Letters to the Editor
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Real Name: If it was only about the money, she would have been working on K street and there would be no conflict of interest!
M. Blumenthal's exposition on the issue of the security clearances for a foreign national, and how shady and unprecedented it all is, sort of raise other questions about the situation that are not financial at all. Of course Ms. Riza could have gotten a job with loads of firm that could have paid her more. So why get a lower paying job where she needed a security clearance that by law is impossible (well, 'unprecedented') to get?
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Did Sidney go far enough?
"Wolfowitz's girlfriend, Shaha Ali Riza, is a Libyan, raised in Saudi Arabia, educated at Oxford, who now has British citizenship."
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"Riza, who is not a U.S. citizen, had to receive a security clearance in order to work at the State Department. Who intervened? It is not unusual to have British or French midlevel officers at the department on exchange programs, but they receive security clearances based on the clearances they already have with their host governments. Granting a foreign national who is detailed from an international organization a security clearance, however, is extraordinary, even unprecedented. So how could this clearance have been granted?
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"Wolfowitz's willful behavior, as though no rules bound him or facts constrained his ideas, should not have surprised anyone. At the Pentagon, Wolfowitz was an insistent force behind an invasion of Iraq, bringing it up at the first National Security Council meeting of the Bush administration, months before Sept. 11."
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After reading the above, the idea of a conspiracy by our leaders over 9-11 suddenly seems a lot more credible. Here's a woman raised in Saudi Arabia, home of fifteen of the nineteen 9-11 hijackers, in bed, literally, with the architect of the Iraq war, well before 9-11. And let's not forget that Wolfowitz was not only advocating that our troops go on into Baghdad and take over the country in 1991, he was a charter member of Project for a New American Century (PNAC),, which had been advocating war with Iraq since its founding in 1997. Its signature document, the infamous Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces, and Resources For A New Century (http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf) states: "Further, the process of transformation [to a far stronger military system], even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor." (page 63).
Wolfowitz was also one of those urging that the US forces proceed into Baghdad and take over the country before the Gulf War ended in 1991.
Was Wolfowitz a traitor who helped implement his own Pearl Harbor event, albeit for what he perceived as best for the country? Were others in the administration involved? I don't know. But after reading this piece the possibility now seems far less remote to me.
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How Riza got her groovy security clearance...
Should we ever get to the bottom of how Shaha Ali Riza got her security clearance, I will bet that it was fascilitated by unqualified political hires that replaced career officers in the various points of command necessary to circumvent the law to grant her security clearance.
Everyone jumps up and down at the unsuitablity of the political hires to do the job that they were hired for. In fact, all those jumping up and down are correct. However, they were not hired to do the job that was described, proscribed by law. Instead, they, these Republican plants, were hired to do the job towards this gawd-awful masterplan of totalitarian rule by a single party, under the direction of these neo-cons.. fascists... whatever you want to call them...
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So I guess
it's ok to engage in blatant nepotism and help your significant other get plum junkett jobs as long as they are loyal. Didn't I see this scene in "Casablanca?"
"I am shocked, shocked I tell you, that there is gambling on the premises."
"Your winnings, sir."
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"Unprecedented For a Foreign National"?
What about Saudi Prince Bandar, aka "Bandar Bush"? Not only did he get briefed on the Iraq War before Colin Powell did, he even had his own room at the Crawford Ranch. The only way he could have had higher security clearance would be if he slept in the same bed as Dubya.
Er... wait....
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Hmmmm
Let's see...fire gay Arab translators in State Dept. because they pose a security risk...and just how does Wolfie's crumpet not pose the same problem???
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Was this the real reason for invading Iraq?
So Riza was involved in Free Iraq Foundation.
Wolfowitz was involved with Riza at least as early as 2003.
Do not tell me that the US invaded Iraq and 3000 Americans have died so that Wolfowitz could impress his girlfriend.
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A good group of clever letters regarding 'Wolfowitz in sheeps clothing'.
I love when the readers are as knowlegeable, as to inject more info than what was in the original article.Kudos
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In stark contrast to Sidney Blumenthal's ravings, here is some informed writing on the subject of Mr. Wolfowitz and the World Bank:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009965
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Let me get this straight
He gets the U.S. into a disasterous war by over ruling Shinseki's objections, then slithers out the back door to cozy up with his Libyan Girlfriend? Ok, so who were our enemies again?
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Bizzare coincidence
After Robert McNamara got us into the Viet Nam disaster, he was ushered out the back door to head the world bank. This resolved the problem of Viet Nam as being refered to as McNamara's war. When the U.S. gets misled into a disasterous war, is it going to be common practice to make the person responsible head of the World Bank?
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I'm wondering...
...are all of the feminists at Salon comfortable with Joe Conason's snarling reference to Wolfowitz's "girlfriend"? After all, irrespective of one's political views, Shaha Riza is a woman with a considerable record of professional accomplishment in Mideast affaris and is herself a noted feminist.
Is it okay to downgrade Ms. Riza with a mildly sexist pejorative just because of her and/or Mr. Wolfowitz's politics?
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disturbing hatred in peanut gallery
This is a trifling issue compared to so much the Bush administration has done; this sort of thing happens with people of any ideological background or political affiliation. The letters here are simply chilling thought in their hatred and irrational obsession with the Neo-Cons. The sexist barbs aimed at Shaha Ali Riza disturb me the most. This woman has not “slept her way to the top”, is not Wolfowitz’s “crumpet”, and the sum of her merits is not being “his girfriend”. The far Left is simply drowning in its hatred of the Bush administration. There are a thousand other issues of greater importance to liberal causes than this tabloid trash. Salon should be ashamed to focus on it in this manner.