Bob Kerrey just unloaded on the bullshit plan that the Clinton administration supposedly sent to the Bush administration to deal with Osama bin laden and Al Qaeda.
You know- the bullshit that Matt Yglesias and others have been lying about for two years, including in one of Matt’s first Prospect pieces.” For those who don’t remember this line of horse manure, this was the ‘comprehensive plan of all plans’ that Clarke, Berger, et. al devised and handed over that the Bushies just didn’t get around to implementing.
Good for Kerrey. I wish we could have had Gary Hart and Sam Nunn on this commission, too.
*** Update ***
MY bad- Kerrey hammered the New plan, which he said was not much more. At any rate, this still underscores the fact that no useful plan, as has been spun repeatedly, was put forth:
Well, Mr. Chairman, let me, first of all, say for the record, since Dr. Rice is not going to be here in this — yesterday we heard both Secretary Wolfowitz and Secretary Rumsfeld refer to the failure of the Clinton administration to deliver a plan dealing with Al Qaida, and they’d spent seven or eight months developing their own plan.
I was briefed this morning on that plan. And I would say, fortunately for the administration, it’s classified because there’s almost nothing in it. It calls for more diplomacy. It calls for increased pressure. Basically the same thing that Director Tenet just talked about, using tribals against Al Qaida. And lastly, calls for some vague things to try to oust Mullah Omar.
Chris
Do Yglesias and his fellow travelers know that Berger testified in congress that there was no plan transferred?
shark
This whole comission is a sham….
shark
So good, I had to share…from NRO:
“And don’t forget: is it fair to exclude the media from the equation before September 11? How much did Katie Couric do to warn America of the terror threat? If she didn’t, then who questions her? Aren’t the media supposed to be our watchdog, too?”
Ron
Facts!? We don’t need no stinking facts!
Ken Hahn
There probably was a plan. If fact there were probably many plans. The one to deal with terrorism was buried between the one on fire prevention and the one on treatment of transsexuals. I’m sure Kerry has his people working on a plan now. Or maybe two or three. Democrats are really good at plans.
The trouble with the plans are that they are unrealistic or general. They either demand more resources than exist in the world or just lay down some guidelines that could be proposed by any second grader of above average intellect. Just saying “destroy al Qaeda” is not a plan.
Kimmitt
So what you’re saying is that Senator Kerry ripped this Administration a new one and said nothing regarding the Clinton Adminstration. Further, you have no information whatsoever to back up the charges that Yglesias was lying.
shark
“Further, you have no information whatsoever to back up the charges that Yglesias was lying”
–Isn’t it a given that Yglesias is usually lying?
burnplant
So when you thought it was Clinton’s plan it was “bullshit” and “manure”.
Then you find out it’s Bush’s plan Kerrey was talking about and you backtrack with “…this still underscores the fact that no useful plan…” goo gaw.
That doesn’t underscore shit about the Clinton plan. It underscores that you called the Clinton plan bullshit until you found out it was the Bush plan then you kid-glove it.
Credibility = None.
John Cole
My god burnplant- you are a moron.
The ‘plan’ in question was a bunch of suggestions that he made as far back as 1998, and the Clinton group did nothing with. he took the same suggestions to the new administration, and while the took them under consideration, they did a number of other things. The administration then took those proposals orawrd on sep 4 along with a number of other things.
as far as your contention, there never was a Clinton plan forme to think was shit. There then became a Bush plan, with many of the proposals, which Kerrey thought was shit.
then Sept. 11th hit, and the plan was moot.
Asshole.
Al Maviva
The Commission is bullshit. If you check out this week’s Weekly Standard.com, they are re-running a Richard Schultz article talking about the half-dozen or so reasons that no military action could be taken against AQ prior to 9/11. It comes down to politics as usual, and shortsightedness by pretty much all the parties. It sort of makes most of the blame affixing efforts seem bogus.
burnplant
The “plan” Senator Kerrey was ridiculing was the plan the Bush team said they came up with when they thought the Clinton plan was inadequate. It was brought up on Tuesday by the Bushies to defend themselves against the fact that they ignored the Clinton plan handed to them in January 2001.
Rumsfeld, Powell and Condi (via her precious talk shows) made their ‘plan” seem as if it was the greatest thing ever…then Kerrey got ahold of it and saw that it was a bunch of diplomatic, foot-dragging bullshit and belittled it Wednesday morning.
Your dumb ass couldn’t follow that and thought Kerrey was talking about Clinton’s plan (remember the “bullshit” and “munure”?).
Now do you get it? Is it too hard for you to follow C-Span if Fox isn’t there to tell you what to think?
I may be an asshole, Mr Cole, but you a just dumb.
burnplant
The “plan” Senator Kerrey was ridiculing was the plan the Bush team said they came up with when they thought the Clinton plan was inadequate. It was brought up on Tuesday by the Bushies to defend themselves against the fact that they ignored the Clinton plan handed to them in January 2001.
Rumsfeld, Powell and Condi (via her precious talk shows) made their ‘plan” seem as if it was the greatest thing ever…then Kerrey got ahold of it and saw that it was a bunch of diplomatic, foot-dragging bullshit and belittled it Wednesday morning.
Your dumb ass couldn’t follow that and thought Kerrey was talking about Clinton’s plan (remember the “bullshit” and “munure”?).
Now do you get it? Is it too hard for you to follow C-Span if Fox isn’t there to tell you what to think?
I may be an asshole, Mr Cole, but you a just dumb.
By the way, nice writing in that post. Is that froth, or just stupidity?
burnplant
do do do doo, do do doo, do do do doo…(jeopardy theme)…
John Cole has over 41 comments to read, he doesn’t have time to respond to all his errors. Please be patient. He’s not too bright…
burnplant
ooh ooh afternoon delight! Gonna find my baby…tight. Ooh ooh afternoon delight.
John Cole: over 56 comments and no clue.
Andrew J. Lazarus
Washington Post: In fact… the strategies approved by high-level Bush officials on Sept. 4 and Sept. 10, 2001, were nearly identical in thrust to the policies pursued by the Clinton team…
Brad DeLong has a surprisingly generous pretend-transcript of what Rice could say, if she truly wanted to be honest. But the Bush Administration is never wrong. Except, one supposes, is not discovering earlier the various scoundrels and traitors (Clarke, O’Neill, Lindsey, Zinni, Shinseki) whom Al Qaerry has infiltrared into the government.