Armchair Generalist

Agent Orange Is Not A War Crime

A federal judge in Brooklyn is considering a federal suit brought on by Vietnamese civilians against the chemical companies that produced and delivered Agent Orange for the U.S. military during the Vietnam conflict. The plaintifts believe that the United States effectively conducted "war crimes" by using the dioxin-laced herbicide throughout Vietnam. The Justice Department wants the judge to throw the case out as an infringement against executive warmaking powers (specifically questioning the right to sue the military for legitimate operations during war), but the plaintiffs' lawyers noted that this case wasn't directed against the federal government. What caught my eye were these remarks:

[The judge] asked from the bench whether precedents concerning the treatment of makers of Zyklon B, the hydrogen cyanide gas used in Nazi death camps, might be applicable to the claims against the companies that supplied Agent Orange to the military.

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George P. Fletcher, an international law professor at Columbia University, wrote on behalf of the Vietnamese that "in warfare it is permissible 'to stand and deliver'- to look the enemy squarely in the eye and shoot him - but not to look the other way and then use dioxin" to poison his food, land and water.

But, writing for the chemical companies, W. Michael Reisman, an international law expert at Yale, concluded that no treaty or principle of international law that was accepted by the United States during the Vietnam era declared herbicides to be poisons barred during warfare.

I really hope this guy listens to the (right) international law experts and gets his head straight on this subject. During the Vietnam conflict, it was not "permissible" to shoot civilians during combat (who are the subject of this case) but it was (technically) legal to use herbicides and riot control agents and even chemical warfare agents against the enemy. There was never any intent to use dioxin to poison food, land, or water. To compare the use of Agent Orange to Zyklon B is like comparing the Korean War to Pol Pot's "killing fields." I think the chemical companies (who did pay restitution to American veterans in a 1984 class action suit) are in the clear in this particular action.

• The companies developed their herbicides in accordance with government specifications, and the presence of very small quantities of dioxin was actually an accident. These same herbicides were being used on U.S. household lawns (in much smaller quantities). This was prior to the EPA (and illustrates the urgent need for this federal organization).
• The American military used this product to clear vegetation for the purposes of reducing ambushes, not to cause genocide. There was no deliberate targeting of noncombatants that could be construed as a "war crime," unlike, say, firebombing Tokyo or Dresden.
• The U.S. government had not ratified the 1925 Geneva Protocol on use of chemical weapons (although it had signed it). If the government wanted to use chemical weapons against enemy combatants (which it didn't), it would have been technically within international law.
• The U.S. government did not then, and does not now, consider napalm, herbicides and riot control agents to be applicable under chemical weapons treaties. They are chemical munitions (in as much as they have chemical and not high explosive fills), but not toxic chemical warfare munitions.

Mind you, I am not releasing the chemical companies of culpability for failure to research the long-term harmful effects of dioxin on people, animals, and vegetation. I am not sure the chemical companies or military leadership really understood the mass quantities of herbicide that the U.S. military dropped over the country and the potential cumulative effects of dropping millions of tons of herbicides on civilian-inhabited lands. But to accuse the companies of participating in war crimes, that's just absurd. I can understand the U.S. government's concern about this - what's next, suits against the manufacturers of depleted uranium rounds and artillery-delivered antipersonnel mines because of post-conflict issues? Suits against companies that develop sonar that might hurt acquatic animals? Suits against companies that make cruise missiles and JDAM kits because one hit the wrong target?

While we do need to keep companies within the military-industrial complex accountable to both the public and the military it serves, we ought not to hamstring the military and the arms industry to the point where we cannot use technology to better protect our troops and allow their safe return. Avoidance of unnecessary civilian casualties is always important, but must be tempered against the ultimate goal of successfully completing a military operation without undue costs of manpower and resources (to either side).

Oscar Nite

Okay one more film post and then back to work. Overall, I was pleased with the Oscars, I predicted 17 of the 24 awards (losing out on the shorts and artistic sound/costume kinda stuff). I try to guess what WILL win and temper that with what I think SHOULD or might win, which usually works when the process is logical. While I don't necessarily agree with all of the awards, at least I understand the process that produced them (this year). At least there were no Anna Paquin (Best Supporting Actress, 1993)/Judi Dench (Best Supporting Actress, 1998)/"Shakespeare in Love" (Best Picture, 1998) surprise moments.

I liked "Million Dollar Baby," did not see "Aviator" or "Ray" yet, loved "Sideways" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," and the unrecognized "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers." Working on getting to "The Incredibles," which evidently is great entertainment for an animated "kids" film. Like Roy at alicublog, I really enjoyed seeing the films that Sidney Lumet has directed - "Serpico", "12 Angry Men", "Fail Safe", and others. I had no idea many of these fine films could be attributed to him, many back in the days of the real acting giants. I guess many of us are blinded by the actors' glamour and don't recognize the real heros/villians of movies, the scriptwrighters and directors that really put out the magic. I'm rushing over to my Netflix account to add the war movie "The Hill" (starring the magnificant Sean Connery) right now.

UPDATE: Oh damn! Netflix doesn't have "The Hill!"

Casual Fridays

The film to rent this month is "Shaun of the Dead." You probably did not see this British independent film as it wisked through the States, so if you want a truly funny and witty film, this is a must-see romantic comedy with zombies. Really.

Now, it might help if you've seen the brilliant but terrifying "28 Days Later" or "Dawn of the Dead" movies, but really not a prerequisite. For all of us that have shuffled blindly to and from work, you will appreciate this film. I thought Shaun's going to get coffee and a Nutty Buddy during the morning of the chaos was a scream, as was his plan to rescue Liz, save Mum, and hole up in the pub to wait it all out. There are lots of hidden gags in this film, so watch closely. And make sure to see the DVD's extras, especially the TV bits, for a very, very funny take on commercializing zombie culture post-incident.

On a more serious (but still casual) note, the movie "Gunner Palace" is quietly gathering a lot of steam and publicity. This film is not "Fahrenheit 9/11" - this appears to be a non-partisan, troop-oriented movie about an Army artillery unit that operates out of one of Saddam's palaces. Not a movie about why we went to Iraq, but rather about the troops that have to actually do their job there. The New America Foundation hosted a screening of the movie in DC. Here's a NY Times summary.

Quality or Quantity?

For those of you that don't believe that the Army's end strength is not an issue these days, note SecDef Rumsfeld's latest great idea - drop professional military education for officers. Fortunately, some (unnamed) senior military leadership disagrees, and with good reason.

"Let's come up with some options how we might shorten professional military education or abbreviate it during stress periods," Mr. Rumsfeld wrote in a short memo marked "for official use only." It went only to Gen. Myers and David Chu, defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness.
    Mr. Rumsfeld's proposal is meeting with resistance among the uniformed military.
    "We've done this before, but on a case-by-case basis," one officer said. "We've had other requests [during the Iraq war] that we've turned down."

Yeah, turning out quality officers can really be inconvenient during "stress periods." Other military officials defend this option, stating that some battlefield experiences are "better than anything they will get in a classroom." Of course, the grading curve in the classroom is a bit more forgiving than in Fallujah.

Max Boot has got a unique solution to the recruiting shortages: hire foreigners to defend and advance freedom across the world. Not mercenaries - this is a multinational force under U.S. command, for those less-than-critical national security concerns that call for unilateral interdictions. It would save the military on recruiting budgets and lessen that public scrutiny on U.S. service members killed in overseas conflicts. Costs less AND less filling!

David Holiday discusses this issue and notes other recruiting attempts.

Wake Up!

The PRNewswire reports on the results of the latest Harris poll, showing that a signficant chunk of Americans are still hypnotized by the Bush propaganda machine (supported by various Repub politicians) and the so-called liberal media's failure to call a spade a spade.

More surprising perhaps are the large numbers (albeit not majorities) who believe the following claims not made by the president and which virtually no experts believe to be true:

-- 47 percent believe that Saddam Hussein helped plan and support the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001 (up six percentage points from November).
-- 44 percent actually believe that several of the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11 were Iraqis (up significantly from 37% in November).
-- 36 percent believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded (down slightly from 38% in November).

Another interesting finding is that only 46 percent believe that Saddam Hussein was prevented from developing weapons of mass destruction by the U.N. weapons inspectors, a fact which most reports now support.

Hey guys. What part of "No evidence was found to suggest Iraq possessed chemical or biological weapons" did you not understand? Of course, it's not like the Bush administration has stepped up to the plate and publicly acknowledged this fact. At least PM Tony Blair had the courage to do that much.

Germans Got Game

Evidently the normal German folks were not going to be good obedient troopers... President Bush was going to do a townhall in Mainz but cancelled when the German government couldn't promise that embarrassing questions would not be asked. Don't you just hate it when that happens? Instead, they found some "young Republican" clones and barred any press coverage.

As an ersatz for the town hall meeting on Wednesday, Bush will now meet with a well-heeled group of so-called "young leaders." Close to 20 participants will participate in the exclusive round to be held in the opulent Mozart Hall of a former royal palace in Mainz, giving them the opportunity for a close encounter with the president. The chat is being held under the slogan: "A new chapter for trans-Atlantic relations." The aim of the meeting is to give these "young leaders" a totally different impression of George W. Bush. In order to guarantee an open exchange, the round has been closed to journalists -- ensuring that any embarrassments will be confined to a small group.

The guest list for the Wednesday afternoon gathering has been handpicked by several US organizations with offices in Germany. In recent days, the Aspen Institute and the German Marshall Fund have sent lists of possible guests to the German Foreign Ministry. The requirement was that all of the nominees had to be in their twenties or thirties and they must already have been in a leadership position at a young age. In other words: there won't be any butchers or handymen on the elite guest list, but rather young co-workers from blue chip companies like automaker DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Bank or the consultancy McKinsey. The fact that two American organizations are the ones managing the guest list suggests that the chat won't be overly critical of Bush.

Sisyphus Shrugged notes the members of these two American organizations (no real surprises). Would that our press be so observant as to point out the hypocracy of these scripted townhall meetings. I guess that wouldn't be "fair and balanced," but it would have the unique facet of being both true and news.

Guten Tag!

President Bush is visiting in Germany, but with some serious protection. The Financial Times reports that the city of Mainz is being locked down as it is on the route between the Frankfurt airport and Bush's meeting with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

In a contemporary echo of the Lady Godiva legend, anyone living on the route of the presidential motorcade is being discouraged from taking a peek at the 60- to 80-strong column of vehicles conveying the US president. In police leaflets, residents have been asked to keep their windows shut and stay clear of balconies “to avoid misunderstandings”.

Neither driving nor parking will be allowed in the zone, where garages have been emptied, mailboxes unbolted and 1,300 manhole covers sealed.

To keep all travel options open for the president, four highway sections east of the city will be blocked to traffic. Schools will be shut and many workers will be taking a “Bush day”. The nearby Opel and Nescafé plants decided to move their shifts or suspend production.

Gee, maybe they're nervous about German public opinion of our Prez? These preparations were visible even in Brussels today, according to the article. This last sentence caught my eye. "Although the country has no history of terrorism, more than 5,300 policemen will be deployed, supported by 400 soldiers, 400 firemen and elite anti-chemical forces."

I didn't even know that Belgium had elite anti-chemical forces. Maybe they came from another EU country. But I am just struck by the continuous idea that terrorists are all lining up with their CBRN hazards, ready to attack when we let our guard down. It's not just a Bush administration mantra, the paranoia is actually being demonstrated!

CB Weapons Found In Iraq

Or so says Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA) in his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference last Thursday. Michelle Goldberg relates this account in Salon:

"America's Operation Iraqi Freedom is still producing shock and awe, this time among the blame-America-first crowd," he crowed. Then he said, "We continue to discover biological and chemical weapons and facilities to make them inside Iraq." Apparently, most of the hundreds of people in attendance already knew about these remarkable, hitherto-unreported discoveries, because no one gasped at this startling revelation.

You know, I read these things and it makes me wonder first, who are these conservatives to question the left about "reality-based communities," and second, this guy is in charge of the Homeland Security committee in the House? Good lord. Solid proof that seniority and loyalty are more important than competence.

Defense Budget Alternatives

I stumbled upon this Congressional Budget Office report on evaluating national defense options to the existing President's Budget. Lots of good information in here, and one would hope that some serious discussion results as this information is absorbed. While the ArmsControlWonk focuses on missile defense options, I was looking at the Army options. Note the $38 billion it would take to fully form, recruit, and outfit two new Army divisions. Costs could be reduced to $18 billion if you strip out some short-range air defense artillery and field artillery units for personnel. Then note the cost savings from cancelling the Army's Future Combat System - thus the Army and DOD's reluctance to make the Army end strength increases permanent.

This is a good document to read if only because it summarizes both pros and cons of the issues. No easy decisions here - well, maybe one. Issue 50-29 suggests that DOD consolidate the three service exchanges - Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Navy Exchange Command, and Marine Corps exchange service - into one consolidated exchange.

Some critics of consolidation argue that the Navy Exchange Command and the Marine Corps system, with their unique service identities, are better able to meet the needs of their patrons than a larger, DoD-wide system would be. But proponents of consolidation point to the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which has successfully served two distinct services for many years. People who shop in exchanges say their main concern is the ability of exchanges to offer low prices and a wide selection of goods--a concern that a consolidated system might be able to satisfy more effectively.

I can't believe that, in this day of Wal-Mart expansions, DOD is letting the Navy and Marine Corps get away with the old "service-unique requirements" line. They're not designing and producing weapon systems, they're reselling commercial merchandise. Or maybe it's all about that esprit de corps thing.

Not That There's Anything Wrong With That

The New York Times reports that the British Navy is recruiting gay men and women into its ranks, demonstrating its committment to diversity and nondiscrimination. Evidently the European courts ruled that Britian's previous practice of banning gays from the military was a human rights violation. Things appear to be working out - the Empire remains standing.

Recently, gay men and women in the British services have lived and fought in Iraq alongside heterosexuals without problems, according to military officials.

"I would say that before the European court ruling, it was difficult to see this policy happening or working," said Lt. Cmdr. Craig Jones, a gay naval officer who often speaks publicly, with the navy's approval, on gay rights issues.

"People were quite hot under the collar about it; the admirals, generals and air marshals were really concerned," he added. "I'm quite sure that these folks look now and think, 'What was all that fuss about?' "

Indeed. Would that we had such enlighted minds in the United States other than in academia, but I would guess that it would take similar legal action (and someone taping Pat Robertson's mouth shut) to stop the DOD's policy.

UPDATE: The NY Times explains why this issue is important. DOD has spent more than $200 million to replace the more than 10,000 service personnel discharged for being found to be gay or disclosing that they were gay. DOD says that this number is lower than the discharges due to drug offenses, pregnancies, or weight problems, but you have to wonder whether this policy is unnecessarily degrading military readiness. Certainly Australia, Britian, Italy and Spain don't see this issue the same as the U.S. government.

Losing Control

Now that we've "turned the corner" on Iraq, things will get better now, right? Well maybe not right away. We I found out today in the Washington Post that on the day of the Iraqi elections, there was a riot in a U.S.-run Iraqi prison (or as the article states it, a "detention facility) at Camp Bucca.

Four inmates died and six were injured in the uprising the morning of Jan. 31, the most deaths in a prison disturbance since U.S. forces invaded Iraq two years ago. Frightened guards, some having arrived in Iraq only a month before, tried vainly to quell the rioting, spraying pepper gas and shooting rubberized pellets into throngs of prisoners, according to accounts by troops here.

The clashes spread through five of eight compounds at the sprawling detention facility in the southern Iraqi desert near the Kuwaiti border. Prisoners pelted guards with large stones and makeshift weapons, heaving debris over 15-foot-high metal fences and up at 30-foot-tall guard towers that ring the compounds.

Only after two Army guards in separate towers opened fire with M-16 rifles, killing the inmates, did the violence subside. U.S. officers say the guards acted on their own, with no order to fire. Rules here allow for use of deadly force if soldiers feel endangered.

I don't know the details of how the military police run things, but it seems like a new batch of MPs, Army and Air Force, moved in a few months ago, and the prison crowd had learned the limitations of the prison response force and had improvised their own weapons and tactics. My impression is that this is yet another indication of an Army that is just not prepared for a long-term post-conflict operation. I mean, does the Bush administration figure on holding these guys forever? and if it is a long term detention operation, it appears that more concrete measures could have and should have been in place.

What bothers me is that this happened three weeks ago, and we don't hear about it until now? What, too many "good news" stories about the election and no one wanted to be called the sourpuss?

I've seen a few articles where the Army is planning to transfer service members out of their specialty and into the military police and civil affairs units. Needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and all that. However, the Army also needs to keep an eye on that declining recruitment trend. Too many "good news" stories like this one and people will start talking about the "D" word again.

UPDATE: Evidently I need to watch the news more... CENTCOM did report this.

UPDATE II: Phil Carter addresses this non-lethal force/MP training aspects of this issue.

Yet More Details on DOD Supplemental

I know you're all dying to get more information on the 2006 DOD supplemental budget. Just because I'm a detail-oriented kinda guy, and I don't trust the media when all they do is regurgitate out DOD press releases, I updated my old post on this subject with details from the White House's budget office. Now most of the White House release is narrative, so for those of you so inclined, here's a file that summarizes and tabulates the numbers. This includes breakouts of funds for the four services, defense-wide spending, and other federal agencies. Don't blame me for any errors, this was fast and dirty, but I think it's pretty close .

Of interest - $42 million to build a new detention center at Gitmo under Army military construction funds, and $250 million for a new facility for the Director for National Intelligence and other intel projects. For Dept of Energy, $110 million for radiacs to support interdicting the illegal traffic of radiological and nuclear material. Lots of hidden little details in this document, as Fred Kaplan reports. The more you scrutinize these budget documents, the more you understand why one senator might vote for, before voting against, such supplemental budgets.

Casual Fridays

With both Babylon 5 and Farscape off the air, and Enterprise being decommissioned this year, there's not much for us scifi fans to look forward to. Thank goodness there is the SciFi channel and its attempts to keep us entertained, if not always successfully. One of the successes, however, has to be the new and improved Battlestar Galactica show (Fridays, 10 PM EST).

I fondly remember the old series - it was fun, but really campy sometimes. No women fighter pilots, really weak special effects, mediocre plots, but what the hell, it was fun. The new series is much more grim, and has an edgy military tone that I think was lacking in the original. Not that it's perfect (I will leave judgement to my Navy carrier colleagues), but I like the way Edward Olmos and his crew carry themselves, for the most part. Pretty good makeups of futuristic weapon systems and Navy/Marine types. Kudos also to Mary McDonnell, who gets a good political role rather than playing a wife here.

I don't like the human version Cylons at all - I mean really, copies so good they cannot be detected? What is this, a takeoff of the movie "Imposter" (which is really good, BTW)? Send in the waves of robot drones. The crew is entirely too young (or I'm getting old) - I want to know why the fleet hasn't conscripted older citizens into the military force, or are they all tending the (out-of-sight) hydroponics farms? The writing could be better; the plots are overly sensationalistic, and I think the writers focus more on drama than on science (but that's not new for TV or film scifi).

More Details on 2006 Money

I could get a glimse of the Program Budget Decision 753 here, but the whole document won't open for some reason. It does show the summary on CBRN defense, but not the details:

Weapons of Mass Destruction - Increase WMD activities to enhance warfighter defense capabilities to include building a new test chamber for non-traditional agents; upgrading test and evaluation facilities and the US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID); enhancing research and development efforts in the areas of agent detection, early warning and battle management, decontamination, collective protection, and medical countermeasures.

$231M in 2006, $222M in 2007, $283M in 2008, $245M in 2009, $226M in 2010, $178M in 2011

Direct the Under Secretary of Defense (AT&L) and the Under Secretary of Defense (P&R) to submit to the Deputy Secretary of Defense a joint construction implementation plan for USAMRIID by June 30, 2005, which includes incrementally funding Phases 1 and 2.

$64M in 2006, $100M in 2007, $170M in 2008, $194 in 2009, $145M in 2010, $140M in 2011

Reduce the chemical biological program.

-$10M in 2006, -$20M in 2007, -$30M in 2008, -$40 in 2009, -$50M in 2010, -$50M in 2011

What does this mean? Hard to tell right now, other than that OSD has its focus on pushing biodefense vaccines harder and pushing additional basic research into defenses against NTAs. Nontraditional agent (NTA) is a nondescript term used to designate a wide variety of chemical and biochemical materials. Such agents are not currently known to be in foreign threat agent stockpiles but are assessed to be in development and could emerge as threat agents in the near future (AR 380-86).

The test and evaluation improvements are a good thing, long overdue in fact. Basic research - a black hole inside government labs that sucks in money by the millions and allows nothing to escape. The $200M decrement is probably on hardware - OSD(PA&E)'s less-than-subtle attempt to make the program pay back its gains in basic research. More should become clearer in a few months.

America's Army Has the Juice

In the New York Times, an article discusses how the developers of the computer game "America's Army" are working with the Army to get the appropriate level of detail. I played an earlier version of the game - it really is quite good, down to the MILES trainers used in the tutorial section. I haven't played it for a long time, primarily because if you "die" during a force-on-force match, you have to wait out the game's turn until one side wins, and I'm too impatient. Maybe I have to take another look at this game...

Journalists Rally for Judith Miller

Howard Kurtz pens an article about journalists praising Judith Miller's refusal to name the person who told her about Victoria Plame's employment by the CIA.

"It's an amazing twist in her career," said Michael Massing, a contributing editor at Columbia Journalism Review who has criticized Miller's reporting on whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. "At a time when she was being held up to such scrutiny for her writing on Iraq, she now is being cast in the role of journalistic martyr. I think it's horrendous that she could go to jail, regardless of whatever journalistic shortcomings she's been guilty of."

Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, agreed. "This has rehabilitated her image a bit," she said. "Even within the ranks of the New York Times, there was an enormous amount of controversy about her. Now this comes along, and almost everyone can agree she doesn't deserve to go to jail over this, even if she's made mistakes in the past and not been skeptical enough in the past. She's doing the right thing in this case."

To which I can only say - bullshit. She had it comin'. I really, really don't like Judith Miller, mostly because of her crusade to find the WMDs in Iraq and her arrogant refusal to admit that she did anything wrong. She willingly beat the drum as directed by the White House, and despite the New York Time's passive mea culpa to correct the record, has no shame about it. Now she knows details of a national security incident, did not write about the subject, and protests that she has to protect her sources. No story, no priviledge, in my limited view.

Of course, the real drama surrounds Robert Novak and when the prosecutors will throw his sorry ass in jail.

You Bastard!

My wife found this on a knitting blog. Imagine! I think it's authentic - that is to say, from a military source.

DOD Supplemental Funding

The Washington Post details the President's request to Congress for $82 billion in emergency spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus a few other things. I'm not sure the WashPost article addressed everything in their report. The White House press release details the funding requests as well.

• $31.2 billion - Military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan
• $12.0 billion - Repair and replace military equipment
• $11.5 billion - DOD pay, allowances, subsistence, other personnel costs (survivor benefits, SGLI, etc)
• $5.7 billion - Train and equip Iraqi security forces
• $5.3 billion - Support to Army and Marine "modular" reorganization
• $3.3 billion - Purchase armor for convoy trucks and other armored vehicles, night vision equipment, and helicopter defense systems
• $3.1 billion - International aid projects (Afghan counter-drug operations, Palestinian support, humanitarian aid to Dafur)
• $2.0 billion - Afghanistan reconstruction
• $2.0 billion - Coalition partner bribes support
• $1.7 billion - Train and equip Afghan security forces
• $1.4 billion - New American embassy in Baghdad
• $1.3 billion - Military construction (incl. a new detention facility at Gitmo)
• $0.95 billion - Aid to Asian tsunami victims and tsunami warning system
• $0.4 billion - DoE, DoJ, DEA, Intel community, other (support to GWOT)

So here's the test. What items in here reflect "unplanned, emergency" appropriations that could not have been accounted for in the normal Defense or State budgets? Is the answer (a) all of the items, (b) everything except the procurement of military equipment not directly related to the war efforts, the payoffs to the coalition allies, the embassy and the "modular reorganization" efforts, (c) only those bills required to support military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and for humanitarian aid, or (d) none of the above. Your answer effectively places you on the right to left political spectrum. I'm leaning toward C, although I could be talked into B.

Now a cynic would think that the Bush administration is blatently trying to bypass Congressional oversight while retaining the claim that it has a responsible restraint on its proposed defense budget. Expect both sides of the aisle to seriously scrutinize these items before voting to give Bush everything he asked for. God forbid that someone accuse them of not supporting the troops, even though the reality is that half this supplemental request, if not the overwhelming majority of it, should have been included as routine costs and part of the $419.3 billion defense budget request.

Inside the Iraq Survey Group

ArmsControlWonk has once again penned a great post that should be a "must-read" for anyone interested in understanding the search for WMDs in Iraq. An Australian television program interviews Rod Barton, a microbiologist that worked for Charles Duefler on the ISG.

From an American perspective, Barton’s most interesting claim is that he resigned in March 2004 (read his resignation letter) after the CIA pressued the Iraq Survey Group to “sex up” the interim report by adding eight or nine “nuggets” and omit ISG conclusions that pre-war assessments about aluminum tubes and mobile biological trailers were wrong.

Barton returned to the ISG in September 2004 after, he claims, receiving assurances from Charles Duelfer that the CIA would not pressure the ISG. Barton feels the final report is “honest.”

Read the post and the television interview. Barton explains that they found out there was no anthrax present in Iraq in 2003 and why, and debunks the "mobile biological trailers" story. As a biologist and member of the ISG, this seems like pretty sound stuff.

They're Liars

The ArmsControlWonk has a great article in reference to the administration's review of the Iranian nuclear technology program, North Korean nuclear weapons program, and its past assessments of the alleged Iraqi WMD program. Like a repeating record, the constant answer seems to be "well, the Clinton administration thought there were WMDs there. Other countries thought so also. Congress believed the intel estimates. It wasn't our fault."

Which is complete bunk. Whether the experts thought nuclear, biological, or chemical weapon stockpiles existed and whether this was a threating weapon program was one thing. Deciding to act upon this intelligence through a preventive strike to force a regime change was solely the Bush administration's action. Practically no other nation or think tank, no matter how conservative, thought that an invasion was the answer when there were so many other nonproliferation and counterproliferation options available. Containment, deterrence, sanctions, isolation, lots of options available.

I'd just love for someone in the Bush administration to slip up and admit, "Yeah, we knew the WMD angle was bunk but it sold well with our test audiences. It was all about this idea of pushing democracy into the Middle East and seeing if it would domino through the region. You got us." But I probably won't hear that for some years. The neocon mafia is nothing if not lockstep and "resolute" in their views.