Outside Look At Bush Speech

   Since I've been down because of computer problem this afternoon, I've pretty much missed the Crime Family press conference earlier today and probably a few other things.

   So I am playing catch up, sort of. I am just posting opinions on the news conference from others for the time being, until I can watch it later on.  Sorry folks.

   From Josh Marshall at TPM:

Let me briefly explain how it looks to us.

The president is intentionally dodging the key issue of whether the arms in question are going to people killing Americans because of decisions by the Iranian government or its agents or whether they are getting there through black market transfers. If you listen to what the president says the statement is intentionally crafted to ignore this issue while seeming to address it. This wording is not off-hand.

What the president wants people to think is that the only remaining question is whether the orders are coming from the highest eschelons of the Iranian government or whether an arm of the Iranian government is freelancing. CNN at least seems to have been taken in by the dodge, reporting that the president is saying the same thing as Gen. Pace. That's not our understanding. Again, the president's statement today was intentionally misleading. We'll have more to unpack it shortly.

Late Update: Here's our update.

Bush: To be patriotic you don't have to agree with my policy, but you do have to support it.

 

Technorati tags: Bush, Speech, Iran, Weapons

 

Bush Convinced Iranian government Supplying Weapons To Fighters

   Like Bush is really going to say that he has no idea what the hell is going on but we'll attack Iran anyway just because I am the decider and I said so. I myself, do not doubt that some within Iran are supplying Iraq insurgents with some weapons. But more than likely, so are a few other countries along the Iraqi border.

    Notice how Bush has moved the topic from Iran having nukes to Iran now supplying weapons? This is Iraq in a new book cover, nothing else.

 

            From the AP

President Bush said Wednesday he's convinced that the Iranian government is supplying deadly weapons to fighters in Iraq, even if he can't prove the orders came from the highest levels in Tehran.

On the subject of alleged Iranian involvement in Iraq, Bush appeared to back away from a weekend briefing in Baghdad by three senior U.S. military officials. They said shipments into Iraq of deadly new weapons had been approved at the highest levels in Tehran.

Bush said he could say "with certainty" that the weapons were provided by an elite part of Iran's Revolutionary Guards that is part of the government.

But, the president added, he does not know whether the weapons were "ordered from the top echelons of government. But, my point is, what's worse, them ordering it and it happening, or them not ordering it and it happening?"

 

Technorati tags: Bush, Iranian Government, Weapons