Surprise, surprise!

[urocyon]

Quick pointer, via the_future_modernes: Shakesville's Quote of the Day.

"How start?"—A bullet-point in "a newly declassified document that details talking points that emerged from a meeting between Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and CENTCOM Commander General Tommy Franks in November 2001." The bullet-point was followed by suggestions on how to start the Iraq War.

[transcription of JPG, formatting slightly modified - U.]
How start?
--- Saddam moves against Kurds in north?
--- US discovers Saddam connection to Sept. 11 or to anthrax attacks?
--- Dispute over MWD inspections?
------- Start now thinking about inspection demands

Um, yeah.

Too bad cooking a case for war out of thin air isn't a war crime, huh?

I just keep getting depressed and frustrated at the idea that large numbers of people think that giving anyone that level of power over other people is a good plan. Especially anyone who wants and actively pursues it. Put just about anybody in that kind of position--including random people off the street--and somebody's going to wind up hurt.

And we come back to issendai's excellent piece on sick systems.

What's even more depressing is the way that this gets painted as some sort of wackily extreme position.

Edit: And again via the_future_modernes: deepad's Dirt I Can Lay Claim To, a POC-focused roundup related to MoonFail. Glad one of my posts was worth linking. :)