[ararboin]

A must see on today's (3-21) Democracy Now broadcast

http://www.democracynow.org/streampage.pl

Phillips pulls no punches in slamming Bush over peak oil and declares that oil is the major reason we're in Iraq. Includes a clip of Bush's incredible bumbling non-response to a question from the audience over Phillip's new book American Theocracy.

He says the country is headed for disaster with Bush at the helm.

[Cynus]

He's on Fresh Air on NPR right now too.

[Pfish]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ararboin', 'P')hillips pulls no punches in slamming Bush over peak oil and declares that oil is the major reason we're in Iraq.

[gego]

I did not listen to the blast of Bush, but I can tell you Bush's aggression against the Iraq population is nothing compared to his aggression against the US population.

This MF'er has followed a long line of Presidents in destroying the second greatest value next to life itself, freedom. If you think that Aaron Burr was a traitor, then you will have little difficulty in understanding the demented mind that currently rules you, and if you think that you can do anything about it, then think again.

[MattSavinar]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pfish', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ararboin', 'P')hillips pulls no punches in slamming Bush over peak oil and declares that oil is the major reason we're in Iraq.

[aldente]

Thanks for the link Ararboin, this interview clearly falls into the category of the one with Dr. Craig Roberts.

Both of them former conservative advisors, or shall we say 'brains'..

http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic17216.html

[Colorado-Valley]

Saw this at Today in Iraq:

"The adults are finally stepping in: The cracks and fissures are finally beginning to appear in Fortress Bush. The AP is reporting that Congress quietly appointed an “Iraq Study Group” headed by James A. Baker to “assess the Bush administration’s policies in Iraq and political and economic developments in the troubled country”. In other words, Baker has been picked to tell Bush that the war is over; we lost.

The group was voted into being with little fanfare to spare the White House any unnecessary embarrassment, but the message is clear; the adults are finally stepping in. The war has been so appallingly mismanaged that jittery American elites are forcing themselves back into the policy-making apparatus.

The group is led by Bush-family friend and consigliore, James Baker who helped the president squeak-by in election 2000 by convincing the Supreme Court that his client (George Bush) would suffer “irreparable harm” if the legally cast Florida ballots were counted. Now, Baker has returned, leading a team of disgruntled government big-wigs and policy-wonks to see if they can extricate the recalcitrant executive from his Babylon folly. The move illustrates the widening chasm between American elites and the White House over the bungled handling of the war. In the last two weeks, die-hard conservatives William Buckley and Francis Fukuyama “bailed out” decrying the present policy as a failure and urging the administration to change course.

Just days ago, Carter’s National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, a foreign policy giant and master of American-style Realpolitik, added his voice to the growing chorus of nay-sayers; opining that it was time for the withdrawal of American troops. It is unlikely that Buckley, Fukuyama, or Brzezinski would concede defeat if it was just a matter of wiping out another 100,000 Iraqis or so. Their judgment is predicated on the simple fact that the U.S. will not win.

The newly-formed Baker group consists of political insiders and powerbrokers who typically work behind the scenes to guide the ship of state in a corporate-friendly direction. Members include former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, head of the Woodrow Wilson Center, Lee Hamilton, former CIA Director Robert Gates, former Clinton advisor Vernon Jordan, former Clinton chief of staff Leon Panetta, former Defense Secretary William Perry, former Senator of Virginia Chuck Robb, and Former Senator of Wyoming Alan Simpson.

Traditionally, the real power in Washington derives from a core of elites who hail from the various think-tanks and semi-secret organizations (particularly the 4,200 member Council on Foreign Relations CFR) that provide the financial support for congressional campaigns and political maneuvering. This new commission represents a departure from their normal modus operandi of working behind the scenes. That implies that the situation is graver than we think. Baker would never humiliate the president unless the plutocrats were running scared, but Bush has given them little choice. The deteriorating situation in Iraq and the thickheaded disregard for differing opinions has raised the level of angst among Baker’s friends and precipitated a major crisis.

The group is put together to look like a “fact-finding” mission, but it’s not hard to figure out what’s going on. All of the members are well-connected with contacts on ground in Iraq as well as in the military. They know what is going on in Iraq; it’s a mess, that’s why they have decided to break with precedent and jump in headfirst.

The group will probably produce a document that will tell the nation that the ‘war has been lost’ and we should prepare to leave immediately. There’s no telling what the media’s response will be. Some will see it as a conspiracy by panicky American Mandarins who want to wrest power from the small cadres of fanatics and neocons that surround the president. In fact, that is exactly the case ...

[shakespear1]

The "adults" better hurry up as make sure that appropriate punishment is met out or in the future (not the first time) this behavior will be repeated. So the pardons by the next president should be off the table.

I know, the chances of that are very close to zero, but there is a chance.

[aldente]

edited by albente

[Colorado-Valley]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'S')o Colorado-valley, the wise and sage elders will bail us all out with their realpolitik? dream on! we are an extended and corpulent empire fucked in iraq and fucked with peak oil. get used to it

[Petrodollar]

Here's a good 20-minute interview with Kevin Phillips on NPR's Fresh Air. (which I might add is one of the ONLY bastions of free speech that I consider quasi-mainstream.) I will be shocked if any of the 5 coporate media outlets give a 20-minute interview like this re KP's book:

A Political Warning Shot: 'American Theocracy'
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=5290373

[Cynus]

I went to see Philips speak tonight on his book tour. He mostly just spoke about the religious extremism aspects of his book, but during the Q&A someone asked him when he thought that oil production would peak. He thought non-OPEC would peak sometime in the 2010s, and argued that the invasion of Iraq was definately to secure the oil fields.