This story is too big for Fitzgerald...

[kentuck]

In the end, we may get indictments against Lewis Libby and perhaps, Karl Rove, but that is small potatoes in the big picture. The crimes are so much larger than the leak of a CIA operative or the perjury about exposing that operative.

Not coincidentally, today marks the death of 2000 American troops in Iraq. And today, the lies still continue. The White House and their propaganda machine have been busy telling people that "everyone" thought Saddam had WMDs. That is nothing short of another outright lie. Bush was lucky to get Tony Blair to go along with his evil scheme, as the rest of the world, including France and Germany, turned their backs on Bush's plan to invade Iraq. But they continue to say baldfacedly that "everyone " thought Saddam had WMDs as if that were a legitimate excuse to unilaterally invade another country and enmesh our own country in a quagmire which we will be a long time escaping.

The crimes go to the very top of our government. Bush and Rove have destroyed everyone in their path on their way to power. When they got Cheney to choose himself as the VP, they had their General with credentials. After all, he had been the Secretary of Defense in the once-thought victory of Gulf War One. However, with the new regime, Gulf War One was a failure because we did not go all the way and take out Saddam. They came to power with that goal.

They lied to Congress. They lied to the America people. They lied to the UN. They lied to the world. If there had been a legitimate reason for going to war, there would have been no reason to lie. The reasons for war must be more obvious. It is serious business.

And "business" was what it seemed to be about. Mr. Cheney, former CEO of Halliburton, has benefitted greatly from the War, as have Big Oil and other defense contractors. And today, we have over 2000 troops dead protecting those interests and their lies.

They spoke to the America people with certainty about tons of WMDs and the waiting for a "mushroom cloud". Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld came on the television and stated outright that he knew where the WMDs were located. Colin Powell, then the Secretary of Defense, went to the UN with photos and an old college essay as proof that Iraq had WMDs. With his credibility at that time, many people were convinced to follow the ill-advised path to war. They had won over the American people.

But their lies were still lies. They betrayed America. Intentionally. They looked at the war like it was a new detergent to be sold. It is sure to get the spots out.

So the crimes are much larger than a CIA leak or a few perjured statements about who knew what and when. It is about betrayal, lies, illegal war, and many unnecessary deaths. It is much more than one Prosecutor can handle.

[PurityOfEssence]

1. Well said.

None of the justifications for the war pass the sniff test. With nothing more than just common sense (one of the world's greatest oxymorons) the whole think just stinks.

The problem is that most of the government and media are in complicity, and they don't see any way to shake the tar baby. This was reckless and greedy simplicity and it has failed. The pyre of careers will be broad and long in coming, but it won't really solve the problem: we think we rule the world, and we think our ways are infinitely better than the many we don't even bother to know.

The administration used our fear when we were most vulnerable, and it was used to settle old scores and feather already well-feathered nests.

This is about only a few things: stealing natural resources, buttressing Israel in its desires for regional dominance and the solidifying of brutal hegemony for the United States. The heaps of lies are obvious to any sentient being.

[Name removed]

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[Tom Bombadil]

5. Israel is a major cause of the instability

in the Middle-East. Also the only country in the world with a foreign policy that echos the US.

[Name removed]

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[Tom Bombadil]

9. You said..

And it's the only country in the mid east that has any form of democracy. It's the only country in the mid east that has a free press. It's the only country in the mid east that protects the rights of Jews, who were systematically slaughtered by Nazis who were allied with the Arabs.

This doesn't change the fact that Israel has been a major cause of Middle-Eastern instability for the last fifty years.

Israel's foreign policy: Occupation of a land that does not belong to them. Simple. Just like America in Iraq.

[Name removed]

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[Clark2008]

7. And by Israel, Tom means the Lucid Israeli government...

NOT Jewish people.

He's NOT being anti-Semitic.

I just want to thwart that from the get-go.

[Name removed]

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[cassiepriam]

2. Yes indeed! It is about lying to the American public to justify

an invasion of a foreign country. The repugs call it marketing.
I call it treason. And murder.

[welshTerrier2]

4. crimes versus "political crimes"

crimes are crimes but not all crimes are created equal ...

i've always thought Fitzgerald would request indictments for "the narrow case" which is crimes relating to the outing of Plame and any associated perjury charges that relate directly to her outing ...

but that's just the indictments ... i also always believed Fitzgerald's investigation would be very broad and would uncover all the WH lies that led up to the war in Iraq ... the investigation would uncover all sorts of crimes including bush's lying to Congress during the statement he filed in accordance with the IWR ...

what i think is going to happen, and this is based on absolutely nothing, is that Fitzgerald will turn over the results of his investigation to both the House and Senate judiciary committees ... it will be up to them to decide how to proceed with the information ...

whether Fitzgerald will make his reports public remains to be seen ... i think, in the end, he will draw distinctions between crimes he should be prosecuting versus "political crimes" that should first be handled by the Congress ... it's all wild speculation but that's my best guess ...

[kentuck]

12. It should be up to the House and Senate to proceed with....

the investigation. Only the voices of the people should have the right to impeach. That should not be in the hands of one person. If the Democrats win the House or Senate next year, they have an obligation to get to the bottom of this scandal. To write it off to encourage "bi-partisanship" would be to abandon their duty to see that justice is doneand that there are answers to all the questions that Fitzgerald may not be able to answere.

[welshTerrier2]

13. this is probably naive ...

but i think, if Fitzgerald's evidence makes a very strong case, republican controlled committee's might call for hearings on bush and cheney ... yeah, maybe it's an ultra-longshot, but i think it's possible ...

the republicans are very nervous about the political climate going into next year ... if Fitzgerald's case is made public, they might have to hold hearings ...

remember, republicans on the Watergate committee voted to impeach Nixon ... it can happen ...

the reasoning you used about it not being in the hands on one man is exactly why i think the "political crimes" might be pushed into the Congress ... again, just wildly speculating here ...

[kentuck]

14. If the Democrats did a little bit of nudging??

unceasingly. Hold their feet to the fire and they might....

[DainBramaged]

11. I have only this to say

We have no other chance to derail the Rove train, and Fitzgerald is all we've got, for better or worse, and WE, being Democrats or Liberals or Anti-ConJobRightWingRepublican can ONLY view the proceedings from afar. I am positive of this. And anything that happens or anyone who is indicted is a gift to us.

We are lucky that we got an honest guy, for better or worse. If it wasn't for his part, no matter who conspires against us, we'd still be helpless and flailing against the machine. The exposure alone has weakened the Right, much more so than ANYTHING our so-called leaders have done in FIVE YEARS.