legitimacy to act.  It knows that it has no legal basis to kill of Iraqis who voted for a future that will benefit the ummah but does not include them.

Did modern Democrats evolve from Monkeys?

While it is common knowledge that chimps and humans have a common ancestor in our evolutionary past, it now seems clear that there may be two branches from which humans derived. One path involves an unknown ancestor from which most humans evolved, and the other involves the traditional Chimpanzee from which it seems many Democrats can trace their origin.

Consider: Many on the Left today are isolationist and protectionist. These defecits are abundant in Chimpanzees scientists have discovered:

Chimpanzees share many traits with humans but altruism, it seems, is not one of them, scientists said on Wednesday.

Although chimps live in social groups and co-operate and hunt together, when it comes to helping non-related group members, they don't put up with any monkey business.

When given the opportunity to help themselves and other chimps they often choose the selfish option.

"This is the first experiment to show that chimps don't share the same concern for the welfare of others as do humans, who routinely donate blood ... volunteer for military duty and perform other acts that benefit perfect strangers," said Joan Silk, an anthropologist at UCLA in the United States.

As you can see, it is these same traits that decide that Iraqis should be able to fend for themselves.

That Arabs in general, are not our problem.

Isreael should be able to deal with their own problems.

That free trade hurts Americans and its not our job to help other countries become affluent.

Yep. I think those who believe the above (and such is by no means restricted to Democrats, they just seem to have higher concentrations of such people today) descented from Chimpanzees while the rest of us derived from....

Orangutans

The Blot

There has been movement towards acceptance of Israel by Muslim states since Israel pulled out from the Gaza.

Since the international peace conference in Madrid in 1991, Turkey upgraded its relations with Israel; and Mauritania and six former Soviet republics with Muslim majorities have established full diplomatic ties with Israel..../p>

Israel has some contact with Pakistan, Indonesia, Morocco, Tunisia and some of the Gulf States, said Regev. The situation is "looking good," he said.

Israel's withdrawal from 21 Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements won it great accolades in the international community.

Last month Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shook hands with Pakistani President Musharraf on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting following the first public meeting between Israeli and Pakistani foreign ministers.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom also met with his Indonesian counterpart last month.

Bahrain has announced it is terminating laws banning trade ties with Israel.Qatar donated $6 million to help build a soccer stadium for a mixed Arab-Jewish team.

All this is quite alarming to the state that is so opposed to Israel's existence that they go to great lengths to support any murderous group willing to help destroy it. And the current situation is so distressing, it has forced Iran's President to blow his cover

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Wednesday that Irsrael is a "disgraceful blot" that should be "wiped off the map"...

Ahmadinejad also condemned Iran's neighbors which seek to break new ground in their relations with Israel. ``Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury,'' state-run television quoted him as saying

So is there anyone out there who still believes that Iran's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes? Even after Iran's Army took control of those sites?

Well, Russia for one. Isn't that cozy? I will note in passing that Russia will likely block any sanctions against Syria as well.

But it's not just Israel that Iran would like to see blotted from the face of the Earth, though that is Iran's most immediate concern. After all, Israel is only the Little Satan.

Iran’s Khomeinists have it right, so to speak, when they denounce America as the “Great Satan” and Israel only as the “Little Satan,” a handmaiden of U.S. power.

Given this, when Ahmadinejad says "Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury" pardon me if I take it has a nuclear threat.

The difference is that when we remove the Iranian blot, it won't be in nuclear fire rather it will be from a Democratic fire in the belly and from within.