Live by the Spin, Die by the Spin

Monica Crowley, the hardest working right wing talking point in show business, appeared on Imus this morning. Predictably, she snuck in the "Iraq is like the American Revolution is like World War II" analogies. The woman supposedly has two masters degrees and PhD in political science. Is she really stupid enough to believe half the Rovewellian nonsense she echoes all over MSNBC?

Oh, she also mentioned (again) how she used to work for Richard Nixon. She sounds proud of the fact. Maybe that tells us something about her.

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I'm not so much offended that Mister Bush's teleconference with the troops in Iraq yesterday was staged and rehearsed as I'm angry that it took placed at all. It's bad enough when Bush stages phony town hall meetings with loyal Republican audiences. But when he pulls that rot with military members who serve under him, he's abusing a sacred trust by using our troops to bolster the neoconcervative aganda and his own political standing.

But then again, he's been doing that since he committed the troops to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

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I don't question that the majority of troops in Iraq feel they're accomplishing something in that country. But I don't happen to think what they're accomplishing comes anywhere near justifying the cost of this adventure in terms of American lives, national treasure, and prestige.

And plainly phony events like yesterday's teleconference sure don't do anything for our damaged credibility.

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Speaking of damaged credibility, it appears I’m not the only one who suspects the recently publicized letter between al Qaeda leaders Zawahiri Letter and Zarqawi is a fake. Juan Cole and others question its authenticity in the context of the "original" Arab language version. Cole says:

My gut tells me that the letter is a forgery. Most likely it is a black psy-ops operation of the US.

My instincts agree with the black psy-ops theory, especially in light of this post at the Central Command web site. CENTCOM's conclusion:

The letter demonstrates that pulling US forces out of Iraq is the wrong approach – that terrorists will not simply lay down their arms when American forces depart Iraq . Al-Qaida and its terrorist brethren will not go away when the Coalition hands over security control to Iraqi forces; rather, they are committed to overthrowing the elected, democratic Iraqi government and ruling the country according to their interpretation of Islamic law.

Keep in mind that this analysis comes from the same people who brought you the Pat Tillman cover up.

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As I mentioned yesterday, al Qaeda in Iraq has denied the letter's authenticity. I for one am dismayed at a state of affairs in which I can't decide whom to believe: The United States Government or a terrorist organization.