Bob Kerrey (may quit 9/11 commission) is on Hardball tonight

[seemslikeadream]

Frustrated by Bush administration restrictions, a former senator said yesterday he might quit the special commission investigating the Sept.11 terror attacks.

I am no longer ...feeling comfortable that I'm going to be able to read and process what I need in order to participate in writing a report about how it was that 19 men defeated every single defensive system the U.S. put up to kill 3,000 Americans on Sept.11 said Kerrey.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/168092p-146920c.html

[hlthe2b]

1. For those of us who can't see Hardball, a "play-by-play" would be

GREATLY appreciated!

[Octafish]

2. Medal of Honor winner...

When it comes to war, Bob Kerrey knows what he's talking about. The guy lost a leg in the service of our country. So he knows what it means to sacrifice for our nation's well-being.

When it comes to criminality, the guy can smell a skunk a mile away. Kerrey sees the 9-11 commission is being stonewalled, railroaded, smacked down and belittled by Bush and the rethugs in Congress and the courts.

The BFEE can't intimidate Kerrey, though. He can see right through the fog and tell who was willing to sacrifice 3,000 of his fellow citizens and country's guests on behalf of Big Oil.

[grasswire]

3. we're not ignoring cube rats...

......Tweety keeps pimping the appearance, but it must be the last segment when they're about out of time. Nuttin' yet.

[grasswire]

5. no access to PDB

stonewalling by WH

[Cush]

4. on now

[grasswire]

6. kerrey

1. Osama declared war
2. Osama attacked embassies and USS Cole
3. Our mistake was to not declare war on OBL

"war on terrorism" wrong target

We didn't declare war on Japanese planes after Pearl Harbor, we declared war on Japan.

[grasswire]

7. OBL...

...has explained his fataw and built an ARMY with sophisticated capability.

So when our own FAA says we didn't expect attacks, I don't understand.

How were they able to defeat all our agencies and intel?

[grasswire]

8. tweety detailing all the..

...overlooked bits.

Phoenix memo, etc.

Kerrey says if we had had declaration of war against OBL, these would have been connected. CIA needed AUTHORITY to collect and link data.

[grasswire]

9. Tweety:

"Why didn't Clinton or Bush declare war against Al Queda?"

Kerrey doesn't like the law enforcement treatment. He doesn't like investigation of USS Cole as a "crime scene."

[grasswire]

11. coming up next

Kerrey on AWOL.

That segment on 9-11 was very disappointing to me.

[TacticalPeek]

14. Agreed.

Kerrey, the anti-maverick.

[kher-heb]

10. Kerrey is inept

He is proving to be a conspirator in the coverup by denying 9/11 as a criminal act and blaming Clinton.

[Doctor_J]

13. Kerrey doesn't like Clinton

but I didn't think he'd upchuck the Limpballs line that 9/11 was Big Dog's fault. TOo bad

[Robbien]

16. Sorry but I disagree

The problem existed long before 9/11. Both Clinton and Bush are to blame for this. Clinton softballed it and Bush went off in another direction.

[ParanoidPat]

37. "softballed"?

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1558918.stm :)

Sunday, 23 September, 2001, 05:01 GMT 06:01 UK

Clinton ordered Bin Laden killing

Former US President Bill Clinton has admitted his administration tried to assassinate Osama Bin Laden in 1998 - but failed because it could not find him.

The move followed the bombing of two US embassies in East Africa which Bin Laden - the chief suspect in the US terrorist attacks - was suspected of masterminding.

"I authorized the arrest, and, if necessary, the killing of Osama Bin Laden, and we actually made contact with a group in Afghanistan to do it - and they were unsuccessful," Mr Clinton told a news conference in New York.

He added that special forces had been trained for a ground assault.

However, he said the US lacked the necessary intelligence at the time to make this a viable option.

<More>

And there's this little gem from Salon Newsreal in 1998 that might help to explain what he was up against at the time. ;-)

From http://www.salon.com/news/1998/08/27news.html

Is bin Laden a terrorist mastermind --
or a fall guy?

The Clinton administration accuses Saudi renegade Osama bin Laden of being directly responsible for almost every terrorist act of the last decade. But where's the evidence?

BY LOREN JENKINS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Our target was terror. Our mission was clear."
-- President Clinton, Aug. 20, 1998

To the litany of terrorist acts that President Clinton laid at the feet of renegade Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden in justification of his cruise missile attacks on Afghanistan and the Sudan last week, the administration has now alleged a murky plot to assassinate the president as well.

The alleged plot against Clinton was to have taken place when he was to have visited Pakistan. The anonymous intelligence sources that have made such an industry in bin Laden revelations this week acknowledge that the plot never went beyond the coffee-shop talking stage.

But the charge helped to reinforce the president's claims that bin Laden is "perhaps the preeminent organizer and financier of international terrorism in the world today," and that there was "compelling" -- if unrevealable -- evidence that a network of terrorist groups he controlled was planning "further attacks against Americans and other freedom-loving groups."

<snip>

At a time when presidential veracity is at an all-time low, one might have wished that the president and his national security advisors had laid out in detail just what was the "compelling evidence" that led the United States to launch some 75 missiles at two sovereign nations.

As it is, the public, both here in the United States and in the more critical world at large, is being asked to take a giant Kierkegaardian leap of faith in the president's claims. Given Clinton's recent track record in the "trust me" department, this is a lot to demand.

<More> Worth the read!

So much for NOT attacking a President at a time of war. :shrug:

Bill Clinton clearly saw Osama Bin Laden as a threat to the US and attempted to stop him even though he was faced with constant public ridicule and accusations by the right of "wagging the dog" to divert attention from his 'other problem'. IIRC, both the house and senate were under Republican control at the time making it difficult for him to get the appropriations to cover the costs of any meaningful effort to 'get Osama'.

Well at least that's the way I remember it going down.

[Mick Knox]

12. Said clinton & bush shoulda delcared war

before 911.. not much else... no new info and no big statement against anyone... more like a political talking points.. for someone resigning i expected more...

[grasswire]

15. Is this the best we can do?

Didn't even mention Hastert slamming lid on the investigation.

[Mick Knox]

17. Thats my point...

I would think if he is resigning.. he would have a reason he would want to express...

That is not the case at all..

Gop could use kerrey in a campaign ad and it wouldnt hurt em one bit....

[grasswire]

21. Kerrey on Kerry

He's a terrific senator.
Assisted in peace agreement in cambodia.
Very difficult period in our history.
Net effect of work of McCain, Kerry, and GHWBush was good.

Bipartisanship in foreign policy is best.

He says "I'm close to Bob Dole."

"Very sympathetic" to Bush's decision to go to National Guard.

[TacticalPeek]

18. Also sounded like he was not very 'up' on what comish staff is doing?!?!

I don't recall hearing before about Tenet on 9/11 saying 'I hope this isn't connected to that guy in flight school'.

Whaaa?!

[Mick Knox]

19. On John Kerry...

biggest thrill in senate was working with kerry mccain and bush1...

Pinch me.. is this for real?

[Mick Knox]

20. BOB DOLE! wtf is going on....

[grasswire]

22. Tweety:

Tweety: Is it positive for Dems to emphasize Kerry's military?

Kerrey: Sure.

Tweety: Why doesn't Bush just say I wasn't going to a war we were losing.

Kerrey: He hasn't attended a single funeral. We need to come to terms with the sacrifice. That's the ONLY thing about him that's gotten my gall.

[grasswire]

23. Kerrey:

BUSH SERVED HONORABLY.

That's what he said.

[Mick Knox]

24. My reaction to this is it was

a 20 minute infomercial to vote for bush.. that was the most softballest lovefest I have ever seen.

[Stephanie]

35. I didn't see it , but I am aware from my reading

that there is a bond in the Congress among the Vietnam Vets.

[TacticalPeek]

25. Christ!

He's angling to replace Cheney on aWol's ticket!

[TacticalPeek]

26. Note to leftcoasters: don't waste your time on this.

Or your blood pressure.

[JasonBerry]

29. I thought Kerrey and Matthews both did a great job

Unless somebody comes on the tube and blasts Bush with all guns blazing, and then proceeds to mouth the MIHOP/LIHOP theories they are "in on it."

I thought it was a good interview.

[TacticalPeek]

31. I don't expect anyone on tvtalk to go MIHOPLIHOP,

especially in 30 sec segments. And I personally do not subscribe to those religions, which to my mind are largely conjecture, 'one side of a case'.

But I do want a real investigation, sworn testimony, subpoena power, no exec priviledge, no false deadlines, etc. Which is to say, I want to know as much as possible about what happened, no secrets, and to fix our security flaws as much as possible. Never again!

Kerrey/Tweety as mentioned, did not even mention Hastert's carrying water for bushco's political fire department, did not discuss the delays and obstruction, etc., or not much.

And Bob seems to have calmed way down from his comments in 2000 on the AWOL aWol. Honorable service, my ass.

Maybe he's just being the sly politician, and achieving some good that I don't see. But I seriously doubt it.

[KharmaTrain]

27. Put The LIHOP/MIHOP Hats Away

Yes, Kerry threw blame at Clinton, but there's some truth here as he was intimidated by the flying monkey right blamed Clinton on being soft on terrorism, so he struck...but not hard enough. Then they claimed "wag the dog". Had Clinton kept the missiles raining and sent in a special ops force things may have turned different, but I don't think so. By the late 90's Al Queda was so organized and entrenched in so many countries (mostly our "friends") taking out Bin Laden or minimilizing him (such as we have done over the past 3 years) still wouldn't prevent attacks.

As usual, the root issue of why he and his ilk want to kill us isn't discussed and until these questions are brought to light, the movement in the Arab world will continue. Thanks to this regime's sticking it the Arab world's face during the invasion, even more recruits and a generation of Arab hatred has been unleashed on this country. Kerry also missed this point.

OK, we're getting a clearer picture that this regime ignored all types of red flags about 9/11 and its actions before and during are very suspect, but without a smoking gun...a REAL smoking gun, a majority of people will never want to believe our government was involved or beningly aware of an attack on the U.S.

I'd take a report that lambasts this administration for its poor handling of threats prior to 9/11, it's poor response on the day in question and it's lies to cover up the damage in the aftermath. These point directly to how this regime handles our national security and that this should be viewed by the nation when deciding if these goons should continue in their pillage of this country.

[Mick Knox]

28. Ralph Nader a few nights ago

was mercilesslessly destroyed on hardball to the point I almost felt sorry for him and i'm no fan of ralph, least of all this year. Mathews left him a bubbling blob of drool.. tonight.. he pressed no issues at all.

Your hope of some actual report like you want is obviously not going to happen.. not now .. not ever.. not by my impressions of Bob Kerreys comments ..

[KharmaTrain]

32. While Not A Whitewash, It's Gonna Be Sanitized

I expect this report won't be much help in the election...even if it claims * flew the planes himself as it's been framed as partisan now.

Yes, I got the feeling from Kerry he's frustrated at the overall ineptness of the process and the lack of cooperation from many quarters on getting information. We've already seen Keane back down when he attacked this regime and now the clock is running for the last time...if this commission won't get another 90 days...too close to the election.

[TacticalPeek]

33. Too close to the election?

Some may say this, and will.

Too close because . . . that would be unwisely partisan or unfair or . . . what?

Unfair to . . . ? Politicians, voters, history?

Ah, history; the story.

Turning back a few pages in the story, we note that the Congressional vote on the resolution authorizing the president to use force against Iraq took place October 10-11, 2002. The US Congressional elections took place November 5, 2002.

So, while some may say "too close to the election", they should realize that this Administration and this Congressional leadership is committed to the proposition that political debate and contest of important national security matters cannot be "too close" in time to national elections. Perhaps this is because they think everything is different after 9/11, when national security is at stake, as it is with the commission's investigation.

Politically speaking, they have built their own box, and now they are in it.

[shooga]

34. work with me on this one

Flight 11

Flight 93 (9+3=) 12

Flight 175 (1+7+5=) 13

Flight 77 (7+7=) 14

[Stephanie]

36. Are you a numerologist?

11
12
13
14
___
50

--> 5

5 = ?
or
11 = 2
12 = 3
13 = 4
14 = 5
______

14 = 5

[Festivito]

30. I'm smelling a dirty trick in this.

Either to confuse Kerrey's war record with Kerry's.

Or, making it look like Hastert is fighting for less 9/11 commission time against Bush wanting to give more (an astonshing lie if done so).

Or, maybe just to confuse the public that no one is leaving the commission because of Bush admin stonewalling. See, the only one thinking about it is Kerrey, therefore the rest must be happy campers, rather than restrained ineffectual drones unable to investigate the real 9/11 causes while fully aware that any replacements if they leave will be hand-picked by the same people they want to investigate.

[annagull]

38. All the Dems should quit--incomplete report

I think all the Dems should walk out before the report is given, saying that it is impossible to get a complete report with this administration.