Odds and Ends

Lots of news today, so here's your Cliff notes, courtesy of the Duck.

A Knight-Ridder news service reporter, speaking with "more than a dozen top Army and Marine Corps generals" found that they all agreed "that America's strategy and tactics in Iraq have failed, and that President Bush's policy of 'staying the course' in Iraq isn't likely to produce anything but more frustration, more and greater problems for the United States in a dangerous world, and more and bloodier surprises for the 135,000 American troops in Iraq." Meanwhile, the Iraq war has turned Southern female voters away from the Republican party.

In other Iraq news, the Senate Intelligence Committee is once again delaying the release of a key "report comparing what Bush administration officials said about Iraq before the war with what they actually knew about Iraq before the war" until after the midterm elections. The Republican chairman, Pat Roberts, had also delayed the release prior to the 2004 election and has been stalling ever since. The report would likely officially confirm what we all know already.

In other Senate news, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was supposed to vote today on whether or not to confirm John Bolton as U.N. ambassador, but the Committee chairman pulled the vote from the schedule. A key reason is said to be concerns from Sen. Chafee (R-RI) about Bolton. This may not bode well for Mr. Bolton.

Moving on, it seems that Republicans are doing a happy dance over the news that former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was one of Robert Novak's source for the Valerie Plame leak, inisisting that this proves the scandal was much ado about nothing. Frankly, I find this not surprising, but severely intellectually challenged. First off, Armitage was long suspected as the missing third source back when we all understand this was a big deal, and secondly his role was just one small piece in the larger puzzle. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald had written extensively in his court filings of a conspiracy eminating from the Vice President's office to out Plame. As journalist Murray Waas wrote in an analysis of Fitzgerald's findings, "a senior administration official said that even if Cheney did not directly authorize Libby to leak the information to the press, the vice president might have set a climate in which his aides viewed it as routine to release classified information whenever it served their purposes." Karl Rove was involved in this campaign as well, and prior to Armitage talking to boot. The Armitage revelation does not change that. As for the idea that he simply passed on what he thought was 'gossip', it's pretty laughable. I doubt a Deputy Secretary of State would find the time to 'gossip' about a undercover CIA operative to Robert Novak of all people, coincidentally doing the same thing other administration officials were. Furthermore, Armitage's more subdued reputation aside, his connections to the Cheney neocon wing are well-documented.

More detailed Plame post-scripts from the New York Observer and The Nation.

In other news, Israel has lifted their air blockage of Lebanon.

ABC is still planning to air its reality-challenged 9/11 docudrama- "The Path To 9/11"- on Monday and Tuesday, despite numerous protests from both Democratic and Republican government officials noting that whole chunks of the movie have been fabricated or falsified to fit a partisan agenda. ABC has been promoting the film heavily amongst conservative bloggers and activisits, but has denied everyone else (even President Clinton himself- whose lawyer has written a letter in complaint) early access to the film. ABC is blowing off the critics, but has said they'll air a disclaimer with it. Unfortunately, they will not be providing barf bags to aid in your viewing.

Finally, designs for the three new World Trade Center towers have been unveiled.