The Iraq War: was there even a decision? "Perhaps most revealing ... is what is missing--any indication whatsoever from the declassified record to date that top Bush administration officials seriously considered an alternative to war. In contrast there is an extensive record of efforts to energize military planning, revise existing contingency plans, and create a new, streamlined war plan." The
National Security Archive at George Washington University has released a set of documents from the US and British archives related to the Iraq war:
Part I,
Part II,
Part III.
Political scientist
Russell Burgos (who served in Iraq):
... there is indeed a kind of inevitability about the confrontation, but it was an inevitability created by domestic politics rather than 9/11. In my estimation, the origins of the "path to war" are found in the Republican Revolution of 1994; I will suggest that from 1996 to 2000, Iraq policy was not about Iraq - it was about an increasingly strident partisan attack on President Bill Clinton in which "Iraq" was not a subject of deliberate policy but was a synecdoche for "Clinton's failure."
Historian
Robert Jervis also comments. Via
H-DIPLO.
posted by russilwvong
on Oct 19, 2010 -
42 comments
U.S. Presidents have had
an uneven relationship with technology. The
Clinton Presidential Library has more than 40 million White House emails on record (but
only two are from the man himself). The Bush Administration, on the other hand, junked the Clinton archival process and replaced it with
a comically inept alternative that has lost more than five million messages,
many concerning official government business. (President Bush, for his part, gave up his longtime address --
G94b@aol.com -- just before his inauguration). Even the Reagan White House had
its share of problems with the digital age. Now, as
tech-savvy Barack Obama prepares to implement
his technology plans, does he have a shot at
dragging the Oval Office into the 21st century? Or will he have to surrender
his laptop, his email account, and
his beloved Blackberry?
posted by Rhaomi
on Nov 15, 2008 -
38 comments
Keith Olbermann's Edward R. Murrow
* moment:
A Textbook Definition of Cowardice. MSNBC's host excoriates Bush, FOX News host Chris Wallace, and the media for its response to former president Clinton's "
tantrum" [still being discussed
here].
Note: Don't just read the transcript. Watch the video, because Olbermann's use of visuals adds greatly to the power of his presentation. No matter which side of the red/blue-state divide you're on, students of politics and media will be reviewing this clip for years to come as a little cultural watershed -- if only a consummate example of "Democrat" angerTM.
posted by digaman
on Sep 26, 2006 -
169 comments
Spin, exposed live and wriggling. In 1995, Brian Springer released an hour-long documentary film comprised of incredibly revealing moments caught from raw satellite feeds. Not only do we get to hear the spin-doctor coaching candidates received during various commercial breaks, there are also some amazing moments such as Larry King suggesting to Clinton that Ted Turner could "serve him," an anchor suggesting to her expert that during the L.A. riots his frank diagnosis of inner-city hope is "too obtuse," and the exclusion and exclusion of Larry Agran from the 1992 Democratic primaries — and, really, there's much more.
posted by WCityMike
on Jul 4, 2006 -
23 comments
Bush Threatens U.N. Over Clinton Climate Speech Bush-administration officials privately threatened organizers of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, telling them that any chance there might’ve been for the United States to sign on to the Kyoto global-warming protocol would be scuttled if they allowed Bill Clinton to speak at the gathering today in Montreal,
posted by Postroad
on Dec 9, 2005 -
115 comments
You know that ranger job in the National Park Service that you're gonna apply for as soon as you get through school or quit waiting tables?
Fuhgeddaboutit, unless you've pledged your loyalty to the
Ba'ath party President's Management Agenda and its roster of "faith-based and community initiatives," "competitive sourcing," etcetera, and Interior Secretary Gale Norton's "4C's," which seem to have to do with communication, consultation, cooperation, conservation, and Clinton-bashing.
(Oh, sorry, that's 5 C's. It's just that Norton can't seem to stop denigrating "the previous administration" -- while advocating drilling in ANWR -- for such absurd ideas as banning snowmobiles from Yellowstone.)
posted by digaman
on Oct 13, 2005 -
18 comments
War on Drugs - Do you remember it? A call for support of this amorphous war has been trumpeted by every American President from
Nixon through
Clinton. The current guy, has associated himself (at least a little bit) with the
Drug War in the previous campaign but current policy,
not so much. What I’m curious about is the actual phrase, the concept of War on Drugs. It looks like we still dedicate
large sums of money to the effort. It seems to me that we just don’t use the phrase much anymore. Did we
win? Did we
lose? Do we just want to
forget about it? Or, did we repackage the endeavor under a
new name? I tend to think we are not capable of waging more than one war against
the nameless other at a given time. It would just be too scary. So, I think maybe we're bundling the
War on Terror and the
War on Drugs under a
new brand name.
posted by Crackerbelly
on Dec 8, 2004 -
31 comments
Clinton’s Former Aide Drops Windfall in the Lap of Bush Campaign "...Presidential challenger Kerry will have to think twice before attacking Bush on national security issues lest he lay himself open to reminders that a former Clinton aide and his own adviser was caught red-handed misappropriating classified materials that revealed how a Democratic president mishandled the threat of terror...."
posted by Postroad
on Jul 20, 2004 -
46 comments
Room for rent. Similar to the Clinton administration that they
heavily criticized, the Bush folks have opened a bed and breakfast up in that big White House with the cee-ment pond. Rates are steep but one thing many guests share is a membership in the exclusive
Pioneer Club.
One of my favorites is Edward Rose, Mr. Rose is a staunch Bush supporter having donated more than
42,000 dollars in the past along with $2,000[
1] directly. Then there is the Betts family, patriarch Roland was Dubyas frat brother and besides selling him the Texas Rangers has donated
$19,000 along with another 4K[
1] directly. For outright generosity it's tough to beat Brad Freeman, who opened his pockets to the tune of some
190,000 dollars.There's Joe O'Donnell (
$9,250)and James Simmons (
$27,550)... the list goes on but you get the idea. Aside from the Pioneer Club the only other thing these people share is great wealth and successful business careers, considering his choice in houseguests is this the right person to hold corporate America accountable?
posted by cedar
on Aug 17, 2002 -
32 comments
Could 9/11 Have Been Prevented? From the Time Mag. article
"
Long before the tragic events of September 11th, the White House debated taking the fight to al-Qaeda. It didn't happen and soon it was too late. The saga of a lost chance.
posted by bas67
on Aug 4, 2002 -
22 comments
$9,324 The GAO concludes that some 'vandalism' took place in the Clinton to Bush White House transition. The
total repair cost was $9,324. I wonder how much we spent on the GAO investigation and it's
220 page report. I bet it was more than $9,324. (via
Drudge)
posted by Argyle
on Jun 11, 2002 -
48 comments
Bush Beats Clinton in latest poll on who Americans would want to handle the current terrorist crisis. The amazing thing is that the poll wasn't even close! September 11th really did change the course of American politics. (via
Political Wire.)
posted by flip
on Oct 18, 2001 -
40 comments
Clinton: "They thought the election was over, the Republicans did. By the time it was over, our candidate had won the popular vote, and the only way they could win the election was to stop the voting in Florida".
Give 'em hell Bill!
posted by owillis
on Jan 9, 2001 -
16 comments
