White House Mafia Blog

New York Times Book Review: The Fall of the House of Bush

From the December 7, 2007, New York Times:

Books of The Times
Under a Microscope, Bush and His Presidency
By MICHIKO KAKUTANI

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF BUSH (on Amazon.com)

The Untold Story of How a Band of True Believers Seized the Executive Branch, Started the Iraq War, and Still Imperils America’s Future

By Craig Unger

437 pages. Scribner. $27 (less on Amazon.com)
The story of how the Bush administration took the United States to war in Iraq is such a complicated tale with so many plots and subplots, so much misinformation and spin, so many missteps and outrageous misjudgments that reporters in countless newspaper and magazine articles, television documentaries and dozens of books have struggled to piece together the narrative. It is a continuing process, as more and more information comes to light and needs to be sifted and weighed and connected.

Article: From the Desk of Donald Rumsfeld . . . "Sacrifice = Victory"

From the Desk of Donald Rumsfeld . . .
In Sometimes-Brusque 'Snowflakes,' He Shared Worldview, Shaped Policy

By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 1, 2007; A01

In a series of internal musings and memos to his staff, then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld argued that Muslims avoid "physical labor" and wrote of the need to "keep elevating the threat," "link Iraq to Iran" and develop "bumper sticker statements" to rally public support for an increasingly unpopular war.

Article: Fearing Fear Itself

From the October 29, 2007, New York Times:

Fearing Fear Itself
By PAUL KRUGMAN

In America’s darkest hour, Franklin Delano Roosevelt urged the nation not to succumb to “nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror.” But that was then.

Today, many of the men who hope to be the next president — including all of the candidates with a significant chance of receiving the Republican nomination — have made unreasoning, unjustified terror the centerpiece of their campaigns.

Consider, for a moment, the implications of the fact that Rudy Giuliani is taking foreign policy advice from Norman Podhoretz, who wants us to start bombing Iran “as soon as it is logistically possible.”

Excellent Article: Pursue Them to The Grave

From Stephen Pizzo at NewsForReal.com:

October 29, 2007

Pursue Them
Pursue Them to The Grave

Those us of a certain age have been here and done this before. And many of us wonder how we could possibly allowed ourselves to be sucked into it again. And then it dawned on me this weekend -- the one critical thing we did not learn from our disastrous Vietnam experience. It's not what we did, but what we failed to do. And that one thing is the reason for nearly everything that's gone so terribly wrong in Iraq and our so-called "war on terror."

Got your pen? Because we can't afford to ever for this again. Okay, here it is:
http://www.newsforreal.com/

Article: What will World War IV cost?

What will World War IV cost?
How about $32,000 each, $5 gas and a military draft for your kids
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
Last Update: 7:19 PM ET Oct 29, 2007

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- First, let's clear the air: Someone please tell the White House we're already fighting World War III. Yes, they're great at picking buzzwords, but the truth is our global "war on terror" has engaged (or enraged) every nation on the planet.

Editorial: Another $200 Billion Down Bush's Bottomless Pit

From the October 25, 2007, New York Times:

Editorial
Another $200 Billion

President Bush waited until he had vetoed a relatively inexpensive children’s health insurance bill before asking for tens of billions of dollars more for his misadventure in Iraq. The cynicism of that maneuver is only slightly less shameful than the president’s distorted priorities. Despite a pretense of fiscal prudence, Mr. Bush keeps throwing money at his war, regardless of the cost in blood, treasure or children’s health care.

Article: Straitjacket Bush (Bushes Gone Wild)

Straitjacket Bush
The president's warmongering remarks on the Iranian threat suggest he is psychotic. Really.
Rosa Brooks

October 25, 2007

Forget impeachment.

Liberals, put it behind you. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney shouldn't be treated like criminals who deserve punishment. They should be treated like psychotics who need treatment.

Because they've clearly gone mad. Exhibit A: We're in the middle of a disastrous war in Iraq, the military and political situation in Afghanistan is steadily worsening, and the administration's interrogation and detention tactics have inflamed anti-Americanism and fueled extremist movements around the globe. Sane people, confronting such a situation, do their best to tamp down tensions, rebuild shattered alliances, find common ground with hostile parties and give our military a little breathing space. But crazy people? They look around and decide it's a great time to start another war.

Article: Madness as Method (Crazy Dick Goes to Iran)

From the October 24, 2007, New York Times:

Madness as Method
By MAUREEN DOWD

Dick Cheney’s craziness used to influence foreign policy.

Now it is foreign policy.

Article: Suicide Is Not Painless

From the October 21, 2007, New York Times:

Suicide Is Not Painless
By FRANK RICH

IT was one of those stories lost in the newspaper’s inside pages. Last week a man you’ve never heard of — Charles D. Riechers, 47, the second-highest-ranking procurement officer in the United States Air Force — killed himself by running his car’s engine in his suburban Virginia garage.

Mr. Riechers’s suicide occurred just two weeks after his appearance in a front-page exposé in The Washington Post. The Post reported that the Air Force had asked a defense contractor, Commonwealth Research Institute, to give him a job with no known duties while he waited for official clearance for his new Pentagon assignment. Mr. Riechers, a decorated Air Force officer earlier in his career, told The Post: “I really didn’t do anything for C.R.I. I got a paycheck from them.” The question, of course, was whether the contractor might expect favors in return once he arrived at the Pentagon last January.

Article: Jimmy Carter Calls Cheney A "Disaster" For U.S.

From the October 10, 2007, New York Times:

Jimmy Carter Calls Cheney A "Disaster" For U.S
By REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday denounced Vice President Dick Cheney as a "disaster" for the country [and world!] and a "militant" who has had an excessive influence in setting foreign policy.

Cheney has been on the wrong side of the debate on many issues, including an internal White House discussion over Syria in which the vice president is thought to be pushing a tough approach, Carter said.

"He's a militant who avoided any service of his own in the military and he has been most forceful in the last 10 years or more in fulfilling some of his more ancient commitments that the United States has a right to inject its power through military means in other parts of the world," Carter told the BBC World News America in an interview to air later on Wednesday.