...if you want to make a valid case to go to war with Iraq. Unfortunately, Douglas Feith got it wrong and, subsequently, so did Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et. al.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16656258.htm

"Feith's Policy Counter-Terrorism Evaluation Group examined raw U.S. intelligence reports and post-Sept. 11 CIA assessments. Although there were intermittent contacts for about a decade, there was no operational cooperation between Iraq and bin Laden, the CIA assessments stated.

The CIA's findings have been substantiated by a number of investigations, including that of the independent Sept. 11 commission.

Feith's unit, however, found that there were "multiple areas of cooperation" between Iraq and al-Qaida, "more than a decade of numerous contacts" and "shared interest and pursuit of WMD (weapons of mass destruction)," the Pentagon response said.

The unit cited as its strongest evidence a purported April 2001 meeting in the Czech capital of Prague between a senior Iraqi intelligence officer and Mohamed Atta, who led the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon several months later.

At the time, the CIA had doubts about reports of the meeting, and the agency and the FBI subsequently concluded that it never took place.

you are so clever.

Faith,,,,Feith....hmmmmm. college degree hard at work.

Thanks for pointing that out,,,,Mc74....hmmmmmm. you're just jealous.

Wow, it only took Mc74IQ a mere 5 hours to figure it out! My goodness, he's smart! Pithy, too! Get that guy a Rubik's Cube!

Isn't it great to see that he's out on bail and back on the computer at the library?

I find great humor in the Merkin post, Its amazing at how far science has progressed that we have trained monkeys to type.

this topic fails.

80 WPM, baby, and I can actually fly, too! Just ask Toto!

Oh yeah, I also love to eat bananas and throw shit (literally) at trolls like you, Cochteez.

What is interesting about this topic is nobody is responding to the actual topic. You know your topic failed when Merkin has showed up.

you should feel great that none of these people above thought your topic meant anything of substance, the only reason they posted here is because of me.

you can thank me later.

"What is interesting about this topic is nobody is responding to the actual topic."

Uh, you did.

"You know your topic failed when Merkin has showed up..."

I call crap!

You all should be so lucky. Love 'ya Merkie!

Hahaha!

Actually, maybe it's the other way around, the topic has failed if I DON'T show up.

Kisses to you, MK!

Mrs merkin: You do make any topic more interesting.

Yea Its like watching the special Olympics when Merkin shows up.

Its a bit amusing and yet sad at the same time.

Who pissed in your Cheerios?

---with a handle like cochise, I guess it's the norm huh? Tell us about it. How did you come to such a lowly place? Bad relationship? Boi troubles? Cheezy feet? Maybe it's just the booze huh?

We are here to help, really we are!

Mrs. M livens up ANY topic, I don't care what it is. We could have a "Polygamy for Dummies" topic and she would find a way to make it more interesting!

I am almost laughing too hard to type.

To address the topic, there is overwhelming evidence that cattle are involved in the fast food industry. With the right angle, one could call them collaborators, conspirators and cooperative contributors. After all, you will find them in every burger joint and they supply much of the menu, so they must be behind the whole thing.

Singling out a nation or nations in hindsight for cooperating in their own demise rings the same way.

Where's the beef?

Sorry, for going off-topic again, but I couldn't let this one slide by:

"...It(')s like watching the special Olympics...It(')s a bit amusing and yet sad at the same time."

Does anyone else find that opinion sort of sickening, or at least hugely insensitive?

Yes, Mrs. Merkin, I do. Those kids work harder for that weekend than most able bodied kids do for an entire little league season.

Want to make fun of people? Pick on paint huffers.

Yeah, that's pretty f'd up.

But consistant with the mindset.

It's pretty bad.

Gee, I guess I'm the one to blame for starting this whole mess. I must've over-estimated the demand for more evidence of how the Bush Administration erroneously plunged us headlong into the catastre-phuck that is Iraq. Karl Rove's brilliant new strategery of disseminating so much incriminating evidence against the Bush administration that the public will eventually grow tired of all the news and stop paying attention is beginning to work. Maybe the failure of this thread is evidence the seeds of his diabolical plan are taking root on this forum.

So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to memorize the redneck jokes to store up enough laughs help me get through the next 23 months.

That's a lotta redneck jokes!

I'm not sure there is enough. Maybe you will want to branch out a little.

taking root on this forum...

Maybe so. Seems we all got sucked into an Obama love fest!

Nobody is biting on this stuff anywhere but the leftie blogsphere. I don't get it. We know enough now to see what has been done and that we can expect more of the same, until some solid pressure is applied.

That starts with understanding. Maybe if the Resident and friends were all wearing blue dresses...

I'm certainly no fashionista, but wouldn't a blue dress clash with W's redneck?

White knuckles, a red neck and a blue dress. Sounds like a Fourth of July party at Rudy Giuliani's house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IrE6FMpai8

Totally!

He could use the flag for a nice scarf. Add a little flair and express his love of the country at the same time.

Then there is the consitution. Maybe dye it black, apply to stains, making the best of a worn dress.

Some white pumps and new hair and he should be good to go for the oil party this year.

There just isn't a lipstick that would work though. Hopeless...

Thanks, Bookemdono for starting this thread. To return to topic, here's another bite of the article:

"Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who requested the investigation, called the findings "devastating" because senior administration officials, particularly Vice President Dick Cheney, used Feith's work to help make their case for the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The findings "are about as damning a statement as one can hear, and I think the American people will be absolutely furious," Levin continued. The lawmaker is a longtime critic of the administration's use of exaggerated and erroneous intelligence to justify the invasion and a leading voice for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

Feith, who resigned from the Pentagon in 2005 and now teaches at Georgetown University, said that he'd been exonerated.

But Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that he'd review whether Feith may have violated the 1947 National Security Act.

The act "requires the heads of all departments and agencies of the U.S. government involved in intelligence activities `to keep the congressional oversight committees informed,' " Rockefeller said. "The IG has concluded that (Feith's) office was engaged in intelligence activities. The Senate Intelligence Committee was never informed of these activities. Whether these actions were authorized or not, it appears that they were not in compliance with the law."

Whether we have fun or not, this is a breakthrough worth noting. I do like the idea of members of this administration being held accountable for their actions and even serving prison time. I believe that the layers of rot run so deep that no amount of duct tape and black plastic over the windows is gonna keep the stink out. It might be why sometimes it's better to laugh than to grit our teeth.