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| Home Front: Politix |
| James Bakers Stacked Commission |
| 2006-10-26 |
| Is the fix in? Recommend you RTWT. Policymakers are abuzz with the explosive recommendations for U.S. policy toward Iraq soon to be released by the Baker-Hamilton Commission: Abandon democracy, seek political compromise with the Sunni insurgents, and engage Tehran and Damascus as partners to secure stability in their neighbor. While former secretary of state James Baker and former representative Lee Hamilton said they would withhold their report until after the elections on November 7 to avoid its politicization, they have discussed their findings with the press. On October 8, for example, Baker appeared on ABC's This Week, and the next day he discussed the group's findings with Charlie Rose. On October 12, both Baker and Hamilton appeared on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Both men are master inside-the-Beltway operators. Rather than prime the debate, they sought to stifle it. While on March 15, 2006, Baker said, "Chairman Hamilton and I have the same objective...to make an honest assessment of where we are and how we go forward and take this issue to the extent that we can out of politics," both chairmen designed the commission to affirm preordained conclusions that are neither new nor wise. Take the four subordinate expert working groups: Baker and Hamilton gerrymandered these advisory panels to ratify predetermined recommendations. While bipartisan, the groups are anything but representative of the policy debate. I personally withdrew from an expert working group after concluding that I was meant to contribute token diversity rather than my substantive views. |
| Posted by:ed |
| #12 George Mitchell must be busy cashing in on his alleged integrity...again. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-10-26 21:26 |
| #11 James Stacked Commission ...but, what else do you do with dead wood? |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-10-26 18:10 |
| #10 History tells us he'll know it when he sees it. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-10-26 13:12 |
| #9 I hope Ed Meese still has the balls to tell us how corrupt the panel really is. I look forward to his indictment. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-10-26 13:07 |
| #8 What are the chances that ANY recommendations coming out of this commission won't dishonor every American soldier killed, every American soldier maimed, every American soldier jailed in this war? Sigh. Wish the moderator would put up the graphic of the soldiers strung up on the bridge from the early days of the Iraq War. It would be useful to keep it in mind when we start talking about compromise with "insurgents". |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-10-26 13:03 |
| #7 Oh, good. Vernon Jordan's there. When things get boring, he can start one of his fascinating discussions about pussy. I hear that's one of the big reasons Clinton kept him around... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-10-26 12:51 |
| #6 Ed Meese is a stand-up guy, as is Chuck Robb, and, to some extent Gates. The rest are known political hacks analogous to The 911 Commission |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-10-26 12:49 |
| #5 Baker was a bad choice for the commission, but not for the reasons previously cited. Baker has 'skin in the game' because he is the one who advised Bush 41 not to go after Saddam in the aftermath of Gulf War I. He has gained high praise from the MSM for his decision back then, and represents a great narrative for the loony left. Here's a Bush family insider who, according to them 'made the right decision' back in 1991. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-10-26 12:46 |
| #4 So who appointed these hacks? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2006-10-26 08:28 |
| #3 There is concern gromgoru. I am concerned the conclusions from this panel will come first and the discussion later. Hope that decisions are not being made without Israel being at the table. Israel is our only friend in this area. I don't think you can make agreements with Syria or Iran. Syria and Iran have their long-term agendas and they look nothing like the Wests'. Iraq Study Group Members Group members include: Individuals James A. Baker III, Co-Chair Lee H. Hamilton, Co-Chair; former Democrat Congressman from Indiana Robert M. Gates, former CIA director Vernon Jordan, lawyer and friend of President Bill Clinton Edwin Meese III, attorney general under President Ronald Reagan Sandra Day O'Connor, retired Supreme Court Justice Leon E. Panetta, former chief of staff to Clinton William J. Perry, secretary of defense under Clinton Charles Robb, former Republican senator from Virginia Alan Simpson, former Republican senator from Wyoming Think Tanks Center for Strategic and International Studies Center for the Study of the Presidency James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy United States Institute of Peace |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2006-10-26 08:25 |
| #2 Baker has received the mission statement from his Saudi masters. Anything this dick produces should be thrown out |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-10-26 08:23 |
| #1 I'm sure there's a part that recommends buttf*cking Israel |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-10-26 08:10 |