(no subject)

Large numbers of pro-Iraq-war bloggers are linking this article which reports a memo from the US Undersecretary of Defense to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

OSAMA BIN LADEN and Saddam Hussein had an operational relationship from the early 1990s to 2003 that involved training in explosives and weapons of mass destruction, logistical support for terrorist attacks, al Qaeda training camps and safe haven in Iraq, and Iraqi financial support for al Qaeda--perhaps even for Mohamed Atta--according to a top secret U.S. government memorandum obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

[emphasis added, for reasons that will become apparent shortly]

Many such bloggers are jumping up and down with glee, some with a side-order of "nyer nyer" plus the usual vociferous fringe of "anyone who still disagrees with us is an un-american scumbag (and probably commie, to boot) who should be taken outside and shot"

I was somewhat skeptical, given that the memo in question was written by the slightly-less-than-impartial Douglas Feith. (For those who saw the ITV/John Pilger documentary in September, Mr Feith was the interviewee whose time on screen was terminated with an off-camera request to switch everything off when JP kept asking questions about Iraqi civilian casualties)

So off I went around the blogosphere looking for something a bit more cautious than "Bush! Rumsfeld! Rah! Rah! Rah!"

I wasn't expecting to find a press release from the US DOD:

The items listed in the classified annex were either raw reports or products of the CIA, the NSA, or, in one case, the DIA.[...] The classified annex was not an analysis of the substantive issue of the relationship between Iraq and al Qaida, and it drew no conclusions.

Individuals who leak or purport to leak classified information are doing serious harm to national security; such activity is deplorable and may be illegal.

In other words, this is one-sided raw data, provided to the SIC because they asked for it, and should not be taken as anything resembling definitive proof of any position whatsoever.

Oh, and parts of it are classified, so whoever leaked it is probably in big trouble if an impartial investigation is allowed to happen. Haven't we heard this before?

[DOD link: Eschaton]

Some cheap ridicule

This morning, I had the misfortune to channel-hop into David Frost's interview with President Bush. Luckily, I was able to channel-hop out again before the urge to throw things at the screen became overwhelming. I have this problem watching most political interviews, which is why I rarely do so (TVs are too expensive to break on a weekly basis).

However, one thing stuck in my mind: how did a man with such an incredibly self-satisfied smirk get to be a popular politician?

I mean, I thought Tony Blair and Michael Howard looked smug, but every single time he was on screen and not talking, GWB looked like a cat that had cornered the world dairy produce market, outlawed dogs AND set up a lucrative farm breeding small rodents that can't run very fast.