The CIA Is In Afghanistan

Here we go with another leak seemingly intended to undermine the notion that the US can succeed in Afghanistan:

KABUL, Afghanistan — Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years, according to current and former American officials.

The agency pays Mr. Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the C.I.A.’s direction in and around the southern city of Kandahar, Mr. Karzai’s home.

The financial ties and close working relationship between the intelligence agency and Mr. Karzai raise significant questions about America’s war strategy, which is currently under review at the White House.

The ties to Mr. Karzai have created deep divisions within the Obama administration. The critics say the ties complicate America’s increasingly tense relationship with President Hamid Karzai, who has struggled to build sustained popularity among Afghans and has long been portrayed by the Taliban as an American puppet. The C.I.A.’s practices also suggest that the United States is not doing everything in its power to stamp out the lucrative Afghan drug trade, a major source of revenue for the Taliban.

More broadly, some American officials argue that the reliance on Ahmed Wali Karzai, the most powerful figure in a large area of southern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgency is strongest, undermines the American push to develop an effective central government that can maintain law and order and eventually allow the United States to withdraw.

“If we are going to conduct a population-centric strategy in Afghanistan, and we are perceived as backing thugs, then we are just undermining ourselves,” said Maj. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, the senior American military intelligence official in Afghanistan.

The sources are described as "current and former American officials", which is not particularly helpful.  Is this an odd alliance of frustrated Bushmen and doves from Team Obama?  I am going to imagine it is people worried about our current direction in Afghanistan, regardless of partisanship [OK, its the US military versus the CIA.  Groan.].

Now, I am all in favor of an informed electorate, and I admire the preservation of the diplomatic niceties.  However, I wish Obama could deliver the bad news about Afghanistan a bit more directly.  If different factions are jockeying for favor in the press it makes the Administration look divided and confused.

SPIN THIS:  We get a preview of the new strategy:

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s advisers are focusing on a strategy for Afghanistan aimed at protecting about 10 top population centers, administration officials said Tuesday, describing an approach that would stop short of an all-out assault on the Taliban while still seeking to nurture long-term stability.

Mr. Obama has yet to make a decision and has other options available to him, but as officials described it, the debate is no longer over whether to send more troops, but how many more will be needed. The question of how much of the country should fall under the direct protection of American and NATO forces will be central to deciding how many troops will be sent.

At the moment, the administration is looking at protecting Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kunduz, Herat, Jalalabad and a few other village clusters, officials said. The first of any new troops sent to Afghanistan would be assigned to Kandahar, the Taliban’s spiritual capital, seen as a center of gravity in pushing back insurgent advances.

Hmm.  Is this a retreat from the rest of Afghanistan?  Hell, no, it's an advance from Kabul!

THE PROBLEM IS: Tom Friedman thinks Afghanistan is hopeless and reiterates his point that success in Iraq is more helpful to US interests:

The U.S. military has given its assessment. It said that stabilizing Afghanistan and removing it as a threat requires rebuilding that whole country. Unfortunately, that is a 20-year project at best, and we can’t afford it. So our political leadership needs to insist on a strategy that will get the most security for less money and less presence. We simply don’t have the surplus we had when we started the war on terrorism after 9/11 — and we desperately need nation-building at home. We have to be smarter. Let’s finish Iraq, because a decent outcome there really could positively impact the whole Arab-Muslim world, and limit our exposure elsewhere. Iraq matters.

Yes, shrinking down in Afghanistan will create new threats, but expanding there will, too. I’d rather deal with the new threats with a stronger America.

That is all well and good but it requires people to look resolutely forward rather than backward.  Success in Iraq and a transformation of the Middle East will be seen by some as a vindication of George Bush, despite his dismal execution of the war from 2002 to 2006.  Success in Afghanistan will vindicate Obama's long time insistence, or at least pretense, that Afghanistan was the Good War.

Tricky.  For Obama to adopt a strategy that might vindicate Bush and undercut his own long-time posturing on Afghanistan will require a combination of spin and maturity that I don't think is available in Washington.  Not that I think Washington lacks for spin.

Comments

[osıɔɹɐu]

I wouldn't doubt that this may be true,
didn't they have Feys (I mean Rifaat Assad
on retainer), but that this comes from Risen, (whose credibility is suspect)Mazzetti, (who was upset we didn't tip the press off to the exact date of Second Fallujah) and Filkins, Herald import,
husband of Communistand Islamist friendly Ana Menendez, back from her Fulbright in Cairo, makes me suspect this isn't entirely
so. Plus this really does sound like Ngo Diem, 1963

[Soylent Red]

CIA in AFG? Better not let them touch anything or Eric Holder will flip out.

[Cecil Turner]

Is this a retreat from the rest of Afghanistan? Hell, no, it's an advance from Kabul!

Chesty Puller (or his ghost, whatever) is not amused.

[osıɔɹɐu]

And Eshoo and Schackowski, just double down on the stupid, taking Pelosi, past the
"Palomino" point, in the LUN

[They like Democracy, too, and their chiefs.]

Look, natives wanted the Taliban out, which is why we could throw them out so easily in 2001. Is it so hard to build on that?
=================================

[Extraneus]

Funny how we're seeing these stories lately, what with that troubling WaPo resignation profile yesterday and all.

[osıɔɹɐu]

And now the UN's special repporteur, just chimes in on the stupid, any similarity between them and AQ's mouthpiece is totally coincidental, in the LUN

[Captain Hate]

narciso, that LUN for the Palomino point links to a reported misquote about Scalia. Not that I didn't find it interesting....

[osıɔɹɐu]

Sorry about that, maybe this will help,

[bolitha]

Well, I don't think Obama has any problem w/the opium trade, just the CIA!

[Jack is Back!]

So, does this mean that Abullah-squared is the official candidate of the Obama administration?

Or, does it mean that, this being a Chicago Way administration, someone in the WH is not getting their cut of Walid's "stash"?

[Islam is opposed to intoxicants.]

That's another thing I don't understand. My belief was that the Taliban opposed poppy cultivation; it was one of the reasons that the natives didn't like them. Now they are being portrayed as using opium profits to fund their war.

I'm not sure that is so.
=============

[osıɔɹɐu]

Now Major Major, is actually in favor of the
MacCrystal plan, according to his statements

[BR]

Hmmm, I like it, looks like a wonderful op from within the CIA (using the idiot MSM): CIA patriots exposing the Plame/VIPs gang before we get another Vietnam/CIA/drug mess. Now there should be strong followup.

[Porchlight]

OT,

Ras at -11. With the exception of Friday 10/23 when he was at -9, he's been in negative double digits for 13 straight days.

[osıɔɹɐu]

Still grading on a curve, I think, but it illustrates the reality that the media doesn't acknowledge

[PD]

Obama as President continues to be fully as effective on Afghanistan as he was when chairing the Senate Afghanistan subcommittee.

[Shakes]

What happened to the day when it was wrong to "out" a CIA operative. They even gave the address and the house of the operation?

I bet this ends well!

[osıɔɹɐu]

It's the "Naked Gun" Kandahar edition, hilarity ensues

[osıɔɹɐu]

Speaking of 18 wheel rig screwups, I give you the NY 23 selection, in the LUN

[laura]

does anybody have a link to Michael Hoh's actual letter of resignation? All I can find are discussions.

[Original MikeS]

I'm concerned that the President may be choosing a compromise between Gen. McChrystal's plan and Gen. Biden's (snark) plan for Afghanistan.

It's not that I don't think Rahm Emmanuel, Val Jarret, and Dave Axelrod are competent military strategist... No, wait a minute. That is it!

[osıɔɹɐu]

"Splunge and I'm not being indecisive" facepalms all around, with the Picard picture

[Charlie (Colorado)]

The CIA Is In Afghanistan

Well, duh.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

OT but fun: A recent veto letter from Arnold.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

OT and less fun, but interesting: it turns out that Sarah Palin was in danger of having her legal defense fund frozen by another one of the bogus ethics complaints:

One of the last of the complaints filed against Palin charges that the legal defense fund which was set up to pay Palin's legal bills is itself not legal under Alaska law. That complaint was filed with the knowledge that the fund would be frozen while it was being investigated, therefore forcing her to pay her lawyers out of her own pocket. The aim of her political opponents has always been to destroy Sarah Palin any way they can. So they staged an all-out assault not only on her character and her family, but on her personal finances as well.

[Dan L]

I was thinking that it might be a leak from counter-narcotics officials angry that they haven't been able to go after someone they see as intimately involved in the drug trade. So much of the article is about drugs that clearly the sources are seriously peeved about it. I can't see otherwise what their agenda might be, unless they're trying to torpedo Karzai's re-election bid. I don't see this as being motivated by a desire to influence the troops decision, except perhaps tangentially. These officials' beef doesn't seem to have much to do with whether Afghanistan needs more troops or not. In any case, however, this leak is simply outrageous in its compromising of American counter-terrorism operations there. If they find them, they should be fired and indicted.

[osıɔɹɐu]

That would seem plausible as counter
narcotics officers, even served as interrogators notably against KSM, but the fact that there are no names attached to this, makes one doubt if it happened at all

[RichatUF]

laura-

text of Hoh's resignation.

Hummm...Obama not liking Karzi, Hoh's showy resignation (see which DC think tank he ends up at), now Karzi's brother accused of narco trafficking. Kerry went out of his way to protect Central America for communism by casting all the anti-communist forces as narco-traders, wonder if something similiar is taking place. The Saudi's had some success in casting the Taliban as "anti-drug".

I'm not sure that Obama's "split the difference" strategy will either work or make anyone happy. And unlike Basra, where the British used a similiar strategy (and isn't that strategy similiar to how the Russians got bogged down-they retreated to the cities and since air was the only way to get around their helicopters and aircraft became easy targets, then the Afghan insurgency was able to get into the cities and with rifles pick off mid-ranking officers?), there won't be a capable force to put down the insurgency which will grow up around the cities.

[Matty_J]

Major major @10:19....

Yes, the Taliban are big players in the opium trade. When they were in power, they had a role, but on a one or two person basis, at risk of their lives if caught. Now, they need the money, don't have any real morals, and can cow, intimidate and murder their growers at will, so

It's a Taliban win/win/win situation.

yes, they are indeed opium growers, refiners, shippers and users.....

[osıɔɹɐu]

Basra was a failure, they made a deal with the Mehdi army, which held till 2008, when
they were actually flushed out. THat is the unspoken theme on the BBC's take on that
enterprise, "Occupation"

[Matty_J]

Sorry, I meant "Islam is opposed to intoxicants" at 10;19....

[Matty_J]

Another point....

This proposed "strongpoint" strategy was proven not work in Iraq, has never worked anywhere, will not work in Afghanistan, and whoever wrote that it is what the Sov's tried is exactly on the money.

Time for Obama et. al. to man up, produce a a pair and either go for victory or get out and take the hits that will come.

[Sue]

Rush is playing Reagan speeches. Dear Lord, I miss that man.

[Topsecretk9]

So much of the article is about drugs that clearly the sources are seriously peeved about it. I can't see otherwise what their agenda might be, unless they're trying to torpedo Karzai's re-election bid. I don't see this as being motivated by a desire to influence the troops decision, except perhaps tangentially.

I was thinking the leak was straight from WH, Rham and Axelrod...they pit all their indecision eggs in the re-election basket because O is a coward.

[osıɔɹɐu]

The Taliban is ISI's puppet, so were the more militant members of the Mujahadeen,
anybody remember BCCI, so lets not have
any illusions, shall we.

[laura]

Thanks Rich,
I heard last night that Holbrooke had offered him a spot. You're right about the timing, seems awfully convenient.
Hoh's comments about Vietnam seem to be a dead giveaway.

[Sue]

During his first nine months in office, President Obama has quietly rewarded scores of top Democratic donors with VIP access to the White House, private briefings with administration advisers and invitations to important speeches and town-hall meetings.

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/>Riehlworld

I still wonder who was on that airplane that flew over NYC.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Last year wasn't Friedman in the "Afghanistan is the right war" contingent?

[Terry Gain]

Barack Obama campaigned to be POTUS for about 2 years. He was elected a year ago. He’s had plenty of time to figure out Afghanistan. This isn’t the first time he’s been overwhelmed and not able to make a decision.

Perhaps he should do what’s worked for him before: gather all his notes and tapes together and deliver them to Bill Ayers

[glasater]

Helicopter rumors refuse to die

"I saw the helicopters with my own eyes," said Sayed Rafiq from Baghlan-e-Markazi. "They landed near the foothills and offloaded dozens of Taliban with turbans, and wrapped in patus [a blanket-type shawl]."

Am calling on Narciso to straighten this one out.

[clarice]

Heh, Terry!

[Jack is Back!]

Glasater,

Some times our SFO's dress local and do their extreme measures as one of the taliban bad boyz. Delta is especially good at blending in until they have to eat the sheep eyes.

[theotherplacematters]

That's funny, I thought Iraq doesn't matter, and Afghanistan does. At least that's what Friedman told me when Bush was focusing on Iraq.

[Jane]

Barack Obama campaigned to be POTUS for about 2 years. He was elected a year ago. He’s had plenty of time to figure out Afghanistan.

Not only that but wasn't he also the chairman of the committee?

It's clear to me that the Presidebt doesn't know how to do anything. He also doesn't know anything about anything. And he does everything for political reasons, not for success or America's interest.

There is no other explanation that fits.

[Neo]

So where is Obama et al when we have a coup in slow motion ?

If Honduras manages to preserve its democracy despite U.S. pressure to abandon it, the tiny Central American country may wind up thanking Nicaragua's Danny Ortega, of all people.

Last week, President Ortega inadvertently provided the best defense yet of the Honduran decision this summer to remove Manuel Zelaya from the presidency. Nicaragua has a one-term limit for presidents, and Mr. Ortega's term expires in 2011. However, the Nicaraguan doesn't want to leave, and so he asked the Sandinista-controlled Supreme Court to overturn the constitutional ban on his re-election.

Last week the court's constitutional panel obliged him. The Nicaraguan press reported that the vote was held before three opposition judges could reach the chamber in time for the session. Three alternative judges, all Sandinistas, took their place and the court gave Mr. Ortega the green light. Mr. Ortega has decreed that the ruling cannot be appealed.

[glasater]

.....until they have to eat the sheep eyes

My dear friend whose in-laws are still in Iran said the family business was dealing in sheep heads.
Sheep cheeks are a delicacy:-)

[Sue]

For the first time ever, I am going to have to disagree with Cheney. He has endorsed Hutchison as governor of Texas. I. Can't. Stand. Her. Sorry, dibs # 1, can't go along with you on this one.

[fdcol63]

I wish Vince Flynn would create a new character like Mitch Rapp, but who goes after scum-sucking liberal politicians and bureaucrats who give aid and comfort to our enemies, work tirelessly to expand government control over us, who want to redistribute our hard-earned money to illegal aliens and lazy welfare cheats, and who want to cede American sovereignty to the UN or some other despotic world government.

[Orion]

If different factions are jockeying for favor in the press it makes the Administration look divided and confused.

Would it be too obvious to note that the Obama Administration really is divided and confused? There's probably nothing more Obama wants than to cut and run but it would make him look weak and subject to backlash after the inevitable Taliban resurgence. He doesn't know what to do and various factions have been jockeying for position with him through selective leaks.

My guess is that they'll start pulling in and claim they are "strengthening" the Afghan forces for an eventual takeover, then at some point pull out completely and blame the fall of Kabul on the Afghans themselves. He'll try to hang onto the cities until after the 2012 elections and then beat feet out of there.

[Porchlight]

I can't stand her either, Sue. Yuck.

[Sue]

Porch,

We are doing just fine with Perry at the helm. She's a squish.

[BR]

Jack at 1:44 - re the helicopters ferrying in Taliban, despite US air control, the linked article also says:

"...the Taliban attacked the district center, and the district police chief along with the head of counter-narcotics and a number of soldiers were killed."

This wouldn't be our guys. Unless it's part of the rogue CIA/drug thing. Or pro-Taliban ISI helicopters.

[bad]

Say it ain't so Sue. Cheney backing Hutchison totally sucks....almost as bad a Hutchison sucks.

By the way, Ibama sucks, also.

[centralcal]

Hutchison? Dang. She must have really done some Senate favors for Cheney that she is now calling in.

[unɹ puɐ ʇıɥ]

Jane:
Not only that but wasn't he also the chairman of the committee?

Obama chaired the Subcommitte on Eurpoean Affairs, which had oversight responsibility for NATO.

It wasn't specifically responsibility over Afghanistan.

But when Obama would complain that Bush had alienated allies, who in turn would not commit troops to Afghanistan, it would have been NATO that those troops would have come from.

But Obama's committee held no meetings that dealt with NATO members' troop committment to Afghanistan.

[unɹ puɐ ʇıɥ]

Orion:
Would it be too obvious to note that the Obama Administration really is divided and confused?

Not only that, but he would pronounce your name OR-ee-un

[Sue]

bad,

I'm afraid it is true. It will be interesting to see if Bush backs one of them. I think Bush will back Perry, again, but I don't know, he might just stay quiet.

[laura]

Why is Hutchinson running? Seems like a sure way to screw up what is a winning formula in Texas and split the rep party.

[Porchlight]

We are doing just fine with Perry at the helm.

Exactly. What's her angle?

I hate to think of Cheney making a local appearance on her behalf and me not being able to stomach going. ;)

[David]

Given how often Tom Friedman is wrong -- witness his early support of Bush's disastrous invasion of Iraq -- I don't think his call for withdrawal from Afghanistan is going to influence very many thoughtful people.

Often wrong but never in doubt -- that's Friedman for you.

[pops]

""The financial ties and close working relationship between the intelligence agency and Mr. Karzai raise significant questions about America’s war strategy"""

BULLSH-T!

Everyone who's in the know and involved KNEW we were paying Karzai and a bunch of other warlords. Its been going on since 2001...It doesn't complicate anything today...it was a known fact when Obama announced his new strategy in March.

More excuse making for the Ditherer in Chief.

[pops]

Next the NYT will claim giving the warlords Viagra has hardened their resolve and complicated Obamas' huge decision..

[Sue]

I kind of like this bullshit notion. It reminds me of the cutesy little movie "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". There is a card game in the movie that is called bullshit. We should start our own little game of bullshit. Anytime we feel something is hinky we call bullshit.

I don't know what Hutchison is up to. She wants to come home, but wants to remain in office I guess. A slug-fest between Perry and Hutchison will not be pretty. She is leading him in the polls, btw.

[glasater]

Well-Hutchison is not near as 'purty' as Perry:)

[Sue]

glasater,

I kind of like referring to my governor as Governor Good Hair. A name the detestable Molly Ivins gave him, but I use it as a term of endearment.

[bgates is Karnak]

I kind of like this bullshit notion.

What do White House aides say to rally their spirits after a meeting with Joe Biden?

***

What do the leaders of BRIC think about international climate change agreements?

***

How did every foreign government react to the election of Barack Obama?

[Ranger]

My guess is that they'll start pulling in and claim they are "strengthening" the Afghan forces for an eventual takeover, then at some point pull out completely and blame the fall of Kabul on the Afghans themselves. He'll try to hang onto the cities until after the 2012 elections and then beat feet out of there.

Posted by: Orion | October 28, 2009 at 02:24 PM

That may be what they anticipate doing, but the Taliban will ramp up attacks once we give them their safe havens to set up operating bases in. As the body count climbs in 2010 and 2011 it will be hard for Obama and the Dems to claim they chose the right strategy when they number of soldiers dying is higher than it has ever been in that theater.

[unɹ puɐ ʇıɥ]

Romney to stay comfortably on the http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/10/romney-not-endorsing-in-new-york-house-race.html>sidelines in NY-23 race.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom provided a few more details regarding Romney’s thinking: “Mitt Romney is a Republican and he tends to support the Republican candidate in races and when he can't because there are too many differences on the issues, he stays out of the race altogether and that's the course he's following in the New York special election. He doesn't plan to make any endorsement at all.”

[Terry Gain]

Given how often Tom Friedman is wrong -- witness his early support of Bush's disastrous invasion of Iraq -

Genocidal stalinist, terrorist-supporting dictator removed. Check
Iraq no longer pursuing nuclear weapons. Check
Iraqi government elected by the people. Check
Iraqi government no longer threatening its neighbors and killing innocent citizens. Check
Al Qaeda goes down to humiliating defeat - at the hands of Americans and Iraqis fighting side by side. Check

Please Allah send us more disasters.

[Hack]

The CIA should infiltrate Taliban leadership. Hell, if the media can do it they can.

http://www.hackwilson.blogspot.com

[pops]

I'll I keep hearing from the liberals is how we need a government option to provide choice and competition.

So why haven't doofus Republicans introduced the Obama/Pelosi/Reid Choice and Competition Plan that allows private industry to compete in Medicare and Medicaid.

Hmmmm

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Al Qaeda goes down to humiliating defeat - at the hands of Americans and Iraqis fighting side by side. Check

Don't forget "25 million people and a country the size of France liberated, with only about 4000 US fatalities total in an eight-year campaign".

Every time I read "disastrous invasion of Iraq" I want to scream out "WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF A SUCCESS THEN!?"

[pops]

Where is the Obama Choice and Competition Post Office Bill???

[bad]

I've read from several different sources that Hutchison treats her subordinates badly. I really dislike people like that.

And of course, I haven't forgotten the nasty remarks she made about Sarah Palin.

[bad]

FLOTUS on the cover of GLAMOUR. LUN

What the hell is she wearing around her neck? It looks like a collection of sardine tin tops tied on a dog chain.

[Terry Gain]

Don't forget "25 million people and a country the size of France liberated, with only about 4000 US fatalities total in an eight-year campaign".

Charlie, according to CIA FACTBOOK, the pop of Iraq is 28 million. It would be heavenly if peace could be attained without sacrifice, but alas we are bound to this earth. Every one of those 4,000 lives is precious. We need to honor their sacrifice by celebrating their success and taking better care of their families.

[bad]

By the way, I'm sure there was NOOOOOOOOO photoshopping done to the GLAMOUR picture....

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

[centralcal]

bad: FLOTUS looks like she is sporting some really heavy rapper bling around her neck! And, she sure slathered the oil on her arms.

Yep, no photoshopping of that pix, no siree!

[centralcal]

btw - I see posts on all of the media blogs that the White House is waving the white flag of surrender to FNC. Yeah, everyone is calling it a "truce," but I don't think Glenn or Hannity are going to pipe down.

[clarice]

How does she keep that oil from staining her clothing?

[Extraneus]

...he does everything for political reasons, not for success or America's interest.

There is no other explanation that fits.

Right on, Jane. It probably won't be until the 2012 presidential debates that someone will call him on exactly what his definition of American interest is, but the tea parties and summer town halls suggest that a lot of regular people are smart enough to understand the logic in your statement.

And as far as political decisions, I still think he has to go with McChrystal's recommendation on Afghanistan. The alternative is to take responsibility for the potentially disasterous outcome of a different (and wimpier) decision, and he can't risk that. That has to be what's taking so long.

[bad]

I think the "decision" is taking so long because his fundraising is below par and he needs more time to pay off the left so they will keep their mouths shut whan he follows McChrystal's recomendation.

[Terry Gain]

He'll try to hang onto the cities until after the 2012 elections and then beat feet out of there.

If he fights a war of attrition he won't be around after the 2012 election.

[Gregory Koster]

JOMers, thank you for articulating why I always felt uneasy about Hutchinson, but wasn't really sure why. That she's splitting the conservative cause in these times says all you need to know about her.

Chaco, that link to Ahnuld's veto message was snicker inducing. But it's also a sign of how unserious Ahnuld is. Instead of funny veto messages, he should start showing up at Dem fundraisers with a machine gun. It would be interesting to know who tipped off POLITICO---they never would have figured it out on their own.

What is my definition of a successful Iraq invasion? One that would have stopped when Riyadh was overrun, Glenn Beck was hosting the weekly execution of the corrupt Saudi prince with Paul Krugman and Maureen Dows fighting to be the one to pull the switch on the electric chair, and the Israelis had control of Mecca. Would you say that Iraq was the best Middle Eastern country for an invasion when you look at all the dough the Saudis have sent to terrorist madarassahs, the systematic purchase of America's foreign policy apparatus, and the generally disingenuous role they've played against Israel, Saddam's nuclear program might look different, no?

Bad, what pic of Rolo in GLAMOUR? I followed the link, but all I saw was an oil drill bit being withdrawn, upside down.

[daddy]

OT,

The luckiest guy in Alaska today is Bill Allen. He's the guy who corrupted a ton of state Politicians, wore the wire trying to entrap Ted Steven's, and was the keystone in unethical collusion with the Feds in their corrupt Ted Stevens Prosection.

Today the 72 year old Allen got sentenced to 3 years in jail and a $750,000 fine.

The reason he's the luckiest guy in Alaska, is not that he didn't get more time (tho' he should have), but instead because every media organ in the State is completely ignoring him, and it's nothing but 24/7 Levi Johnson, Levi Johnson's penis in Playgirl, and his current slander on the morning "News" shows.

The only benefit to society of this complete scumbag is I can point to the scumbag in front of my daughters and use him as the worlds best object lesson about why you should never ever even dream of having sex with some good looking jackass on the High School Hockey Team.

[Janet]

daddy - Just now flicking around the tv was Levi- some entertainment show. I just turned it off. There is nothing left on television these days. Murder, mayhem, and mocking all that is good, kind, or honorable.
Ol Levi is living the life that is promoted in teen music, the sitcoms, teen books,...
He'll be discarded soon enough, like Cindy Sheehan.

[unɹ puɐ ʇıɥ]

bad:
By the way, I'm sure there was NOOOOOOOOO photoshopping done to the GLAMOUR picture....

I don't know why you people insist on making me do this stuff. But the "original" cover is available.

Bottom line, Michelle is without question, to quote Rick, http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mHhSQWDLMfQ/SujZAAqX48I/AAAAAAAAAJM/06BIx2f8Czg/s800/MichelleGlamour.jpg>quite stunning.

[Gregory Koster]

Daddy, it takes two to be corrupted. My sympathy for Stevens fits neatly into my sympathy for The Once. Nor was it Allen who corrupted the Justice Department hogs, a stellar example. Finally, he's not to blame for the idiotic press, which should be examining Don "MY MONEY!" Young instead of Levi. But anything that blackens Sarah Palin for the press.

Imagine what Levi Johnston's life is going to be in ten years. It must be interesting to realize that your life has peaked at age 18, and you will never be an adult. Only afading exhibit at a sideshow that is closing.

[Rick Ballard]

I don't think that's oil - just a little grease residue from stuffing her into the industrial grade Spanx.

H&R,

Looks like Boeing will be needing some additional people around your neck of the woods.

[osıɔɹɐu]

What is the lesson here. that we should only strive for officials who won't take a stand, who are dishonest, and corrupt. Like I say if Huck is the answer, than it's
a stupid question. I agree with the view that Justice and local officials were just
'negotiating over the price'. He seems an an analog of the Great Corruptor in these neck of the woods, a generation ago, or like
the Frank Costello nee Whitey Bulger, or a snowblinded J.R. Ewing

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Terry, I'm sure you had a point there, but I'm really puzzled what it might be.

[Extraneus]

Levi's going to have to face his kid someday.

[osıɔɹɐu]

That was my two cents on that. This FSO Hoh story is something else, that is getting under my skin. So he decides thatAfghanistan
is not worth it, well whoopi do, what about the hundreds of thousands who have been through that theatre of operations, and have thought otherwise. Now that is different from some here, who don't think that Obama will follow Field Marshal Biden, Much like Rieckoff and Hackett and Buzzell, were the only acceptable faces of the Iraq War vets,

[Charlie (Colorado)]

What is my definition of a successful Iraq invasion? One that would have stopped when Riyadh was overrun, Glenn Beck was hosting the weekly execution of the corrupt Saudi prince with Paul Krugman and Maureen Dows fighting to be the one to pull the switch on the electric chair, and the Israelis had control of Mecca. Would you say that Iraq was the best Middle Eastern country for an invasion when you look at all the dough the Saudis have sent to terrorist madarassahs, the systematic purchase of America's foreign policy apparatus, and the generally disingenuous role they've played against Israel, Saddam's nuclear program might look different, no?

Gregory, whatever you're on, you need to cut down.

The short answer is "yes", and your "vision" of the conquest of Saudi Arabia with the Israelis taking over Mecca is the best prescription I can imagine for a generations-long total war between every Islamic country and Christendom.

Which is to say, possibly the stupidest idea I've ever seen proposed in 26 years of reading usenet and blogs.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Now that is different from some here, who don't think that Obama will follow Field Marshal Biden, Much like Rieckoff and Hackett and Buzzell, were the only acceptable faces of the Iraq War vets,

Was there supposed to be more to that sentence?

[osıɔɹɐu]

rather than Bellavia or Dunham or any of the other heroes of Fallujah and points east. I have to clear the throat with this
offering from Victor Davis Hanson, in the LUN

[unɹ puɐ ʇıɥ]

Rick:
Looks like Boeing will be needing some additional people around your neck of the woods.

Thanks. The big news around here most recently is http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/10/07/article/dell_to_close_its_winston_salem_plant>Dell pulling out after getting gobs of incentives from city, county and state to build a pc assembly plant in Winston-Salem 4-5 years ago.

Yike.

[clarice]

The Bald Man is optimistic about Tuesday's races:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703574604574501322618623620.html>Guard your rears blue dogs

[Jim Ryan]

Don't look at this Creigh Deeds campaign poster. It'll make you stupider.