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Current Topic: Current Events

The White House Papers
Topic: Current Events 9:03 am EDT, Jun 24, 2004

If the White House thought the documents it doled out this week would put to rest the concern that the brutal behavior of American soldiers in Iraqi prisons had been sanctioned from above, it was wrong.

The document dump only reaffirms the need for a more robust Congressional response to this mess.

"More, please."

The White House Papers


Capitol Plane Scare Blamed On Lack of Communication
Topic: Current Events 10:41 pm EDT, Jun 21, 2004

Authorities evacuated the U.S. Capitol on June 9 because of a communication failure between Federal Aviation Administration flight controllers and Washington air defense officials tracking a plane carrying Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) to Ronald Reagan's funeral.

Officials from the Defense and Homeland Security departments ordered two F-15 fighter jets and a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter to intercept Fletcher's aircraft at 4:25 p.m. without knowing that FAA controllers had been in radio contact with the plane for at least 40 minutes and had determined it was not hostile.

The Kentucky plane was authorized to enter restricted Washington airspace and its pilot properly telephoned air defense controllers. But the information was not given to the Herndon defense center.

Capitol Plane Scare Blamed On Lack of Communication


Kentucky governor's plane causes a scare
Topic: Current Events 10:36 pm EDT, Jun 21, 2004

The US Capitol was briefly evacuated after a communication problem involving a plane carrying Kentucky's governor to Washington.

The governor's state police twin turboprop was authorized to enter the large restricted air space over Washington, but authorities didn't immediately know that because the plane's transponder -- used to communicate with air traffic controllers -- wasn't working or its signal was breaking up.

I hadn't heard about this story as it happened. ABC's Brian Ross mentioned it on Charlie Rose Friday. Ross claimed that air controllers were "within 60 seconds" of having shot down the plane before the right information ("it's the governor of Kentucky!") got to the right people (man on button).

Kentucky governor's plane causes a scare


George Tenet Resigns
Topic: Current Events 8:49 am EDT, Jun  4, 2004

It either bungled or hyped its analysis of Iraq to spin fanciful threats from chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, threats that President Bush used to justify the invasion.

Clinton's national security advisor, Anthony Lake, wrote a book on the subject.

It utterly missed the dismal state Iraq was in and the strength of the insurgency that Americans would face after the fall of Baghdad.

This is true, at least in terms of what we see in the public record, but these failures are complex, and many factors are involved. Tenet was not responsible for the post-Cold War HUMINT problems; our assets were gone before he took the top post. (He may have been on the Hill at the time.)

While Bill Clinton was president, Mr. Tenet's team was stunned when India, a close ally, conducted nuclear tests. American intelligence did spot Pakistan's undisguised preparations for testing its own bomb.

This is a fair criticism.

Now we know that a Pakistani rocket scientist had been peddling nuclear technology all over the world for years, possibly with government sanction, without the CIA noticing.

That seems like an unfair characterization. Just because they didn't ring up the NYT doesn't mean they didn't "notice." Failure to obtain advance knowledge of the tests does not directly translate into the kind of "blindness" about programs and technologies suggested here.

... "personal reasons" ... It's easy to sympathize ... Whether the resignation was voluntary or forced, the timing was terrible.

This is, at least, slightly hypocritical. If you honestly sympathize with him, let him go. Better for him to depart now, intact, and be able to help with the reforms next year, than to wear him down to nothing just to have a convenient punching bag.

Instead of engaging in a partisan confirmation brawl, the White House and Congress could spend the summer on these issues, and present the winner of the election with the chance to name an intelligence director who has the personal stature, political mandate and, ideally, added authority to institute some real reform.

Agreed. Most of the Congressional commentary I heard yesterday was on the mark. Very few were taking cheap shots -- but there were definitely a few in that mode -- and many appeared ready to put some serious reform ideas into play.

George Tenet Resigns


In Their 20's, Thinking About War
Topic: Current Events 10:01 am EDT, May 30, 2004

I have been troubled for some time now by the notion of college students not engaged in conversations beyond themselves, in what should have been their own expression of empowerment on campus, and their willingness to accept the status quo without questioning it. I hope that the debacle in Iraq will change all that.

It's sad to consider that after four years of the best education money can buy, these students have only over the last year "been forced to relearn the lessons" of their parents' generation. One would hope that the well educated wouldn't need to witness firsthand a repetition of mistakes of the past to get the point.

Do you understand the difference between "Is it worth buying?" and "Can it be sold?"

In Their 20's, Thinking About War


Five Not-So-Easy Pieces
Topic: Current Events 4:31 pm EDT, May 29, 2004

Each of Bush's expectations represents a triumph of hope over evidence, not least because his speech did nothing whatever to diminish the continuing mismatch between his expansive political objectives and the inadequate means with which he has sought to achieve them.

Overall, the speech reflected a plan at war with itself as much as with the enemy.

In short, with Bush, it requires ignoring the prevailing evidence.

Rumsfeld first characterized armed Iraqi resistance as typical postwar "untidiness." The untidiness in question has steadily expanded in scale, sophistication and intensity -- yet seems to have made little impression on the administration.

Five Not-So-Easy Pieces


Overdoing Chalabi
Topic: Current Events 1:54 pm EDT, May 29, 2004

The media, having ignored Chalabi's Iranian connections for so long, went to the other extreme -- substantially overstating its significance.

The United States had a known policy of using fault lines among potential enemies to split them apart, allying with the weaker against the stronger.

Following US grand strategy, logic held that the solution to the problem was entering into an alliance of sorts with the Shia.

Overdoing Chalabi


A Hollow Sovereignty for Iraq
Topic: Current Events 1:51 pm EDT, May 29, 2004

The climb-down in Najaf seems like a repeat of the cynical deal American commanders cut four weeks ago with Sunni rebels in Falluja, effectively turning the city over to former Baathist commanders acceptable to the insurgents.

If America's military role is now reduced to partnering with the best-armed insurgents, it is doing nothing to make Iraq more governable by its future elected leaders.

The New York Times oversimplifies a bit, but this is consistent with the analysis of Stratfor.

A Hollow Sovereignty for Iraq


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