Documents: Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in 1984 Despite Chemical Raids By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS, NYTimes

As a special envoy for the Reagan administration in 1984, Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the defense secretary, traveled to Iraq to persuade officials there that the United States was eager to improve ties with President Saddam Hussein despite his use of chemical weapons, newly declassified documents show.

Mr. Rumsfeld, who ran a pharmaceutical company at the time, was tapped by Secretary of State George P. Shultz to reinforce a message that a recent move to condemn Iraq’s use of chemical weapons was strictly in principle and that America’s priority was to prevent an Iranian victory in the Iran-Iraq war and to improve bilateral ties.

During that war, the United States secretly provided Iraq with combat planning assistance, even after Mr. Hussein’s use of chemical weapons was widely known. …

Mr. Rumsfeld’s trip was his second visit to Iraq. On his first visit, in late December 1983, he had a cordial meeting with Mr. Hussein, and photographs and a report of that encounter have been widely published. …

The American relationship with Iraq during its crippling war with Iran was rife with such ambiguities. Though the United States was outwardly neutral, it tilted toward Iraq and even monitored talks toward the sale of military equipment by private American contractors.

Tom Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, said: “Saddam had chemical weapons in the 1980’s, and it didn’t make any difference to U.S. policy.”

Mr. Blanton suggested that the United States was now paying the price for earlier indulgence. “The embrace of Saddam in the 1980’s and what it emboldened him to do should caution us as Americans that we have to look closely at all our murky alliances,” he said. “Shaking hands with dictators today can turn them into Saddams tomorrow.”

U.S.: Bush Rides Wave Of Popularity Into New YearBy Jeffrey Donovan, Radio Free Europe

Just a couple of months ago, U.S. President George W. Bush looked vulnerable heading into an election year, with chaos in Iraq and a stagnant U.S. economy weighing on his re-election chances. But as 2003 comes to an end, the administration is suddenly basking in the glow of good news on Iraq, the economy, and efforts to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. …

Suddenly, Bush has the best approval ratings of any president heading into his final year in office since Ronald Reagan in 1983. His ratings are much better than the 41 percent of his father, who lost re-election in 1992, and the 50 percent enjoyed by Bill Clinton, who won a second term in office in 1996.

This election is going to be decided by what’s on the 10 O’Clock News the month before the actual voting. mjh

daily reality check

Rep. Tom DeLay appeared on ”Meet the Press” yesterday determined to end the year with a bang, not a whimper. He called the war in Iraq ”exciting,” and compared Democrats to morons, hippies and (gasp!) the French. …

REP. DeLAY: You know, the Democrats want to balance the budget by raising spending and raising taxes. The Soviet Union had a balanced budget.

Apparently sensing he hadn’t gone far enough with his comparisons to morons, hippies and the French, DeLay kicked his rhetoric into a higher gear later in the show and compared Democrats to communists because they’re pushing for a balanced budget. …

[E]mploying false economic logic and engaging in bitter name-calling has been a hallmark of 2003. President Bush promised in his inaugural address to “change the tone in Washington,” and he has – under the Bush administration, things have transformed from typical partisan bickering to outright political garbage-throwing.

Anyone who opposed the president’s ill-planned rush to war was labeled a traitor.

Anyone who dared question the president’s overstatements of intelligence information was labeled a traitor and a wimp.

Anyone who opposed tax cuts was labeled a tax-and-spend liberal. And a traitor.

And the list goes on.

Duhbya’s single greatest lie may have been “I am a uniter, not a divider.”

This is from www.bushrecall.org (part of moveon.org, I think). On the lighter side, be sure to check out the clever “Lord of the Right Wing” animation — http://flash.bushrecall.org/ (thanks to MR). mjh

Bush Goal on Deficit Draws Skepticism By ALAN FRAM

President Bush’s goal of cutting in half a projected $500 billion federal deficit within five years is being dismissed as too timid by conservatives, unachievable by analysts and laughable by Democrats. …

The goal is backed by many Republicans, but conservatives want a bolder move against the record deficits and big spending increases the administration has run up.

”It’s a rather anemic goal, actually,” said Stephen Moore, president of the conservative Club for Growth. ”We should be talking about how to balance the budget.” …

”Given the current makeup of Congress and the incumbent in the White House,” halving the red ink in half is ”fanciful,” said Robert Reischauer, former Congressional Budget Office director and president of the Urban Institute.

They also say Bush’s goal distracts from the country’s real budgetary crisis: the crunch that will occur at decade’s end when the aging baby boom generation begins relying on Social Security, Medicare and other programs.

”The smokescreen here is the short-term deficit,” said Robert Bixby, executive director of the bipartisan Concord Coalition, which lobbies for balanced budgets.

NPR : Pose a Question for a Presidential Candidate

On Tuesday, Jan. 6, the Democratic candidates for the White House will gather in Des Moines, Iowa, for the only radio debate of the presidential election season. NPR’s Neal Conan will act as moderator. Talk of the Nation invites you to join in.

We ask that you send one specific question for one specific candidate to election@npr.org. Send it soon — we’d like to include you in the public radio presidential debate.

NPR : The 2004 Democratic Presidential Candidates, The Morning Edition Interviews

Lying Media Bastards-We’re Just Working Till the Day We Decide We’ve Had Enough…

Bush: What’s the Difference- from a 12/16/03 interview:

DIANE SAWYER: But stated as a hard fact, that there were weapons of mass destruction, as opposed to the possibility that he could move to acquire those weapons still —

GEORGE W. BUSH: So what’s the difference?

Can I trade in my president for someone who knows the difference between real and imaginary please?

Welcome to uComics Web Site featuring Tom the Dancing Bug — The Best Comic Site In The Universe!

I’m passing on LMB’s recommendation for this comic: “Revisionist Comics”. mjh

Democrats Trail in Polls, Battling Self-Inflicted Wounds

Since Hussein’s capture – and Dean’s statement that it would not make the country safer or alter his views about the war – those rivals have attacked Dean in an effort to shake up a race that had seemed to be sliding away from them. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) accused Dean of crouching in “his own spider hole of denial,” Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said Dean had shown he lacked “the judgment to be president” and Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) accused Dean of “playing politics with foreign policy.”

There is no evidence that any of this has thus far had much impact on the voters choosing the Democratic nominee in a swift succession of primaries and caucuses that begin next month.