Washington File

No, my question was not rhetorical. In Canada, we do not prosecute nor exact revenge on family members of criminals. The Bernardo and Homolka families may have suffered shame but I haven't heard of their parents, siblings or cousins being pulled in by their arrest and prosecution. Why should the British half-brother or American niece (to a Spanish mother) of OBL be detained?

Gary...your question was rhetorical right?

I'm glad to hear that the Bin Laden family has top notch legal representation to fend off the lynch mob. While I wish for a quick capture and horrible death for the monster OBL, exactly what is his London financier British half-brother or US-born documentary film maker niece (Carmen's daughter) liable for? Even the people going after OJ aren't hanging anything on his kids, his first wife, his mother, etc.

Thanks for that wonderful reminder Gord. Geesh, wasn't Saddam a friend of the US too at one point? Mussharaf better watch out....

Speaking of James Baker. Last I heard, his law firm was defending the Bin Laden family from lawsuits by the 9-11 families. Suddenly he is a respected elder statesman as portrayed by the media that overlooks his own war crimes such as participating in the false-flag operation, Gulf War 1 and complicity in illegally kidnapping Noriega wherein 10s of thousands of civilians were aerial bombed in their homes and all after an orchestrated media campaign to smear their former CIA agent, Manuel, in order to justify this crime.

Well said Don...but you forgot about GWB's cocaine use that, for some reason, the US media did not even touch upon during either election. Some folks end up in the slammer, and others become King of the World.

Clearly, gross incompetence or criminal misconduct (depending on your mood) has ruled Washington since this current gang of idiots seized power in 2000. There were numerous warnings during the primaries a full year before the presidential election that governor Bush was simply not up to the task" he was weak on foreign policy, devoid of economic sense or experience, demonstrated a profound and epic incompetent business sense with a string of bankruptcies and missed opportunities behind him, and, as if that weren't enough, was known to be firmly in the pocket of big oil. How much more do you think you would need before taking a pass on a clown like that? Well, obviously, for half of voting Americans, that sort of resume is just the ticket necessary in order to assume the top job. Kind of hard now to feel bad that their choice has been such a dismal failure but "I told you so." We all knew this incompetent would screw things up and he has succeeded in that beyond anyone's expectations: is it any wonder that he's now enlisting his daddy's old friends to pull his fat out of the fire now? Well guess what? It's far too late for that, isn't it? Iraq is done for as a nation and so is Afghanistan, it's really only a matter of time before we all cave in and retreat and leave those fine fellows over there free to kill themselves off in bloody, internecine, butchery. Are they worse off than they were under Saddam? You bet they are, as any quick glance around at the state of things would confirm. Forget history's judgement, use your eyes and open your ears. The failures of the last 6 years can be laid at the door of this president and no other. Too bad congress doesn't have the guts to impeach that scoundrel.

It should be no surprise that the war in Iraq is not going smoothly.
There is a Commander-in Chief who
is probably still AWOL from his
national guard duties and had almost no training in military
planning or discipline. There is
a vice-president who was an expert
at dodging any kind of military
service in his youthful years. There
are probably many competent, well
trained and experienced senior officers in the US Armed Forces whose advice was either not asked
for or else were ignored if their
advice did jive with what the top
brass had already decided on.
I think that before voting for a
new president it would be advisable
to find out if he or her ever had steady job.

Having read a lot of the accounts through the internet, I find it fascinating that Mr. Bush has not learned from the lessons of history. A lot of middle east countries have customs and cultures that are not understood by western people. The Sunis and Shiites have fought each other over centuries. New lands were won and lost, without the help of western influence. These countries are very capable of running their own affairs, and must be respected. The Unites States does not see it that way, and interferes in their way of life all in the name of democracy. Those middle east cultures have survived many conflicts and will do so for many more centuries. The United States has unjustly invaded a country that had stability, albeit a ruthless dictator. Are they any better off today? A question only history will answer

It won't be easy for George Bush and it is going to be harder for the Democrats. If they want the White House they are going to have to play it very cool. Too much witch-hunting will damage their chances. They will have to find someone other than Hillary Clinton. It will be interesting to see what happens on the domestic front because foreign policy will not decide 2008; it never has and never will.

This present Bush administration was lost to the American public very quickly. There are too many rogues to keep our eyes on. The world has become even more dangerous as other governments will now take advantage of any confusion. The ordinary citizen on this continent can thank the American people for speaking their mind in enough numbers to warrant some hope for something better than fences on our borders.

There are coming world naturally occuring problems that will require that all men in places of decision making will have to strive for the getter good in the global sense. There seemed to be no room for discourse as the present administration ran out of good ideas right from the get-go Canadains should pay attention to our elected leaders since they are coming across as Crash
Test Dummies in front of a plate glass window overlooking Lake Superior. Has the Secretary of State Rice gone into hiding? I have not seen or heard her or about her in days?

It should be noted that prior to the invasion of Iraq, both Brent Scowcroft and James Baker III wrote in the Wall Street Journal and other major publication that the current administration be patient, or not invade at all until it was sure. Baker has sway within the Bush family but Brent Scowcroft would not have published his piece without the approval of the senior President Bush. Maybe Mr. Champ can confirm what my Georgetown contacts tell me, that Bush 41 and 43 do differ over Iraq. (But not the War on Terrorism; like the rest of the world and now a bare majority of Americans, 41 sees them as separate.)