This page was last updated on August 26, 2004.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“When I was a little boy going with my granddad to visit relatives in Enon Valley or Columbiana, I would hear them say, ‘Here comes Uncle Linc.’

“I didn't know why.  He was granddad.  Later, I found he was born in 1861.  The clan wanted him to be named Lincoln, but his mother named him Elmer Ellsworth.  Didn’t matter.  He was Uncle Linc until he died, still a Republican, in 1937.

“I voted for Bush in 2000, even after what they did to Cleland and McCain.  Then, O’Neill and Clarke left.  Bush and staff ignored Zinni and other retired generals who insisted on at least 250,000 troops in Iraq.”

[RWC] Perhaps Mr. Hum should get his timeline straight before he tries to mislead us.  Mr. Hum claims he “voted for Bush in 2000, even after what they did to Cleland.”  Here’s the problem.  The myth of Max Cleland didn’t take place until 2002 when he ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate.  When he ran for re-election in 2002 against four-term Representative Saxby Chambliss, Cleland’s liberal voting record did him in.  Democrats, however, like to claim Cleland lost because Republicans questioned his patriotism.  This has become the standard Democrat response when you disagree with them on national security issues.  The reason for the claim was an ad criticizing Cleland for claiming to support a homeland security bill when he actually kept voting against it.  In no way did the ad question Cleland’s patriotism.  Don’t take my word for it.  You can see the ad here.  You will need RealOne Player installed to view the ad.  Cleland’s campaign outspent his opponent by 36% ($2.7 million).

I don’t understand why Paul O’Neill and Richard Clarke leaving is a reason to be upset.  O’Neill and President Bush had different goals.  When that is the case, the President’s goal is the one that counts.  That’s the way it is in all administrations.  In the case of Richard Clarke, it’s been shown he gave different accounts in interviews, his book, and testimony before the 9/11 Commission.  Even his public 9/11 Commission testimony differed from his private testimony.  Good riddance.

Regarding Gen. Zinni (retired), why should any administration give more weight to retired generals than to their current military commanders?  It must also be noted that Zinni’s opinion was far from universal, even among retired generals.

“Any other group that screwed up the way they have in Iraq would have been sacked long ago.

[RWC] What does this mean?  Do people really think a real life-and-death war goes like a “Mission: Impossible” episode where every possibility has been anticipated and has a perfect response?  All wars have their share of mistakes and Iraq is no exception.  If we had bounced every administration that made mistakes in World War II, we probably would have had 10 presidents during WWII instead of two.

“I just read Joe Wilson’s book ‘The Politics of Truth.’  Wilson was honored by the first President Bush for his work in Iraq during the first Gulf War.

“Someone on this Bush staff leaked the fact that Wilson’s wife was a CIA agent.  Wilson calls Bush, Cheney, Gillespie and Rove liars.  We all expect politics to be dirty.  We don’t expect the president to be, as Wilson says, so nonchalant about as serious a federal crime as naming (outing) a CIA agent.”

[RWC]  As a reminder, in 2002 the CIA sent former ambassador Joe Wilson to Niger to check on rumors Iraq was trying to buy uranium.  Wilson claimed he found no evidence of Iraq attempts to buy uranium and ripped the Bush administration for claiming otherwise.

It’s been widely reported that it was fairly common knowledge around Washington circles that Wilson’s wife was a CIA agent.  On a side note, it’s only a crime to “out” an undercover agent, and not all CIA agents work undercover.  In fact, most don’t.  Also, you must know by official channels the agent is working undercover.  For example, if you knew Valerie Plame (Wilson’s wife) was a CIA agent but did not know she worked undercover, it would not be a crime to identify her as agent.  If a person with appropriate clearance knew Plame was an undercover agent and revealed that fact, he should be prosecuted.

Now that Mr. Hum read Wilson’s book, perhaps he should read the “Report on the U.S Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq” issued by the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on July 7, 2004.¹  Below are several points from that report.

·        Wilson claimed his CIA agent wife had nothing to do with his being sent to Niger.  The report showed his wife recommended him twice, once in 1999 and again in 2002.  Further, she approached Wilson on behalf of the CIA to see if he would accept the assignment.

·        Wilson claimed his investigation debunked the idea of Niger yellowcake sales to Iraq.  In fact, the report showed the CIA believed Wilson’s report provided some confirmation of foreign government reports of alleged sales.

·        Wilson claimed some documents used to indicate a Niger/Iraq connection were forged because the dates and names were wrong.  The report showed Wilson could not have seen these documents because they were not yet circulating in the intelligence community at the time he claimed he saw them.  When confronted with the fact that he never saw the disputed documents and had no knowledge of the dates and names on the documents, he said he might have confused recollection with an IAEA finding published eight months after his assignment.

·        Wilson claimed VP Cheney was briefed on his findings.  The report showed the CIA briefer did not brief Cheney because Wilson’s report didn’t add any new information to clarify the situation.  When confronted about this by Committee staff, Wilson admitted he had no direct knowledge that Cheney had been briefed.  He conceded his statement was based on what he thought would happen, not fact.

“I see on the news channels they are out to get Wilson.  His calm, specific answers to questions are a great contrast to the administration statements that we had to do it, we’ve done great and we are fighting terrorists.  Do they ever admit a mistake?”

[RWC] If Mr. Hum means the news channels are “out to get” Wilson by referencing the Senate report, there’s been very little coverage.  After all, most of these outlets tripped over themselves to promote Wilson as a credible anti-Bush source so they don’t want to look stupid.  “Meet the Press” interviewed Wilson when he made his original allegations.  As of this writing, “Meet the Press” has not interviewed Wilson since the intelligence report showed he lied.  As far as I can tell, Fox News Channel is the only news outlet that really covered the “Wilson lied” story.

Regarding “Do they ever admit a mistake?”, this comes straight from the Democrat playbook though Mr. Hum claims he is a Republican.  Democrats are dying for an “I was wrong” news clip they can put into Kerry campaign ads.

“The national debt is growing by a billion dollars a day.  Trade deficits are out of sight.  Afghanistan may postpone elections.  Iraq is not a tourist destination, although you could sign up with Halliburton and make $100,000 a year.”

[RWC] I would like to see the national debt reduced, and limited spending and low taxation accomplish that.

I’m no expert regarding trade deficits, but here’s what the Congressional Budget Office wrote in 2000.  “Given the benefits of the trade deficit, there is little if any reason to try to reduce or eliminate it, particularly since it is likely to subside on its own even without any policy response.”²

Regarding “Afghanistan may postpone elections,” three years ago the country was the playground of al-Qaida as they plotted attacks against us.  Freedom and legitimate elections weren’t even a dream for Afghans three years ago!  Doesn’t the fact that Afghanistan is even preparing for an election show tremendous progress, even if the election is delayed?

Earth to Mr. Hum, Iraq has never been a tourist destination in recent times.  Oddly, most people don’t consider sadistic murderers and mass graves to be tourist attractions.

Ah, bash Halliburton time.  Before we bash anyone working for Halliburton, consider that 41 employees of Halliburton and its subcontractors have died in Iraq as of early July 2004.

“This president will have to do a lot in the next four months to keep this Republican’s vote.”

 [RWC] If after nearly four years you don’t feel the Bush administration has earned your vote, I doubt there’s anything that will happen between now and November to change that.

1. Report on the U.S Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq; U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; U.S. Government Printing Office; July 7, 2004.

2. Causes and Consequences of the Trade Deficit: An Overview; Congressional Budget Office; March 2000.

© 2004 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.