For a further discussion of the Powell Doctrine see:
http://johnib.wordpress.com/2006/12/10/how-did-we-get-into-this-war/

John E. Carey

All in all this article says little about Baker-Hamilton but appears more a vehicle for the author's attitudes towards the US State Department.

I sense an enormous respect for the US military, but there seems no feeling for the pain Iraqis or Coaltition soldiers endure due to the Bush-Rumsfeld-Cheney decision to invade Iraq.

In this quote the author politely understates the subsequent carnage Rumsfeld triggered:

"On September 26, 2006, an essay of mine entitled, “Rumsfeld Needs To Go” stated the case made by senior retired military professionals that Mr Rumsfeld’s approach in the Pentagon was not being entirely successful."

"not being entirely successful." reads like Emperor Hirohito's surrender address to the Japanese nation (after the 2 Atomic bombs hit Japan) that "the war has not progressed entirely as we would have wished" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyokuon-hoso

Meanwhile (in the article itself) two black Americans come in for stronger criticism. The author's details about Rice are pitched at a personal level which hints at a dislike for (dare I say) woman in important positions. I'm no fan of Rice either but it is odd to itemise who Rice played tennis with when it was Bush and FEMA who were responsible for poor response to Katrina.

One can see unfortunate parallels between David Hick's continuing illegal imprisonment and the issue the author raises: "that the Communist government had been holding an American citizen, Mrs Thuong N. "Cuc" Foshee, without charges, medical care or legal council for over a year"

Hicks has been imprisoned without charge for 5 years and America is supposed to be our ally.

Pete
http://spyingbadthings.blogspot.com/

I cannot help but agree with (Pete) Plantagenet’s criticism of John E Carey’s use of understatement.

I am aware that JEC’s audience is mostly American, which underlines the need for him to appeal to arch-conservatives (including the Republicans). However, in the face of the Bush-Rumsfeld-Cheney hegemony’s arrogant trashing of long established international law – including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Geneva Convention (III & IV), the 1977 Geneva Protocol I, the 1984 Convention Against Torture, as well as the American Convention on Human Rights – you could turn the volume up a bit more, John!

Doc

Personally I think this take on the ISG Report is much more realistic, and the choice of words much more appropriate.

God help us all if the same standards and attitudes prevail after the parvenue Bush and his witless cronies have left the scene.

http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/?p=1416.

The most interesting thing about the James A. Baker IIIs report is the MSMs silence on his pivotal role in the multibillion dollar private equity conglomerate Carlyle Group (weapons, leveraged buyouts, 'public order' equipment, aerospace..), a firm that has made out like the proverbial bandits in the War of Terror. Its nice to know the retired prime ministers, presidents, and generals who make up its directors are doing all right. So what if Carlyle Group donated lotsa money to George jnrs campaign, so did those fine firms Enron and Worldcom, and they put their shoulder to the wheel in Iraq (providing expensive mercenaries to cover for Rumsfelds incompetence).

Putting these public facts together here is of course tinfoil hat thinking and completely unAustralian - like our foriegn policy, our thinking has been offshored.