Another Larry Kudlow gem (Report at tail end of Kudlow/Kramer).

CNBC ^ | July 23, 2002 | Larry Kudlow

[section9]

At the tail end of Kudlow and Kramer, Larry Kudlow ripped a story off the wire services about Iraq. Kudlow reported that Condoleezza Rice had told the French that we would invade Iraq and that operations would commence prior to the November elections.

I'm not sure whether he got the story off Reuters or AFP.

[Marysecretary]

They only surrender to their own passions.

[Marysecretary]

I think you're right, Miss Marple.

[epluribus_2]

Ever hear of "train like you fight, fight like you train?"

Maybe this story yesterday says we start in three weeks...

This from http://sg.news.yahoo.com/020723/1/30ru3.html

YAHOO NEWS: Tuesday July 23, 12:37 PM US army to engage in largest military simulation exercise yet Some 13,500 people in 26 locations across the United States will take part in one of the largest US Army exercises in history beginning Wednesday and lasting three weeks. The "Millennium Challenge 2002" will combine computer simulations and live military exercises with two headquarters, one in Suffolk, Virginia, and the other in San Diego, California. The scenario, which is secret, will "cover the whole spectrum, everything from terrorism to potentially a major theater of war and the threats that loom in between there," said General William Kernan, commander in chief of the Joint Forces Command, which coordinates air, sea and land military forces. One of the keys to future supremacy is "interoperability" between different government departments. Such cooperation has already been seen in Afghanistan, for example US Navy planes dropped bombs on targets "painted" by commando units on the ground. The details of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan which fought the Taliban and al-Qaeda after the September 11 attacks, were largely taken from a scenario examined by Central Command in May 2001, Kernan said. The challenge, which will cost about 250 million dollars, will incorporate "lessons learned" from the Afghanistan campaign, and will concentrate on minimizing the risks of "friendly fire" against allied or civilian forces, Kernan said. Mastering the tools of war and information, should, according to the Pentagon, "maintain knowledge superiority," over a multi-pronged adversary who is often very knowledgeable about US vulnerabilities in this Internet age. "Approximately 80 percent of the experiment is being conducted through the largest computer simulation confederation ever built. MC'02 is the largest and most complex military experiment of its kind in history. "We will provide our military planners and those who execute the plan with an improved view of our adversary, the battle space and possible solution to the crisis," including preventative strikes, Kernan said. As part of the exercise, hackers from the "opposition force" will try to crack military computers, drones -- unmanned aircraft -- will watch marines on an amphibious assault or an extraction of soldiers using a new high-speed vessel, or even the destruction of a missile silo or other weapons of mass destruction site. The Pentagon is also aware that it is essential to balance military might with diplomatic and economic action. It is essential, for example, to know an enemy's culture, their personality, and how they might react, said the general. To help with this the US Departments of State, Treasury, Energy and others such as the CIA will also take part in the exercise. While the challenge is strictly a US exercise, similar maneuvers have been planned for February on the Atlantic coast, and even more ambitious war games are envisioned for two years time both involving allies.

[hang 'em]

You're not going to use The Agonizer on me, are you?

That would be telling...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I heard that, on the 5 o'clock show , then listened to the replay at 8 PDT. Then checked around on Drudge, AP wires, UP Reuters etc and could not find anything,

[epluribus_2]

Maybe DOD censorship is finally in effect.

[El Sordo]

A cheese-eating surrender monkey! Cool!!

[section9]

On the reasonable assumption that Condi knows that anything she tells the French in confidence will be blabbed to the world.

Which would be a good reason for feeding selected disinfo to them.

Erasmus pointed this out above. You feed this info to the French, it's going to wind up on Saddam's desk quick time. I believe that this was a Reuters story, so you know that it will be whipping around the Middle East.

As it was designed to.

I heard that, on the 5 o'clock show , then listened to the replay at 8 PDT. Then checked around on Drudge, AP wires, UP Reuters etc and could not find anything,

That's because it's meant for overseas consumption. Middle East consumption, to be exact. I smell a "directed leak" by Condi through the hapless French to Mr. Congeniality in Baghdad....

"Ach! It's that b#t&h Rice again! I can't trust anyone, not even the French! By the way, General, I had a dream last night that you were plotting with the General Staff to depose me...."

What makes this buildup to war such great fun is that you simply know that the Thief of Baghdad is getting all paranoid and wierded out, suspecting every general around him.

I had a theory as to how this part of the Operation was going to play out. You'll recall that the Israelis have a list of all the Players in Baghdad, as to whom is loyal to Saddam and who is not. Now if Saddam were to get a "stolen" copy of this list from one of his spies in Jerusalem (a turned spy, of course, who exists to feed disinformation to Saddam) he would start shooting the Generals on that list.

Suppose the Israelis leaked a list containing all the "loyalists" instead of the real list. Saddam would start killing of the Nest of Zionist Traitors quicker than you could say "Jack Sprat". This will give an incentive to the Army to put a bullet in this guy's head. After all, if we provide guarantees to the Army Staff that only the worst human rights offenders will be tried and that the position of the Generals will not be harmed in the new "Federal Republic of Iraq". In other words, even in the New Iraq, they will get to keep their Swiss Accounts.

Saddam is such a Dead Man Walking that it's starting to get funny.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[aristeides]

I too am half-expecting August. Isn't there a new moon in about two weeks?

[gcallah]

I was just wondering, when, exactly, did Iraq attack the United States, so that we have justification for attacking it? I must have missed that bit of news.

[aristeides]

Did you miss the news about the anthrax?

[Stingray51]

Iraq has not attacked the United States yet. But it is very clear that (a) it is working on developing weapons of mass destruction to do just that, and (b) once it has sufficiently developed these weapons, it will use them to attack the United States. Perhaps you would prefer to wait? But as for me sir, I say let's roll!

[section9]

I was just wondering, when, exactly, did Iraq attack the United States, so that we have justification for attacking it? I must have missed that bit of news.

They didn't, directly. But a senior agent of the Mukhabarat met with Mohammed Atta in April of 2001. Several European and State Department "experts" have tried to debunk the "airport meeting" story, but the Czechs have stood by it.

You can stick your head in the sand all you want. It will not alter the fact that someone may be coming to kill you. You and the rest of the Libertarians want to wait until Mr. Fabulous builds a bomb and then gives it to Al Qaeda for a tryout on one of our cities? Fine. Thankfully, the people have a sense of their own survival, and are ignoring the appeasement crowd.

After all, if Hitler had attacked Czecheslovakia in 1938, would the British and the French not have been justified in attacking Germany? By your logic, they would have no justification for so doing, as neither would have been directly attacked. History suggests that the British and the French followed your advice. History also suggests that there was a terrible price that was paid.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Mudboy Slim]

"Kudlow looked like a happy man when he was reading this."

You gotta wonder if this ain't disinformation, but it makes sense to go after Iraq as soon as we can replenish the necessary munitions...MUD

[mhking]

Sooner than September.....sooner!

Gives everyone something to watch on the tube between the start of the baseball strike and the start of the football season...[g]

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Um, if it's going to be August, shouldn't we be pre-positioning troops and all of that, you know, like logistical stuff?

Quietly been done for the past 6 months.....Watch for Sept 11

[RobFromGa]

Isn't there a new moon in about two weeks?

August 8

[ellery]

Don't you remember the Gulf War? This is the country that sued for peace based on allowing weapons inspectors unfettered access to their country, then reneged on the deal. In my mind, that's more than enough reason to go back in -- Klintoon should have never let the weapons inspections lapse without confrontation in the first place (and Bush I should never have stopped the war without taking care of Saddam). But just because they made mistakes, it doesn't mean it's too late to clean up their messes -- war has no statute of limitations.

[ellery]

Hey! Don't slander all libertarian-leaning folks because of the blind, appeasing quality of some...:-)

[section9]

Oh, all right, you have a point. Not all Brownies are ostriches.

Be Seeing You,

Chris