Antiwar.com Blog

Steve Clemons is telling us — “from a highly placed source, and in the right place to know” — that would-be UN ambassador John Bolton is one of jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller’s major sources for WMD and national security issues. Yet more evidence that my July 15 column nailing Bolton as a key figure in the plot to out CIA agent Valerie Plame was right on target.

Would-be UN ambassador John Bolton’s connection to the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame was first broached in my July 15 column on Plame-gate:

“After the War Party met in solemn conclave, and the command went out from Cheney: “Bring me the head of Joe Wilson!”, there was only one logical place for Cheney’s minions to go. Who in the administration would’ve had access to the specific information regarding Plame-Wilson’s role in a deep-cover CIA operation involving nuclear proliferation? Why, the man who was the State Department deputy secretary in charge of “weapons of mass destruction” – the somewhat irritable if not downright reckless John Bolton, would-be ambassador to the UN, who played a central role in promulgating the Niger Uranium Myth.

“Conveniently, two of Bolton’s assistants, David Wurmser and John Hannah, also worked in Cheney’s office.”

Now, as Joshua Marshall and Steve Clemons note, we learn that Bolton was called to testify by Plame-gate prosecutor Patrick J. “Bulldog” Fitzgerald. Somehow, Bolton forgot to disclose this on the occasion of his confirmation hearings as UN ambassador.

As the focus of the Plame investigation shifts from Karl Rove to Bolton and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the Vice President’s chief of staff, just remember you read it here first.

The phone rang quite early this morning — my sister on the East coast telling me about the London Tube incident. Okay, so I knew this was going to be a long day, but little did I suspect … Anyway, about two minutes ago a policeman rings my bell and tells me that a suspicious package has been found in the high school directly across the street from my house “Keep away from your windows, and get back” the policeman politely but firmly told me.

The place is roped off, and I can hear sirens. My Significant Other went outside and was summarily ordered to get back in the house.

Good grief.

Well, I was going to go to the gym early today, but I guess not ….

Developing….

UPDATE: The bomb squad showed up, x-rayed a suspicious package, and it turned out to be just some homeless guy’s rag-bag of clothing. I spoke to the policeman who had rung our doorbell earlier, and he said they were sorry about the bother but — ‘in view of what’s been happening lately” — they thought it best to be on the lookout.

The worst part of it was being stuck in the house while, on the television, Tony Blair’s voice droned pompously on ….

Well, if I don’t go the gym, the terrorists will have won. So, see ya later …..

It looks like there has been another attack on London: three underground stations — Warren Street, Shepherd’s Bush, and Oval — appear to have been hit by explosions of some sort. While information is sketchy, at the moment, these three Tube stations have been evacuated. There was also an incident on a bus, which had its windows blown out.

There is a report of a nail bomb exploding. No reports of any casualties so far.

Developing….

UPDATE: Police have entered London’s College University Hospital, and cordoned it off.

UPDATE II: There’s a suspect.

Daniel McAdams on what Congress did while you weren’t paying attention yesterday.

But what use is the application of the Lenin and Trotsky perfected techniques of the coup d’etat without the stabilization shock troops on the ground to consolidate the gains? Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution was ambiguous to say the least. Imagine what could have been done with stabilization troops available to husband the votes into a more creative expression of the universal democratic imperative.

Read the whole thing.

The newest issue of the Claremont Review of Books (Summer 2005) begins an appeal for funds (“Make the Pledge”–p. 40) with this statement: “Our country is at war, and at the heart of a successful war effort must be the political conviction that this country is worth fighting and dying for.” What the Claremont warmongers really mean is that “this government is worth fighting and dying for.” But the 1,770 American soldiers who died in Iraq died in vain. They gave their lives for a government that is despicable in every way, beginning at the top. The country of the Founding Fathers invoked by The Claremont Institute is long gone.