Two of the biggest morons on CNN-International
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CEJ
Nov 19, 2009, 1:37:13 AM11/19/09
to Marxist Debate
I wish they would just go away for good. If Amanpour's jump from
privileged obscurity to 'award winning journalist' doesn't have CIA
stamped all over it, I don't know what does. And it seems like the
Israelis are trying to expand their reach in the elite of 'opinion
making' in the US by favoring Indians along with the usual large
number of 'Americans of Ashkenazic descent'. But has anyone noticed
how flaming ass stupid these two are?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fareed_Zakaria
>>Zakaria initially supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[6] He said at the time, “The place is so dysfunctional... any stirring of the pot is good. America’s involvement in the region is for the good."[6] He argued for a United Nations-sanctioned operation with a much larger force—approximately 400,000 troops—than was actually employed by the administration of President George W. Bush. He also called for a Bosnia- or Kosovo-style occupation that was international in composition.[citation needed] After the invasion, he frequently criticized the occupation of Iraq.[12] He has often written that he believes that a functioning democracy in Iraq would be a new model for Arab politics but that the costs of the invasion and occupation were too high to justify the action. He opposed the Iraq surge in March 2007, writing that it would work militarily but not politically. Instead he advocated that Washington push hard for a political settlement between the Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, and Kurds, and begin a reduction in forces to only 60,000 troops.[12] In January 2009, he stated flatly that the surge "succeeded".[13] He elaborated this on a later article in which he wrote,
When the surge was announced in January 2007, I was somewhat
cautious about it. I believed that more troops and a proper
counterinsurgency strategy would certainly improve the security
situation—I had advocated more troops from the start of the occupation—
but I believed that the fundamental problem in Iraq was political
discord among the country's three main sects and ethnic groups. The
surge, in my view, would alleviate those tensions but also postpone
the need for a solution. Only a political agreement among these groups
could reach one. I was wrong in some ways. First, the surge turned out
to be a more sophisticated strategy—encompassing political outreach to
the Sunnis—than I had imagined. Second, the success of the surge
empowered the Baghdad government, brought Sunni rebels out from hiding
and thus broke the dynamic of the civil war. Sunni militants have now
been identified, their biometric data have been collected and their
groups are being monitored. They cannot easily go back to jihad. The
Shiite ruling elites, secure in their hold on the country, have less
to gain by ethnic cleansing and militia rule. An adviser to surge
commander Gen. David Petraeus told the reporter Nir Rosen that the
civil war in Iraq would end when the Sunnis knew that they'd lost and
the Shiites knew that they'd won. Both now seem to be true.[14]
More recently, Zakaria has also criticized the "fear-based" policies
employed not only in combating terrorism, but also in framing
immigration laws and pursuing trade, and has argued instead for an
open and confident United States.[15]<<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_Amanpour
>>Career
Before 1983, she worked for NBC affiliate WJAR in Providence, Rhode
Island, as an electronic graphics designer.[4] In 1983, she was hired
by CNN as a desk assistant on the Foreign Desk. In 1989, she was
assigned to work in Frankfurt, Germany, where she reported on the
democratic revolutions sweeping Eastern Europe at the time.
Following Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990, Amanpour's reports of
the Persian Gulf War brought her wide notice while also taking the
network to a new level of news coverage. Thereafter, she reported from
the Bosnian war and many other conflict zones. Her emotional delivery
from Sarajevo during the Siege of Sarajevo led some viewers and
critics to question her professional objectivity, claiming that many
of her reports were unjustified and favoured the Bosnian Muslims, to
which she replied, "There are some situations one simply cannot be
neutral about, because when you are neutral you are an accomplice.
Objectivity doesn't mean treating all sides equally. It means giving
each side a hearing."[5]
From 1996–2005, she was contracted by 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt to
file four to five in-depth, international news reports a year as a
special contributor. These reports garnered a Peabody Award in 1998,
adding to the Peabody she was awarded in 1993. Hewitt's successor,
Jeff Fager was not a fan of her work and terminated her contract.<<
privileged obscurity to 'award winning journalist' doesn't have CIA
stamped all over it, I don't know what does. And it seems like the
Israelis are trying to expand their reach in the elite of 'opinion
making' in the US by favoring Indians along with the usual large
number of 'Americans of Ashkenazic descent'. But has anyone noticed
how flaming ass stupid these two are?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fareed_Zakaria
>>Zakaria initially supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[6] He said at the time, “The place is so dysfunctional... any stirring of the pot is good. America’s involvement in the region is for the good."[6] He argued for a United Nations-sanctioned operation with a much larger force—approximately 400,000 troops—than was actually employed by the administration of President George W. Bush. He also called for a Bosnia- or Kosovo-style occupation that was international in composition.[citation needed] After the invasion, he frequently criticized the occupation of Iraq.[12] He has often written that he believes that a functioning democracy in Iraq would be a new model for Arab politics but that the costs of the invasion and occupation were too high to justify the action. He opposed the Iraq surge in March 2007, writing that it would work militarily but not politically. Instead he advocated that Washington push hard for a political settlement between the Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, and Kurds, and begin a reduction in forces to only 60,000 troops.[12] In January 2009, he stated flatly that the surge "succeeded".[13] He elaborated this on a later article in which he wrote,
When the surge was announced in January 2007, I was somewhat
cautious about it. I believed that more troops and a proper
counterinsurgency strategy would certainly improve the security
situation—I had advocated more troops from the start of the occupation—
but I believed that the fundamental problem in Iraq was political
discord among the country's three main sects and ethnic groups. The
surge, in my view, would alleviate those tensions but also postpone
the need for a solution. Only a political agreement among these groups
could reach one. I was wrong in some ways. First, the surge turned out
to be a more sophisticated strategy—encompassing political outreach to
the Sunnis—than I had imagined. Second, the success of the surge
empowered the Baghdad government, brought Sunni rebels out from hiding
and thus broke the dynamic of the civil war. Sunni militants have now
been identified, their biometric data have been collected and their
groups are being monitored. They cannot easily go back to jihad. The
Shiite ruling elites, secure in their hold on the country, have less
to gain by ethnic cleansing and militia rule. An adviser to surge
commander Gen. David Petraeus told the reporter Nir Rosen that the
civil war in Iraq would end when the Sunnis knew that they'd lost and
the Shiites knew that they'd won. Both now seem to be true.[14]
More recently, Zakaria has also criticized the "fear-based" policies
employed not only in combating terrorism, but also in framing
immigration laws and pursuing trade, and has argued instead for an
open and confident United States.[15]<<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_Amanpour
>>Career
Before 1983, she worked for NBC affiliate WJAR in Providence, Rhode
Island, as an electronic graphics designer.[4] In 1983, she was hired
by CNN as a desk assistant on the Foreign Desk. In 1989, she was
assigned to work in Frankfurt, Germany, where she reported on the
democratic revolutions sweeping Eastern Europe at the time.
Following Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990, Amanpour's reports of
the Persian Gulf War brought her wide notice while also taking the
network to a new level of news coverage. Thereafter, she reported from
the Bosnian war and many other conflict zones. Her emotional delivery
from Sarajevo during the Siege of Sarajevo led some viewers and
critics to question her professional objectivity, claiming that many
of her reports were unjustified and favoured the Bosnian Muslims, to
which she replied, "There are some situations one simply cannot be
neutral about, because when you are neutral you are an accomplice.
Objectivity doesn't mean treating all sides equally. It means giving
each side a hearing."[5]
From 1996–2005, she was contracted by 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt to
file four to five in-depth, international news reports a year as a
special contributor. These reports garnered a Peabody Award in 1998,
adding to the Peabody she was awarded in 1993. Hewitt's successor,
Jeff Fager was not a fan of her work and terminated her contract.<<
CEJ
Nov 19, 2009, 6:45:25 AM11/19/09
to Marxist Debate
Has anyone ever had the chance to ask Zakaria: it's one thing to
complain about all those despotic dysfunctional Arab societies, but
does it make
any sense at all to ignore the fact that most of these governments
exist (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan) because of the support and
protection they get from the USA? Of course, much of this goes back to
the Cold War and the all-out need on the part of the US to prevent
Arab societies from going socialist in any way shape or form.
CJ
complain about all those despotic dysfunctional Arab societies, but
does it make
any sense at all to ignore the fact that most of these governments
exist (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan) because of the support and
protection they get from the USA? Of course, much of this goes back to
the Cold War and the all-out need on the part of the US to prevent
Arab societies from going socialist in any way shape or form.
CJ
CEJ
Nov 19, 2009, 6:47:46 AM11/19/09
to Marxist Debate
The Peabody awards, btw, are often described as 'international awards'
but they only seem to go to stuff produced for the US market.
Hence the pro-establishment, bought-and-paid for nature of most of
what gets recognition.
CJ
but they only seem to go to stuff produced for the US market.
Hence the pro-establishment, bought-and-paid for nature of most of
what gets recognition.
CJ
CEJ
Nov 19, 2009, 7:06:21 AM11/19/09
to Marxist Debate
Found these comments about Zakaria on the web. Hilarious except to
quite an extent all too true!
But then again, he's doing pretty well as one of Samuel Huntington's
protege's.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=10576
#
mclaren
Fareed Zakaria is an ignorant incompetent fool who needs to be
stripped naked, have his head shaved, have the words MURDERED ONE
MILLION IRAQIS FOR NO REASON tattooed on his body, and then get run
naked through the streets while all the parents of the 4,000 dead
marines and the 20,000 hopelessly brain-damaged and mutilated and
hideously burned American soldiers hurl garbage at him.
The Fareed Zakaria should be tarred, feathred, and not just run out of
Washington on a rail, but stripped of his citizenship and deported…to
Iraq, where he can explain why “The Iraq war is necessary. We cannot
afford to lose.”
This ignorant sociopathic asshole assured us for 5 long years that the
Iraq war was a wonder-working miracle of democracy-creation, that Iraq
would soon flower with civil society and politesse, that the Iraqis
were “in favor of the occupation” that the violence would soon end,
that America was “doing the right thing” by burning Iraqi women and
children alive with white phosophorus munitions, that the Iraqis
adored us for blasting “collateral damage” civilians with depleted
uranium munitions when we took out insurgents, that the razing of
Fallujah as “a step forward,” that we were forever “about to turn the
corner” to a brighter and more wonderful Iraq.
Listen up, folks. After WW II, we tried and hung people who were
responsible for the murder of a million innocent civilians. Fareed
Zakariah, along with his ignorant incompetent billionaire sociopath
buddy Tom “The Next Six Months Is the Critical Period” Friedman, is
responsible for the deaths of a million innocent civilians in Iraq.
If there were justice in the world, Fareed Zakaria would be tried by
The Hague for aiding and abetting mass murder and instigating crimes
against humanity, and he’d be hung by the neck until dead.
#
38
June 8th, 2008 at 10:10 pm Reply to this comment
The Other Steve
I’m really surprised by the negativity here. I’m impressed with
Zakaria and thought that he shows a certain level of thought beyond
most of the other pundits. He certainly does not appear to be a right-
wing lapdog.
#
39
June 9th, 2008 at 12:26 am Reply to this comment
bago
Doctor Henry Killinger.
#
40
June 9th, 2008 at 1:06 am Reply to this comment
mclaren
Fareed Zakaria, like his piece-of-shit buddy Tom “Wal Mart Is
Wonderful Even Though They Just Sued One of Their Brain-Damaged
Employees To Recover Her Court-Ordered Health Care Judgment” Friedman,
is a piece of human garbage. Zakaria “does not appear to be a right-
wing lapdog” because he’s done a superb job of covering up and backing
away from his foursquare support of the insane Iraq war of aggression.
Assholes like Michael Ledeen and Fareed Zakaria and Tom Friedman now
either say outright “I was never in favor of the invasion” (it’s a god
damned lie), or these dishonest douchebags conveniently drop the
subject entirely, giving us all the false impression that they never
had anything to do with instigating and promoting and supporting the
Iraq War of aggression.
Don’t believe me?
Here are the facts about Fareed Zakaria ardent support of the Iraq war
of aggression.
Not enough for you?
More details about Zakaria’s fanatical boosterism for the illegal and
genocidal Iraq war of aggression, dating all the way back to 2001.
“In State of Denial, Bob Woodward delivers this sparkling scoop:
Fareed Zakaria attended a secret gathering convened by Paul Wolfowitz
in late 2001. The task at hand, according to a fellow participant, was
to draft “a forceful summary of the best pro-war arguments” which
became a blueprint for the Bush Administration’s PR campaign. Although
he was a columnist at Newsweek and was editor of the magazine’s
international edition, Zakaria didn’t attend in a journalistic capacity
—in fact, he signed a non-disclosure agreement beforehand.”
Gee. Mr. “urbane voice of reason” Fareed Zakaria didn’t tell you about
that one on his wonderfully erudite TV show, did he? Gosh, I wonder
why.
Maybe because Fareed Zakaria is a scumbag who has gotten rich by being
not just insanely savagely maniacally wrong about the Iraq war, but
one of the architects of the entire Iraq invasion policy, along with
Perle and Wolfowitz.
I don’t usually use language like this, but this point has to be made
forcefully enough to wake everyone up. Fareed Zakaria is not just an
ignorant incompetent asshole, he’s one those piece-of-shit
motherfuckers who systematically planned and instigated and boosted
and proselytized and agitated for the Iraq invasion back in 2001, long
before anyone dreamed up any fantasies about WMDs or yellowcake
uranium.
Could DeMuth quickly put together a skilled group to produce a report
for the president, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Rice and Tenet?
...
DeMuth recruited a dozen people. He later said they agreed to serve
only “if I promised it would all be kept secret.”
Included in the group were Bernard Lewis, a Cheney favorite and a
scholar of Islam who had written extensively on Middle Eastern
tensions with the West; Mark Palmer a former U.S. Ambassador to
Hungary who specialized in dictatorships; Fareed Zakaria, the editor
of Newsweek International; Fouad Ajami, director of the Middle Eastern
Studies Program at SAIS; James Q. Wilson, a professor and specialist
in human morality and crime; and Ruel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA
Middle East expert. Rumsfeld assigned his consultant and general fix-
it man Steve Herbits, to participate. Herbits, who had devised the
original idea and encouraged Wolfowitz to push it, called the group
“Bletchley II.”
...
“The general analysis was that Egypt and Saudi Arabia, where most of
the hijackers came from, were the key, but the problems there are
intractable…”
...
“Saddam Hussein was different, weaker, more vulnerable. DeMuth said
they had concluded that “Baathism is an Arab form of fascism
transplanted to Iraq.”
...
“We concluded that a confrontation with Saddam was inevitable. He was
a gathering threat – the most menacing, active, and unavoidable
threat. We agreed that Saddam would have to leave the scene before the
problem would be addressed.” That was the only way to transform the
region.
Copies of the memo, straight from the Neoconservative Playbook, were
hand-delivered to the war cabinet members. In some cases, it was given
a SECRET classification. Cheney was pleased with the memo, and it had
a strong impact on President Bush, causing him to focus on the
“malignancy” of the Middle East. Rice found it “very, very
persuasive.”
[From State Of Denial by Bob Woodward]
Fareed Zakaria wasn’t just some reporter who happened to like the Iraq
invasion after it got started.
Fareed Zakaria was one of the assholes in the room with Wolfowitz and
Perle—Zakaria was one of the assholes who helped create the idea of
invading Iraq, and who vigorously and forcefully helped foment the
policy of invading Iraq from inside the West Wing, back in 2001.
“Because the United States cannot afford to lose the war on terror, it
must stay in Iraq.”—Fareed Zakaria, 2005.
Notice that this ignorant asshole, an editor at Newsweek and a
supposed “expert” on international affairs, is so god-damned stupid
and uninformed that he equates “staying in Iraq” with “the war on
terror”...even though Iraqis had nothing to do with 9/11! There wasn’t
a single Iraqi among the 19 hijackers on 9/11. Not one. They were
Saudis, not Iraqis.
But this ignorant piece-of-shit dumb fuck Zakaria tells us we have to
stay in Iraq—because “we cannot afford to lose the war on terror.”
What terror? All those Iraqi terrorists who attacked us on 9/11? THERE
WERE NO IRAQI TERRORISTS AMONG THE 9/11 HIJACKERS. 15 of the 19
hijackers responsible for 9/11 were Saudis. So why didn’t we invade
Saudi Arabia?
Fareed Zakaria is a hopelessly ignorant and dismally incompetent fool.
Don’t believe me, believe the real experts—believe Richard Clarke, the
former head of counterterrorism for the U.S. government:
“Someone should have to pay in some way for the decisions that they
made to mislead the American people,” said Clarke. He suggested that
“some sort of truth and reconciliation commission” might be
appropriate because, he said, we can’t “let these people back into
polite society”:
CLARKE: Well, there may be some other kind of remedy. There may be
some sort of truth and reconciliation commission process that’s been
tried in other countries, South Africa, Salvador and what not, where
if you come forward and admit that you were in error or admit that you
lied, admit that you did something, then you’re forgiven. Otherwise,
you are censured in some way.
Now, I just don’t think we can let these people back into polite
society and give them jobs on university boards and corporate boards
and just let them pretend that nothing ever happened when there are
4,000 Americans dead and 25,000 Americans grievously wounded, and
they’ll carry those wounds and suffer all the rest of their lives.
And who is Clarke talking about?
I’ll tell you who he’s talking about. Richard Clarke is talking about
the liars and sociopaths in that room plotting to foment an invasion
of Iraq back in 2001, the thugs who “should have to pay in some way
for the decisions that they made to mislead the American people”—
Richard Clarke is talking about Fareed Zakaria.
That’s who was in that room back in 2001 helping dream up the Iraq
invasion and figuring out ways to mislead the American people into
supporting the whole insane project of invading Iraq—Fareed Zakaria
was one of the guys in that room with Perle and Wolfowitz back in
2001.
Fareed Zakaria was one of the loudest voices among the chickenhawks
who screamed and beat the table for an invasion of Iraq right after
9/11…even though there was NO connection whatsoever between Iraq and
the 9/11 hijackers.
Are you still “impressed with Zakaria”?
Still think “he shows a certain level of thought beyond most of the
other pundits”?
Yeah, sure he does—“Because the United States cannot afford to lose
the war on terror, it must stay in Iraq.”—Fareed Zakaria, 2005.
Amazing level of thought, isn’t it? What deep insight. This Zakaria
guy’s a real mastermind of realpolitik, isn’t he? Saudi terrorists
attack us, so we have to invade Iraq—that’s “a certain level of
thought beyond most of the other pundits,” isn’t it?
Still think Zakaria “certainly does not appear to be a right-wing
lapdog”?
Zakaria wasn’t just a right-wing lapdog, he was a rabid right-wing pit
bull pounding the table for war with Iraq in the same room where Perle
and Wolfowitz were plotting the goddamn Iraq invasion in 2001..
You know…I’m not angry at you, and I’m not angry at people like you.
I’m enraged by how well Zakaria and guys like him have lied their way
out of responsibility for the Iraq war. Because you’ve been duped,
buddy. You’ve been scammed. Fareed Zakaria has scammed you good. He
vehemently agitated for the Iraq invasion back in 2001, he boosted it
with fanatical ardour right up 2006, when it became obvious it was so
completely lost there was no way he could regain his hopelessly
tarnished reputation… So now, Fareed Zakaria has decided to reinvent
himself. He’s not talking about the fact that he was one of the guys
in the room helping agitate for the Iraq invasion back in 2001.
Zakaria isn’t talking about how he beat his fist on the table time and
time again and howled for continuing the war from 2003, 2004, 2005 all
the way up to 2006. Zakaria has magically whisked all his warmongering
under the table and now, guess what?
Fareed Zakaria has remade himself as a wonderful peacenik “multipolar
world peak oil” guy.
Well, you’ve been conned. And John Cole has been conned.
Zakaria has run a game on both of you.
You are looking at this urbane well-spoken guy and you’re seeing a
cultured reasonable person…not Heinrich Himmler hiding out in
Paraguay.
But guess what?
This asshole Fareed Zakaria pushed for an invasion of Iraq back in
2001 in the room where Perle and Wolfowitz and all the other assholes
were plotting that war, and Zakaria pushed for an Iraq invasion hard.
The he lied and lied and lied and lied and lied supporting the war for
5 long years, telling his gullible “Newsweek readers that the war was
going great, and we were winning, and victory was just around the
corner, and “America cannot afford to lose” and all the rest of that
horseshit.
You know what?
I agree with Richard Clarke.
I think ignorant incompetent assholes like Fareed Zakaria should not
be allowed back into polite society.
“I just don’t think we can let these people back into polite society
and give them jobs on university boards and corporate boards and just
let them pretend that nothing ever happened when there are 4,000
Americans dead and 25,000 Americans grieviously wounded, and they’ll
carry those wounds and suffer all the rest of their lives.”—Richard
Clarke, 2008
“These people”—what people?
I can tell you what people.
People like Fareed Zakaria who fomented the entire delusion that Iraq
was behind 9/11, the people like Fareed Zakaria who agitated for this
insane war back in 2001, the people like Fareed Zakaria who lied us
into this goddamn mess, and the people like Fareed Zakaria who lied to
keep us in that quagmire for 5 long grim meathook years.
quite an extent all too true!
But then again, he's doing pretty well as one of Samuel Huntington's
protege's.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=10576
#
mclaren
Fareed Zakaria is an ignorant incompetent fool who needs to be
stripped naked, have his head shaved, have the words MURDERED ONE
MILLION IRAQIS FOR NO REASON tattooed on his body, and then get run
naked through the streets while all the parents of the 4,000 dead
marines and the 20,000 hopelessly brain-damaged and mutilated and
hideously burned American soldiers hurl garbage at him.
The Fareed Zakaria should be tarred, feathred, and not just run out of
Washington on a rail, but stripped of his citizenship and deported…to
Iraq, where he can explain why “The Iraq war is necessary. We cannot
afford to lose.”
This ignorant sociopathic asshole assured us for 5 long years that the
Iraq war was a wonder-working miracle of democracy-creation, that Iraq
would soon flower with civil society and politesse, that the Iraqis
were “in favor of the occupation” that the violence would soon end,
that America was “doing the right thing” by burning Iraqi women and
children alive with white phosophorus munitions, that the Iraqis
adored us for blasting “collateral damage” civilians with depleted
uranium munitions when we took out insurgents, that the razing of
Fallujah as “a step forward,” that we were forever “about to turn the
corner” to a brighter and more wonderful Iraq.
Listen up, folks. After WW II, we tried and hung people who were
responsible for the murder of a million innocent civilians. Fareed
Zakariah, along with his ignorant incompetent billionaire sociopath
buddy Tom “The Next Six Months Is the Critical Period” Friedman, is
responsible for the deaths of a million innocent civilians in Iraq.
If there were justice in the world, Fareed Zakaria would be tried by
The Hague for aiding and abetting mass murder and instigating crimes
against humanity, and he’d be hung by the neck until dead.
#
38
June 8th, 2008 at 10:10 pm Reply to this comment
The Other Steve
I’m really surprised by the negativity here. I’m impressed with
Zakaria and thought that he shows a certain level of thought beyond
most of the other pundits. He certainly does not appear to be a right-
wing lapdog.
#
39
June 9th, 2008 at 12:26 am Reply to this comment
bago
Doctor Henry Killinger.
#
40
June 9th, 2008 at 1:06 am Reply to this comment
mclaren
Fareed Zakaria, like his piece-of-shit buddy Tom “Wal Mart Is
Wonderful Even Though They Just Sued One of Their Brain-Damaged
Employees To Recover Her Court-Ordered Health Care Judgment” Friedman,
is a piece of human garbage. Zakaria “does not appear to be a right-
wing lapdog” because he’s done a superb job of covering up and backing
away from his foursquare support of the insane Iraq war of aggression.
Assholes like Michael Ledeen and Fareed Zakaria and Tom Friedman now
either say outright “I was never in favor of the invasion” (it’s a god
damned lie), or these dishonest douchebags conveniently drop the
subject entirely, giving us all the false impression that they never
had anything to do with instigating and promoting and supporting the
Iraq War of aggression.
Don’t believe me?
Here are the facts about Fareed Zakaria ardent support of the Iraq war
of aggression.
Not enough for you?
More details about Zakaria’s fanatical boosterism for the illegal and
genocidal Iraq war of aggression, dating all the way back to 2001.
“In State of Denial, Bob Woodward delivers this sparkling scoop:
Fareed Zakaria attended a secret gathering convened by Paul Wolfowitz
in late 2001. The task at hand, according to a fellow participant, was
to draft “a forceful summary of the best pro-war arguments” which
became a blueprint for the Bush Administration’s PR campaign. Although
he was a columnist at Newsweek and was editor of the magazine’s
international edition, Zakaria didn’t attend in a journalistic capacity
—in fact, he signed a non-disclosure agreement beforehand.”
Gee. Mr. “urbane voice of reason” Fareed Zakaria didn’t tell you about
that one on his wonderfully erudite TV show, did he? Gosh, I wonder
why.
Maybe because Fareed Zakaria is a scumbag who has gotten rich by being
not just insanely savagely maniacally wrong about the Iraq war, but
one of the architects of the entire Iraq invasion policy, along with
Perle and Wolfowitz.
I don’t usually use language like this, but this point has to be made
forcefully enough to wake everyone up. Fareed Zakaria is not just an
ignorant incompetent asshole, he’s one those piece-of-shit
motherfuckers who systematically planned and instigated and boosted
and proselytized and agitated for the Iraq invasion back in 2001, long
before anyone dreamed up any fantasies about WMDs or yellowcake
uranium.
Could DeMuth quickly put together a skilled group to produce a report
for the president, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Rice and Tenet?
...
DeMuth recruited a dozen people. He later said they agreed to serve
only “if I promised it would all be kept secret.”
Included in the group were Bernard Lewis, a Cheney favorite and a
scholar of Islam who had written extensively on Middle Eastern
tensions with the West; Mark Palmer a former U.S. Ambassador to
Hungary who specialized in dictatorships; Fareed Zakaria, the editor
of Newsweek International; Fouad Ajami, director of the Middle Eastern
Studies Program at SAIS; James Q. Wilson, a professor and specialist
in human morality and crime; and Ruel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA
Middle East expert. Rumsfeld assigned his consultant and general fix-
it man Steve Herbits, to participate. Herbits, who had devised the
original idea and encouraged Wolfowitz to push it, called the group
“Bletchley II.”
...
“The general analysis was that Egypt and Saudi Arabia, where most of
the hijackers came from, were the key, but the problems there are
intractable…”
...
“Saddam Hussein was different, weaker, more vulnerable. DeMuth said
they had concluded that “Baathism is an Arab form of fascism
transplanted to Iraq.”
...
“We concluded that a confrontation with Saddam was inevitable. He was
a gathering threat – the most menacing, active, and unavoidable
threat. We agreed that Saddam would have to leave the scene before the
problem would be addressed.” That was the only way to transform the
region.
Copies of the memo, straight from the Neoconservative Playbook, were
hand-delivered to the war cabinet members. In some cases, it was given
a SECRET classification. Cheney was pleased with the memo, and it had
a strong impact on President Bush, causing him to focus on the
“malignancy” of the Middle East. Rice found it “very, very
persuasive.”
[From State Of Denial by Bob Woodward]
Fareed Zakaria wasn’t just some reporter who happened to like the Iraq
invasion after it got started.
Fareed Zakaria was one of the assholes in the room with Wolfowitz and
Perle—Zakaria was one of the assholes who helped create the idea of
invading Iraq, and who vigorously and forcefully helped foment the
policy of invading Iraq from inside the West Wing, back in 2001.
“Because the United States cannot afford to lose the war on terror, it
must stay in Iraq.”—Fareed Zakaria, 2005.
Notice that this ignorant asshole, an editor at Newsweek and a
supposed “expert” on international affairs, is so god-damned stupid
and uninformed that he equates “staying in Iraq” with “the war on
terror”...even though Iraqis had nothing to do with 9/11! There wasn’t
a single Iraqi among the 19 hijackers on 9/11. Not one. They were
Saudis, not Iraqis.
But this ignorant piece-of-shit dumb fuck Zakaria tells us we have to
stay in Iraq—because “we cannot afford to lose the war on terror.”
What terror? All those Iraqi terrorists who attacked us on 9/11? THERE
WERE NO IRAQI TERRORISTS AMONG THE 9/11 HIJACKERS. 15 of the 19
hijackers responsible for 9/11 were Saudis. So why didn’t we invade
Saudi Arabia?
Fareed Zakaria is a hopelessly ignorant and dismally incompetent fool.
Don’t believe me, believe the real experts—believe Richard Clarke, the
former head of counterterrorism for the U.S. government:
“Someone should have to pay in some way for the decisions that they
made to mislead the American people,” said Clarke. He suggested that
“some sort of truth and reconciliation commission” might be
appropriate because, he said, we can’t “let these people back into
polite society”:
CLARKE: Well, there may be some other kind of remedy. There may be
some sort of truth and reconciliation commission process that’s been
tried in other countries, South Africa, Salvador and what not, where
if you come forward and admit that you were in error or admit that you
lied, admit that you did something, then you’re forgiven. Otherwise,
you are censured in some way.
Now, I just don’t think we can let these people back into polite
society and give them jobs on university boards and corporate boards
and just let them pretend that nothing ever happened when there are
4,000 Americans dead and 25,000 Americans grievously wounded, and
they’ll carry those wounds and suffer all the rest of their lives.
And who is Clarke talking about?
I’ll tell you who he’s talking about. Richard Clarke is talking about
the liars and sociopaths in that room plotting to foment an invasion
of Iraq back in 2001, the thugs who “should have to pay in some way
for the decisions that they made to mislead the American people”—
Richard Clarke is talking about Fareed Zakaria.
That’s who was in that room back in 2001 helping dream up the Iraq
invasion and figuring out ways to mislead the American people into
supporting the whole insane project of invading Iraq—Fareed Zakaria
was one of the guys in that room with Perle and Wolfowitz back in
2001.
Fareed Zakaria was one of the loudest voices among the chickenhawks
who screamed and beat the table for an invasion of Iraq right after
9/11…even though there was NO connection whatsoever between Iraq and
the 9/11 hijackers.
Are you still “impressed with Zakaria”?
Still think “he shows a certain level of thought beyond most of the
other pundits”?
Yeah, sure he does—“Because the United States cannot afford to lose
the war on terror, it must stay in Iraq.”—Fareed Zakaria, 2005.
Amazing level of thought, isn’t it? What deep insight. This Zakaria
guy’s a real mastermind of realpolitik, isn’t he? Saudi terrorists
attack us, so we have to invade Iraq—that’s “a certain level of
thought beyond most of the other pundits,” isn’t it?
Still think Zakaria “certainly does not appear to be a right-wing
lapdog”?
Zakaria wasn’t just a right-wing lapdog, he was a rabid right-wing pit
bull pounding the table for war with Iraq in the same room where Perle
and Wolfowitz were plotting the goddamn Iraq invasion in 2001..
You know…I’m not angry at you, and I’m not angry at people like you.
I’m enraged by how well Zakaria and guys like him have lied their way
out of responsibility for the Iraq war. Because you’ve been duped,
buddy. You’ve been scammed. Fareed Zakaria has scammed you good. He
vehemently agitated for the Iraq invasion back in 2001, he boosted it
with fanatical ardour right up 2006, when it became obvious it was so
completely lost there was no way he could regain his hopelessly
tarnished reputation… So now, Fareed Zakaria has decided to reinvent
himself. He’s not talking about the fact that he was one of the guys
in the room helping agitate for the Iraq invasion back in 2001.
Zakaria isn’t talking about how he beat his fist on the table time and
time again and howled for continuing the war from 2003, 2004, 2005 all
the way up to 2006. Zakaria has magically whisked all his warmongering
under the table and now, guess what?
Fareed Zakaria has remade himself as a wonderful peacenik “multipolar
world peak oil” guy.
Well, you’ve been conned. And John Cole has been conned.
Zakaria has run a game on both of you.
You are looking at this urbane well-spoken guy and you’re seeing a
cultured reasonable person…not Heinrich Himmler hiding out in
Paraguay.
But guess what?
This asshole Fareed Zakaria pushed for an invasion of Iraq back in
2001 in the room where Perle and Wolfowitz and all the other assholes
were plotting that war, and Zakaria pushed for an Iraq invasion hard.
The he lied and lied and lied and lied and lied supporting the war for
5 long years, telling his gullible “Newsweek readers that the war was
going great, and we were winning, and victory was just around the
corner, and “America cannot afford to lose” and all the rest of that
horseshit.
You know what?
I agree with Richard Clarke.
I think ignorant incompetent assholes like Fareed Zakaria should not
be allowed back into polite society.
“I just don’t think we can let these people back into polite society
and give them jobs on university boards and corporate boards and just
let them pretend that nothing ever happened when there are 4,000
Americans dead and 25,000 Americans grieviously wounded, and they’ll
carry those wounds and suffer all the rest of their lives.”—Richard
Clarke, 2008
“These people”—what people?
I can tell you what people.
People like Fareed Zakaria who fomented the entire delusion that Iraq
was behind 9/11, the people like Fareed Zakaria who agitated for this
insane war back in 2001, the people like Fareed Zakaria who lied us
into this goddamn mess, and the people like Fareed Zakaria who lied to
keep us in that quagmire for 5 long grim meathook years.
CEJ
Nov 19, 2009, 7:17:08 AM11/19/09
to Marxist Debate
And then there is the two war pigs of Brookings/Saban, O'Hanlon and
Pollack.
Of course these two are likely to pop up as talking head experts on ME
and Iran etc. on shows like Z's and A's.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2007/08/12/ohanlon/index.html
Pollack.
Of course these two are likely to pop up as talking head experts on ME
and Iran etc. on shows like Z's and A's.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2007/08/12/ohanlon/index.html
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