Message:
I've read Fiasco. Unlike you, I'm not afraid to read books by
authors who have a different ideology than me. And Feith's book
deals with every point in your screed.
Feith didn't sell the war. He deals with that accusation rather
cleanly in the book. Matter of fact, he produced a "Memo of
Horribles" at Rumsfeld's request that tried to predict the pitfalls
of the war. He agreed with the original rationale for going to war
(which, by the way, was not to build democracy). But he was not
selling the war to anyone.
He didn't create any intelligence. That is a liberal myth. George
Tenet, the head of the CIA, thought there were stockpiles in Iraq.
He sure as HELL didn't get that info from Feith. If Mark Richt said
that it's a slam-dunk that Tuberville likes to run the ball, do you
say that UGA doesn't believe Tuberville likes to run the ball?
Powell believed that the US needed to occupy Iraq for a few years
and not have an Iraqi face on the government. His view, not
Feith's, won out with Bremer. The first 14 months after Baghdad
fell was a pure occupation, just like the State dept wanted. The
book deals with this topic ad nauseum.
To anyone that wants to to jump on UGAH1's fact-starved review of
Feith, at least read the book. Unlike some other authors who are
heavily sourced with anonymous liberal State Dept folks, Feith's
book is full of first-hand meeting notes and official government
memos. I don't personally agree with every point Feith makes, BTW.
But his book is well worth it to anyone that wants to understand
what was happening with Iraq.
