Imperial Hubris
Parabeagle
3,085 Posts
Show of hands: Anyone out there intend to read Anonymous' book, "Imperial Hubris" when it hits the shelves in July?
I've given a lot of thought about some of the posts re the Iraq War and the diversity of opinions as to whether we're doing the right thing, the wrong thing, the weird thing, etc. Then I saw this guy, Anonymous, on This Week yesterday morning and he sounds very credible.
Basically, he's a 20-year intelligence veteran who is NOT some disgruntled former civil servant of the CIA - he still works for the intelligence service (won't say which one) and his publication of this book was APPROVED WITHOUT ANY EDITING by his superiors.
The upshot of the book is that we (meaning the Administration) have made an absolute mess of the war on terror. It cites intelligence failures, failures by Bush and Franks in not going aggressively after bin-Laden at Tora Bora, etc. - has a few choice words about Iraq as well. It also predicts that we should expect another devastating attack during the election campaign designed by the terrorists to KEEP Bush in office because his administration has been so ineffectual in containing them that he is the president they want in the Oval Office.
Sounds like fascinating reading!
I've given a lot of thought about some of the posts re the Iraq War and the diversity of opinions as to whether we're doing the right thing, the wrong thing, the weird thing, etc. Then I saw this guy, Anonymous, on This Week yesterday morning and he sounds very credible.
Basically, he's a 20-year intelligence veteran who is NOT some disgruntled former civil servant of the CIA - he still works for the intelligence service (won't say which one) and his publication of this book was APPROVED WITHOUT ANY EDITING by his superiors.
The upshot of the book is that we (meaning the Administration) have made an absolute mess of the war on terror. It cites intelligence failures, failures by Bush and Franks in not going aggressively after bin-Laden at Tora Bora, etc. - has a few choice words about Iraq as well. It also predicts that we should expect another devastating attack during the election campaign designed by the terrorists to KEEP Bush in office because his administration has been so ineffectual in containing them that he is the president they want in the Oval Office.
Sounds like fascinating reading!
Comments
(Edit) Beagle: You Have become the Michael Moore of the Forum. But, I do hope you bathe more regularly.
Today John Kerry gave a speech in which he claimed Americans are actually paying more taxes under Bush, despite the tax cuts. He gave no
explanation and provided no data for this claim.
Another interesting fact: Both George Bush and John Kerry are wealthy men. Bush owns only one home, his ranch in Texas. Kerry owns 4 mansions, all worth several million dollars. (His ski resort home in Idaho is an old barn brought over from Europe in pieces. Not your average A-frame).
Bush paid $250,000 in taxes this year; Kerry paid $90,000. Does that sound right? The man who wants to raise your taxes obviously has figured out a way to avoid paying his own.
One employs eleven ranch hands in Texas and has completed I-9s on each of them. The other is married to a woman who employes thousands of people overseas in the jobs she sends abroad in order to pay slave wages.
And we're moaning about Imperial Hubris, whatever that is? This is a reality check from the right in answer to an assinine post from the left.
(Now sit back and listen to the chortling from airheads who will say, "Oh yeah, Oh yeah? Oh Yeah? Well what about Bush getting a DUI when he was 20? And what about WMD?) Look at who is really ripping off this country. It ain't Bush!
I'm not saying Anonymous' book is the last word on the war - that won't be written for dozens of years, if ever. I am, however, suggesting that an informed, balanced consideration of how we are managing this war must include input from both sides. Then we are each free to draw our own conclusions and I would prefer to read an opposing point of view from a CREDIBLE source (i.e., NOT Michael Moore) than to discard his analysis out-of-hand as invalid.
And, Don, now that you HAVE compared me to Michael Moore let me just enlighten you - I do own a razor - I use it - and I bathe regularly and I'm at least 100 pounds lighter. Not to mention that I'm more generally more articulate and dress better. x:-)
(edit): Ray, can I get a complimentary copy if I pay shipping and handling? x;-)
That being said. Iraq is a mess...and I'm hopeful that we can finish our work there with a little bloodshed on both sides as possible and get back to a domestic agenda.
Regarding taxes...they will go up...at some point. The deficit we've gotten into will have to be paid off and regardless of the party affiliation, we'll blame it on the party whose president raised the tax rate. That's just us.
Finally, I will give Kudos to whomever decided to hand over Iraqi power 2 days early. No question that foiled many plans of "specatular" violence as power was transferred. It may happen anyway, but the connection will be lost and that is a win for both the Iraqi people and our troops.
This thought control wannabe will soon be exposed for the delirious, bitter, overweight, sexually depraved, slob of an ogre that he really is.
Not you, Beags, the other one!!
"If the two presidential candidates this year were John McCain and Joe Lieberman, you'd see a lot more crossover and less political polarization," says political scientist Richard Fiorina, coauthor of the book, "Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America." American voters, he told the New York Times, are caught up in a culture war manufactured by party operatives with a stake in making voters angry. Voters are like "citizens of some third-world country who try to stay out of the crossfire while Maoist guerrillas and right-wing death squads shoot at each other."
I read this yesterday in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. I don't know if the 1st part is true but the second sure describes the way I feel about this campaign.