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| 5/24 |
| 2005/8/15-17 [Politics/Domestic/911] UID:39126 Activity:low |
8/15 For the Able Danger pusher a few days ago...
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_08/006908.php
\_ This is the first I've seen about the source for the story. I wish
I'd known it was that shaky from the get go.
\_ I actually saw this first, even the right is getting
suspicious:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/05_08_14_corner-archive.asp#072960
\_ Only Democrats have credibility problems.
\_ It seems that there are 2 separate questions. One question is
whether the 9/11 commission reasonably ignore the Able Danger
information. The above links argue that it was reasonable. A
second question is whether Able Danger did have intelligence on
Atta and the Brooklyn cell. I'd hate for the 2nd question to be
ignored in our rush to discredit Weldon.
information. The above links argue that it was reasonable, since
the commission was not presented with information that highlighted
Atta. A second question is whether Able Danger did have
intelligence on Atta and the Brooklyn cell. I'd hate for the 2nd
question to be ignored in our rush to discredit Weldon. |
| 5/24 |
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| www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_08/006908.php Jonathan Alter: Offering ID as an alternative to evolution is a cruel joke. It walks and talks like science but in the lab performs worse tha n medieval alchemy. People tend to think of this story as the DeLay crew finally getting caug ht with their hands in the cookie jar. And some of the immediate causes of Jack Abramoff's troubles were some Indian elections that went bad for him. But there's another part to this story that will be important to k eep an eye on. There are many theories about who's leaking on who in generating all thes e revelations about Abramoff and his associates. But it's clear that a b ig factor in all of this -- a big factor in generating a lot of these st ories -- is a division between different groups of ex-DeLay aides -- par ticularly, the one surrounding Abramoff (the one that has everyone rushi ng for the exits, if they can find an open door) and that around Ed Buck ham. Curt Weldon's famous " Able Danger" chart: In a particularly dramatic scene in Weldons book, Countdown to Terror, t he Pennsylvania Republican described personally handing to then-Deputy National Security Adviser Steve Hadley, just after Sept. But Weldon told Time hes no longer certain Attas name was on that original document. Still, last week he referred reporters to a recently reconstructed version of the chart in his offic e where, among dozens of names and photos of terrorists from around the world, there was a color mug shot of Mohammad Atta, circled in black m arker. So: Weldon is no longer certain Atta's name was on his original chart? Is n't that the kind of thing that would stick in your memory banks? What's more, if Atta's name wasn't on the chart in 2001, 2002, 2003, or 2 004, why did the chart suddenly have a color mug shot of Atta in 2005? It's pretty obvious that Weldon is, um, embellishing things a bit. Any chance of finding a decent Democrat to run for his seat in 2006? Comments (97) Comments It's time to turn out our own kind if they fuck up like this. If we want to be the credible option, we have to hold our own accountable, not just the republicans - who are amazingly, stonily silent when their kind run afoul of public opinion. the meme is already placed : 9/11 could have been stopped if Clinton and the liberals had been more vigilant. the readers of this blog know to be suspicious whenever Weldo n's name is mentioned, but who else does? there won't be a necessary vig orous response, Weldon won't be challenged for his seat, the issue will just be dropped. PERMALINK if Atta's name wasn't on the chart in 2001, 2002, 2003, or 2004, why did the chart suddenly have a color mug shot of Atta in 2005? Maybe it took him 5 years to figure out how to use his chart-making progr am? That doesn't change the fact that the 911 commission studiously avoided links between Atta and Iraqi intelligence. He met them twice in 2000, confirmed meetings, why isn't t hat in the report? I don't think that Weldon's story changes anything on e way or the other except to bring up some uncomfortable whitewashing by the 911 commission. i live in weldon's district - philly suburbs - a nd in my unscientific estimation it's tilted just a little bit more demo cratic in the past 5 years or so. my municipality went for kerry, which after seeing republicans elected for years and years was kind of an eye opener. PERMALINK "Any chance of finding a decent Democrat to run for his seat in 2006?" As it happens, I live in Weldon's district, and the short answer is that while there are plenty of "decent" Democrats around here, the chances of finding one with the political skills and the money to beat Weldon in a regular election are roughly zero. Which is extremely frustrating, because this district is the kind the Dem s absolutely have to take if they are ever going to get the House back. It's gone Democratic in every presidential race since '92; the largest a nd most important county is run by a corrupt, decadent Republican machin e and it has a large elderly population which is EXTREMELY hostile to Sh rub's Social Security "reform" plan. Weldon himself is a wacko -- an ex-fireman, ex-small town mayor who fanci es himself a foreign policy expert. He's completely out of touch with th e district and its needs, except for the massive amounts of federal aid he's managed to funnel to the local fire departments. But it's the same old story: the local Democrats are a sad and feeble bun ch, and Weldon hasn't faced a serious, well-funded challenger in years. So he has carte blanche to go on playing the foreign policy fool -- a li ving poster boy for the decay of what we jokingly refer to as democracy in this country. That doesn't change the fact that the 911 commission studiously avoided links between Atta and Iraqi intelligence. He met them twice in 2000, confirmed meetings, why isn't that in the repo rt? Yeah, it was somewhat difficult for me in Arizona to figure out who was in whose district.... I know that if Duncan and Al Franken were running in '06 and '08, I might have to move myself, just so I could vote for one of them.... PERMALINK jerry, I don't have any idea if Duncan Black would even want to run for office, or if he would make a good candidate (that doesn't mean I don't like him , it means that not everybody is good at politicking). But can you imagine how much money he could raise online in one week if h e put his name on the ballot? Wolcott says, we should not be too harsh on the GOP congressman. It is only by reaching out to the other side that the hand of friend ship can find a partner, and agreement can be forged. PERMALINK How come no one has brought up the fact that Weldon's recent book Countdo wn to Terror was based on informal correspondence with an associate of M anucher Ghorbanifar? PERMALINK The point of the Lying Strategy, which the Republican Party has perfected , is that subsequent debunking merely puts the matter into "he said, she said" status with the asleep-at-the-switch electorate. So they'll alway s be prepared to believe to some degree that where there's smoke there's fire. Only when the evidence of the deceit becomes overwhelming do people start to think, "Hmmm, these guys have been lying to us all along." The language of the Bushies gets m ore and more extreme. Everybody but the Bush Loyalists are traitors, and love terrorists, and hate America. PERMALINK Man, now your off on a tangent when Cindy Sheehan was just explaining to us that Islamic terrorism is all the Jews fault. She says get those Jews out of Palestine and terrorism will end. PERMALINK What honest man /wants/ to be a politican these days? Seriously, spending all your time with your hand out for money, rightwing psychopaths make up any old shit about you and it end up in the national papers and on TV , the nightmarish prospect of being absolutely powerless to do what you want because of the hourse or senate power games, made even worse becaus e the party is out of power... She use to claim the war was for OIL now she says Bush was hoodwinked by the Jews into fighting the war f or Isreal. Yes, he was killed for li es and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel. """""" If it weren't for those darn Jews her son would be alive today... PERMALINK Man, now your off on a tangent when Cindy Sheehan was just explaining to us that Islamic terrorism is all the Jews fault. She says get those Jews out of Palestine and terrorism will end. I'm guessing that you're pulling a "Weldon" on us, which is to say, you're completely full of shit as usual. Oh and a Republican who's completely full of shit, real big surprise ther e In other news, dogs bark. PERMALINK That doesn't change the fact that the 911 commission studiously avoided l inks between Atta and Iraqi intelligence. He met them twice in 2000, con firmed meetings, why isn't that in the report? I've already disproved this in the earlier thread, tool. The meetings are in no way confirmed and the confusion about them was caused by the fact that there was a Pakistani businessman also named Mohammed Atta in Prag ue at the same time. It turned out the Atta who arrived on May 31 , 2000, was a Pakistani businessman. The mistaken notion that A... |
| corner.nationalreview.com/05_08_14_corner-archive.asp#072960 Rich Lowry I've been away for a few days of vacation in San Diego so I'm just catchi ng up, but in the meantime, let me try to make the curse work for me and confidently state: no rotation dependent on Al Leiter and Aaron Small i s strong enough to survive the stretch run; Jaret Wright will get shelle d, as the Yankees lose to Tampa Bay tonight; and the Red Sox are a lock, an absolute lock for a second straight World Championship. Kathryn: I'm afraid your reader Bill Raftery has got his math wrong. For correct scoring, each writer's success ratio needs to be multiplied by t he writer's age. Ralph Peters last week in the NYPost: The difference is that the extremists in Iraq don't expect a battlefield victory. They hope to wear us down, to main tain a level of photogenic chaos in just enough of Iraq to keep the med ia hot. They'll keep chipping away at our forces, praying that our will will prove far weaker than our weapons. They don't expect to force out our military through violence. They hope our political leaders will withdraw our troops. They know that a disheartening number of our politici ans share one of their beliefs: a low opinion of the American people, a notion that we're weak, that we're quitters. The terrorists know that our Marines aren't afraid of them. So you're the target of every bomb, bullet and blade our enemies wield. They were targeted to igni te political discord in the USA. They died to give ammunition to those in Washington who view our dead only as political liabilities. Unl ike last year, I did not divide this year up by joke vs. There were surprisingly few joke predictions, although some wer e cheap points. Statistical breakdown and methodology in Excel format available upon req uest. A critical reader asks: Am I not heartened by the imminent (apparently) s igning of the new Iraqi constitution? I'll be thrilled if the thing is still worth the paper it's printed o n a month after the last US soldier has left. A reader with a thought-provoking comment: "Mr Derbyshire---As you pointed out science by definition is concerned with natural explanations only and this is a sufficient reason for a sc ientist to reject supernatural theories such as ID. What I rarely find mentioned is the reason why this is so. "For a moment let us assume that the ID-ers are correct, that a supernat ural being or beings created life on Earth. Now you certainly could hav e a universe with supernatural beings interacting with it, but science could not exist in such a universe. If one is aware of the existence of supernatural beings then their actions will be the assumed cause of just about every natural phenomena there is and there will be no incentive to find alternate explanations. The idea that supernatural beings who are unbounded by any rules can somehow be incorporated into the natural world is, by definition, impossible. This does not mean tha t supernatural beings cannot exist, but it does place severe limits on their interaction with the natural world if science is to be useful for understanding it. "Those who readily apply supernatural causes to the question of human or igins as Creationist/ID-ers do, are basically saying that scientific in quiry into that question is pointless. If one is willing to concede tha t one area of inquiry is unsuitable to scientific study, then what is t o say that science will provide any useful insight into any other area? If an Intelligent Designer is the answer to one question, how are we t o know that it isn't the answer to all of them?" The key phrase there is "severe limits on their interaction." If there is an omnipotent God, and His interactions with the physical universe are of anything more intimate than the wind-it-up-and-let-it-run variety, th en, since natural laws are His, presumably He can violate them any time He feels like it. This does rather take the point out of scientific investigation. If, afte r a lifetime of diligent inquiry, you managed to establish the existence of a natural law like, say, the Law of Universal Gravitation; and then you were suddenly confronted with a levitating swami; you would be entit led to feel that you had been wasting your time. On the other hand, if God only interferes once in every few million years , scientific inquiry might still be worthwhile on the asteroid-strike pr inciple. Then we would at least know the degree to which scie ntific inquiry is pointless. or Richard Wagner -- can be cleared of the ch arge of anti-Semitism ... it is vital that the charges be heard and, yo u might hope, refuted. The way the Academy closed ranks, for example, a gainst the patent demonstration of anti-Semitism in Eliot's writing by Anthony Julius and Tom Paulin with cries of trahison des clercs was not healthy. On the other hand, we might worry that our own individual sil ences (and silence in the face of outrage is what Yeats is primarily ac cused of here) about Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo will not look so easily f orgivable sixty years on." Liberals of the O'Donoghue stripe really believe that the hanky-panky at Abu Ghraib and the detention, in spotless conditions, of murderers in Gu antanamo Bay, are the great horrors of our age. Sharon is saying (or begin ning to say -- the West Bank will be the real test): "Israel is a nation . Israeli citizens can live in those other nations only if those other nations ar e willing to let them immigrate." If I am just a state, and you are just a state, then we might go to war, as states do, given any of the traditional def initions of casus belli. Israel has fought wars against Jordan, Egypt, and Syria; CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina (AP) -- John Prazynski stood in the sea of welcome home signs and wondered why he was there. Taylor Prazynski, wasn't going to be among t he 900 Marines from the 3rd Battalion who arrived home Sunday. Taylor P razynski, 20, was killed May 9 from an insurgent mortar shell. But his father had promised his son he would attend the homecoming, so h e rode his Harley Davidson more than 650 miles from Hamilton, Ohio, to Camp Lejeune. I guess I want to thank his brothers f or being there for him, and thank his friends for being his friends," P razynski said. The 900 Marines had spent seven months in Anbar Province, the most dange rous territory for US troops in Iraq. It was there that the unit lost nine Marines, killed in action, and about 150 were wounded. That's odd s of one in six of being wounded, one in 100 of being killed. As late as last week, Prazynski was thinking about staying home so as no t to turn a happy occasion somber for the other Marines and their famil ies. But Taylor Prazynski's company commander had called and told him t hat he should be there. So about 8:15 pm Sunday, when a cheer went up from the crowd and it su rged forward, Prazynski hung back. "These Marines walking around, I've done a double-take three or four tim es," he said. He followed her into the middle of the crowd where a half-dozen Marines were hugging family members. He waited, and then someone told the Marin es who he was. "Your son lifted us," said Taylor Prazynski's squad leader, Sgt. Rich is off the hook on the web wars though--most readers think that Time s piece is silly. One e-mail: K-Lo Certainly, a funny dig at your man Lowry... Unfortunately, the Street & Smith ranking is ridiculous on its face. Each and every major league ba seball teams website has an identical design. Now, if you were going to say that NRO is superior to all other web site s then I could get behind you. NYT: The Boston Red Sox's recent edge over the New York Yankees appears to ex tend to the digital domain. And George Steinbrenner probably can't do a nything about it. Last week, the sports publisher Street & Smith's rele ased its ranking of professional sports Web sites, and in the baseball category the Red Sox led the major leagues while the Yankees were near the cellar - in 27th place among 30 teams. Update: Another e-mail: While all MLB web sites are indeed identical in style, the Street & Smit h's ranking is likely to be based on traffic to the sites, rather than their perceived quality. It would make sense that the BoSox lead in such a ra... |