Tex -USMC-
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Posts posted by Tex -USMC-
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Let me guess, homer... NewsMax? Just answer me this...
Quote[/b] ]NewsMax Top 10Hottest Sellers
June 8, 2004
1 USS Reagan Hat
2 Reagan's Greatest Laughs
3 Deck of Reagan
4 Presidential Coffee Mugs
5 Hillary's Secret War
6 Deliver Us From Evil Â
7 I Like Bush T-Shirt
8 Rewriting History
9 Camouflage Hat
10 Deck of Hillary Â
You bought the camouflage hat, right?
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I bet you wish I was 12, chester.Look at the jokers on it. The dem asshats left the meeting with pres Bush cause they had something more important to do, like meet the pres of canada, lol.
So yeah it is a joke, its too politisized, their goal isnt the truth, its to hurt Bush.
Thomas H. Kean- Chairman. Republican.
Lee H. Hamilton- Co-Chair. Democrat.
Richard Ben-Veniste- Democrat.
Fred F. Fielding- Republican
Jamie S. Gorelick- Democrat.
Bob Kerrey- Democrat.
John F. Lehman- Republican.
Timothy J. Roemer- Democrat.
James R. Thompson- Republican.
Scorecard is 5 to 4 for the Dems, with a Republican Chairman. Not exactly the best way to do a hatchet job on the president... especially when the president creates the commission.
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They dont have to see eye to eye to cooperate.Ever heard of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" ??
Sounds like the CIA's rationale for indirectly funding Osama Bin Laden during the Afghan War. Oh, and if that maxim holds true, then Al Qaeda is our friend too- they were engaged in active violence against Saddam Hussein until the early 1990s.
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you claim that ansar al islam operated out of northern iraq and that saddam did nothing to destroy yhtem. Yet you miss the fact that northern iraq was off limits to saddam due to the US giving 10 years of autonomy to the kurds and a no fly zone where the US operated out of Turkey. If ansar was such a problem why didnt the US blow the hell out of them?Because Anzar was varyingly anti-Saddam to violently anti-Saddam right up to the end.
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In fact, the 9/11 commission has produced evidence that some of the very first contact between AQ operatives and Iraq occurred when Iraq tried to cut a deal with AQ to get them to stop supporting anti-Baathist terrorists in northern Iraq. That group? The beginnings of Anzar al Islam. I've said it since day one: the AQ connection is bullshit because Al Qaeda is run by idealists, and Muslim idealists don't like secular pan-Arabists like Saddam Hussein.
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Quote[/b] ]But Saddam was NOT a threat to the US or anyone else. He had NO military.It doesn't matter if Sadam had a military or not. He himself effectively contained terrorism in his own country. While he didn't have this army that could go around invading countries, he was supporting small groups of terrorists who bring down buildings. How could that not be considered a threat?
Oh ffs, at least try to watch some news. The official 911 inquiry came to the same conclusion that was obvious to most that Saddam had nothing whatsoever to do with the WTC attacks. There were no connections.
The only terrorist groups Iraq supported directly were secular groups including Palestinian groups, the most notable being the various incarnations of Black September. This support ended with the death of Abu Nidal, who was found dead in his Baghdad apartment after "committing suicide" by firing several pistol rounds into his head. The other groups Iraq supported were leftist Iranian seperatists, the most notable of which was the People's Mujahedin, which had been a serious pain in the ass to Iran for over a decade.
edit: you can of course argue that Iraq supported terrorism by providing generous compensation to the families of suicide bombers. This would put them in the same league as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Oman, Bahrain, Yemen, Oman, Quatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
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LOL, that 911 commision is almost as big of a joke as the un.It was commissioned by the White House- what more do you want? And you are 12, aren't you?
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Un-friggin-believable... check this transcript out. (White House press conference, btw)
Quote[/b] ]Q Scott, I'm a little confused, and it could be a factor of age, but I'm just wondering, you were saying this morning that the findings of the 9/11 Commission, which definitively say that there was no collaborative relationship between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, are completely consistent with your position that there was such a collaborative relationship. And I'm just wondering if you could explain how those two disparate thoughts are completely consistent.MR. McCLELLAN: Sure. If you go back and look at what the September 11th Commission said, they talked about how there had been high-level contacts between the regime in Iraq and al Qaeda. And they specifically pointed out to contacts between Iraqi intelligence officials and bin Laden in Sudan; and they talked about other contacts. And if you go back and look at what Secretary Powell outlined before the United Nations, this was back in February of 2003, he talked about how we know -- this is quote, "We know members of both organizations met repeatedly and have met at least eight times at very senior levels since the early 1990s. In 1996, a foreign security service tells us that bin Laden met with a senior Iraqi intelligence official in Khartoum and later met the director of the Iraqi intelligence service." So he talked about some of contacts in his presentation to the United Nations.
Q Right, but the 9/11 --
MR. McCLELLAN: And that is perfectly consistent with what the September 11th Commission talked about in their report yesterday.
Q But here's where the two positions diverge, and that is that the 9/11 Commission says, yes, there were these contacts, but they did not result in any kind of collaborative relationship. It means the same thing as you and I contact each all the time, but I don't think anybody here at the White House would account you of having --
MR. McCLELLAN: John, we made it clear a long time ago --
Q -- a collaborative relationship with me.
MR. McCLELLAN: We made it clear a long time ago that there is no evidence to suggest that Saddam Hussein's regime was involved in the attacks of September 11th.
Q But they say -- the 9/11 Commission is saying, not only is there no evidence to support that or any collaboration in any other attacks on America, but no evidence to support any kind of collaborative relationship which you have claimed.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, if you go back and look at what Secretary Powell said, and look at what Director Tenet said -- let me point out what Director Tenet said, as well, let me read you facts because you're talking about impressions, let's talk about the facts. I think you need to look at the facts, and look at exactly what was said prior to the decision to go into Iraq and remove that regime from power.
Here's Director Tenet to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in a letter October 7, 2002:
"We have solid reporting of senior-level contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda going back a decade. Credible information indicates that Iraq and al Qaeda had discussed safe-haven and reciprocal nonaggression. Since Operation Enduring Freedom, we have solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of al Qaeda members, including some that have been in Baghdad."
So those are the facts. And I think if you go and look back at what the September 11th Commission report said yesterday, it's consistent with that report.
Q Scott, let me try to take a stab at this because I think one of the things that you're asserting there is a statement from the Director of Central Intelligence, who has since resigned, who apparently was the same one who told the President that it was a slam-dunk case.
MR. McCLELLAN: That's not trying to say he resigned for reasons other than were personal reasons.
Q People can make up their own minds.
MR. McCLELLAN: As he cited, for family reasons.
Q Okay, but they can make up their own minds.
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, well, you're trying to lump it all together, though.
Q I'm pointing out that he resigned. And he also said -- you quoted him as saying that -- he's also the one who told the President that it was a slam-dunk case that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Today -- as of today, there are not. And isn't the issue that whatever the intelligence was about ties, any kind of relationship between al Qaeda and Iraq, that for the Vice President of the United States two days ago to assert deep, long-standing ties is, at its most charitable, an overstatement of what the evidence shows?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, he's actually referring to exactly what Secretary Powell outlined before the United Nations and what Director Tenet outlined in open session to members of Congress. So, again, I would go back to what we stated were the facts and what we knew. And if you --
Q But that's in direct contradiction to what the 9/11 Commission has found.
MR. McCLELLAN: And if you look back at what we said, we said that -- we said all along that Saddam Hussein's regime supported and harbored terrorists, and that there were ties to terrorism -- including al Qaeda. And if you go back and look at what was outlined before the United Nations -- Secretary Powell goes to talk about how there was support for suicide bombers in the Middle East who sought to undermine the peace process, who sought to undermine the road map.
Q But, Scott, you're trying to make such a technical --
MR. McCLELLAN: Director Tenet --
Q -- argument, cherry-picking what you want to see.
Q Not Iraq.
Q And not only that, this President has said that he thought that Saddam Hussein would like to use al Qaeda as a forward army, as one of his forward armies. The 9/11 Commission is saying, contacts a relationship don't make.
MR. McCLELLAN: David, you're just ignoring the facts. You're not looking at what Director Tenet said. You're not looking at what Secretary Powell said before the United Nations.
Q Scott, do you really think people buy this?
MR. McCLELLAN: And I think that you can seek to drive a wedge, but there is no wedge there between what the September 11th Commission said and what the facts --
Q Between what the facts are and what the reality is.
MR. McCLELLAN: -- and what the facts are. You're talking about impressions; I'm talking about facts.
Q No, I'm also talking about facts. The President said he thinks that al Qaeda would like to be a forward -- that Saddam wanted to use al Qaeda as a forward army -- his words from, I believe, October 2002 at a Michigan rally.
This commission has said after its own investigation, and you were the ones who set up the commission, that there was no collaborative relationship. So the conclusion -- the question and conclusion seems to be that administration overstated the evidence that exists.
MR. McCLELLAN: Let me finish what I was saying a minute ago, David. I appreciate your comments, and I'd like to make some myself because there are important facts that I think are being ignored here in this discussion. The facts were very clear. They were outlined by Secretary Powell before the United Nations.
Q Repudiated --
MR. McCLELLAN: They were outlined by Director Tenet to members of Congress.
Q Powell wants know why the intelligence was wrong, doesn't he?
MR. McCLELLAN: And again, if you'll let me finish, I would like to go through some of this, because this is an important discussion to have. It's important for the American people to have the complete picture, and to have all the facts before them. And that's exactly what this administration put before the American people in a very public way. Secretary Powell, one of the key things he talked about in his remarks was -- and let me just go back to those remarks -- quote from Secretary Powell's remarks:
"Iraq and terrorism go back decades. Baghdad trains Palestine Liberation Front members in small arms and explosives. Saddam uses the Arab Liberation Front to funnel money to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers in order to prolong the intifada. And it's no secret that Saddam's own intelligence service was involved in dozens of attacks or attempted assassinations in the 1990s. But what I want to bring to your attention today is the potentially much more sinister nexus between Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network, a nexus that combines classic terrorist organizations and modern methods of murder. Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda lieutenants."
And he goes on to talk about Mr. Zarqawi. We certainly have seen Zarqawi up close during --
Q After the invasion.
MR. McCLELLAN: He was in Iraq prior to the invasion, David. And it's important to point that out to the American people. He had a safe harbor in Iraq. He received medical treatment in Baghdad. And that's what Secretary Powell talked about. And certainly, when you're talking about a post-September 11th world, this President is not going to rely on the good intentions of Saddam Hussein to protect the American people. Saddam Hussein had a long history of using weapons of mass destruction, of supporting and harboring terrorists, and he had a long history of oppression in that country. He certainly knew what was going on in that country. This was a police state in Iraq. And the world is safer and better off because Saddam Hussein has been removed from power.
Terry.
Q The New York Times says the President should apologize to the American people. Also, are you saying that the 9/11 report is wrong? Is that what you're saying that you reject the findings?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I'm saying that it's consistent with what we have said.
Q It is not consistent. They said this business on the nexus -- sinister nexus is not so.
MR. McCLELLAN: Where did they say that?
Q It's in the story.
MR. McCLELLAN: Okay.
Q No collaborative relationship.
MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead, Terry.
Q Well, I'll pick up on that, if I may.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well -- and we never said that there was operational ties involved in attacks on the United States. Let's be very clear about that. The President talked about that just a short time ago.
Q What are people supposed to conclude, that they're having lunch with each other?
MR. McCLELLAN: A short time ago in his remarks.
Q You talk about deep, long-standing ties. What is that supposed to mean?
MR. McCLELLAN: Saddam Hussein supported and harbored terrorist groups --
Q Why don't you just say the commission is wrong?
MR. McCLELLAN: All right.
Q Well, because the terms that you did use, "deep, long-standing ties -- sinister nexus," and the President himself saying, "By removing Saddam Hussein we have removed an ally of al Qaeda," that means they are working together. Did Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda work together, where and when?
MR. McCLELLAN: I disagree with your characterization about --
Q Well, what does "ally" mean?
MR. McCLELLAN: But Saddam Hussein's regime and al Qaeda had a common enemy: It was the United States of America. And when you talk about a regime that has a history of supporting and harboring terrorists, and has a history of using weapons of mass destruction on its own people and on its neighbors, and then you look at the world through the lens of September 11th, the President made the absolute right decision to go in and remove that regime from power.
Q That's an argument. Those are not facts.
MR. McCLELLAN: One of the most dangerous --
Q That's just an argument. The facts as determined do not bear out that argument.
MR. McCLELLAN: One of the most dangerous threats we face in this day and age is the nexus between outlaw regimes with weapons of mass destruction and --
Q But you didn't find any.
MR. McCLELLAN: -- terrorist organizations. And the President acted, based on the information that we outlined, and that you can go back and look at. It's public information. Secretary Powell speaking before the United Nations --
Q Who has repudiated his own testimony.
MR. McCLELLAN: -- and Director Tenet testifying before Congress about these ties.
Q And just to button this down, the President stands by his statement that Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda were allies.
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, if you go back and look at the facts --
Q I'm asking what the President would say today.
MR. McCLELLAN: He stands by saying that Saddam Hussein's regime had ties to terrorism, including al Qaeda. And the basis of that is what I pointed out in Secretary Powell's remarks and Director Tenet's remarks. And that is consistent with what the September 11th Commission said. The relationship and contacts go back over the last decade.
Q One more on this.
MR. McCLELLAN: And they have a common enemy in the United States of America.
Q That's your definition of allies. One more on this: the information you are pointing us to all comes from before the war in Iraq. In other words, it comes from that same -- we now know, certainly, when it comes to weapons of mass destruction -- deeply flawed intelligence. Since then, the substantial majority of the leaders of Saddam Hussein's regime have been captured and interrogated, and we also have, as the President likes to tell us, two-thirds of the leadership of al Qaeda captured and interrogated. Is there anything new that you can add, because the 9/11 Commission, the only new fact they added was that two senior leaders of al Qaeda denied that there were any ties at all.
MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, what they said was that there were high-level contacts, going back for quite some time. And that's consistent with what we said prior to going into Iraq and removing that regime from power.
Q But I'm asking whether there is new information since the war, developed from all of these leaders that we have captured on both sides. We now have in our custody leadership of this alliance on both sides. What have they told us?
MR. McCLELLAN: What do you want to dispute that Secretary Powell said and Director Tenet said? I mean, let's talk about the facts, because those were the facts that we outlined before making the decision to go in and remove that regime from power. And so let's talk about those facts.
Q Have they been borne out by these --
MR. McCLELLAN: It's nice to talk about these impressions and the way people are trying to spin certain things, but let's talk about the facts.
Q I'm looking for facts.
MR. McCLELLAN: Let's not ignore those facts. Well, the facts were before the United Nations, through Secretary Powell's statement, and they were before Congress, through Director Tenet's testimony.
Q What have we learned since then, from all this intelligence?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, obviously you learn more post the decision to go into Iraq, and you learn more as you get information from those detainees. And I'm sure that Director Tenet can talk to you about those issues and give you a read on that. That's a very general question you're asking me right here, right now.
Q Is there anything else that goes to the notion of an al Qaeda-Iraq alliance?
MR. McCLELLAN: But if you go back and look at what we outlined, and the facts, we stand by that.
Go ahead, Connie.
Q It's an established fact that past administrations did not take adequate action against terrorists. Is there a lesson in this to Iran and North Korea, and is the U.S. strong enough to mount any offensive against those countries?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Connie, as you know, we're pursuing diplomatic solutions when it comes to North Korea and Iran. And we're working on taking a multilateral approach to address those issues. Certainly, when it comes to confronting threats, there are different ways to confront different threats in different parts of the world. And this President is committed to confronting those threats and addressing them before it's too late, because September 11th, which is what we're talking about here today, changed the equation and taught us that we must confront threats before it is too late. And that's exactly what this President is doing. That's exactly what he did in Iraq.
Q Where was the threat?
MR. McCLELLAN: Saddam Hussein was a threat, he was a destabilizing force in a dangerous region of the world.
Q Did he ever threaten the United States?
MR. McCLELLAN: And he was a sworn enemy of the United States of America who had a history of using weapons of mass destruction both on his own people and on his neighbors. He was a very destabilizing force, and the world is better off because he has been removed from power.
Q Scott, the last poll on the subject found that most Americans, more than half, believe that Iraq had some hand in the planning and the execution of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Do you believe that the White House, the administration has done anything to contribute to that misimpression? Do you believe that you have, in any way, at any time, overstated the ties, the connections between al Qaeda and Iraq?
MR. McCLELLAN: That's why I said we said a long time ago that there was no evidence to suggest Saddam Hussein's regime was involved in the September 11th attacks. We made that very --
Q After the war you said that.
Q Overstated the relationship in any way?
MR. McCLELLAN: We made that very clear.
Q Yes, in September, after the war you made it clear.
Q Two questions, one, what kind of message President Bush is sending to the new government in New Delhi of Mr. Singh by designating Pakistan yesterday a major non-ally status?
MR. McCLELLAN: Right, and we have previously -- and we have previously announced that.
Q Indian officials in New Delhi are saying that there will be an arms race between India and Pakistan. And now in the next two weeks, they are going to have peace talks again in Delhi.
MR. McCLELLAN: It's important that that dialogue continue, and that India and Pakistan continue to have close contacts and work to reduce tension in that region, work to address these issues through dialogue. We've made that very clear. We certainly have good relations with both countries, and we will continue to build on those relations and help to do our part to facilitate that dialogue so that we can continue to reduce tensions in the region.
Q But how about --
Q Why don't we go back to --
MR. McCLELLAN: Let me keep going. Let me keep going because the President is due to be speaking here shortly.
Q I want to go back to Kathleen's question. Do you believe -- you're saying that the White House believes that administration officials bear no responsibility for this misperception of Iraq's role in 9/11 that polls indicate a good half of the American people have. Are you concerned about that? Two questions.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you can go back and look at the facts. And I think the American people recognize that Saddam Hussein's regime was a brutal one. It was an oppressive one. It had a history involving terrorism, and so you have to look at that and have to take that into account when perceptions are formed. There are some facts there that point to the dangers and point to reasons why people might have those views.
In terms of this administration, we laid out the facts very clearly for the American people. And it's important to look at the facts as we outlined them. And it's important to look at it in the context of post-September 11th. September 11th taught us that we must confront these threats before it is too late. September 11th taught us that we are -- or showed us that we are at war on terrorism. This was a terrible tragedy that occurred on American soil, and it taught us that we must confront threats that we face in the 21st century. That's what this President is doing. And you have to look at all the facts that are involved here. But we made it very clear that there was no evidence to suggest that regime was involved in September 11th.
Q And you're not concerned about the -- it doesn't trouble you that so many people have this misperception?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I'm dealing with the facts up here, and I'm pointing out to you what the facts are in what we said.
Q It is a fact that --
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040617-5.html
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I have an odd video issue with this demo- ingame, the world is pitch black, barring the sun/moon shining over head. When I put on my NVGs everything's fine, but that's a pain in the ass when it's bright out, what with the over-gain from excess light. I have no idea what's going on- anyone else experiencing this?
edit: to clarify, the gameworld is completely black: no tracers, no muzzle flashes, nothing. The GUI is visible just fine, though.
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Do you have a hi-res version of this one kicking around that I could use as a desktop background? Pretty please?
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The great thing about dumb ideas you have at 4:30 in the AM is how easy it is to forget about them and not post about it on the internet.
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I, the undersigned, hereon referred to as the undersigned-signed, do hereby pledge to endeavor, in all instances pertaining not specifically to the production or dissemination of entertainment multimedia, to facilitate an atmosphere and veneer of hospitality when not specifically engaged in any act that may endemnify the undersigned-signed against recriminations resulting from responses tendered pursuant to statements in support of heretofore acknowledged multimedia products of a subpar quality or consistency. This agreement is legally binding.
Signed,
The undersigned-signed.
x- (sign here)
Every forum member should print a copy of this out and sign it, for the good of the community.
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Cool.
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CCRP works like this: you pickle once to set the release point, then you fly straight and level through the release point you designated.
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Yes, we absolutely hate any game that isn't OFP.
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I don't know if you guys have actually been watching the stuff that's being released on HL2, but its graphics are superior to these. Allow me to qualify that: not in a shiny, bump-mapping on everything that makes it seem plasticene way, but in a subdued color palette combined with immersive environments manner that gives an overall feel of realism, not plastic. Also, the attention paid certainly gives the impression that the Valve artists, instead of rushing off to play with the newest toys like everyone else, are taking the time to craft these technologies into actual, meaningful tools to help advance and accentuate the only part of the game that really matters: the gameplay.
edit: and the STALKER team seems to be getting comparable results by following a similar design ethos.
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Quote[/b] ]Readers of this column may recall that I had a lot of problems with Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," particularly where I thought he took gratuitous shots at helpless targets such as Charlton Heston.LOL, that's the first time I've heard Charleton "You can have my guns when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers" Heston described as helpless.
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I think... ah fuck it, you know what I'm going to say.
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@ June 14 2004,23:40)]http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040614/capt.wx10506142020.army_new_uniform_wx105.jpgAww, I think he's adorable.
get the finger off the trigger.
get the finger off the damn trigger.
get the damn finger off the damn trigger.
Don't break his concentration, he's fighting communsim.
edit: terrorism.
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Aww, I think he's adorable.
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*snicker*
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id take an uparmoured MAUS anydayErr, why?
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Had my speakers up a little too high and happened to be looking away when the download finished... jumped about a foot in the air.
The Iraq thread 3
in OFFTOPIC
Posted
Holy shit, Brit Hume lying for the administration? That's never happened before.