This gives "garlic-breath" a whole new meaning

More on the Hutton Report Fallout
BBC's Gilligan goes, but not quietly
BBC reporter lashes out at
'unfair and unbalanced' Hutton

He branded Lord Hutton's report unfair and unbalanced: "If Lord Hutton had fairly considered the evidence he would have concluded that most of my story was right. The government did sex up the dossier."

Award-winning maverick left in the cold

Full text of Gilligan's statement

Something's rotten in Denmark Britain:
BBC dossier reveals fury at Hutton 'flaws'

James Taranto finds this wicked thought delicious-
Bravo! Abortion wins elections for the GOP!

"....it seems reasonable to assume that more potential Democrats than potential Republicans have been aborted. After all, their would-have-been mothers show through their actions that they agree with the Democratic position on the issue. Result: fewer younger voters in Democratic primaries, as we saw last night, and probably a boost for Republican candidates in the general election..."

Do you think Karl Rove and Grover Norquist secretly hope that Roe v. Wade will never be overturned?

George Soros:
Bush re-election will sink US deeper into terror-trap
"We have fallen into a trap. The suicide bombers' motivation seemed incomprehensible at the time of the attack; now a light begins to dawn: they wanted us to react the way we did. Perhaps they understood us better than we understand ourselves."
-George Soros

"If Bush is rejected in 2004, his policies can be written off as an aberration and America resume its rightful place in the world. But if he is re-elected, the electorate will have endorsed his policies and we will have to live with the consequences....

...a different president with a different attitude to international cooperation may be more successful in extricating us.."

Kay's Report on WMDs says the SAME thing Scott Ritter's report said BEFORE the war...
From A Washington Post"Live-On-Line" Discussion with Peter Slevin

"Somewhere, USA" poses this talking-point to journalist Peter Slevin:

"The Bush Administration is treating Kay's report as an "intelligence failure."
Really? Kay's report says the SAME thing Scott Ritter's report said BEFORE the war and this Administration villified him for it.
It's becoming increasingly obvious (except for those who continue to bury their heads in the sand) that this Administration most likely deliberately misled about the justification for war and possibly even abused its power.
This is potentially the biggest scandal in American history but other than a story here and there, there is not much media coverage. There's no saturation coverage like there was when Clinton lied about sex.
Why does the media continue to give this Administration a free pass? If this were a Democratic Administration that did all this, the media would be all over it, the Dem President and VP would have been impeached, removed from office, and possibly even standing before Hague by now.
Thank you. I'm sorry I was so loquacious."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEE SCOTT RITTER ON TODAY'S CSPAN APPEARANCE
*see: "Scott Ritter, Fmr. U.N. Weapons Inspector (1991-'98)"
Question from viewer to Scott Ritter: Why have you disappeared from the cable and network TV talk-shows?
Scott Ritter: "...The mainstream media has acted irresponsibly. In 2002, Paula Zahn of CNN accused me of "drinking Saddam Hussein's kool-aid" after my response to a question about aluminum tubes and yellowcake coming from Niger. I think we have a problem here in that the media is culpable for the misleading of the American public. They bought into the Bush Administration's rhetoric and war fervor. They sold a war to the American public and now they have to deal with the fact that they were the ones beating the war drums. Maybe they just don't know how to deal with me."

SEE SCOTT RITTER'S COMMENTS FROM A SPEECH IN 2002

"The truth of the matter is that Iraq today is not a threat to its neighbours and is not acting in a manner which threatens anyone outside of its own borders. When speaking of international law as set forth by the United Nations Charter it is impossible to come up with any scenario today that would justify military action against Iraq based upon its current behaviour."
--Scott Ritter

NOTE: In fairness, other former UNSCOM officials have weighed in with their analysis of Iraq's alleged WMD threat. Check out the writings of Rolf Ekeus and Hans von Sponeck.
Read for yourself and decide.
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Bush says NO NO NO to WMD Independent Commission
Just as in the 9-11 Commission case, King Bush simply doesn't want to be scrutinized.

Bush said he wants to be able to compare the administration's prewar intelligence with what will be learned by inspectors who are now searching for weapons in Iraq. There is no deadline for those inspectors, the Iraq Survey Group, to complete their work.

In other words, let's wait forever before investigating.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At Informed Comment, it is noted that "despite the whitewash carried out by the Hutton Commission, Tony Blair's government will not entirely avoid an inquiry into where in the world it got the idea that Saddam Hussein was a major threat to the UK and had WMD ready to launch "within 45 minutes". It is also duly noted that "parliamentarians of [Tony Blair's] own party are carrying out the inquiry, which is a good model for Republicans in the US Congress.."
The London Times has the story.

Congratulations to William Rivers Pitt, new Campaign Spokesperson for Dennis Kucinich

The position couldn't have been given to a better person. William is one of the best.
I think he'll do a great job of getting some truth out there!

Kucinich: In ABC's The Note today: From ABC News Kucinich campaign reporter Melinda Arons:
While certainly not a shake-up, the campaign is changing its media strategy. National press secretary David Swanson, who kept a grueling schedule as the campaign's main spokesperson but who oftentimes had a prickly relationship with the press, has given his two weeks notice.
Replacing him is author and journalist William Rivers Pitt. Pitt, who wrote War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know with former weapons inspector Scott Ritter and who currently edits the website TruthOut.org, was covering Kucinich last week in Iowa. He blended in so well that Kucinich offered him the position, and he will now travel full-time with the candidate. The campaign worries its relationship with the media has been damaged by its previously defensive attitude toward the mainstream press, something they hope Pitt can remedy. As Pitt told ABC News, "There's a new sheriff in town."