Blogcritics Comments on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Comment by zingzing on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 03:02:52 EDT

yes, and the death wasn't murder til after they shot. they knew it, you know it.

Comment by Dave Nalle on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 02:52:13 EDT

You seem to be privy to some special info I'm not aware of. My recollection is that the fakeness of the documents wasn't established until after the invasion. Dave

Comment by Barbarabow on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:45:22 EDT

The real crime was using documents which were known to be fake to justify an immoral war. Everything else is a smokescreen to divert us from the administration's malfeasance.

Comment by Methuselah on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 15:04:38 EDT

Nalle denies the undeniable, then squirms and issues another unproven claim as his smokescreen.

Comment by Dave Nalle on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 13:44:20 EDT

so armitage was never part of the administration? and why would he leak such information? Armitage was a Bush appointee, but as I understand it he's one of the Neocons who turned against the administration for not following through on their ideas in Iraq and became openly hostile and critical of administration policy, rather like Richard Perle. And it's pretty clear that the leak was accidental. He was asked a question and answered it without considering how easily his answer could be used to out Plame. and isn't the whole point that while plame or wilson or whatever wasn't undercover at the time (which is why armitage said anything anyway, not knowing she was covert in any way), wouldn't it put all of plame's older, still covert associates in harm's way? have you forgotten that? Well sure, that's the criticism of the whole leak problem. If Plame was truly covert then the cover she was using would be no protection to others who were also using it. However, that particular front company was already widely known to be a CIA front, and despite some vague claims that others were harmed I've never seen any evidence of who they were or how they were endangered. so, even if it was all some big foul-up, and it had nothing to do with wilson's husband making a fool of bush, it was still monumentally stupid, and shows just how disorganized and incompetent this administration is at all levels. Not going to disagree with you there. The most monumentally stupid part is that they sent Libby out to take a fall for something they didn't even do but clearly felt guilty about anyway. Dave

Comment by moonraven on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 13:16:23 EDT

As ALWAYS, Dave Nalle--when pressed to cite a SOURCE (rule number 1 in writing anything)--cites a source which DIRECTLY contradicts what he wrote. Dave ALWAYS hopes nobody will check. [Edited]

Comment by zingzing on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 12:54:17 EDT

so armitage was never part of the administration? and why would he leak such information? and isn't the whole point that while plame or wilson or whatever wasn't undercover at the time (which is why armitage said anything anyway, not knowing she was covert in any way), wouldn't it put all of plame's older, still covert associates in harm's way? have you forgotten that? so, even if it was all some big foul-up, and it had nothing to do with wilson's husband making a fool of bush, it was still monumentally stupid, and shows just how disorganized and incompetent this administration is at all levels.

Comment by Dave Nalle on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 12:40:14 EDT

Scooter isn't innocent. He's a fool and he's guilty of engaging in obstruction of justice and perjury. He's innocent of the leak. That's been definitively established. Fitzgerald admits it and everyone else pretty much agrees. The problem for the left here, which a lot of you can't get your heads around, is that the person who actually leaked the Plame identity - Richard Armitage - was an outspoken Bush/Cheney/Rove opponent, so there's just no way to use all of this against the administration. Dave

Comment by zingzing on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 12:35:15 EDT

ok, so if plame wasn't undercover, what's this whole trial about? why would anyone care? so are you saying someone just wanted to railroad the administration? and that they got some guy nobody had ever heard of before this and declined to get dick cheney? so scooter is totally innocent? ...and bush won't pardon him, why? is politics more important than an innocent man sitting behind bars, even for a couple of days? if my party allowed me to rot behind bars, i'd have some things to say.

Comment by Dave Nalle on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 09:10:42 EDT

It's astonishing that anyone could take this citation seriously Indeed, why would we take ANYTHING Joe Wilson says seriously, since he's a proven liar. I do love the way you focus only on the Washington Times article and completely ignore the blatant statement by Joe Wilson that his wife was not covert. You're also making the argument that because her identity wasn't publicized in the media that meant it hadn't been exposed. But that's not the criteria on which her covert status would ever have been assessed. If Novak knew that Plames cover was blown, why didn't Plame? Why did she continue to collect spy info? You can collect 'spy info' as an analyst while not being in cover. She was not being sent on any kind of covert operations and hadn't been for some while before the leak. Finally, you have issues with Gertz's use of anonymous sources. Take that up with him. Your question to me was where people got the idea that Plame was not covert and you wanted me to provide sources which supported that claim. I did, even if you choose not to like them. You can not believe my posts all you want. You clearly choose to believe only what suits your partisan inclinations. Dave

Comment by troll on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 08:44:59 EDT

what do you expect from a modern day partisan sophist - ? (and it is entertaining in a crossword puzzle kind of way to chase down his distortion du jour - well done Methuselah)

Comment by Methuselah on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 05:12:54 EDT

It's astonishing that anyone could take this citation seriously, let alone conclude "...Plame's identity had been made public on two prior occasions" as Nalle claims. The article from the Washington Times, claims: The identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame was compromised twice before her name appeared in a news column that triggered a federal illegal-disclosure investigation, U.S. officials say. Mrs. Plame's identity as an undercover CIA officer was first disclosed to Russia in the mid-1990s by a Moscow spy, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Disclosed not publicly, but within the Russian spy network. As disclosed by an anonymous source. Apparently, Nalle takes this anonymous disclosure by an administration person and escalates it into public knowledge. We have no way to know if this was invented by Gertz, nor if it was dissembling by a government partisan. In other words, the citation tells us nothing. Again, from the Washington Times article: In a second compromise, officials said a more recent inadvertent disclosure resulted in references to Mrs. Plame in confidential documents sent by the CIA to the U.S. Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy in Havana. The documents were supposed to be sealed from the Cuban government, but intelligence officials said the Cubans read the classified material and learned the secrets contained in them, the officials said. Now the Gertz article drops the 'anonymous' qualifier making one wonder if we are still quoting an anonymous source or if this is a source one could actually verify, if Gertz had actually revealed the name, or if he knows the names of the sources. Does gertz have names for these, perhaps different, officials? Or are they also 'anonymous'? Or has gertz dropped the 'anonymous' qualifier to enhance their credibility? As an aside one might well wonder if the CIA informed Plame that her cover was blown or if they let her go about the business of recruiting agents and contacts and gathering info unaware that she was exposed and thus her sources were also exposed. The article continues: ... Mrs. Plame's identity first was revealed publicly by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak in a July 14, 2003, column about Mr. Wilson's trip to Niger to investigate reports that Iraq was trying to buy uranium ore for a nuclear-arms program. Doesn't this directly contradict Nalles contention that Plames identity was publicly known before Novak revealed it? The Justice Department then began an investigation of the disclosure under the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which makes it a crime to knowingly disclose the name of a covert agent. However, officials said the disclosure that Mrs. Plame's cover was blown before the news column undermines the prosecution of the government official who might have revealed the name, officials said. A weak assertion by our "officials" since the disclosure was evidently still not public so Novak had no way to think that a covert agents cover was blown, unless someone so misrepresented it to him. If Novak knew that Plames cover was blown, why didn't Plame? Why did she continue to collect spy info? Did the CIA withold that from Plame and reveal it to Novak? Is the answer here: "The law says that to be covered by the act the intelligence community has to take steps to affirmatively protect someone's cover," one official said. "In this case, the CIA failed to do that." This seems to put the final nail in the coffin of Nalles argument: A second official, however, said the compromises before the news column were not publicized and thus should not affect the investigation of the Plame matter. This confirms what I had concluded previously about Nalles citations: they have doubtful provenance and he draws unwarranted conclusions. He is simply unreliable. I don't believe a word he posts.

Comment by Dave Nalle on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 02:06:28 EDT

Meth, in an interview on CNN in 2005 her husband said "My wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity." Research by Bill Gertz determined that Plame's identity had been made public on two prior occasions. The details are in his article here. Dave

Comment by Methuselah on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 00:26:11 EDT

Nalle says: "The claims [of Plames overt status] have been substantiated over and over by people on both sides of the political aisle." That's odd, because I've not seen it "substantiated" by anyone on either side of the political aisle. Could you please share your sources with us? Can you cite an article (news or even gossip) before Novak exposed her, where Plame was acknowledged as overt?

Comment by Methuselah on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 14:38:38 EDT

Nalle:"I concluded that the Walter Reed story was already a week old when I wrote this article and wasn't hot, current and new. Plus it had already been extensively coverfed here on BC," Really? So has the problem been solved? Was it restricted to just one facility, Walter Reed? Or was it the tip of an iceberg. You might be interested in this article at salon.com: The Army is ordering injured troops to go to Iraq I was interested if BC had commented on this problem, so I scanned the opening page for BC and for BC Politics for words like "walter', "reed", "veteran", "medic", etc., and found nothing. Have all discussions of the various abuses of veterans and soldiers by this administration been quashed for some reason?

Comment by moonraven on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 14:22:27 EDT

Let's hope nobody shoots anybody. Nalle, this piece was a new low [Personal attack deleted].

Comment by Dave Nalle on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:49:26 EDT

Let me add that I'm not going to write one of these unless there's some news worth reporting. For example, I looked at today's news on several sources and the most exciting stories are the French election and Chuck Schumer bitching about Attorney General Gonzales. Does anyone give a rat's ass? I know I don't. Some partisan BC writer will cover the Gonzales thing more thoroughly and inflammatorily than I will, and no one cares about the French election, not even the French. So what I'm going to do is keep an eye on these stories and a couple of others and see if they develop into something worth covering. If Villepin shoots Sarkozy, then I've got something to write about. Dave

Comment by Dave Nalle on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:10:36 EDT

So Nalle concluded that Texas toll roads are more important than the wounded veterans and soldiers being neglected and abused throughout the administration? No, Meth. I concluded that the Walter Reed story was already a week old when I wrote this article and wasn't hot, current and new. Plus it had already been extensively coverfed here on BC, which these stories had not been. Dave

Comment by MCH on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 10:46:11 EDT

"So Nalle concluded that Texas toll roads are more important than the wounded veterans and soldiers being neglected and abused throughout the administration?" Well of course. What else would you expect from the same guy who compares traffic fatalities to combat casualities?

Comment by Nancy on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 10:43:13 EDT

Rove's "brilliance" & genius are only for evil. That hardly makes him admirable. It sure as hell doesn't make his existance tolerable.

Comment by Nancy on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 10:41:15 EDT

MR - like you, I don't need to have met someone to have an opinion of them. Reported deeds sometimes speak louder than words. Hence my low opinion of Bush, Cheney, & Rove, Capt. Clambake, who IMO are lower than maggots' private parts.

Comment by Methuselah on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 10:13:38 EDT

Nalle says: "So, this is a new series designed to introduce BC Politics readers to the main news stories of the day in a concise form. There's no commentary in the article, just straight news. I'm saving my opinions for the comments." So Nalle concluded that Texas toll roads are more important than the wounded veterans and soldiers being neglected and abused throughout the administration?

Comment by Dave Nalle on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:57:40 EST

"Bush in S. America" Maybe I am wrong, but S. usually refers to SOUTH, not LATIN America. At the time the article was written Bush was in South America and all coutnries referred to in that part of the article are in South America. Do you have to take lessons to be so pigheadedly ignorant? My Portugese, by the way, is almost as good as my Spanish--let's say 95% on a scale of 1 to 100%. By the way, your quote from Lula was not in Portugese, but in English--just in case you think you got by with something. Indeed it was. On an English language website II have the courtesy to provide quotes in the language of the readers. To do otherwise would be both rude and useless. Oh, and Dave, stop trying to shit us that YOU have inside information on ANYTHING. Good lord, when did I claim any inside knowledge here? This is just a simple news digest article. You don't understand either language, so can hardly be an expert on Latin America, South America, Central America--or the part of North America in which I live, Mexico. One doesn't have to be an 'expert' to report the news, one just has to have good sources. For Dave, who can't read any language but English Actually, I also read Russian, French and German. Dave

Comment by moonraven on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 17:48:04 EST

Ch�vez: "si usted (Bush) de verdad quiere que haya justicia social en el mundo, no lo diga, h�galo y ordene la salida de las tropas de Irak"

Comment by moonraven on Newsbriefs: Iraq Deadline, Bush in S. America, Libby Aftermath, Texas Toll Moratorium

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 17:45:53 EST

For Dave, who can't read any language but English--and then only barely: "From DPA Sao Paulo - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called upon his US counterpart George W Bush on Friday in Sao Paulo to cooperate in Latin America's social development while respecting the 'political decisions of each state.' Without directly mentioning Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Lula said relations between Brazil and the US will be stronger insofar as they 'respect each other, each respects the sovereign political decisions of each state and they can build projects that may help third countries to get out of poverty.' The meeting took place amidst street protests against Bush that brought demonstrators within 20 metres of the US delegation - a surge that police and military had to hustle to keep at bay. At the top of the Bush-Lula meeting is an agreement to cooperate on production and marketing of the alternative fuel ethanol among the world's two top producers. In a speech following a meeting with Bush, Lula stressed the US president arrived in South America at 'an exceptional time' for the region, with past dictatorships 'a painful memory.' 'All governments result from free elections with broad popular participation, all are committed to programmes to put an end to social injustice,' the leftist Lula said. The Brazilian president further defended the integration of South American countries, and stressed that that process 'is taking place among independent nations.' Several analysts interpreted Lula's comments as an answer to Bush's alleged wish to enlist Brazil's help to stem Chavez's growing political influence in Latin America." Sounds a little different from asskissing to me.