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Sunday, March 20, 2005

Lies, Damned Lies, And The Bushies

Remember back in the innocent days of the Clinton administration, when it wasn't about the sex, it was about the lying? Yeah, we remember those days too.

Also, it was about the children, and the drastic warping thereof upon exposure to the gory details of blowjobs and sperm-coated dresses. Not that we want to inflict such issues on young children, but we submit that more adults have learned rather warped attitudes about sex because everything was made out to be so terrible and naughty and secretive, than because they overheard a term and asked a supposedly responsible adult for some clarification, without the attendant snickers and gestures of the schoolyard.

Anyway, all that's so last millennium. Apparently there is no cognitive disconnect in explaining the chronic pants-on-fire dynamic of this entire miserable administration. The latest entry in the flaming-trousers sweepstakes is the disclosure of the fact that we lied to our Asian allies about North Korea's nuclear capabilities and ambitions, while simultaneously protecting the real culprit -- once again, our good buddies Pakistan.

In an effort to increase pressure on North Korea, the Bush administration told its Asian allies in briefings earlier this year that Pyongyang had exported nuclear material to Libya. That was a significant new charge, the first allegation that North Korea was helping to create a new nuclear weapons state.

But that is not what U.S. intelligence reported, according to two officials with detailed knowledge of the transaction. North Korea, according to the intelligence, had supplied uranium hexafluoride -- which can be enriched to weapons-grade uranium -- to Pakistan. It was Pakistan, a key U.S. ally with its own nuclear arsenal, that sold the material to Libya. The U.S. government had no evidence, the officials said, that North Korea knew of the second transaction.


Remember also after 9/11, the big outcry was over the supposed lack of coordination, communication, and ground-level data within our intelligence agency network (which comprises fifteen distinct intelligence agencies at this point. Paranoid much?). Again, as with Iraq, inconvenient or non-existent data are simply rearranged, memory-holed, or fabricated as needed.


Pakistan's role as both the buyer and the seller was concealed to cover up the part played by Washington's partner in the hunt for al Qaeda leaders, according to the officials, who discussed the issue on the condition of anonymity. In addition, a North Korea-Pakistan transfer would not have been news to the U.S. allies, which have known of such transfers for years and viewed them as a business matter between sovereign states.

The Bush administration's approach, intended to isolate North Korea, instead left allies increasingly doubtful as they began to learn that the briefings omitted essential details about the transaction, U.S. officials and foreign diplomats said in interviews. North Korea responded to public reports last month about the briefings by withdrawing from talks with its neighbors and the United States.

In an effort to repair the damage, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is traveling through East Asia this weekend trying to get the six-nation talks back on track. The impasse was expected to dominate talks today in Seoul and then Beijing, which wields the greatest influence with North Korea.


So let's get this all straight -- we want our allies to work with us, so we deliberately lie and fabricate intel data, and feed them that shit sandwich. Meanwhile, the country that actually did the dirty deed faces no consequences whatsoever. This has been going on for quite some time, and it's a very dangerous hypocrisy. A.Q. Khan has been responsible for who knows how much nuclear proliferation, not just to rogue states like Libya, but very possibly to terrorist cells and networks.

But we don't know for sure, because Pakistan won't let us interrogate him. Indeed, he's a hero in Pakistan, whose massive population seethes with resentment at the US, and teems with militant Islamist gangs who have tried to assassinate Pervez Musharraf several times.

This is not a little white lie, folks. This is compromising national security to dance with the devil, and further alienate valuable allies in a very stupid and needless fashion.


The new details follow a string of controversies concerning the Bush administration's use of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction. In the run-up to the Iraq invasion in March 2003, the White House offered a public case against Iraq that concealed dissent on nearly every element of intelligence and included interpretations unsupported by the evidence.

A presidential commission studying U.S. intelligence is reviewing the case, as well as judgments on Iran and North Korea. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence also is reviewing evidence on nuclear, chemical and biological programs suspected in Iran and North Korea.


Gee, are we starting to see a pattern here? This is the same team of geniuses that's currently trying to get you to exchange Social Security for a sack of magic beans.


Since Pakistan became a key U.S. ally in the hunt for al Qaeda leaders, the administration has not held President Pervez Musharraf accountable for actions taken by Khan while he was a member of Musharraf's cabinet and in charge of nuclear cooperation for the government.

"The administration is giving Pakistan a free ride when they don't deserve it and hurting U.S. interests at the same time," said Charles L. Pritchard, who was the Bush administration's special envoy for the North Korea talks until August 2003.

"As our allies get the full picture, it doesn't help our credibility with them," he said.


Exactly. Guess Pritchard's gonna be looking for work soon.


The United States tried to persuade North Korea to return to the talks, but without success. The North Korean leadership responded with a list of conditions, including a demand that Rice apologize for calling it an "outpost of tyranny."

During the first stop on her Asian tour, Rice used noticeably softer language on North Korea, telling a Tokyo audience that the U.S. offer was open to negotiation, and that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il should grab the opportunity.



We've already commented on the cult-like regime of Kim Jong Il, and have no illusions about the nature of that regime, nor about those of Libya or Pakistan (or the rest of the Middle East, for that matter). But the problem is that we're repeatedly insisting on help from our allies on this (and other matters, like, um, Iraq) and we keep bullshitting them about it. And we keep giving a truly dangerous regime that has already harmed us -- and continues to harbor the bastard that masterminded 9/11 -- a free pass.

Could there be a clearer indication that this administration has no concept or desire for anything remotely resembling true accountability?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Italians were close to the entire Yellowcake myth. Perhaps this woman was personally part of that? Wasn't Ledeen's daughter in a capacity there and has a loose affiliation with the Italian source? Former embassy internship posts? We discussed this back on the Niger/Nigeria timeline the diplomat circle involved people in Central Africa with the Italian INTEL embeds. The Dep't of Energy had undue influence in nuke proliferation and INTEL security assessments. they have overseas authority for field operation. Kwiatkowski mentioned points on this. Including the ability to set up /develop capacities and personnel in the field. This includes procurement. Mary Cheney was head of near East affairs at the time. Her promotion to North African Middles Eastern affairs from that point is a ramp-up. She was a vertically integrated aide to DoE efforts. Near East she had oversight of Morrocco(Madrid) along the same timeline Marge Tutwiler (NYSE's VP) was ambassador there. She also has input on the Libya/WMD nuke story getting out involving China and Russia(Ukraine) sales that implicate Iran(false flag). Look at the John Israel/Prometheus(Berg) Communications timeline. Mossad people were a big part of the initial invasion and infrastructure embed effort.Think this is part of the same.

Anonymous said...

Much of this equipment was probably sent to Israel. They can stage a false flag to justify Iran. Or arguably Chalabi sent it to Iran to work the timeline with Russia's logistical support. Chalabi plays both sides of the fence and probably sent equipment to both, so he can inflame Muslim support against Israel and still play high stakes game of extortion with the neocon cabal. That guy walks a tightrope, but has enough vested cash on each side to wedge any opposition. He has triagulated USA-Israel-Muslims. China has triangulated Japan-North Korea-South Korea. China also triangulated Taiwan-China-Hong Kong The rest of the world knows limited proliferation will stifle USA/Saud expansionist post peak. Their proximity to nearby lands will prevent nuclear attacks there in fear of total retaliation, but will provide a strategic bumper/cushion to USA aggression. Imagine having entire global regions show animosity across the board. The USA is isolated geographically from this, once their currency hedge divests and their oil hinged economy turns south the world will basically blackball us. Own our debt, cut off our lifeline in oil, and wedge powerful alliances of scale economies with regional military capacity to challenge any strategic effort we can muster, already stretched thin.

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile Bush and Condie have stumbled on Iran(Pakistan/Russia/North Korea). Their last effort is allow a Putin Pusch and have him back a nuke scare with Iran, but one bad incident in Iraq can change that to another leak equally damaging to Bush/Yukos. Iran is sending oil pipelines to India and it is a snub to the Azcbeckistan pipeline trail. Pakistan is getting a free pass on proliferation and is proably the middle man in this nukular noise. once again able to play both sides and triangulate. North Korea is the only wedge we have to justify the presence in Japan and South korea, base closing may change that. We'll probably divest some holding there in terms of facilities and instead ramp up the KBR/Bechtelburton assistance to our own logistic deployments. Wolfowitz is in place to underwrite it now. Things will move quick once he gets world bank approval. They've been watching how Soros leverages debt and have James Baker running Iraq's debt now. It's gotten out of hand.

Anonymous said...

If thy right (wing) hand offend thee , cut it off. By being on both sides of the fence the futures market is easily manipulated. Holdings in one side can profit off downward trends for put options to enable a buyup of the other sector in a supply/demand hard item resource commodity scale. The world has become their plaything. Trillions a day when you account the Saud holdings. And they want us to privatize large holdings in a market hinged by OPEC? Can anyone say insider trading? Harkin *cough* Exxon*cough* COndie *Cough*. And don't assume that your money buys influence with them from North America. Your money is small compared to this pitcure. The Bushistas have wrung people out near and dear before. They'll do it again. The 'Lepers' cannot change spots.

Anonymous said...

. There's no cure for neocons. Only for moderate middle class republicans who face loss on this massive scale in terms of personal shed blood or their vanishing middle class. Sorry to be so out there on this. There is offense on every issue, across the board, from Bushistas. Power is their problem, they don't practice what they preach and since they never are sincere, to be lauded in those tacit points does them no honor. The only thing left is a craven push for power. Hubris. A CIA man said as much. They are playing both sides of the fence, and being triangulated, losing ground internationally. The only soultion is circus-freaks like Shiavo. Rally the base with base crassness. Remember-anyone who served in any capacity with the Dep't of Energy was complicit with the Plame outing.

Anonymous said...

Remember-anyone who served in any capacity with the Dep't of Energy was complicit with the Plame outing. Their structure from the Intelligence Community link is top-down , with broadly definied vast authority and tinted transparency that only profits the insider's prospective. Adding the dep't of treasury after 9-11 to this was the Wolfowitz ramp-up. There is going to be a massive manuever coming up. Think draft. MI6 knows it and is already leaking out stories of Blair's complicit role. England's bailing out of this(see also Palast). We're due a massive implosion like Russia's infrastructure underwent with this lopsided revenue model of tax cuts and static market status. By the time bankruptcy change hits in you'll see it hit full time when the market is static and currency category transfers cannot occur.

It's Mr.Murder commenting... back to eschaton now...