Friday, February 11, 2011

I'm Speechless

From the New York Times:
The administration appeared as taken aback by Mr. Mubarak’s speech as the crowds in Tahrir Square. The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta, testified before the House of Representatives on Thursday morning that there was a “strong likelihood” that Mr. Mubarak would step down by the end of the day.
American officials said Mr. Panetta was basing his statement not on secret intelligence but on media broadcasts, which began circulating before he sat down before the House Intelligence Committee. But a senior administration official said Mr. Obama had also expected that Egypt was on the cusp of dramatic change. Speaking at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, he said, “We are witnessing history unfold,” adding, “America will do everything we can to support an orderly and genuine transition to democracy.” 
But also:
“The administration has to put everything on the line now,” said Thomas Malinowski, the Washington director of Human Rights Watch, who has been among several outside experts advising the White House on Egypt in recent days. “Whatever cards they have, this is the time to play them.”

17 comments:

Barry Meislin said...

Where's that teleprompter when you really need it?!!

Anonymous said...

Are you reacting to the fact that an HRW director is advising the administration about foreign policy?

Draper said...

Yaakov is reacting to the outright incompetence and idiocy of the head of CIA and the US Admin.

Draper said...

Also, it's shocking to see how Obama and the CIA are letting themselves be routinely misdirected by the media and HRW. How many times does it take to get conned or suckered by the same dishonest organizations? It's like we have brainwashed religious fanatics running the show in the USA, who are incapable of thinking or acting rationally.

Silke said...

I've recently learned (at Elder of Ziyon) that AlJazeera English is available where the government is.

Do you really think any sober minded steeped in real knowledge person can compete with glitzy AlJazeera

Shortly after Panetta's statement I think his very own CIA said that he parrotted news and did not voice a CIA analysis.

Besides the glitz I'd bet that acquiring real knowledge takes time and thus puts one in danger to have to say every now and then - really, that's news to me

Is the all-knowing never-still-evaluating person really the one we want to lord over our lives?

Barry Meislin said...

..letting themselves be routinely misdirected by the media and HRW...

Ony may well understand the anger. But it is "misdirected"...

...because they are being fed waht they expect to be fed (they wouldn't pay much attention to anything else); they are hearing precisely what they want to hear.

(Obama himself is a creation of the media. Yes, THAT media.)

You liked "Being THere"? Well, "There" we are....

Barry Meislin said...

Example A:

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/a-letter-from-a-fearfully-concerned-muslim/?singlepage=true

Saul Lieberman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Saul Lieberman said...

Maybe Panetta was telling like he wanted it to be (rather than the way it was) in the hope of affecting the outcome. We've certainly seen that kind of conduct from the news media and politicians.

Silke said...

as to Barry's example A

he talks about worthy people but something made us decide that worthy are not skilled politicians, gifted manipulators, scoundrels willing to spend the afterlife in hell if it serves their people, worthy these days are non-smokers with an impeccable record of marital fidelity. I am eagerly awaiting the day when we will be able to select "them" based on details of what they do in their bedroom.

During Obama's campaign I read more than one reporter telling that he got all warm and enthusiastic during an Obama speech but couldn't remember anything he had heard once outside. Did they sound the warning bell after such an experience? If they did I mean those from the pro-Obama leaning ones who had had this experience I didn't read about it. Too nice was the feeling of make-believe...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsSmtvzegAQ

Silke said...

Saul

agreed but shouldn't his own organisation then kept mum ??????

Something is very wrong in the managing classes

Barry Meislin said...

What they're (no doubt?) trying to say is:

"We are naive and amateurish."

"And this is our great strength!"

(Wasn't that the---hidden---message all along?...)

File under: "And the weak (and naive and amateurish) will inherit..."

Barry Meislin said...

On the other hand, the message may well have been:

"We can out-manipulate, out-finesse, out-bluff and out-lie the best of them."

(...or at least, we're competitive...")

File under: "Out-liars"?

Anonymous said...

Rubin with a joke from a fellow Egypt watcher:
Aide: "Do you want to say good-bye to the Egyptian people?"
Mubarak: "Why? Are they going somewhere?"

Clapper's incomprehension of the Muslim Brotherhood worries me even more than the will he or won't he go debacle.

T34

Silke said...

OT

in the spirit of wishing us all a very uninteresting weekend:

a buddy of the supreme leaker is said to have leaked something in a book:

Julian Assange Has at Least Four Love Children

http://gawker.com/#!5757325/julian-assange-has-at-least-four-love-children

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately it looks like it could be an interesting week-end. Mubarak has resigned but still hasn't left he country. Ben-Eliezer described Mubarak as wanting a a dignified exit, and somehow I think he'll continue to resist leaving the country. Whether he can stay or not remains to be seen.
The constitution has been breached by handing power to the high command of the armed forces instead of the parliamentary speaker. So I won't expect elections in 60 days.
T34

Anonymous said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703745704576136743649012416.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Crisis Flummoxes White House
President Mubarak's Refusal to Step Down Signals a Loss of Western Influence; Sense of 'Disbelief' After Speech

from the article:
Israeli officials also told the U.S. Thursday that right-wing parties in Israel could gain strength in future Israeli elections as a result,
complicating efforts to advance peace talks with Palestinians.