Thursday, July 31, 2003
Dr. paranoia gleans insights into the unknown Iraq decision-makers
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
The current Washington drama has all the elements of a West Wing episode (or a Greek drama) except for a resolution, someone told Dr. Paranoia – the President who stretches the truth for a higher principle, the faithfuls who fall on the sword to protect the Chief, the ally who tries to bail him out, the Intelligence agent who cannot tell a lie, the opposition Furies who want it all in the open, the Olympian ex-President who warns the zealots not to push it too far.
Dr Paranoia, fascinated by the new names and stories the Presidents 16 words in his State of the Union speech of Jan. 28 have brought out, has decided to provide a list, or a cast of characters. Rank and rate them yourself.
The words, “British government has learned that Saddam Hussein has recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa, “ have been dissected by. George Tenet, head of the CIA, in a closed-doors Senate Intelligence Committee meeting. Allegedly the White House wanted to speak of “uranium from Niger,” which the CIA could not substantiate, and final settled on the above less specific statement. Tenet’s Director of Weapons Proliferation Alan Foley appears to have identified Robert G. Joseph of the National Security Council as the White House negotiator. On July 22 Stephen Hadley of the NSC, Condoleeza Rice’s 2nd in command, admitted that, after having been warned by the CIA, he had removed a similar statement from the President’s speech in Cincinnati on October 7, yet had let it appear in the SOTH message. A speechwriter, Michael Garson, also acknowledges that he had ignored two CIA messages to that effect. A few days ago, on July 24, Dr. Paul Wolfowitz, Assistant Secretary of Defense, admitted that US had underestimated the resistance and had done other “stupid things” in Iraq. . This was in the face of a disclosure that the DoD had set up a special intelligence unit, the Department of Special Plans, to vet evidence of Iraqi WMD activities.
Who are all these strange new players ?. First, the CIA. The new ( March 2001) Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation and Arms Control Center, assembled by Foley from three CIA structures, comprises a group of 500 analysts, scientists and support people, organized to keep the President and Congress informed on issues of nuclear arms and ballistic missiles. Impressive?
The National Security Council, set up by President Truman in 1947 to advise on national security and foreign policy, is chaired by the President, and has five regulars, the VP and the Secretaries of State, Defense and Treasury, and the Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, plus advisors. The staff, 13 Senior Directors of the NSC , reporting to the Special Assistant, Dr. Condoleeza Rice, are practitioners and academics. Dr. Rice was a SD of Soviet & East European Affairs in the NSC during Bush41 . Historically the Sass have been an explosive bunch – McGeorge Bundy, Walt Rostow, Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft, Colin Powell – locking horns with Presidents and Secretaries of State, and using high-power staff, such as the retired Secretary of State Dean Acheson.. Deputy NS Advisor Stephen Hadley is a former Bush41 Assistant Secretary for Defense for international security, a Start I & II negotiator, Bush –Cheney campaigner, Shea & Gardner partner and former Scowcroft Group consultant. Frances Fragos Townsend (SD to Combat Terrorism) is a former prosecutor and Coast Guard intelligence officer.. Rand Beers (also Combat Terrorism) is a former Assistant Secretary of State for narcotics & law enforcement and a NSC staffer. Franklin C. Miller (Defense Policy & Arms Control), was Acting and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for strategy & threat reduction Dr. Robert G. Joseph, Special Assistant to the President (Proliferation Strategy, Counterproliferation and Homeland Defense), taught at the National Defense University, Carleton College and the Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts. He was a Bush41 Defense official and Ambassador to the US-USSR nuclear testing commission. Faryar Shirazd (International Economic Affairs) is a former Assistant Secretary of Commerce, counsel of the Senate Finance Committee and a Skadden Arps lawyer. Dr. Shirin Tahir-Kheli (Democracy, Human Rights& International Operations) is a professor, long-time NSC staffer and a Bush41 Ambassador to the UN. Mary K. Sturtevant (Intelligence Programs) is ex-CIA and Senate intelligence staffer. Ambassador Daniel Fried (European, Eurasian Affairs) is a former State Department and NSC official. Elliot Abrams (SW Asian and North African) a Reagan Assistant Secretary of State, is often mentioned as a lead neocon. James F. Moriarity (Asian Affairs) is an old Foreign Service hand. Thomas A. Shannon (Western Hemisphere), is another Foreign Service officer and US representative to the OAS. Dr.Jendayi E Frazer (African Affairs) comes from Harvard. She served as a planner with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and NSC. Duplication of effort?
The DoD has an Office for Special Plans (aka “The Cabale”) overriding the department’s own Defense Intelligence Agency Dr. Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense, created the OSP for as information source for Secretary Rumsfeld. The OSP is managed by Dr. Abram Shulsky (studied under Leo Strauss at U Chicago), disinformation scholar, formerly with Sen. Moynihan, DoD and Rand Corporation, under the guidance of Undersecretary of Defense Dr William Lufti, an ex-Navy captain. Madness?
Dr. P. has assembled this info from public sources. Only in America, Land of Freedom. .
The current Washington drama has all the elements of a West Wing episode (or a Greek drama) except for a resolution, someone told Dr. Paranoia – the President who stretches the truth for a higher principle, the faithfuls who fall on the sword to protect the Chief, the ally who tries to bail him out, the Intelligence agent who cannot tell a lie, the opposition Furies who want it all in the open, the Olympian ex-President who warns the zealots not to push it too far.
Dr Paranoia, fascinated by the new names and stories the Presidents 16 words in his State of the Union speech of Jan. 28 have brought out, has decided to provide a list, or a cast of characters. Rank and rate them yourself.
The words, “British government has learned that Saddam Hussein has recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa, “ have been dissected by. George Tenet, head of the CIA, in a closed-doors Senate Intelligence Committee meeting. Allegedly the White House wanted to speak of “uranium from Niger,” which the CIA could not substantiate, and final settled on the above less specific statement. Tenet’s Director of Weapons Proliferation Alan Foley appears to have identified Robert G. Joseph of the National Security Council as the White House negotiator. On July 22 Stephen Hadley of the NSC, Condoleeza Rice’s 2nd in command, admitted that, after having been warned by the CIA, he had removed a similar statement from the President’s speech in Cincinnati on October 7, yet had let it appear in the SOTH message. A speechwriter, Michael Garson, also acknowledges that he had ignored two CIA messages to that effect. A few days ago, on July 24, Dr. Paul Wolfowitz, Assistant Secretary of Defense, admitted that US had underestimated the resistance and had done other “stupid things” in Iraq. . This was in the face of a disclosure that the DoD had set up a special intelligence unit, the Department of Special Plans, to vet evidence of Iraqi WMD activities.
Who are all these strange new players ?. First, the CIA. The new ( March 2001) Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation and Arms Control Center, assembled by Foley from three CIA structures, comprises a group of 500 analysts, scientists and support people, organized to keep the President and Congress informed on issues of nuclear arms and ballistic missiles. Impressive?
The National Security Council, set up by President Truman in 1947 to advise on national security and foreign policy, is chaired by the President, and has five regulars, the VP and the Secretaries of State, Defense and Treasury, and the Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, plus advisors. The staff, 13 Senior Directors of the NSC , reporting to the Special Assistant, Dr. Condoleeza Rice, are practitioners and academics. Dr. Rice was a SD of Soviet & East European Affairs in the NSC during Bush41 . Historically the Sass have been an explosive bunch – McGeorge Bundy, Walt Rostow, Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft, Colin Powell – locking horns with Presidents and Secretaries of State, and using high-power staff, such as the retired Secretary of State Dean Acheson.. Deputy NS Advisor Stephen Hadley is a former Bush41 Assistant Secretary for Defense for international security, a Start I & II negotiator, Bush –Cheney campaigner, Shea & Gardner partner and former Scowcroft Group consultant. Frances Fragos Townsend (SD to Combat Terrorism) is a former prosecutor and Coast Guard intelligence officer.. Rand Beers (also Combat Terrorism) is a former Assistant Secretary of State for narcotics & law enforcement and a NSC staffer. Franklin C. Miller (Defense Policy & Arms Control), was Acting and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for strategy & threat reduction Dr. Robert G. Joseph, Special Assistant to the President (Proliferation Strategy, Counterproliferation and Homeland Defense), taught at the National Defense University, Carleton College and the Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts. He was a Bush41 Defense official and Ambassador to the US-USSR nuclear testing commission. Faryar Shirazd (International Economic Affairs) is a former Assistant Secretary of Commerce, counsel of the Senate Finance Committee and a Skadden Arps lawyer. Dr. Shirin Tahir-Kheli (Democracy, Human Rights& International Operations) is a professor, long-time NSC staffer and a Bush41 Ambassador to the UN. Mary K. Sturtevant (Intelligence Programs) is ex-CIA and Senate intelligence staffer. Ambassador Daniel Fried (European, Eurasian Affairs) is a former State Department and NSC official. Elliot Abrams (SW Asian and North African) a Reagan Assistant Secretary of State, is often mentioned as a lead neocon. James F. Moriarity (Asian Affairs) is an old Foreign Service hand. Thomas A. Shannon (Western Hemisphere), is another Foreign Service officer and US representative to the OAS. Dr.Jendayi E Frazer (African Affairs) comes from Harvard. She served as a planner with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and NSC. Duplication of effort?
The DoD has an Office for Special Plans (aka “The Cabale”) overriding the department’s own Defense Intelligence Agency Dr. Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense, created the OSP for as information source for Secretary Rumsfeld. The OSP is managed by Dr. Abram Shulsky (studied under Leo Strauss at U Chicago), disinformation scholar, formerly with Sen. Moynihan, DoD and Rand Corporation, under the guidance of Undersecretary of Defense Dr William Lufti, an ex-Navy captain. Madness?
Dr. P. has assembled this info from public sources. Only in America, Land of Freedom. .
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 4:44 PM 
