Franken is making fun of Bob Woodward. He is ripping him to shreds!

[frank frankly]

Franken is playing clips where Bobby Woodward said there weren't reports telling President Hitler that the "Post-War Occupation" would be a disaster. Franken quotes several reports and is lambasting Bobby Woodward.

I love Air America!!!

[MSgt213]

1. As it should be. Woodard seem to be defending the administration for not

looking at opposing views.

[kaitykaity]

2. And his guest, James Fallows, is really

trying not to burn that bridge.

This is good stuff.

[frank frankly]

3. who is James Fallow?

anyone have the link to the 2,500 page State Department report that Fallow reported about?

[kaitykaity]

5. Writes for Atlantic Monthly.

He wrote the article "Blind into Baghdad" that Al refers
to all the time.

(It's a really great article, if you can find a link.)

[KoKo]

Here's link for "Blind into Baghdad" A Must Read! Really!

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2004/01/fallows.htm



Blind Into Baghdad

The U.S. occupation of Iraq is a debacle not because the government did no planning but because a vast amount of expert planning was willfully ignored by the people in charge. The inside story of a historic failure

by James Fallows

.....

n a Friday afternoon last November, I met Douglas Feith in his office at the Pentagon to discuss what has happened in Iraq. Feith's title is undersecretary of defense for policy, which places him, along with several other undersecretaries, just below Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz in the Pentagon's hierarchy. Informally he is seen in Washington as "Wolfowitz's Wolfowitz"—that is, as a deputy who has a wide range of responsibilities but is clearly identified with one particular policy. That policy is bringing regime change to Iraq—a goal that both Wolfowitz and Feith strongly advocated through the 1990s. To opponents of the war in Iraq, Feith is one of several shadowy, Rasputinlike figures who are shaping U.S. policy. He is seen much the way enemies of the Clinton Administration saw Hillary Clinton. Others associated with the Bush Administration who are seen this way include the consultant Richard Perle; Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney; and the Vice President himself. What these officials have in common is their presumably great private influence and—even in the case of the Vice President—their limited public visibility and accountability.

In person Douglas Feith is nothing like Rasputin. Between a Reagan-era stint in the Pentagon and his current job he was a Washington lawyer for fifteen years, and he answered my questions with a lawyer's affability in the face of presumed disagreement. I could be biased in Feith's favor, because he was the most senior Administration official who granted my request for an interview about postwar Iraq. Like Donald Rumsfeld, Feith acts and sounds younger than many others of his age (fifty). But distinctly unlike Rumsfeld at a press conference, Feith in this interview did not seem at all arrogant or testy. His replies were relatively candid and unforced, in contrast to the angry or relentlessly on-message responses that have become standard from senior Administration officials. He acknowledged what was "becoming the conventional wisdom" about the Administration's failure to plan adequately for events after the fall of Baghdad, and then explained—with animation, dramatic pauses, and gestures—why he thought it was wrong.
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2004/01/fallows.htm

[kaitykaity]

11. Thanks.

(If I weren't so lazy today . . . )

[soleft]

4. The Franken/Woodward interview was pretty contentious

I Woodward was being pretty dismissive, but he may have been put off at the beginning of the interview when Franken started by saying he had exposed Pottery Barngate, and made Woodward look a little foolish.

But Franken makes a really good point about pre invasion recomendations and how they were ignored, Woodward tried to minimize the administration's failures to heed that advice.

[SharonAnn]

8. Also, Franken referred several times to the 2,500 page report

about what needed to be done after capitulation of Saddam Hussein and that it would take more troops to handle the occupation than it would to win the war.

Woodward said that you can find a report on anything in Washington somewhere. Dismissed the importance of this and any other reports like it being ignored.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[NormanConquest]

9. Woody's book is also on the WH's "must read" list

What's your point?

[Name removed]

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[blm]

10. See what you want. Those who can read AND comprehend know there

is plenty in Woodward's book that reveals aspects to BushInc that are crucial to noting the incompetence and hubris.

Those that think Bush's shit doesn't stink see a "strong leader" with a commitment to his faith.

Woodward played to both sides.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Cocoa]

14. Glad to hear it

if Franken is being at all skeptical of Woodward's portrait of Bush as a "strong leader," then he's the only one that I know of, other than the Daily Howler. All the whores are simply taking Woodward as gospel, despite the dubious reporting style.

[mstrsplinter326]

15. It's a good thing franken is going after woodward

We wouldn't want to present a united front against bush.

For any of you who saw the Meet the Press interview with Woodward, you know that he is staunchly against the adminstration's handling of Iraq and the lies they told us. He could prove to have more information on this particular issue than anyone else.

Moreover, if you are interested in journalism's history, you know that Bob Woodward is the single most important journalist in American history, maybe of all time. Sorry, Al, but when I've got to pick between you and Bob, you lose.

I like Franken, but why does he waste air time bashing those who support much of what he has to say?

[frank frankly]

16. great show!

a wonderful caller just described BushCo/PNAC in a nutshell!

a really good call!

[Steely_Dan]

18. What Did The Caller Say???

Curious minds want to know.

-PLA