Clean Break (con't)

Believe it or not, belief that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction has increased substantially
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=684 (i know, what are they drinking?!)

Now, to continue yesterday's blog post on CLEAN BREAK; we turn to Wayne Madsen. He points out that just like the administration created the "Office of Special Plans" for Iraq far in advance of actually invading, the current (expanded) Mid East crisis was also planned well in advance and is being executed The Israeli invasion of Lebanon was planned between top Israeli officials and members of the Bush administration. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?ontext=viewArticle&code=MAD20060724&articleId=2801

In other news, the Bush administration acknowledged yesterday that it had long known about Pakistan's plans to build a large plutonium-production reactor , but it said the White House was working to dissuade Pakistan from using the plant to expand its nuclear arsenal.

"We discourage military use of the facility," White House spokesman Tony Snow said of a powerful heavy-water reactor under construction at Pakistan's Khushab nuclear site in Punjab state. Well, I guess I agree w/ Tony Snow -its not like Pakistan isn't a democracy or anything. So you just have to trust our government and Pakistan's democratically elected leader. It's not like he took over in a military coup or anything, right? !
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/24/AR2006072400995.html

Guess What The Talking Point Was?
On the July 24 edition of his CNN Headline News program, host Glenn Beck declared that "we went into Iraq three years ago to prevent World War III ... to prevent the evil Iranian ideology from spreading across the region." Earlier, he said "the real reason we went into Iraq was Iran." Describing "the reason the administration gave us" -- that Saddam Hussein possessed a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) -- as "real" but "just gravy," Beck stated that "President Bush decided to not tell us the real objective" because "we just wouldn't understand that we were in the early stages of World War III." How many times have you hear WWI this week?

As for Iraq
Last November, the Senate declared 2006 "to be a period of significant transition for Iraq" and called on President Bush to put forward a strategy for "the successful completion of the mission in Iraq." That same month, Bush issued his National Strategy for Victory in Iraq. A recent study by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, however, found the plan to be "incomplete." The Bush administration's failed strategy continues to carry a high price. In the first half of 2006, more than 14,000 Iraqi civilians and more than 350 U.S. troops have been killed in the war. The new Iraqi government -- formed after five months of deliberations -- still has yet to demonstrate its relevance in the daily lives of many Iraqis and economic reconstruction continues to fall short. The Bush administration will use today's visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to tout progress in Iraq, but what his visit actually highlights is the failure of the administration to make any significant transitions in 2006. American Progress has a new mid-term report card on the administration's progress.

Where's That Report You Promised Me?!
Despite being due over a month ago, the State Department has yet to release its semiannual report detailing foreigners who are "known to be engaging in WMD-proliferation related activities in Iran and Syria." Under the Iran-Syria Nonproliferation Act, the President must submit the list of foreign persons to Congress "not later than every six months." However, the last report came over seven months ago in December 2005. Three congressmen, Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), and Edward Markey (D-MA), have inquired as to the whereabouts of the report, deeming it necessary for the upcoming vote on President Bush's nuclear pact with India. Though the State Department could not be reached for immediate comment, rumors persist that it is withholding the document from Congress because its contents would embarrass the Bush administration and could hurt [the] chance of congressional passage of a US-India nuclear energy deal."

And now, today's Quickies:
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said of the Mideast violence that has claimed hundreds of lives, "We're seeing here is, in a sense, the growing -- the birth pangs of a new Middle East."

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) is readying a bill that would allow Congress to sue President Bush over his use of presidential signing statements with the view to having the president's acts declared unconstitutional.

President Bush's job approval rating is now 37 percent, which seems to have reached a plateau in the 37 to 40 percent range since mid-June. Only 35 percent of Americans approve of Bush's handling of Iraq.

and finally, An Israeli bomb destroyed a U.N. observer post on the border in southern Lebanon, killing two peacekeepers and leaving two others feared dead in what appeared to be a deliberate strike, U.N. chief Kofi Annan said. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,205549,00.html

(sources: HarrisInteractive, GlobalResearch, washington Post, CNN, White House website, Center for American Progress, Media Matters, The Independant, FOXNews)