White House Mafia Blog

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.

Another Excellent Speech: National Security in the Age of Terrorism

Another excellent speech by Chas Freeman. See previous speech I posted here: Why Not Let Them Hate Us, as long as They Fear Us?

Remarks to the Congressional Research Service Seminar for New Members
Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.)

Chas W. Freeman Jr., a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, spoke to new members of Congress last week in Williamsburg. Freeman, who was ambassador during President George H.W. Bush's administration, is now president of the Middle East Policy Council.

January 6, 2007
Williamsburg, Virginia

This is not a happy time for national security policy.

Book Review: Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell

Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell
A few quotes from the review: The portrait of the Bush White House that emerges from this volume ratifies those drawn in many other recent books: it is an administration in which traditional policy-making channels are subverted, expert advice is frequently ignored, and substantive debate and discussion are avoided. “The president tended to pay most attention to the last person to whisper in his ear, Powell thought, and that person was usually Cheney.” Click through to read the entire review.

Article: Bush's 'Axis of Evil' Comes Back to Haunt

From the Tuesday, October 10, 2006, Washington Post:

Bush's 'Axis of Evil' Comes Back to Haunt United States
By Glenn Kessler and Peter Baker

Nearly five years after President Bush introduced the concept of an "axis of evil" comprising Iraq, Iran and North Korea, the administration has reached a crisis point with each nation: North Korea has claimed it conducted its first nuclear test, Iran refuses to halt its uranium-enrichment program, and Iraq appears to be tipping into a civil war 3 1/2 years after the U.S.-led invasion.

Article: The Price of Fantasy

From the July 21st NYT:

The Price of Fantasy
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Today we call them neoconservatives, but when the first George Bush was president, those who believed that America could remake the world to its liking with a series of splendid little wars — people like Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld — were known within the administration as “the crazies.” Grown-ups in both parties rejected their vision as a dangerous fantasy.

But in 2000 the Supreme Court delivered the White House to a man who, although he may be 60, doesn’t act like a grown-up. The second President Bush obviously confuses swagger with strength, and prefers tough talkers like the crazies to people who actually think things through. He got the chance to implement the crazies’ vision after 9/11, which created a climate in which few people in Congress or the news media dared to ask hard questions. And the result is the bloody mess we’re now in.