ex Pentagon Ltn Colenel, military analyst forced out by ideologues: neocons
title says it, and this Colonel was pretty darned conservative
K. Kwiatkowski, Colonel
Aparently the Pentagon became over-run by people who were so driven by a predefined goal (an ideology) that Kwiatkowski felt the need to retire in order to bring the ideologically extreme positions out to the public.
PLEASE READ IT BEFORE YOU LABEL IT BUSH BASHING
the article is admittedly from a biased source but Kwiatkowski has been a life long staunch conservative
the article is an interview: some good quotes:
on the knowledge prior to invasion of WMD by the Pentagon:
especially revealing, from this Conservative Colonel in the Pentagon, there were three reasons that the Neocons wanted to invade:
second reason: bases
The third reason is also very revealing . . . I'll leave it to you when you read the interview . . . I'll just say that it is not surprising.
other quotes: when asked how it feels to be out of the military and writing against former bosses:
K. Kwiatkowski, Colonel
Aparently the Pentagon became over-run by people who were so driven by a predefined goal (an ideology) that Kwiatkowski felt the need to retire in order to bring the ideologically extreme positions out to the public.
PLEASE READ IT BEFORE YOU LABEL IT BUSH BASHING
the article is admittedly from a biased source but Kwiatkowski has been a life long staunch conservative
the article is an interview: some good quotes:
Quote:
They [the Office of Special Plans (set up by Chenney in the Pentagon)] pushed an agenda on Iraq, and they developed pretty sophisticated propaganda lines which were fed throughout government, to the Congress, and even internally to the Pentagon ? to try and make this case of immediacy. This case of severe threat to the United States.
They [the Office of Special Plans (set up by Chenney in the Pentagon)] pushed an agenda on Iraq, and they developed pretty sophisticated propaganda lines which were fed throughout government, to the Congress, and even internally to the Pentagon ? to try and make this case of immediacy. This case of severe threat to the United States.
Quote:
There was a sort of groupthink, an adopted storyline: We are going to invade Iraq and we are going to eliminate Saddam Hussein and we are going to have bases in Iraq. This was all a given even by the time I joined them, in May of 2002.
There was a sort of groupthink, an adopted storyline: We are going to invade Iraq and we are going to eliminate Saddam Hussein and we are going to have bases in Iraq. This was all a given even by the time I joined them, in May of 2002.
Quote:
The concerns were only that some policymakers still had to get onboard with this agenda. Not that this agenda was right or wrong ? but that we needed to convince the remaining holdovers. Colin Powell, for example. There was a lot of frustration with Powell; [ . . . ] General Tony Zinni is another one.
The concerns were only that some policymakers still had to get onboard with this agenda. Not that this agenda was right or wrong ? but that we needed to convince the remaining holdovers. Colin Powell, for example. There was a lot of frustration with Powell; [ . . . ] General Tony Zinni is another one.
Quote:
They were very anti-anybody who might provide information that affected their paradigm. They were the spin enforcers.
They were very anti-anybody who might provide information that affected their paradigm. They were the spin enforcers.
Quote:
That decision [To invade Iraq] was made by the time I got there. So there was no debate over WMD, the possible relations Saddam Hussein may have had with terrorist groups and so on. They [OSP] spent their energy gathering pieces of information and creating a propaganda storyline, which is the same storyline we heard the president and Vice President Cheney tell the American people in the fall of 2002.
That decision [To invade Iraq] was made by the time I got there. So there was no debate over WMD, the possible relations Saddam Hussein may have had with terrorist groups and so on. They [OSP] spent their energy gathering pieces of information and creating a propaganda storyline, which is the same storyline we heard the president and Vice President Cheney tell the American people in the fall of 2002.
on the knowledge prior to invasion of WMD by the Pentagon:
Quote:
It?s not about interest. We knew. We knew from many years of both high-level surveillance and other types of shared intelligence, not to mention the information from the U.N., we knew, we knew what was left [from the Gulf War] and the viability of any of that. Bush said he didn?t know.
The truth is, we know [Saddam] didn?t have these things. Almost a billion dollars has been spent ? a billion dollars! ? by David Kay?s group to search for these WMD, a total whitewash effort. They didn?t find anything, they didn?t expect to find anything..
It?s not about interest. We knew. We knew from many years of both high-level surveillance and other types of shared intelligence, not to mention the information from the U.N., we knew, we knew what was left [from the Gulf War] and the viability of any of that. Bush said he didn?t know.
The truth is, we know [Saddam] didn?t have these things. Almost a billion dollars has been spent ? a billion dollars! ? by David Kay?s group to search for these WMD, a total whitewash effort. They didn?t find anything, they didn?t expect to find anything..
especially revealing, from this Conservative Colonel in the Pentagon, there were three reasons that the Neocons wanted to invade:
Quote:
One of those reasons is that sanctions and containment were working and everybody pretty much knew it. Many companies around the world were preparing to do business with Iraq in anticipation of a lifting of sanctions. But the U.S. and the U.K. had been bombing northern and southern Iraq since 1991. So it was very unlikely that we would be in any kind of position to gain significant contracts in any post-sanctions Iraq. And those sanctions were going to be lifted soon, Saddam would still be in place, and we would get no financial benefit.
One of those reasons is that sanctions and containment were working and everybody pretty much knew it. Many companies around the world were preparing to do business with Iraq in anticipation of a lifting of sanctions. But the U.S. and the U.K. had been bombing northern and southern Iraq since 1991. So it was very unlikely that we would be in any kind of position to gain significant contracts in any post-sanctions Iraq. And those sanctions were going to be lifted soon, Saddam would still be in place, and we would get no financial benefit.
second reason: bases
The third reason is also very revealing . . . I'll leave it to you when you read the interview . . . I'll just say that it is not surprising.
other quotes: when asked how it feels to be out of the military and writing against former bosses:
Quote:
Know what it feels like? It feels like duty. That?s what it feels like. I?ve thought about it many times. You know, I spent 20 years working for something that ? at least under this administration ? turned out to be something I wasn?t working for. I mean, these people have total disrespect for the Constitution. We swear an oath, military officers and NCOs alike swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. These people have no respect for the Constitution. The Congress was misled, it was lied to. At a very minimum that is a subversion of the Constitution. A pre-emptive war based on what we knew was not a pressing need is not what this country stands for.
What I feel now is that I?m not retired. I still have a responsibility to do my part as a citizen to try and correct the problem.
Know what it feels like? It feels like duty. That?s what it feels like. I?ve thought about it many times. You know, I spent 20 years working for something that ? at least under this administration ? turned out to be something I wasn?t working for. I mean, these people have total disrespect for the Constitution. We swear an oath, military officers and NCOs alike swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. These people have no respect for the Constitution. The Congress was misled, it was lied to. At a very minimum that is a subversion of the Constitution. A pre-emptive war based on what we knew was not a pressing need is not what this country stands for.
What I feel now is that I?m not retired. I still have a responsibility to do my part as a citizen to try and correct the problem.
Comments
This is important stuff . . . do I need to paraphrase it:
A Pentagon insider states very very clearly that the within the Pentagon, before 911 even, Cheney had set up an office (Office of Special Plans) who's direct goal was to propogate a goal . . . and that goal was to make a case, despite the facts, that we need to invade Iraq.
What this means is that O'Neil was right, except that it was through the Pentagon (at least one channel at play) that the Neocon admin worked its propagandizing.
This isn't just another "liberal" slagging Bush . . . this Colonel was a die-hard Conservative Military-lifer
But the Neocons took over . . .
Why won't this get any air play?
is it too much to read?
What are teh implications?
is it just too obviouse . . . so much so that to have it spelled out from the inside seems meaningless nowdays . . . ?
You gave your life to the military, you voted Republican for many years, you say you served in the Pentagon right up to the outbreak of war. What does it feel like to be out now, publicly denouncing your old bosses?
Know what it feels like? It feels like duty. That?s what it feels like. I?ve thought about it many times. You know, I spent 20 years working for something that ? at least under this administration ? turned out to be something I wasn?t working for. I mean, these people have total disrespect for the Constitution. We swear an oath, military officers and NCOs alike swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. These people have no respect for the Constitution. The Congress was misled, it was lied to. At a very minimum that is a subversion of the Constitution. A pre-emptive war based on what we knew was not a pressing need is not what this country stands for.
What I feel now is that I?m not retired. I still have a responsibility to do my part as a citizen to try and correct the problem.
That's a beautiful paragraph.
Originally Written/Sung by Paul Simon
I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told.
I have squandered my resistance,
For a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises.
All lies and jest.
Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.
...
Lie la Lie
seems to fit the pattern of this Admin ignoring intel it doesn't agree with. Stovepiping.
ignoring Wilson confirmation that 'SH seeking Uranium from Niger" was an obvious lie,
ignoring Nobel Scientists and researchers it doesn't agree with in favour of pliant crony appointees,
ignoring IAEA and UN inspectors whose logic that stockpiled WMD are absent or degraded seem... TRUE!
Amb. Wilson and former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta were on Charlie Rose last night
Wilson was quite clear about how obvious the forgeries were in the Niger info,
and how those in the VPs office or WH didn't want to hear anything but "good news".
They certainly didn't want any suggestions the emperor's wardrobe was lacking, so the attack dogs were released to out CIA agent Plame and try to undermine the impact of the honest information in Wilson's report with misdirection, smear, and character assassination as traitorous or unpatriotic.
Holy Fingers-in-Ears-LALALALA-Selective-Willful-Ignorance Batman!
Faced with the behaviour of a child, maybe I should grab the lyrics to Schoolyard
There'll be more O'Neills, Kays, Kwiatkowskis etc. Too bad it has to take an inordinate amount of balls to "come out" these days. The penalty of going through a "Joe Wilson/Plame" scenario has got to be keeping many others from "coming out".
Can you imagine the scandal something like this would have been made to be under Clinton? Even though I wasn't much into politics at the time, I know I probably would have done some Clinton bashing.
Furthermore, too many Americans don't care to know what's going on behind those closed doors. Politicaly, we're a nation of flippen sheep man. Obviously, not all of us, just too many of us...
Those folks in the Whitehouse, the men that run the world's conglomerates, they count on the "average" American's obsession with Sports, Jacko, Madonna*Christina*Britney and whatever TV show or movie is popular at the moment. The list goes on and on and on.
This post, along with the Haitian post, shoud be jumping. Instead, what has taken up everyone's attention here at AI, the supernatural... Heh, poking fun there a bit.
As an aside, I've been a long time conservative Republican (until recently) most of my adult life, I find the LA Weekly to have some of the most thoroughly researched and insightful articles written. Yes, they're coming with a leftist bent, so what. The truth is the truth. Good link Pfflam!
Sorry pfflam, had to throw this in.
Originally posted by hardhead
Sorry pfflam, had to throw this in.
go for it!
On to the supernatural!
You guys are missing out on an excellent article. This is further evidence of where this administration is taking us
Karl Rove and Co= bunch of punks and rats...
The vice president and his fellow neocons pushing an agenda on pumped up intel?!?! say it aint so!
I'm just happy to see other conservatives and military professionals speaking out... the more the better.
Originally posted by Gilsch
There'll be more O'Neills, Kays, Kwiatkowskis etc.
It is pretty wild how many folks have jumped ship and then all basically said the same things about the inner workings of the admin.
But no matter how many times party devotees hear this stuff straight from the sources, for some reason they have continually been unable to believe it.
http://www.calpundit.com/archives/003357.html
Originally posted by chu_bakka
Gotta love those Republicans so worried about national security they can't give the 9/11 commission more time.
http://www.calpundit.com/archives/003357.html
Will this raise any flags?
i doubt it . . .
Maybe the neocons will start running for the hills... I doubt the military establishment is going to put up with too much more nonsense.
Brass doesn't like it when suits get their soldiers killed for unproven ideology.