Better late than never, I suppose.
Bush Remarks Confirm Shift in Justification for War
The original charges against Iraq, presented to the United Nations and the American public, were explicitly about the weapons themselves.
On Aug. 26, 2002, Vice President Cheney told the VFW National Convention: "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction."
On Sept. 12, 2002, Bush told the U.N. General Assembly: "United Nations inspections also revealed that Iraq likely maintains stockpiles of VX, mustard and other chemical agents, and that the regime is rebuilding and expanding facilities capable of producing chemical weapons."
On Dec. 2, 2002, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Hussein would be "misleading the world" if he denied having the banned weapons. A month later, on Jan. 9, Fleischer asserted: "We know for a fact that there are weapons there."
In Bush's State of the Union address on Jan. 28, he cited evidence that Hussein had enough materials to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin and as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agents.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in the same speech to the U.N. on Feb. 5 in which he discussed evidence of the mobile weapons labs Bush referred to last week, argued: "We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, he's determined to make more."
A month later, on March 7, Powell told the United Nations that Hussein has "clearly not" made a decision to "disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction."
In his Feb. 8 radio address, the president asserted: "We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have."
On March 30 on ABC News's "This Week," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said of the prohibited weapons: "We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."
Gosh, some of those quotes sound awfully darn familiar. . .
What we are seeing is the decline and decay of several institutions (printed and broadcast media), as the result of the birth of another (electronic media).
So how does it feel to be at the forefront of this new legion of internet warriors, GENERAL BILLMON? This could be your (and our) finest hour.
Billmon, you are such a gentleman - WAPO learns to google.
Today I saw The Capital Gang on CNN (before I saw this post) and Al Hunt interviewed Brzezenski (sp?). Brzezenski was talking about the administration's loss of credibility because there are no WMDs. He says I have a list of quotes. I'm thinking Brzezenski reads Billmon! But maybe he just learned to google. Or maybe he googled the WAPO.
Finest hour? We've only just begun to fight!
With Al Franken and General Billmon on our side, who the hell is on theirs? A vast gallery of hot air balloons, spoiling to be popped.
Brzezenski was talking about the administration's loss of credibility because there are no WMDs. He says I have a list of quotes.
Heh. Haven't you ever wondered why you never see Billmon and Zbigniew in the same room at the same time?
If Atrios can be Sid Blumenthal, then I guess I can be Brzezenski . . .
"We've only just begun to fight!"
(Smashes pitcher on floor...)
And if you're looking to start a fight, what better place than a whiskey bar, right?
Whoa, calm down there big fellow. Ya wanna fight, try this place. I try to run a peaceable joint.
You must be Z.B. anyone who can spell that first name has got to be. I can't even pronounce it.
Wow, Billmon. Your timeline is even more useful than we thought! Anything that breaks into the real world from the virtual world we inhabit is very, very good.
I'm still impressed on how fast your post with quotes swarmed the net. I suspect that nothing has hit it as big or as fast as that little collection of "truth". Really cool!
Okay, now that you've shown us what you can do, we are waiting to see your encore. :-)
Billmon:
Couldn't believe it when I saw Milbank's piece this am in the Post (I call it Pravda), albeit buried deep in section A. Proof positive that bloggers can/do make a difference (note, however, that Dana is probably the only Post reporter/columnist in DC with any balls these days; the rest checked them with Karen Hughes a couple years ago). Hopeful, nonetheless. Congrats on your superb work. (If I had the $135 grand, I'd put your column in the times as a full pager ala Sean Penn's piece the other day; it's that significant.)
"If Atrios can be Sid Blumenthal, then I guess I can be Brzezenski . . ."
Dang. I thought you were Rahm Emmanuel. There goes that fantasy.
Congratulations Billmon. I read the article and immediately thought of the Whiskey Bar. You made a difference. Keep the pressure on!
Gee, Billmon ... EVERYBODY truly is glomming on to your act!
Even the Russians!
It would have been nice if Venik could have given Whiskey Bar a little credit.
Oh well, you know what the Russians say -- they invented everything first.
In 'ittybitty' type , above the comments, the Russian article is attributed to Billmon. I hope 'they' are reading you
Just for the record, Counterpunch also printed Billmon's material without giving any credit. Not their finest hour.
http://www.counterpunch.org/wmd05292003.html
Just for the record, Counterpunch also printed Billmon's material without giving any credit.
LOL. So Alex Cockburn is acting like a sleazy unethical fuck? I'm astonished.
Mary, we all need to follow Billmon's lead and start producing as best we can: many niches to fill....
Very nice work, Billmon; buy you a pitcher?
Billmon, will you come and speak at the First Annual Progressive Bloggers' Conference, Barbecue and Kegger? (if it actually happens)
If not, will you at least play your mandolin?
sgc
Billmon, will you come and speak at the First Annual Progressive Bloggers' Conference, Barbecue and Kegger?
Now that would be a political event worth attending.
Just for the record, Counterpunch also printed Billmon's material without giving any credit.
Just a postscript to this sorry episode: I sent an email to Counterpunch gently chiding them for lifting "Tangled Web" without giving me any credit. (OK, so I wasn't so gentle; in fact I think I called them a bunch of sleazy, unethical fucks)
If you go and look at the Counterpunch page, you'll see that it's exactly like my original post -- right down to the sequence of quotes and my descriptions of some of the quotees.
I mean if they didn't steal it from my blog, they must have lifted it off of Tom Paine.com or one of the blogs that also reprinted it in full -- with credit.
So I get this reply from Jeffrey St. Clair, Cockburn's partner:
absurd. i put it up. & i've never heard of you or your site.
jsc
counterpunch
So there you go: a feeble lie, delivered with arrogance and contempt.
LOL. If these guys ever decided to change sides, like Hitchens did, they would fit in GREAT in the Bush White House.
Counterpunch: their .html file indicates a create date of 6/1...
Unless I misunderstand your Creative Commons license (embedded in your html), your site is public domain and no attribution is requested.
You shouldn't be surprised when people don't give you credit for what you write here. You could always change your license to the style that requires attribution.
Mike, "credit where it's due" is simple common courtesy, even in the blogging world.
Billmon, I don't think you're being aggressive enough on this. You need to be credited for this work, and/or the media machine needs to be smacked hard for this blatant plagiarism.
Find a lawyer. Or a reporter. Or both. Try the NYT, they're particularly sensitive to unethical journalistic practices right now, they might like to have some of the heat taken off of them.
Oh, try to be outraged. :P
Counterpunch seems to go beyond lack of common courtesy. "i put it up" seems at best evasive, at worst a claim of original credit for what is clearly copywork.
What kind of man reads Counterpunch, anyway?
What kind of man reads Counterpunch, anyway?
A "Stalinist fancy man"?
(That's what some right-wing columnist called Cockburn, back when he was still with The Nation. I must admit, it had a certain truth to it.)
This is the most enthusiasm I've seen from this wing of Blogistan in quite awhile, kudos to Billmon, and three cheers for the revolution to come, wherein the duck pit awaits our enemies.
Now this is what I mean by traction. What I would really love to see is Billmon's wonderful work plastered on a billboard (heh) in, say, Houston? Or all over the most densely Republican counties in Florida?
Keep givin'em the truth. They'll think it's hell.
Pat Buchanan also apparently reads your website. His column today (6/4) listed some of the same quotes...
We know who did the leg work; reporters are reading blogs; you've made a difference; IT'S BEING REPORTED.
Great stuff. Nice one billmon.