Virtual townhall meeting on Cheney impeachment hearings

Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL), who has called for Cheney impeachment hearings, will hold a virtual townhall meeting this evening. Information from his email alert:

Join Me Thursday Night on Blog Radio to Discuss Our Next Steps
On this Thursday at 9:00 p.m. (EST) and 6:00 (PST), please join me as I appear on live on the Internet to discuss my efforts to convince Congress to hold impeachment hearing. Congressman Wexler Live on Blog Radio:

WHEN: Thursday, December 20, 9:00 pm (EST)/6:00 pm (PST)

WHERE: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fpc (a link will be posted at www.wexlerwantshearings.com and www.wexlerforcongress.com )

WHO: Rep. Wexler will appear live on Florida Progressive Radio with host Kenneth Quinnell of the Florida Netroots Caucus, Bob Fertick of Democrats.com, as well as Dave Lindorf, author of "The Case for Impeachment," and David Swanson with AfterDowningStreet.org.

The call-in telephone number is (646) 716-7543.

If you haven't already signed Wexler's petition, here's the link.

After The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, USA Today, and Boston Globe rejected an op/ed authored by Wexler, Gutierrez (D-IL), and Baldwin (D-WI -- who are representatives and members of the House Judiciary Committee -- Wexler got the word out to the Netroots. Within five days, 100,000 people had signed the petition urging impeachment hearings of Dick Cheney.

At the time of this posting, more than 109,000 have added their names to the petition. The goal is 250,000 signatures by the year's end. So spread the word.

[That's all. No more after the jump.]

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Can we impeach Cheney now?

So - the administration has known for a year that all sixteen intelligence agencies have determined that Iran halted their nuclear weapons program in 2003, but that little bit of inconvenient truth did not deter Cheney from not only advocating for another illegal war, one that would possibly (probably) use nuclear weapons, but he didn't stop there - he also attempted to stifle the report and tried to get the parts they didn't agree with stricken.

Remember how, a couple of months ago, the meme changed? Resident Evil said that the Iranians couldn't be allowed to have the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon. In October, aWol gave a dire warning about WW III if Iran obtained a nuclear weapon, and the warmongering old prick vowed "serious consequences" if the Iranians didn't (re)abandon their nuclear program. (It's all very cartoonish, in a tragic way. Remember your Looney Tunes? Bugs: "Batten down the hatches!" Buster:"I did! I did batten 'em down!" Bugs: "Well batten 'em down again. We'll teach those hatches!")

[Keep reading...]

Gareth Porter pointed out a month ago that the NIE was being held up. (h/t Kevin Drum)

A National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran has been held up for more than a year in an effort to force the intelligence community to remove dissenting judgments on the Iranian nuclear programme, and thus make the document more supportive of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's militarily aggressive policy toward Iran, according to accounts of the process provided by participants to two former Central Intelligence Agency officers.

But this pressure on intelligence analysts, obviously instigated by Cheney himself, has not produced a draft estimate without those dissenting views, these sources say. The White House has now apparently decided to release the unsatisfactory draft NIE, but without making its key findings public.

Cheney got his knickers in a twist over more than the nuclear part of the NIE. He was also furious that there was no conclusive evidence that the Iranians were meddling in Iraq and arming Shiite militias.

So, congresscritters, especially you, Nancy Pelosi, read the god-damned NIE for yourselves, and then riddle me this:

Is it enough yet? Can we please make with impeaching the warmongering, pathological old prick? We can't risk another year with this psychotic madman at the levers.

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Cheney: against sanctions on Iran before he was for them

H/T Think Progress:

Cheney has 'fessed up that as CEO of Halliburton he opposed sanctions against Iran.

What he leaves out is that he evaded the law to do business with the Iranian government.

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorizes the president to block transactions and freeze assets to deal with rogue nations. In 1995, President Clinton signed an executive order barring U.S. investment in Iran’s energy sector. To evade U.S. law, Halliburton set up an offshore subsidiary that engaged in dealings with Iran.

In 1996, Cheney blasted the Clinton administration for being “sanction-happy as a government.” “The problem is that the good Lord didn’t see fit to always put oil and gas resources where there are democratic governments,” Cheney explained of his desire to do business with Iran.

His rationalization now is that it wasn't his responsibility to uphold U.S. law when he was a CEO.

I know. My head hurts, too.

[That's all, folks...]

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Dick Cheney needs a muzzle, a sturdy chain...and a tranquilizer dart

Remember how a couple of weeks ago, the story was that the Bush administration does not trust any future administration to 'deal with' Iran? Maybe you have forgotten, because the M$M – good little cocktail-weenie-wagging lackeys that they are - promptly moved along as if there was nothing to see there.

They certainly haven’t bothered to report on the hostilities we have been engaging in with Iran "below the CNN line" practically since the first days of the invasion, so what do we expect? But rest assured, Saddam had barely been toppled when the first American commandos were sent across the border into Iran, snooping for nukes.

On two borders, the US has combat troops, and in addition the U.S. encourages terrorism inside Iran. The U.S. materially supports Jundallah, and offshoot of al Qaeda, to commit terrorist acts inside Iran, staged from Pakistan. The Kurdish areas of Iraq are a nest of terrorists. They don’t just attack Turks. The Kurdish areas have been a staging ground for Kurdish paramilitaries to train; then they cross the border into the Kurdish areas of Iran and ambush Republican Guard troops. In addition, Iran has accused the United States of shooting down two of their military aircraft that were in Iranian airspace.

And now we have Dick Cheney, lunging for the end of the chain, snarling, foaming at the mouth and demanding more war.

Cheney, who's long been skeptical of diplomacy with Iran, argued for military action if hard new evidence emerges of Iran's complicity in supporting anti-American forces in Iraq; for example, catching a truckload of fighters or weapons crossing into Iraq from Iran, one official said.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk publicly about internal government deliberations.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice opposes this idea, the officials said. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has stated publicly that "we think we can handle this inside the borders of Iraq."

Lea Anne McBride, a Cheney spokeswoman, said only that "the vice president is right where the president is" on Iran policy.

Bush left no doubt at his news conference that he intended to get tough with Iran.

"One of the main reasons that I asked Ambassador Crocker to meet with Iranians inside Iraq was to send the message that there will be consequences for . . . people transporting, delivering EFPs, highly sophisticated IEDs (improvised explosive devices), that kill Americans in Iraq," he said.

He also appeared to call on the Iranian people to change their government.

"My message to the Iranian people is, you can do better than this current government," he said. "You don't have to be isolated. You don't have to be in a position where you can't realize your full economic potential."

The Bush administration has launched what appears to be a coordinated campaign to pin more of Iraq's security troubles on Iran.

Those who are frothing at the mouth, all hot and bothered to get their war on with Iran need to sit down and listen up.

I am going to explain a few things in simple enough terms for even a conservative to understand, like why Iran would never fall like Iraq did. Put that notion down before it blows up and hurts someone, and consider some facts:

• Iranians have a strong national identity that is founded in common history; unlike Iraq, which was cobbled together from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, and occupied by Britain from 1917 to 1958. Iraq has existed for 90 years, and been occupied by “liberators” for 45 of them.
• Iran is four times the size of Iraq, with terrain that ranges from placid coastline to rugged mountains.
• The average male Iranian is just under 25 years of age.
• Iran has as many males between 15-64 as Iraq has total population
• Iran will not fall simply because a figurehead might be deposed. Iran will not fall so long as one Mullah remains alive anywhere in the country.
• Iran has a relatively modern military that has not been decimated by two decades of war and sanctions.
• Iran has the ability to shut down the passage of oil tankers, and send the price of oil to triple-digit per barrel prices.

In Iran, the Islamic Revolution was a means to an end, with the Ayatollah filling the role of ‘charismatic leader’ that is required of any revolutionary movement. It was the perfect combination of opportunity, true-believers, and opportunists, all coming together to overthrow a feckless thug, installed by a CIA coup that deposed the democratically elected Iranian Nationalist Mohammed Mossadegh, because he nationalized the oil industry, and pissed off the Brits. They wanted their oil company back, and that wag that didn't know his place gone. John Foster Dulles was all to happy to lend a hand.

In post revolutionary Iran, the Mullahs decreed the age of majority to be 15. Iranians can enter into contracts, marry, join the military and enjoy universal suffrage at 15 years of age. This has been an interesting social experiment, - control through empowerment. That data, just now coming in will be interesting to analyze once available.

When the average citizen is younger than the revolution, the revolution is over. Maybe not officially, but de facto. Birth rates are down from a post-revolution high of over 5 per woman to just under 2. The pig is passing through the snake, but it will be a discernible bulge for the foreseeable future. The average Iranian is around 25, in a population of over 65 million, while the Islamic revolution was 28 years ago come November.

The United States needs to realize that when dealing with Iranians, we are not dealing with a purely Islamic culture. Persian culture predates Islam by at least 1500 years, and the Persian people have not been invaded, conquered and occupied in modern times. Hell, not since the Arabs Islamized them seven hundred years ago.

We need to be engaging in diplomacy, even if it takes six months to decide ‘what will be the design and color of the peace table?’ We should also be engaging the country economically. They have a monolithic, one-dimensional energy economy. The Mullahs control the population by controlling the economy. Economic engagement would be far more effective than military engagement. (And no, I don’t mean by wrecking it – I mean by encouraging prosperity.)

Iran would present a military challenge in the best of times. With an overstretched and worn out military, the mere notion is madness on an epic scale. If we engage in diplomacy and economic diversification, the Mullahs fade from power in another decade. Start a shooting war, cement their power for 50-100 more years.

[*Note: The population of Iran has been corrected. Thanks to astute commenter Ben Cronin for pointing out my quite inexcusable error.]

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The ExecuBorg Rejuvenate

In successive weekends, the heartless bastard bots that run our country have gone in to have tweaking done on the flexible bags of mostly water that carry their spirit and ethos of death. Last weekend, it was Bush having the area where he keeps his head, i.e. his ass, probed and tuned. Today it is announced that the deathstar known as Cheney will have the mechanical pump, that resides where humans have a heart, replaced. Thats enough to scare a crow. This symbiotic pair of death and destruction must be planning on staying around awhile. I am starting to wonder if they plan on staying around after January 2009.

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I’m getting a little steamed at my Congressman

Every week, I call my Congressman and express my support for him to sign on to H.R. 333, and every week he sends me the same non-answer form-letter reply:

Thank you for contacting me regarding House Resolution 333, a bill calling for the impeachment of the Vice President. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

As you may know, H.Res. 333 is a resolution that calls for impeachment of the Vice President for high crimes and misdemeanors. The measure sets forth articles of impeachment charging that the Vice President has purposely: manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, and about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, to justify the use of the U.S. Armed Forces against Iraq in a manner damaging to U.S. national security interests; has openly threatened aggression against Iran absent any real threat to the United States, and has done so with the U.S. proven capability to carry out such threats, thus undermining U.S. national security.

Article II Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states, "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." The power to impeach the President rests with the House of Representatives. While I certainly have very clear and deep policy and philosophical differences with the Vice President and the Administration, I believe that the Congress must focus its efforts on addressing the challenges facing us abroad and here at home. In there remain eighteen months of this Administration, my colleagues and I will be working to address the Iraq War, the War on Terrorism, and issues such as the lack of affordable healthcare, an under-funded educational system and the rise in mortgage foreclosures, to name a few.

H.Res. 333 has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee for further consideration. History will impeach this Administration. It will be incumbent upon this new 110^th Congress to move forward in an effective manner so as to provide real solutions to the real problems confronting our nation. You can rest assured that I am closely monitoring the Executive Branch and will keep your concerns in mind as we learn more details about the Administration's activities that may have exceeded its statutory or Constitutional authority.

Again, thank you for sharing your views with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I may be of further assistance. Also, I encourage you to visit my website at http://www.house.gov/cleaver, where you can sign up for my electronic newsletter and receive updates on my latest activities as your Representative.

Sincerely

Emanuel Cleaver, II

Member of Congress

Congressman, I know perfectly well what H.R. 333 entails.

What I want is a damned ANSWER. Either stand up and sign on or EXPLAIN TO ME WHY YOU WILL NOT!!!

I chose you, I am watching, and I am not blindly partisan. So make with an answer already, and stop insulting me with the same freakin’ form letter, over and over and over.

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Bush: We're Still in Iraq Because Osama Wants to Know Who Wins

In his Tuesday speech at Charleston Air Force Base, Bush claimed the reason we must stay in Iraq is because Osama Bin Laden thinks we should so that a winner may be declared:

He's proclaimed that the "third world war is raging in Iraq." Osama bin Laden says, "The war is for you or for us to win. If we win it, it means your defeat and disgrace forever."

So Osama bin Laden is dictating American policy. Nice to know who's actually in charge, at least in George Bush's world.

In case you've forgotten, today is the 2,144th day since 9/11 and the man who ordered the massacre of nearly 3,000 people is still at large. Unfortunately, the men responsible for the deaths of 3,637 American soldiers in a country which had nothing to do with 9/11 are still in office.

John Conyers, Nancy Pelosi. . .are you listening?

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Cheney energy task force: Why didn’t an enviro group just spill the beans?

OK, we now officially know who sat in on Vice President Cheney’s energy task force in spring 2001. It had everybody from the American Petroleum Institute to Defenders of Wildlife.

Here's what I don't get.

There were representatives from legitimate enviro groups that sat in on task force meetings.

I know the meetings were on different dates, but did Cheney never mention a thing about energy companies during meetings with environmental groups? Why didn't somebody just spill the beans and leak this? Even a minor leak?

What, the vice president who’s addicted to secrecy is going to sue you over leaking information, leading to even more of it coming out in court?

Or, if Cheney remained absolutely close-mouthed, why did environmental groups decide to participate in the process at all?

Frankly, it does raise the cynicism hackles a bit, making me wonder if some groups like to keep the confrontational pot boiling because it makes for better fundraising. By participating in the process, they got some talking points; by harping on the secrecy theme without doing something different about it, they got much bigger talking points.

Cross-posted at Socratic Gadfly

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Durbin to Cheney: “Go F#%K Yourself”

On Tuesday, Senator Dick Durbin stripped the funding for the operations of the Vice Presidents office and staff from an appropriations bill for the coming fiscal year. Until the vice resident complies with the parts of an executive order that covers the handling of classified information.

The issue at hand involves a requirement that offices of the executive branch provide information to the Information Security Oversight Office at The National Archives, an oversight office on data that is classified or declassified within those offices.

Cheney has absurdly asserted that he is not a part of the executive branch, and therefore exempt from an order he complied with for at least two years, then suddenly stopped.

Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said Cheney's office was flouting requirements that it comply with the reporting requirements on classified information.

"Neither Mr. Cheney or his staff is above the law or the Constitution," Durbin said. "For the vice president to believe that he has no responsibility to meet this requirement of the law is a dereliction of duty."

Frankly, there is only one reason I can think of for this unprecedented action on behalf of the vice resident – something got away from him, or from one of his lackeys. Something big. Something that could have a devastating effect on national security. Something they don’t want anyone to know.

There is simply not other explanation for the patently absurd notion that the vice-executive is exempt from rules covering the executive branch.

Durbin’s decision to strip the vice presidents office out of the executive office budget was part of an appropriations bill that funds the White House, the Treasury Department, and several smaller agencies.

I am heartened to see that the Democrats in Congress are starting to stand up to these fools. I can’t be sure just yet – but I think what we are seeing is a “rope-a-dope” strategy on behalf of the Dems – and the loyalists might have punched themselves out, and now the pummeling is about to start.

For the sake of the nation I love, I hope so.

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Taking Stock: the day after

I spent 24 hours enraged. That is my MO. Then I pull myself together and I get downright calculating and methodical. That was the part that scared my kids the worst when they were growing up and ran afoul of the Rule of Mom, which was the equivalent of the rule of law in our household. (Military Moms tend to run a tight ship, no matter what branch of service they are married to. I was no exception. You spend too much time alone with the kids farther into the career and you can’t lose control of your charges.)

So – I have had 24 hours to assess the situation. There is still some 'there' there, if you know what I mean.

Did aWol commit an impeachable offense when he commuted the treasonous Libby’s jail term? No processes were observed, no recommendations considered, no briefs were filed and no procedures were followed. So...perhaps. (Note: It is the opinion of this blogger that the entire Bush Presidency has been an impeachable offense.)

The way this played out, it smacks of a cover-up. It looks like the resident was scared shitless that Scooter might spill when he found himself looking into that cell.

Remember, from the very outset, Libby’s attorneys played it like he was a fall guy, a patsy, a chump taking the rap for others – specifically the vice president. Fitz repeatedly and sharply stated that the details that surrounded the case cast doubt and suspicion over Dick Cheney.

Take the fact that the defense claimed he was a fall guy, add the shadow over vice, and it is a short step to come to the conclusion that Libby was made Cheney’s bitch.

It is within the scope of powers afforded the office of the President to commute sentences, of course. However, it is not within the scope of those powers for him to commute a sentence in an effort to derail a criminal investigation. If the sentence was commuted for the purpose of covering up criminal activity, be those activities ongoing or previous, that in and of itself is a crime that merits the impeachment of this feckless president.

What underlies the decision by the resident to offer this commutation, without a single day served, must be investigated thoroughly.

Both Judiciary Committees and Representative Waxman’s Oversight Committee must open investigations and get to the bottom of this. Including calling Patrick Fitzgerald to testify.

This is not over. Not by a long shot. Unless, that is, those we chose fold like a bunch of cheap suits.

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Scooter On Over To The Big House Bubba!

Well, OK then; Scooter is one step closer to the Big House. I trust the Libby Lobby will make the obligatory application to the Supremes, but as I have opined previously, that application should go to Justice Roberts as the "hot judge" for such matters from the DC Circuit (each Supreme is responsible for a certain area of the country, or grouping of districts, for purposes of matters like this and emergency applications) and I don't think Roberts is likely to summarily overrule his compatriots in the DC District and DC Circuit Courts that he so recently served with and among. The significance of the unanimous opinion on this by the DC Circuit panel, including the right wing weather vane Judge Sentelle, is that it removes any cover for Justice Roberts should he be inclined to spring the Scoots. This is in addition to the reason of quieting the incredible noise machine of the Goopers and Libby Lobby .

Now the interesting thought is, and I think it was John Dean that lightly touched on this early on, that if Bush uses the pardon power for Libby (commutation is a derivitive of the pardon power) it then creates a cogent and compelling basis for an obstruction and aiding and abetting investigation. Here is where the thought gets really interesting: the obvious agent for this investigation is none other than Mr. Pat Fitzgerald. In fact he needs no further impetus or designation of authority, it is inherent in his current delegation. In this regard, I am tempted to hope Bush exercises some aspect of the pardon power on Libby tomorrow. This is also a salient reason, however, why it will be very difficult for Bush to appease his base and Cheney with the pardon/commutation for Scooter.

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Tick, Tick, Tick

Thursday is the 2,117th day since 9/11 and the man who ordered the massacre is still at large.

"It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."
— Mitt Romney, in an interview with the Associated Press, saying that the country's safety would not benefit significantly from catching Osama Bin Laden.

"I want justice...There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,'"
— George W. Bush, 9/17/01, UPI

"But bin Laden has been a top priority for us from the very beginning, he continues to be a top priority today. That hasn’t changed."
— Dick Cheney, 9/10/06, Meet the Press

“Nothing,”
— George W. Bush, responding to Cox News reporter Ken Herman's asking what Iraq had to do with 9/11, August 21, 2006

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A “War Czar” has been chosen

The White House today announced the appointment of Lt. General Douglas Lute to the position of Director of Operations for the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lt. General Lute was a featured speaker at a breakfast hosted by the Association of the United States Army Institute of Land Warfare breakfast earlier in the week. Some of the things he said make way too much sense for a Bush appointment.

You be the judge. (From the AUSA Website).

AUSA Hosts Several key Committee Staffers

AUSA hosted several key congressional staff members at the Institute of Land Warfare breakfast this week. Addressing the group was LTG Douglas Lute, the director for operations, J-3, for the Joint Staff.

LTG Lute described the U.S. military and the global war on terror by saying, “We have a hammer but the problem is not a series of nails.” He also said that al Qaeda fights by using loosely connected cells around the world and educating its followers on the internet to achieve its goal of reestablishing the Caliphate—a geographic area under Muslim rule and governed by Islamic law.
The enemy has found a safe haven on the internet, which, according to Lute, they use “better than we do.” Instructions can be found on the internet o n how to build bomb vests and how to cross Syria into Iraq. All these things can be found “on the internet today. It is the greatest safe haven they use against us.”

Some of the lessons learned, Lute explained are that joint warfighting is one of the keys to winning. Fighting with allies and local people and understanding their culture and language are powerful weapons. In addition, firepower and maneuver are not as important as timing and precision. “We have the world’s best Army,” Lute explained, “but we don’t have ‘find and fix.’” The enemy, he said, has excellent intelligence gathering while the United States relies on intelligence almost solely from prisoners.

The war on terror, Lute warned, could last fifteen to sixteen years. Nor would it be a decisive victory. “We’re not going to see the win in the newspapers, there will be no V-J (Japan) Day.” Instead, he explain ed, the ideology we fight can be suppressed but not eradicated. Also, the military alone cannot deliver victory and, in the end, countries around the world will not offer us gratitude, but respect.

I am not of the opinion that adding another level to the metric will change anything or salvage the unsalvageable, but I am at least not mortified by their choice, which is frankly far and away better than I expected. He sure is saying the right things.

For the record, I will never be a fan of Bob Gates, but I think I see his fingerprints on this choice, and if so, he’s making it hard to maintain the level of loathing for him that I have had for at least 20 freakin’ years.

Also, it does not escape my notice that this transpired while Dick "use the Military to open a soda" Cheney was out of the country.

[Cross-posted from Blue Girl, Red State]

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You knew this already…

Unless you have been in total isolation for the last five years, but now it’s official, because the Washington Post says so.

There was no connection between the regime of Saddam Hussein and the terrorist network al Qaeda. The report by Inspector General Thomas Gimble was released the same day that vice-president Dick Cheney appeared on the Rush Limbaugh’s right-wing talk radio show reiterating the repeatedly-debunked false claim of a connection yet again. He still insists that Saddam Hussein and Zarqawi were bedfellows, despite all evidence to the contrary.

"This is al-Qaeda operating in Iraq," Cheney told Limbaugh's listeners about Zarqawi, who he said had "led the charge for Iraq." Cheney cited the alleged history to illustrate his argument that withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq would "play right into the hands of al-Qaeda."

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), who requested the report's declassification, said in a written statement that the complete text demonstrates more fully why the inspector general concluded that a key Pentagon office -- run by then-Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith -- had inappropriately written intelligence assessments before the March 2003 invasion alleging connections between al-Qaeda and Iraq that the U.S. intelligence consensus disputed. (emphasis added)

In September of 2002, Feith’s office in the Pentagon produced a piece of fiction that asserted the relationship between al Qaeda and the Hussein regime was both “mature” and “symbiotic” distinguished by common interests and cooperation in multiple areas, including financing, logistics and training.

The briefing, a copy of which was declassified and released yesterday by Levin, goes so far as to state that "Fragmentary reporting points to possible Iraqi involvement not only in 9/11 but also in previous al Qaida attacks." That idea was dismissed in 2004 by a presidential commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, noting that "no credible evidence" existed to support it.

When a senior intelligence analyst working for the government's counterterrorism task force obtained an early account of the conclusions by Feith's office -- titled "Iraq and al-Qaida: Making the Case" -- the analyst prepared a detailed rebuttal calling it of "no intelligence value" and taking issue with 15 of 26 key conclusions, the report states. The analyst's rebuttal was shared with intelligence officers on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but evidently not with others.

Zarqawi was a terrorist, he did have a couple of loose associations with al Qaeda, and he did take refuge in Iraq; but Saddam Hussein pursued him and attempted to arrest him, finding him a threat to Iraqi interests. Zarqawi only completely allied himself with the terrorist network al Qaeda in early 2004, nine months after the invasion and overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

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Storm Front Building

From the AP:

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. An upstate congressman says "it's very appropriate" for Vice President Dick Cheney to resign now that his former chief of staff has been convicted of four felonies.

Maurice Hinchey -- an Ulster County Democrat -- reacted the day after Lewis Libby was found guilty of lying and obstructing a probe into the leak of a C-I-A operative's identity.

Hinchey told a Binghamton radio station (W-N-B-F) that Cheney has "caused an enormous amount of trouble" related to the public disclosure of the employee's identity.

Hinchey said Congress should conduct a "full and complete" investigation into Cheney's role in the C-I-A leak case.

Hinchey wants a special counsel appointed to pursue possible criminal charges against Cheney.

The congressman said such a counsel could continue the work started by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.

That noise you hear? It's the Bush administration bus, and it is careening down the street with a drunk at the wheel, bouncing off the curbs and losing wheels at a phenomenal clip.

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