HEY! KOOL AID!

If you haven't read the Seymour Hersh article in the New Yorker, put aside a few minutes and give it a read. It's quite a bit to digest, but a few things jumped out at me. This in particular:

The Bush Administration’s reliance on clandestine operations that have not been reported to Congress and its dealings with intermediaries with questionable agendas have recalled, for some in Washington, an earlier chapter in history. Two decades ago, the Reagan Administration attempted to fund the Nicaraguan contras illegally, with the help of secret arms sales to Iran. Saudi money was involved in what became known as the Iran-Contra scandal, and a few of the players back then—notably Prince Bandar and Elliott Abrams—are involved in today’s dealings.

Iran-Contra was the subject of an informal “lessons learned” discussion two years ago among veterans of the scandal. Abrams led the discussion. One conclusion was that even though the program was eventually exposed, it had been possible to execute it without telling Congress. As to what the experience taught them, in terms of future covert operations, the participants found: “One, you can’t trust our friends. Two, the C.I.A. has got to be totally out of it. Three, you can’t trust the uniformed military, and four, it’s got to be run out of the Vice-President’s office”—a reference to Cheney’s role, the former senior intelligence official said.
I was subsequently told by the two government consultants and the former senior intelligence official that the echoes of Iran-Contra were a factor in Negroponte’s decision to resign from the National Intelligence directorship and accept a sub-Cabinet position of Deputy Secretary of State. (Negroponte declined to comment.)

Yeah, I'm sure he declined to comment on this. Negroponte knows you don't betray the family. People who stray might, for example, decide to go kayaking in the middle in the night...in the middle of a thunderstorm, and then..umm..drown.

Hypothetically speaking of course.

You have got to love the absolute myopia here though. What is the lesson of Iran Contra? Hey, we almost got away with it, let's try again. C'mon gang, let's put on a show! That has got to be one of the most appalling things I have read since the day George Bush took the oath of office. The fact that the Iran/Contra scandal almost brought down the Reagan Presidency and almost sent several of them to jail never breaks through the myopia. The true depths of what went on during that time I doubt has ever been truly grasped. I think the closest anyone came was John Kerry's investigation into BCCI, an angle on the opposition to the Kerry candidacy that was not explored by the David Broders and Maureen Dowds because, well, they're worthless. Maureen Dowds little hit piece on Hilary Clinton tells you all you need to know about the Kool Kids and what they will be doing in 2008. Trying to get Rudy Giuliani or John McCain elected President, to be precise. They are so authentic, and sooo dreaammmy.

Sorry..I digress..

Another thing that jumped out at me was the degree the Saudi's are shaping our policies and actions in the Middle East. Help me out here, did I dream the fact that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi's? And, is anyone actually in any doubt where the Sunni insurgents in Iraq, not to mention Al-Queda, are getting the cash to run their operations. Did they hold a bake sale? Is their a lemonade stand on the road to Basra? It's American money, shipped to Saudi Arabia to pay for our oil thirst, and filtered to the members of the royal family who are sympathetic to Al-Queda and other Sunni fanatics. No REDSTATE, it's not the ghost of Saddam Hussein, or the Shia's of Iran. Sunni extremists regard Shia's as heretics, worse than the crusader infidels in Iraq. Iran is not going to provide much support for these people. The Administration position on this makes no sense. At least in terms of any relation to objective reality. I'm sure it would make perfect sense if I put on my Hugh Hewitt tinfoil headset. Perfect clarity for these disturbing times.

It's pretty clear to all but the paste eaters that the Administration is looking for an opportunity to justify an attack on Iran. My suspicion is they would have done it by now, but GOP leaders in Congress and in the party have expressed to the White House that unless they can shore up public support for that idea with a plausible reason that the pubic will accept, they will not stick their necks out. At that point, the President could be in threat of impeachment and removal from office. The pathetic attempts to set the Iranians up as the culprits behind the insurgency is just getting started, as are the hack articles by their pet reporters at the Post and Times. I'm sure TIMMAH is keeping Dick Cheney's seat on Beat the Press warm for him. (Dont ask how, this is a family friendly blog. Sort of.)

I think we might need to brace ourselves.