I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
"An Iraqi officer (L) [only identified by initial] tells us that one day a Land Cruiser belonging to the Personal Security Force (Al-Amn Al-Khass, responsible for the protection of Saddam Hussein) arrived and a senior officer from the Presidential Palace stepped out of it. He was one of those officers who used to stand behind Saddam, which means that he was one of [his] personal bodyguards. After a two-hour meeting with a select group of officers at the Special Forces School, we were informed that we would have dear guests, and that we should train them very well in a high level of secrecy - not to allow anyone to approach them or to talk to them in any way, shape, or form.
"A few days later, about 100 trainees arrived. They were a mixture of Arabs, Arabs from the Peninsula [Saudi Arabia], Muslim Afghans, and other Muslims from various parts of the world. They were divided into two groups, the first one went to Al-Nahrawan and the second to Salman Pak, and this was the group that was trained to hijack airplanes. The training was under the direct supervision of major general (M. DH. L) [only identified by initials] who now serves as a police commander in one of the provinces. Upon the completion of the training most of them left Iraq, while the others stayed in the country through the last battle in Baghdad against the coalition forces."
"I remember that the leader of the group was a Saudi cleric called [Muhammad], who was a fervent and audacious individual and did not require much training. He was highly skilled, and could fire accurately at a target while riding a motorcycle. Additionally, he used to deliver fiery sermons calling for Jihad and for fighting the Americans anywhere in the world. Surprisingly, this man's picture, alongside the commander of the Special Forces School, was televised several times before the beginning of the war and the fall of the former regime."
"...The Fedayeen command [Fedayeen Saddam under Uday's command] supervised the 100 Al-Qa'ida fighters directly, to the extent that senior Fedayeen officers visited them constantly and inspected them almost daily, especially during the final days when they transferred them, late at night in two red trucks that belonged to the Ministry of Transportation, to an undisclosed destination. I witnessed that with my own eyes because on that day I was the duty officer."
"We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th."
Great link Atrios. One of the authors over there at crooked timber, Micah Schwartzman, is an old friend of mine. We were childhood neighbors way back in 1982-84 at the Air Force Academy. His father was the head Rabbi at the Academy, while my dad was a professor (now emeritus) there. He's a good, and very VERY smart guy. And, although he's a year older than I am, I finished law school last year and he has one year left!! Oh yeah, today's my 27th birthday, you'd think I should be out celebrating right now 
Good to see Micah doing so well for himself, he deserves the best.
Anonymous, how about a source.
New Times probe, in a fog of doubt, is as urgent as it is unpredictable! It looks as if the L.A. Times is still investigating Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Daily Californian reports on a talk Times political writer Mark Barabak recently gave to University of California students:
While the campaign may be over, Barabak said, the story of Schwarzenegger's past is not. He said the Times is investigating potentially more damaging charges against the governor-elect. [Emph. added.]
Do reporters usually say they are investigating damaging charges before they are proven? It seems permissable to me--but if a Times reporter announced that the paper was investigating unspecified 'potentially damaging' but unproven charges against, say, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, I suspect the editors of the Times might come down somewhat hard on him. ... It's a double standard, I tell you! ... P.S.: Alert kf readers may remember Barabak as the author of what may be the most memorably fatuous lede in years (on the Sunday before the recall vote):
California's extraordinary election — the first gubernatorial recall in state history — is ending much as it began, in a fog of doubt that makes these last campaign days as urgent as they are unpredictable.
Thank the goddesses for Blogistan. The "major" media is a joke. There is so much corruption, greed, treachery, dishonesty, bigotry, blantant hypocricy, lying and cheating, legal bribery.....for Pete's sake it's breathtaking in it's scope....and the "big boys" will not cover it. When will someone with some gravitas stand up and say it? Will someone? Is there anyone who has any left?.....and if someone does stand up, who will cover it?
Gee whiz, golly, gosh, and what will they think of next?...CNN has a weekly segment called "The New Iraq: What's Going Right?" Wonder where they got that idea? Hmmmmm. They are so smart. I am so frigging impressed. The "free press" is doing it's job.
Wonder if they'll ask the families whose son's and daughters died over there this week what's new and good over there?
Well hey, there's the weather. Whadyya' know. It's really going to be 70 degrees in Chi town today. Whoa.
Can't spin that.
Here's something I found, a soldier tellig about the realities in Iraq.
http://www.iraqwar.ru/iraq-read_...d=23378&
lang=en
I found this story this morning and it made me so mad I could cry.
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?Stor...17-024617-
1418r
This is your Army at work folks. We should all be so proud.
The local news in Los Angeles spent its equivalent of Code Orange on the latest KIA Latino kid last night. The family friend was asking, on camera no less, how many have to die, and why don't they bring our kids home NOW.
He said that they were chasing a ghost over there, a ghost that no one can ever catch. And that troops weren't the right material for that kind of Snark hunt.
That's why we have (and need) spooks. For the ghost hunts that are REAL.
For the airbases and the cultural and economic hegemony, machine guns and hired killers to fire them. But they forgot to order up enough Kevlar! Turning troops into ghosts (or mercs) is the cost of dynasty. Wash the blood off the decks before the Fuhrer arrives, boys.
'We support the troops. Here's some tp and a shovel. Have fun, and remember--those bullets cost Uncle Sam ten cents each, so bayonet the civilians instead.'
Anonymous - you've posted an example of allegations that were all over the media PRIOR to our little adventure in colonialism.
Recipe for disaster: take faulty intel and interviews with defectors who tell us what we want to hear, mix with one Boeing 707 fuselage, and cook in a non-critical media atmosphere for six months. Result: Salman Pak, the deadly threat!
US Forces overan Salman Pak in early April. If creditable evidence of Iraq/Al Queda cooperation had been found there, ChimpCo would be releasing daily reminders on it. Hell, if half-assed evidence had been found there, we would have heard more - remember the "WMD" trailers that turned out to be weather balloon fillers? Admin silence tells us the truth: Salman Pak was another BIG. FUCKING. LIE.
The Rethugs coups in Florida, Texas, and Kullyfornya haven't stopped. They now include the Cubs and Sox. Think about it. Who runs Florida? Whistle Ass' bro. Who runs NYC & NY? Bloomberg & Pataki. Who runs FOX? Rethug media mogul and sock puppet Murdoch. We need a Special Prosecutor NOW DAMMIT!
So do it now.
Atrios:
any chance of alphabetizing that there Blogroll? It's a bitch finding something there when I'm not at my home machine...
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