All Hank, all the time.

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Actually, after the way the bush administration handled the runup to Iraq and has botched the occupation, it's not surprise the rest of the world (other than the UK) has no stomach for military action. This nonsense about "let the sanctions work first" or "let diplomacy work first" may be really just utter bullshit - but it's the only bullshit left.*

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Sexual Harassment Panda
Actually, after the way the bush administration handled the runup to Iraq and has botched the occupation, it's not surprise the rest of the world (other than the UK) has no stomach for military action. This nonsense about "let the sanctions work first" or "let diplomacy work first" may be really just utter bullshit - but it's the only bullshit left.*

I don't think it has to be that way if the other major countries, especially the others on the security council, actually pull their fucking weight and stop cutting under the table deals to counter balance the US.

[Hank Chinaski]

when you say

Originally posted by Sexual Harassment Panda
Actually, after the way the bush administration handled the runup to Iraq .........

then say

it's not surprise the rest of the world (other than the UK) has no stomach for military action. This nonsense about "let the sanctions work first" or "let diplomacy work first" may be really just utter bullshit - but it's the only bullshit left.*

It makes your perceived IQ drop lower

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
We should be looking away for the 3 hours it would take for Israel to take care of the problem.

I have my doubts -- didn't Iran learn a lesson from Israel's bombing of an Iraqi reactor many years ago, and spread its research efforts around?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
I have my doubts -- didn't Iran learn a lesson from Israel's bombing of an Iraqi reactor many years ago, and spread its research efforts around?

And deep underground.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Sexual Harassment Panda
Actually, after the way the bush administration handled the runup to Iraq and has botched the occupation, it's not surprise the rest of the world (other than the UK) has no stomach for military action. This nonsense about "let the sanctions work first" or "let diplomacy work first" may be really just utter bullshit - but it's the only bullshit left.*

No its not. The world can't attack Iran because doing so would galvanize its populus - which we've worked so hard for so long to massage into an adversarial position against the ruling mullahs - behind its religious leaders.

Iran will eventually turn into a modernized govt. The trick we're trying to work here is to allow it to do so while also preventing it from getting nukes. Cheney's "threats" are bluffs, and I'm not sure their good ones. The rest of the world is smartly assuring Iran that it need not worry about the crap Dick is saying to avoid Dick's statement providing a rallying cry for support for the religious leaders.

We're not going to kill a revolution over there. Why do you think we've stopped Israel from bombing Iran for the past two years? You think the Israelis don't already know eactly where each piece of Iran's nuke program is located? They could blow Iran's nuke program back to 1970, but we won't let them.

Are the US and Britain playing good cop, bad cop her? I don't know.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
Do they run DNA tests on anything but semen? I guess it depends on the allegation. Here, that's all I would expect, for the reasons you identify. If the defense was "I wasn't there, never saw her, have no idea who she is" that would be different, I guess.

Isn't there an allegation they used condoms? I don't get this case. Ostensibly, the raped woman would be able to ID the rapists, no? Is there any story about them wearing masks or other disguises during the act? The DA has some trump card here he's wisely not leaking.

Or they've fucked the case up and won't be able to get a prosecution and are desperately trying to put Humpty Dumpty back togeher again... My guess would be the former, but we are talking state officials here...

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
Why do you think we've stopped Israel from bombing Iran for the past two years? You think the Israelis don't already know eactly where each piece of Iran's nuke program is located? They could blow Iran's nuke program back to 1970, but we won't let them.

This places more faith in Israeli omnipotence than I have. I would be comforted to know that the Israelis can take out these sites, but why do you suspect that they can, (other than that they did this to Iraq over 20 years ago)?

[Gattigap]

Well, we know by now that they weren't really WMD in Iraq. Today, WaPo tells us that the Administration knew they weren't, even then:

• On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. and Kurdish troops had turned out to be long-sought mobile "biological laboratories." He declared, "We have found the weapons of mass destruction."
  
  The claim, repeated by top administration officials for months afterward, was hailed at the time as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed powerful evidence that it was not true....A secret fact-finding mission to Iraq — not made public until now — had already concluded that the trailers had nothing to do with biological weapons. Leaders of the Pentagon-sponsored mission transmitted their unanimous findings to Washington in a field report on May 27, 2003, two days before the president's statement.
  
  ***
  
  "There was no connection to anything biological," said one expert who studied the trailers. Another recalled an epithet that came to be associated with the trailers: "the biggest sand toilets in the world."

Frustrated? Well, some are. I laughed at Kevin Drum's response: "Is this ever going to end? How many more deliberate fabrications would we learn about if we could just turn the White House upside down and shake it?"

But I think the Drums of the world need to get a little perspective here. We are learning about confidentiality these days, people, and this DOD report was secret. Sure, it was distributed several days before Bush declared WMD victory, but how do we know that Bush had declassified the report so that he could read it and learn this little detail? Huh? That's right.

So remember, people. Perspective.

Gattigap

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by Gattigap
This places more faith in Israeli omnipotence than I have. I would be comforted to know that the Israelis can take out these sites, but why do you suspect that they can, (other than that they did this to Iraq over 20 years ago)?

Link to blog post in lieu of actual answer.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
Isn't there an allegation they used condoms? I don't get this case. Ostensibly, the raped woman would be able to ID the rapists, no? Is there any story about them wearing masks or other disguises during the act? The DA has some trump card here he's wisely not leaking.

Or they've fucked the case up and won't be able to get a prosecution and are desperately trying to put Humpty Dumpty back togeher again... My guess would be the former, but we are talking state officials here...

The DA is up for election in 3 weeks. He's being challenged. The district has fairly high percentage of minority voters. Why do you think he hasn't closed the case?

That said, closing the case and closing the investigtion of the lacrosse players could be separate. If she was in fact raped (my understanding is that there was evidence of a rape), then someone must have done it. And you at least have to investigate that.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Gattigap
Well, we know by now that they weren't really WMD in Iraq. Today, WaPo tells us that the Administration knew they weren't, even then:

• On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. and Kurdish troops had turned out to be long-sought mobile "biological laboratories." He declared, "We have found the weapons of mass destruction."
  
  The claim, repeated by top administration officials for months afterward, was hailed at the time as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed powerful evidence that it was not true....A secret fact-finding mission to Iraq — not made public until now — had already concluded that the trailers had nothing to do with biological weapons. Leaders of the Pentagon-sponsored mission transmitted their unanimous findings to Washington in a field report on May 27, 2003, two days before the president's statement.
  
  ***
  
  "There was no connection to anything biological," said one expert who studied the trailers. Another recalled an epithet that came to be associated with the trailers: "the biggest sand toilets in the world."

Frustrated? Well, some are. I laughed at Kevin Drum's response: "Is this ever going to end? How many more deliberate fabrications would we learn about if we could just turn the White House upside down and shake it?"

But I think the Drums of the world need to get a little perspective here. We are learning about confidentiality these days, people, and this DOD report was secret. Sure, it was distributed several days before Bush declared WMD victory, but how do we know that Bush had declassified the report so that he could read it and learn this little detail? Huh? That's right.

So remember, people. Perspective.

Gattigap

It's a pity, really. The Trailers of Mass Destruction was one of my favorite myths of the war.

How many Rs on this board cited the TMD as justifying the war?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
It's a pity, really. The Trailers of Mass Destruction was one of my favorite myths of the war.

How many Rs on this board cited the TMD as justifying the war?

The trailers were cited prewar as evidence of a WMD program- they were believed to be part of the WMD program and were offered as such. You now have a story saying "once we had possesion of the trailers it turns out they weren't."

Okay- but they did exist- they weren't imaginary. Our intelligence on their function was wrong.

As to bush mentioning them as proof 2 days after some report was written let me ask you, have you ever worked in government? do you have any idea was filing a report means in governement. what is the lag time between such a report and it being reviewed and funneled to the President?

When an associate does a memo for you, do you always review it that very day?

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
As to bush mentioning them as proof 2 days after some report was written let me ask you, have you ever worked in government? do you have any idea was filing a report means in governement. what is the lag time between such a report and it being reviewed and funneled to the President?

When an associate does a memo for you, do you always review it that very day?

Yes. WE have ample evidence that the government is ill-equipped to channel important information from field agents to top-level decision makers in a timely manner. 9/11 stands as a testament to this precise problem. It is quite clear that Clinton failed to fix this problem, and as a result we continue to have problems to this day.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Yes. WE have ample evidence that the government is ill-equipped to channel important information from field agents to top-level decision makers in a timely manner. 9/11 stands as a testament to this precise problem. It is quite clear that Clinton failed to fix this problem, and as a result we continue to have problems to this day.

Clinton's WAS the first administration to have access to internet communications.

And hopefully the next 9/11 intell is sent immediately, but a report on what the trailers were actually doing is routine isn't it? This original post made the point "Bush lied again!"

Prove it.

And another thing- we thought they were for WMDs- once we had them we see they weren't. Sadaam bluffed the world that he had WMDs- maybe the function of the trailers was to appear as what we thought they were. Has there ever been any other function given?