With Saddam’s sons now out of the way, the Bush administration neo-con wing can take a breather from pressing criticism about untruths cloaking lies piled high on a mountain of dogmatic global fantasy. Rest, wee ones, you’re going to need it in the coming months.
When I started working for the Office of Near East and South Asia, in the directorate of Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in May of 2002, I was a draftee from another OSD office. Lesson number one for neo-conservatives and other fascistas — don’t rely on draftees until you have complete control of the system. Of course I did my job as best I could, but my exposure of the leadership and decision-making process in the top levels of the Pentagon was a personal turning point. By August, I had begun to express my constitutional (and Constitutional) frustrations in short essays that poked fun at what I saw going on around me in the Pentagon. As some of these essays were not completely full of respect and deference for people like Rumsfeld, various members of the Defense Policy Board, and President Bush, there was no question of publishing these essays under my name and rank.
Hard core anarchists and other purists might criticize me for not just throwing a few hand grenades over the office dividers and letting the chips fall where they may. But by this time I already had submitted my retirement request, and selfishly after my twenty, I wanted to spend the money, not time in Leavenworth. But I did find a home for my essays in an anonymous way. Retired Colonel David Hackworth, with his sites hackworth.com and Soldiers for the Truth, generously offered to post my essays under the moniker of Deep Throat Returns "Insider Notes from the Pentagon." I was embarrassed at the Deep Throat aspect, but happy to oblige with a steady stream of short articles until I left the Pentagon.
I had been advised by a friend before I began work in Near East South Asia policy to write down everything I saw. I didn’t do that. Like most of us who listen to wise friends but don’t follow through on their advice, I regret it now. Had I kept a detailed diary, I would have been a far better protector and defender of the Constitution, as our military oath of office charges. My diary, as limited and ineffective as it is, lives in those articles. They are still on the web. I am linking them, by date and title, below. If you see something interesting or intriguing, check it out. They are all pretty short, some are funny in their way, and none are sweet.
27 August 2002Osama and Richard
13 September 2002You Go, Mr. Cheney!
24 September 2002Rumsfeld’s Right About the Leakers
30 September 2002The Neocons Worst Nightmare: It’s Not What You Think!
3 October 2002Who Says Iraq 2002 is like Vietnam circa 1960?
4 October 2002Lincoln Speaks to Bush
6 October 2002Objectives or Bust!
7 October 2002Liberation Theology, Neocon Style
9 October 2002The Cincinnati Story
11 October 2002E-Ring Dreams
13 October 2002"Belts and Suspenders"
15 October 2002Saddam and Al Qaeda
16 October 2002Newtie and Company — The Real Banger Sisters?
17 October 2002Multiple Choice in the Land of Oz
21 October 2002Chickenhawks, Report!
23 October 2002Logic and Rationality: Detained Indefinitely
24 October 2002Spy Games, Inc.
25 October 2002The "No Oil Bidness Left Behind" Act
28 October 2002Eight Bells Ringing
30 October 2002Trust Me, Ahmad!
1 November 2002Kim Chong-il Takes Your Calls
3 November 2002The Don Dangerfield Show
6 November 2002Lord of the Flies Redux
8 November 2002Committee for the Liberation of Iraq — Join Us!
14 November 2002Orwellian? Not Really…
20 November 2002The Testosterone Wars
23 November 2002Unzip! Stand at Ease! Spin Chamber and Fire!
3 December 2002 NEWSFLASH! Deceit and Secrets Small Price to Pay, Say Some Public Servants
9 December 2002Duty, Honor and Avoiding Grammatical Pitfalls
12 December 2002Crib Sheet for Mr. Cheney: The First 100 Years’ War
16 December 2002Mad Hatters and March Hares: Read All About It!
18 December 2002Minority Reports
23 December 2002Combat Lobotomies — Who You Gonna Call?
26 December 2002Crimes of Omission
2 January 2003Give Us Our War…Uh, I mean Circus!
7 January 2003Transformation, Evolution… Whatever
11 January 2003 Not in the Mood for Credibility or Honor? Try Our Blue Plate Special!
14 January 2003A New World Order
21 January 2003 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre — Coming Soon to a Desert Near You!
31 January 2003Ready to Go to War?
3 February 2003Fear of God (and Washington, D.C.)
8 February 2003Life is Tough All Over
10 February 2003Foreign Policy 101: Truman (1945), Lying Adolescents (2003)
16 February 2003Deep Denial, and Deep Kimshee
21 February 2003Luxury Taxes
6 March 2003Status Report
10 March 2003How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love CBW
26 March 2003Understanding Neocon-Speak
29 March 2003The Soufflé Has Fallen
28 April 2003Shifting Sands
28 May 2003Those Awful Turks
If you have read this far, bless your heart! While the neo-cons rested, I thought I’d rest too by re-reading my "diary."
The major ideological battles between the neo-cons and a mishmash of libertarians, conservatives, independents, greens and democrats has yet to be fully enjoined. The movie Braveheart calls to mind a famous line spoken by King Edward I, a version of which is probably muttered today in private neo-conservative circles. Edward I, an ethnic cleanser par excellence, is famous for saying, "The trouble with Scotland is it is full of Scots."
While our soldiers tough it out day by day in Iraq against heat, contempt of the locals, and basic betrayal by their civilian leadership, the truly bloody political hand-to-hand combat at home has not yet begun. But the sound of the drum is low, persistent, faint but steady. We anticipate the upcoming battle, like William Wallace’s Scottish freedom fighters anticipated the methodical power of Edward’s army, with caution but with an angry passion for justice. Bearing a Constitution nearly shredded by neo-conservative wars at home and overseas, we should be cause for no small amount of trembling amongst neo-conservative intellectuals, media and advisors to the Bush administration. Indeed, we not only want their heads, we quite simply insist upon it. Platters and blue body paint entirely optional.