Who believes this?!

Former Secretaries Meet With Bush
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,84531,00.html?ESRC=eb.nl

WASHINGTON - President Bush is pressing ahead with a public relations offensive on Iraq, bringing a bipartisan group of former Secretaries of Defense and State to the White House for give-and-take on the unpopular military mission.

Gen. George Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad, were joining the president Thursday to give a detailed briefing on Iraq to more than a dozen foreign policy leaders from previous administrations.

The hope was that the prominent figures would be persuaded by the Bush administration's argument that it has "a clear plan in place for victory in Iraq" and spread the word, said White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan.

Still, the White House has been criticized for taking in too few outside opinions, so the session wasn't designed for administration officials to do all the talking. The meeting in the White House's Roosevelt Room, also being attended by current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, was intended to draw input from their predecessors - some of whom have publicly disagreed with Bush, McClellan said.

more....


Yeah, right. They 'invited' them. PUH.

I want to think these people are insisting on a meeting...NPR reporting Madeline Albright to be in attendance, also. Anybody else have a feeling about this? I simply can not see this line up agreeing to meet in what is a blatant publicity push for bush. I see it as the admin spinning , spinning, spinning....

Aside- there has been a DECIDEDLY different slant to the stories the Military.com is putting up....

cause our opinion doesn't count

Your Highness' Fortress, then we'd have to kiss his ass, bow in reverence and bring offerings to show our eternal gratitude for his mere existence. FUCK THAT!

ironic term that.

well, they offend me quite often....

as they say, why don't they just announce it to our nation? "Staying the course" is NOT a "clear plan for victory" in Iraq. They have nothing, so out come the spin doctors to make us think they do.
King George is going to "catapult the propaganda", AGAIN, hoping that this time it will work. It hasn't worked the past twelve times, King George, what makes you think it will work now?

Interesting to see if there will be any further mention of this 'meeting' today..........'will' they catapult or will it be hushed up?
Could be volatile if these people are there to speak their minds......Damn, I want to believe they demanded this.

I am so naive.

and didn't need to ask others or consult popular opinion...

Hasn't she profited a great deal through the Iraq Debt Recovery Consortium/Albright Group in partnership with James Baker & Carlyle? Or am I mistaken?

When it comes to Iraq, in particular? Maybe Warren Christopher?

Madeline Albright HAS profited. Naomi Kelein reported on this in The Nation over a year ago.

"The secret deal involves a complex transaction to transfer ownership of as much as $57 billion in unpaid Iraqi debts. The debts, now owed to the government of Kuwait, would be assigned to a foundation created and controlled by a consortium in which the key players are the Carlyle Group, the Albright Group (headed by another former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright) and several other well-connected firms. Under the deal, the government of Kuwait would also give the consortium $2 billion up front to invest in a private equity fund devised by the consortium, with half of it going to Carlyle."

I believe the Carlyle Group pulled out of this consortium recently, but Albright is still profiting AFAIK.

Wes Clark appeared in October with Albright & Lawrence Eagleburger. "Albright began the trio's discussion in a conciliatory tone, (regarding Iraq) but Clark would have none of it."
http://securingamerica.com/node/278

"Republican Lawrence Eagleburger, who was secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush, forcefully replied, "I'm not going to sit here and listen to this President Bush being criticized for using military force in Iraq."

"And I'm not going to sit here and apologize for our policy in Iraq," Eagleburger said, adding that Saturday's vote on an Iraqi constitution is evidence that George W. Bush's efforts are paying off."

So, as far as I can tell, the ONLY former Sec. of State who has been publicly critical of Bush on Iraq is Warren Christopher.
http://www.international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=24014
"Christopher said that he agreed with the U.S. response in attacking Afghanistan and the Taliban. "What was not so natural was our attack on Iraq. You couldn't justify that in traditional preemption terms because there was no suggestion that Iraq was about to attack us." The invasion of Iraq also changed U.S. relations with the rest of the world, he said. "Countries around the world will be asking themselves, are we next? Who will be the next country to be attacked in terms of preventive war?"

I hate to jump into conspiracy territory when it has been a topic of discussion today... but would they have us believe that this meeting is solely for the purpose of getting Warren Christopher on board?

What do you want to bet that Warren Christopher IS NOT EVEN INVITED?

Wm. Cohen and Wm. Perry are also invited.

The most critical thing I can recall Cohen saying about Iraq is that we should have had more of an international presence.

Perry certainly didn't oppose the invasion, either.

Secretary Perry predicted a showdown with Iraq concerning their development of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. "Either Iraq will have to accept UN inspectors or military action will be inevitable."

As I said, EVERYBODY who was invited is ALREADY ON BOARD.

I actually had hope there for a second...
Knew it was too good to be true.
Even Albright, huh?

Nicaragua has some good deals on property just now.....who would have thought Nic would look better than the US in our lifetime?

his father's closest adviser

hell, they ignored everything BushI admin had to say about Iraq.

Nice quote, there, btw.