Henry Hyde Wins Medal of Freedom

I literally laughed my ass off when I found out that George W. Bush has bestowed the Medal of Freedon upon Henry Hyde. It seems that Bush is trying to out fuck up the trifecta of former Medal of Freedon recipients George Tenet, Paul Bremer and Tommy Franks.



Another classic Bush moment in arrogance was bestowing the award to Norman "Bomb Iran" Podhoretz in 2004. Bush cynically looks at the award as a way to payoff cronies. Including those that give him horrible advise on Middle East policy.

More Proof Douglas Feith Is an Idiot

The Bloomberg News tells us what we already know about the reliability of the intelligence produced by Douglas Fieth and the Office of Special Plans.

The Pentagon provided “inappropriate” analysis for its reports of a strong link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, a finding that was cited by the White House as a rationale for invading Iraq, a report by the Pentagon inspector general says.

The declassified report said Defense Department officials “undercut” the intelligence community.

It specifically said that analysts reporting to Douglas Feith, who was the under secretary for policy, told Stephen J. Hadley, the deputy national security adviser at the time, and I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, that there were “fundamental problems with how the intelligence community is assessing information.”

Feith has patheticly tried to distanced himself from his handiwork.

“I don’t think the rationale for the war hinged on the existence of stockpiles.” - Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, The New Yorker, 5/9/05VERSUS

“I’d like to spend a moment, if I can, stressing in particular the crucial task of eliminating weapons of mass destruction. We have begun detailed planning for this task, which includes securing, assessing and dismantling Iraq’s WMD capabilities, its facilities and stockpiles. This will be a huge undertaking.” - Feith, Senate Testimony, 2/11/03

Tommy Franks called Feith "the fucking stupidest guy on the face of the earth."

No Phase 4, No Surprise

Military experts have wondered why there was no phase 4 plan for rebuilding and getting out of Iraq. General George Casey endlessly badgered Tommy Franks about phase 4. We now know that Donald Rumsfeld refused to allow military strategists to do so. This is insane beyond comprehension.

Even if the troops didn't stay, "at least we have to plan for it," Scheid said.

"I remember the secretary of defense saying that he would fire the next person that said that," Scheid said. "We would not do planning for Phase 4 operations, which would require all those additional troops that people talk about today.

Brig. Gen. Mark Scheid worked in Central Command and was part of the planning of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Kevin Drum writes, "The bulk of the evidence continues to suggest that democracy and rebuilding were simply not on Bush's radar."

Andrew Sullivan: "It's becoming clearer and clearer that Donald Rumsfeld is a worse defense secretary than Robert McNamara."

I wholeheartedly agree with both those comments. If Sullivan is hoping for sane Republicans to force Bush to fire Rumsfeld then that's wishful thinking. Chuck Hagel and John McCain said they have no confidence in Rumsfeld and they won't ask Bush to make him resign. Short answer: Bitch about the state of Iraq, but do nothing to solve the problem.