Neocons Turn Against Bush

[Dr Dave]

LInk to complete story.

Excerpt:

I remember sitting with Richard Perle in his suite at London's Grosvenor House hotel and receiving a private lecture on the importance of securing victory in Iraq. "Iraq is a very good candidate for democratic reform," he said. "It won't be Westminster overnight, but the great democracies of the world didn't achieve the full, rich structure of democratic governance overnight. The Iraqis have a decent chance of succeeding." Perle seemed to exude the scent of liberation, as well as a whiff of gunpowder. It was February 2003, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the culmination of his long campaign on behalf of regime change in Iraq, was less than a month away.

Three years later, Perle and I meet again at his home outside Washington, D.C. It is October, the worst month for U.S. casualties in Iraq in almost two years, and Republicans are bracing for losses in the upcoming midterm elections. As he looks into my eyes, speaking slowly and with obvious deliberation, Perle is unrecognizable as the confident hawk who, as chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, had invited the exiled Iraqi dissident Ahmad Chalabi to its first meeting after 9/11. "The levels of brutality that we've seen are truly horrifying, and I have to say, I underestimated the depravity," Perle says now, adding that total defeat—an American withdrawal that leaves Iraq as an anarchic "failed state"—is not yet inevitable but is becoming more likely. "And then," says Perle, "you'll get all the mayhem that the world is capable of creating."

According to Perle, who left the Defense Policy Board in 2004, this unfolding catastrophe has a central cause: devastating dysfunction within the administration of President George W. Bush. Perle says, "The decisions did not get made that should have been. They didn't get made in a timely fashion, and the differences were argued out endlessly.… At the end of the day, you have to hold the president responsible.… I don't think he realized the extent of the opposition within his own administration, and the disloyalty."

[Scott Dolan]

GOTV Finch!!!

[Dr Dave]

Tomorrow is election day. I wouldn't want any neocon fans to vote in support of President Bush and his Iraq policies in the mistaken belief that leading neocons still support the President's Iraq policies.

[Sandi22]

None of these men bailed soon enough, none of them jumped ship and let the public in on just how bad thing really were and are. Now that it looks like they'll be sizzling in the fire right along with Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush, they are wimpering to the heavens. It's too late for our sympathy, it looks like no more than a ploy to save their own sorry behinds. Pardon me while I puke!

[Ron Thorne]

Too little too late, I'm afraid.



Damn, I'd love to be wrong on this one, though.

[patricia]

What surprises me is that they have not bailed sooner.
Everybody else could see the man behind the curtain, long ago, but supported the lie anyway.
Why?
Is it so wrong to admit that a mistake was made?
The President is not the Pope, so he wasn't hobbled by being thought of as infallable.
What was stopping him from saying,
"OOPS", we screwed up. Let's do what we can to withdraw and hope we haven't done too much damage.
But, look on the bright side.
Saddam is gone.
You're welcome."?
As it is now, this is just one more career choice that was beyond the ability of George W Bush.
But, this time, his incompetence has caused death and destruction for thousands and the near annihilation of an entire country.

[Sandi22]

Wait until they get the chance to use their small nuclear weapons as stated in the Neo Con plan for the oil rich region.

Let's just hope that our being in such a snit about what is going on, is problematic for them and that they won't dare try it.

[Gordon B]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

LInk to complete story.

Excerpt:

I remember sitting with Richard Perle in his suite at London's Grosvenor House hotel and receiving a private lecture on the importance of securing victory in Iraq. "Iraq is a very good candidate for democratic reform," he said. "It won't be Westminster overnight, but the great democracies of the world didn't achieve the full, rich structure of democratic governance overnight. The Iraqis have a decent chance of succeeding." Perle seemed to exude the scent of liberation, as well as a whiff of gunpowder. It was February 2003, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the culmination of his long campaign on behalf of regime change in Iraq, was less than a month away.

Three years later, Perle and I meet again at his home outside Washington, D.C. It is October, the worst month for U.S. casualties in Iraq in almost two years, and Republicans are bracing for losses in the upcoming midterm elections. As he looks into my eyes, speaking slowly and with obvious deliberation, Perle is unrecognizable as the confident hawk who, as chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, had invited the exiled Iraqi dissident Ahmad Chalabi to its first meeting after 9/11. "The levels of brutality that we've seen are truly horrifying, and I have to say, I underestimated the depravity," Perle says now, adding that total defeat—an American withdrawal that leaves Iraq as an anarchic "failed state"—is not yet inevitable but is becoming more likely. "And then," says Perle, "you'll get all the mayhem that the world is capable of creating."

According to Perle, who left the Defense Policy Board in 2004, this unfolding catastrophe has a central cause: devastating dysfunction within the administration of President George W. Bush. Perle says, "The decisions did not get made that should have been. They didn't get made in a timely fashion, and the differences were argued out endlessly.… At the end of the day, you have to hold the president responsible.… I don't think he realized the extent of the opposition within his own administration, and the disloyalty."

In all fairness, Dave, if you are going to link to Vanity Fair, you also should link to the this. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q...RjNTFhODA4MGQ=
Richard Perle excerpt.
I should have known better than to trust the editors at Vanity Fair who lied to me and to others who spoke with Mr. Rose. Moreover, in condensing and characterizing my views for their own partisan political purposes, they have distorted my opinion about the situation in Iraq and what I believe to be in the best interest of our country.

[Dr Dave]

I can't connect to the article, Gordon.

I have some personal experience with being interviewed by national media. Once upon a time I was a recognized source for information about the medical conference business. A reporter from The Wall Street Journal spent a total of about four hours on the phone with me, picking my brain about doctors and meetings and drug company influence. After all that, she used a single quote in her story. Thinking of the old Wired Magazine feature, I told her the magazine I edited, Medical Meetings, should have been called "Deductible Junkets."

I thought it was pretty funny, although my publisher was apoplectic.

It wouldn't have been my first choice for quotation, but I did say it.

I relate this little anecdote by way of saying that Richard Perle has far more experience being interviewed by reporters than I'll ever have. I'll wager he said exactly what he said, and if he doesn't like the way it came out, tough shit.

[Gordon B]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

I can't connect to the article, Gordon.

I skimmed it at work today. It took me three tries tonight to connect and link to it. Must be something about the NRO site.

[crawjo]

Originally Posted by Gordon B

In all fairness, Dave, if you are going to link to Vanity Fair, you also should link to the this. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q...RjNTFhODA4MGQ=
Richard Perle excerpt.
I should have known better than to trust the editors at Vanity Fair who lied to me and to others who spoke with Mr. Rose. Moreover, in condensing and characterizing my views for their own partisan political purposes, they have distorted my opinion about the situation in Iraq and what I believe to be in the best interest of our country.

Perle is full of shit. He is upset that the article appeared before the election, rather than after. Yes, heaven forbid that voters actually know what he thinks when they make their vote! Despicable.

[lynn]

Perle was interviewed by Anderson Cooper last night and I agree. What loyal American would hold this information from the voting public when the information is clearly needed in order to make a serious decision in the voting booth? I applaud Vanity Fair for breaking the excerpts early.

[Gary Sisco]

Poor Bushy. Clowns to the left of him, jokers to the right.

Hilarious.

The day of the neocon is behind us. It's going to become, eventually, a word like "liberal," that nobody wants to own up to and others use an epithet accordingly.

[Dr Dave]

I read the NR story this morning, and as far as I can tell the main objection is that those interviewed claimed to have said nothing new, and that they thought the story would appear in January. Sorry, that's not much.

[walto]

The Iraqis have a decent chance of succeeding." Perle seemed to exude the scent of liberation, as well as a whiff of gunpowder.

I still kind of detect those smells wafting from some of Monte's posts.

[Gary Sisco]

I smell neocon defeat and a rendering to Trotsky's now proverbial "dustbin."

Back to the "think" tanks ... hut!