Does this sound like 'Swatting flies' to you?
It was the most intense fighting in many months. For hours the fierce battle raged. Bullets flew back and forth. The artillery fire was especially intense. The shelling was ferocious. Though the two sides have clashed before, those clashes were nothing like this. There was little doubt this was all-out war. Yet, it also was a contest of wills. A contest of resolve. Of determination. And a battle over ideas. But, on all counts, one side was clearly out-gunned. Outmaneuvered. Out-war-gamed. Though they put up stiff resistance, the anti-U.S. rebels, in just three hours, were decimated. Defeated overwhelmingly.
Through the miracle of satellite, the heavy fighting was carried on live television, potentially reaching billions of viewers around the world. I know I saw it -- I witnessed the whole thing -- the hearings with Condoleeza Rice!
"The terrorists were at war with us but we were not at war with them," Dr. Rice declared in opening remarks, adding that "For more than 20 years the terrorist threat gathered and America's response across several administrations of both parties was insufficient. Historically, democratic societies have been slow to react to gathering threats, tending instead to wait to confront threats until they are too dangerous to ignore or until it is too late." Then came 9/11. "Since then, America has been at war. And under President Bush's leadership we will remain at war until the terrorists threat to our nation is ended."
To take her down, Democrats on the 9/11 commission tried everything, using every urban guerrilla tactic in the book. But they were no match for Condi, who drove armored columns of intellect and wit into the heart of their "case" -- their "case" being that Clinton was America's greatest terror fighter ever, if only America knew. But Democrats were ill-prepared to defend their position. They should've known that taking on the administration this way posed severe risks, the War on Terror being Bush's turf. Even in her 20-minute opening statement, Condi inflicted heavy damage. In desperation, Democrats tried shelling her position, firing a heavy barrage of memos. But fighting this type of warfare against a superior force like Condi was sheer folly. Memo by memo, Condi fought back, flushing out masked rebels, including ringleaders Richard Ben-Veniste and Jamie Gorelick, former Reno deputy attorney general. By the end of the hearings, hundreds and hundreds of Democrat arguments and conspiracy theories were either seriously wounded or completely destroyed, the heaviest toll in a single day of Democrat combat since the war to topple Bush for 'mishandling' post-9/11 was launched 3 seconds after the 9/11 attacks. Correspondents based in Washington D.C. report widespread damage to Dick Clarke's credibility following Thursday's hearings.
Dems came for a bowl of Rice but got a MOAB instead.
The battle to put down the Democrat uprising having been won, with Condi retaking the hearing room, the wheels were off the 9/11-Gate "Crisis." Now the "Crisis" was in crisis. After all the hoopla, this "Crisis" looked to be a paper tiger. It collapsed like a cheap suit. The "Crisis" was sparked by Clarke, a former counter-counterterrorism holdover from the Clinton era who claims 9/11 happened because Bush failed to hold more meetings with Clarke in the months before 9/11, which means Bush didn't take al-Qaeda seriously. Had Bush followed Clarke's recommendations and treated al-Qaeda with greater urgency, says Clarke pointedly, 9/11 could not have been prevented anyway. The Washington Post, in a blockbuster report last week, claimed that 9/11 happened because Condi didn't give enough speeches on al-Qaeda. (Clinton handed Bush a dysfunctional CIA and dysfunctional FBI, both underfunded and demoralized. So what sense does it make to blame Clinton when Bush had 8 months to solve World Terrorism?!)
Under fire, members of the 'Let's-Nail-Bush-For-9/11' commission hotly deny allegations of partisanship. Indeed, the 9/11 commission is so bipartisan, they have to tell us just how bipartisan they are every two minutes. I mean, this commission should say "Occasionally fair and bipartisan" after putting something like this out.
Meanwhile, Democrats, battered by Condi's superior firepower, and struggling to contain the damage, pushed to have a presidential briefing memo declassified, saying the move will help the commission better understand what caused 9/11, especially since the commission already knows what's in the memo, having seen the memo gazillions of times. (We need answers to questions that have already been answered! Now!)
Ben-Veniste wanted to know if Condi had warned the President of the presence of al-Qaeda cells in the United States that Bush inherited from Clinton and that Clarke had told her about when explaining how this proves Clinton was the greatest terror fighter of all time. Democrats say Condi is vulnerable on 9/11 since she can't recall telling Bush about al-Qaeda cells being here which she heard from Clarke who heard it from CIA's George Tenet who met daily with Bush so Bush already knew it and Condi, in regular communication with Bush, knew Bush already knew it. (These Democrats are really on the ball, aren't they?)
So battered and beatened were Democrats on the commission, the poor things began hallucinating. Occasionally Fair and Balanced commissioner Bob Kerrey thought it was Dick Clarke at the witness table and that the subject was Iraq:
KERREY: I've heard you say that, Dr. Clarke, that 25 January, 2001 was declassified, I don't believe . . . Well, no, no, actually, we have many points of disagreement, Dr. Clarke, but we'll have a chance to do it in closed session! Please don't filibuster me! It's not fair! It is not fair! I have been polite! I have been courteous! It is not fair to me!" (waaaaaaaaaaaaah!)Sounds like another fly had been swatted, and it's Condi's fault!
Small wonder Johnny Kerry's face looks Sadr and Sadr, er, sadder every day.
Anyway, that's...
My Two Cents...
"JohnHuang2"
