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By Eric Brewer, on July 11th, 2007
11-15-02 [dates are linked]: The FBI announces that Al Qaeda may be planning “spectacular attacks” in the United States that will cause “mass casualties” and “severe damage” to the economy.
3-19-03: One of the real ones.
3-2-04: Fox News reports that in February 2004, U.S. officials released what they said was an intercepted letter written by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to Al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan, outlining a strategy of spectacular attacks on Shiites aimed at sparking a Sunni-Shiite civil war. The release of the letter (it was leaked to NY Times reporter Dexter Filkins, whose article about it made the front page of the Times) is later revealed to be part of a U.S. military propaganda campaign to exaggerate the importance of Zarqawi.
4-21-05: Retired Army general John Keane, just back from a fact-finding trip to Iraq, warns that insurgents may be planning spectacular large-scale attacks to slow the momentum of recent military and political gains there.
9-10-05: A U.S. military intelligence official, Chief Warrant Officer Larry Tersone, predicts that militants in Afghanistan “will try to conduct an operation of a spectacular nature within a significant population center” as elections approach.
Continue reading Spectacular attacks, real and imaginary
By Eric Brewer, on July 9th, 2007
Check out this fascinating combination of articles in yesterday’s Washington Post ‘Outlook’ section:
Getting the CIA we need, by David Ignatius Our clueless intelligence system, by Amy Zegart Who runs the CIA? Outsiders for hire, by R. J. Hillhouse
Ignatius thinks that the CIA is something of a rogue outfit, because it doesn’t have . . . → Read More: Accountable spying?
By Eric Brewer, on July 3rd, 2007
At Slate, Timothy Noah has written a defense of Bush’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s jail sentence that is riddled with errors, fallacies, and non-sequiturs. To wit:
1. Noah says that Libby “probably didn’t understand that Plame’s identity was a government secret.” In fact, in Libby’s indictment, we read that:
Shortly after publication of the article in The New Republic, LIBBY spoke by telephone with his then Principal Deputy and discussed the article. That official asked LIBBY whether information about Wilson’s trip could be shared with the press to rebut the allegations that the Vice President had sent Wilson. LIBBY responded that there would be complications at the CIA in disclosing that information publicly, and that he could not discuss the matter on a non-secure telephone line.
This is pretty good evidence that Libby knew that Plame’s CIA identity was classified. Furthermore, Ari Fleischer testified that Libby told him that the Plame information was “hush hush” and “on the QT.”
Continue reading Why Timothy Noah is wrong about ‘Why Bush was right to spare Libby’
By Eric Brewer, on July 3rd, 2007
Today at the White House press briefing, I got into a somewhat heated (on my part) dispute with John Gizzi, political editor of the right wing web magazine HumanEvents.com. It happened like this…
Earlier in the briefing, the press was asking Tony Snow some pretty good questions about Bush’s commutation yesterday of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence. Questions like (this is a paraphrase): “What is it about this particular case that makes it so special that the president commuted the sentence without Libby even petitioning for a commutation, when there are 3,000 actual requests for commutation currently languishing at the Justice Department?” Tony’s (paraphrased) answer: “This case is just really, really special.” However, I was puzzled that all the reporters were referring only to Libby’s perjury convictions, and not to his conviction for obstruction of justice. So when Tony called on me, I asked:
Won’t this encourage other members of his administration to obstruct justice?”
Tony’s response:
No.
I got another chance, though, later on, during the following exchange:
Continue reading In which I lose my cool while debunking right wing Libby myths at the White House press briefing
By Eric Brewer, on June 14th, 2007
Threatening letters to Judge Walton are counterproductive. . . . → Read More: Judge defies threats, sends Libby to jail
By Eric Brewer, on June 3rd, 2007
U.S. Counterterrorism Center says there’s more terrorism than ever! . . . → Read More: A roller coaster that seems always to go up
By Eric Brewer, on May 13th, 2007
Two British men suffer for Bush’s sins… . . . → Read More: Expose Bush’s war crimes, go to jail
By Eric Brewer, on May 9th, 2007
Bush tells Saudis: I’ll never leave Iraq! . . . → Read More: (at least) 3 more Friedmans
By Eric Brewer, on March 22nd, 2007
In which Tony dodges questions about the U.S. Attorney firings… . . . → Read More: Playing dodgeball with Tony Snow
By Eric Brewer, on March 13th, 2007
The Bush Doctrine’s return on investment is unattractive… . . . → Read More: Global War on Terror™ Annual Progress Report
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Word of the Decade Ignoranus: An ignorant asshole.
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