laura.fo

God I hate the 9/11 Commission. This is almost as pointless as Whitewater. I find myself cheering inwardly for Condoleeza Rice, and anyone who makes me do that pisses me right off. She is giving every anti-war argument ever offered up by a leftist in Birkenstocks and a Guatemalan peasant dress in order to justify the administration's lack of action prior to September 11, and rather than applaud that line of thinking and asking what — from a military, not a cultural standpoint — made war suddenly pragmatic after the fact, members of the Commission are looking down their noses and waving memos at her dated February 2001. "What about this? It says 'threat' right here!"

And then the same people who would have been (rightfully) horrified if we HAD invaded Afghanistan in the summer of 2001 actually cheer this line of questioning simply because it makes someone from the Bush administration shift uncomfortably in the hot seat, and a moment like that, well, it seems like it should come with popcorn and a drinking game. Never mind what's being said.

Once again: IT'S THE FOREIGN POLICY, STUPID. Focusing on better intelligence and trying to get the White House to twist and squirm until they admit that no, actually, they DIDN'T want to engage in a protracted war against an unknown enemy plays right into the hawkish line that says what we need is more of the Patriot Act, more Homeland Security, more racial profiling, more money to Israel, more cooperation with Saudi, fewer civil liberties, fewer privacy safeguards, fewer lawyers doing pro bono work on behalf of the accused, and more war in Iraq — "just in case."

So far all I have to say about this Commission is that it's one case where the enemy of my enemy is not my friend.