17 Comments

1. AnnieCat  •  Feb 22, 2006 @12:51 pm
   

   Here’s an old example of what happens when a country trusts its national security to other countries:

   In 1910 Belgium, worried about growing tensions in Europe, placed two orders for heavy artillery to be placed in the forts along their border with Germany. One order was placed with the Skoda gun works in the (then) Austro Hungarian Empire. The other was placed with the Krupp armaments firm — in Germany. Skoda delivered its guns on time. Krupp, however, was asked by its primary customer, the German army, to hold off on delivering its guns. The German army, of course, never told Krupp that the only war plan they had required a massive invasion of Belgium. But since Krupp was a German firm and the German army was its best customer, they didn’t need to get that specific.

   The Krupp guns were never delivered.

   In 1914 Belgium’s forts on the German border were damn near useless because the heavy guns that would have blasted invaders were still in a German factory in Essen.

   And THAT is why you don’t put all your eggs in other countries’ baskets — because other countries have their own interests which they pursue and those may not be the same as your own.

   Talk about being condemned to repeat history if you don’t know history . . .

2. Britwit  •  Feb 22, 2006 @12:56 pm
   

   maha – Is Mark Noonan related to Peggie Noonan?

3. Michael Miller  •  Feb 22, 2006 @1:19 pm
   

   ThinkProgress: U.S. Didn’t Target Bin Laden in 1999 Because He Was Meeting With UAE Royal Family

   What I (and presumably most of the Left and Right) want to know is WHY? Why is Bush getting his back up on this one?

   Bush appears to be following his gut instincts in protecting him’n'his – that Bush or his family has business ties with the same people doing this deal and he’ll be darned if anyone’s gonna stand in the way of a business deal with his friends.

   That’s pure speculation, though. A complete guess.

   Why? Really, why?

4. samiam  •  Feb 22, 2006 @1:22 pm
   

   McClellan is facing the press again (on C-SPAN 2). Busy week for the guy.

5. Britwit  •  Feb 22, 2006 @1:32 pm
   

   samiam – Yes, I’m watching his now. RE: Katrina and the report to be released tomorrow. Why would we expect them to follow through on this. The admin hasn’t even taken the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission even though the Republicans have used 9/11 as the matra.

6. samiam  •  Feb 22, 2006 @1:33 pm
   

   AnnieCat -

   Fascinating bit of history and one that’s well-worth keeping in mind.

   I don’t think the human race is ready yet for complete globalization, do you?

7. pissed off patricia  •  Feb 22, 2006 @1:37 pm
   

   Okay the prize goes to whomever has kept track of how many times Scottie said today, “You are creating a false impression”

   LOL, why doesn’t Scottie just quit and go home to live the rest of his life in peace?

8. Britwit  •  Feb 22, 2006 @1:43 pm
   

   p.o. patricia – your no. 6

   I agree with you. You wonder why he just doesn’t throw in the towel and say life is too short (no pun about his height) to have to go out there every day and be a human blockade for this White House. He also loves the word, “facts” and states it more strongly than other words.

9. Britwit  •  Feb 22, 2006 @1:48 pm
   

   CNN – talking now about S. Dakota and a bill banning abortions except to save a mother’s life. Doctors could face felony charges for performing an abortion. The woman wouldn’t face felony charges.

   This will probably be a test and it is probably intented to come before the Supreme Court and that is the idea behind the bill.

10. Linkmeister  •  Feb 22, 2006 @1:50 pm
    

    From the 9/11 Commission report:

    The Desert Camp, February 1999
    Early in 1999, the CIA received reporting that Bin Ladin was spending much of his time at one of several camps in the Afghan desert south of Kandahar. At the beginning of February, Bin Ladin was reportedly located in the vicinity of the Sheikh Ali camp, a desert hunting camp being used by visitors from a Gulf state. Public sources have stated that these visitors were from the United Arab Emirates. (footnote #151)

11. bruce k  •  Feb 22, 2006 @2:16 pm
    

    Barbara,
    I went to Noonan’s site and in the very same paragraph you site was this doozy…”and we in the GOP have reaped major rewards due to President Bush’s leadership.” This says it all, dontcha think?
    Repub definition of national interest = “reaping major rewards”

    Bruce K

12. Britwit  •  Feb 22, 2006 @2:27 pm
    

    Bruce k – I said it in regards to another subject today-

    Bush is a prostitute and the body that he is selling our country!

13. paradoctor  •  Feb 22, 2006 @3:05 pm
    

    Britwit; then you really mean to say that Bush is a _pimp_.

14. Britwit  •  Feb 22, 2006 @3:15 pm
    

    paradoctor- In a word – yes.

15. Britwit  •  Feb 22, 2006 @3:19 pm
    

    I just read on C-SPAN news ticker that the only Democrat on the Federal Reserve Board resigned.

16. samiam  •  Feb 22, 2006 @5:18 pm
    

    Did you hear Bill Maher’s droll reply to Wolf Blitzer yesterday? Wish I could remember it exactly, but it was something like:
    “If Bush is worried about offending Arabs over this port issue, he could stop torturing them.”

17. Britwit  •  Feb 22, 2006 @7:58 pm
    

    samiam- your comment no. 16 — No, I didn’t but I wish that I had. I heard him make a comment like that on someone else’s program but the name escapes me.

    That damn Ed Rogers was just on Hardball defending the agreement with the UAB-based company. He said something like the company had agreed to include security protections that the company previously owned by the British company had not. Yes, that makes it okay, Ed and it doesn’t matter that two of the hijackers on 9/11 were from the UAE! The other spin from the Republicans is that people protesting the agreement are treating the UAE differently than the British. Damn right and for good reason!

    Now the spin is that Bush didn’t know anything about the agreement until he read it in the papers or maybe it was that he heard it from the press. Sure!