Epstein Secrets

el actually wanted.. sure he also remembers that President Bush (along with a series of presidents before him) f

er Iraq war — when the administration of George H.W. Bush demonstrating its commitment to Saudi Arabi

iddle East. In reference to a "contained" Iran, I would only note that Iran in 2009 was moving steadily toward nuclearization, and nothing that the Bush administration, in which Elliott served, had done seemed to be slowing Iran down. Flash forward to today—the Obama administration (with huge help

cause they are so galled to hear people like Dick Cheney and Bill Kristol lecturing anyone on Iraq. That's a mistake. While far less egregious than George W. Bush's errors, Obama's have been egregious enough. By ignoring Iraq, and refusing to defend democratic principles there, he has helped spawn the disaster

eelection bid, Maliki's Electoral Commission disqualified more than 500, mostly Sunni, candidates on charges that they had ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. For the Obama administration, however, tangling with Maliki meant investing time and energy in Iraq, a country it desperately wanted to pivot awa

nd ethical dilemma for lawyers at the White House and the State Department. The administration lawyers — many of whom had been outspoken critics of George W. Bush's policies against terrorists — spent months figuring out how to justify the killing of a U.S. citizen. By the summer of 2010, two attorneys in the J

"It's democratized information on the battlefield," says Daniel Goure, a national security expert who served in the Defense Department during both Bush administrations. "It's like a reconnaissance version of Twitter." Drones have also radically altered the CIA, turning a civilian intelligence-gathe

overt drone strikes, five times the total George W. Bush ordered during his eight years in office. Al

icers in the Syrian army. The rise of Alawites in Syrian society throughout the 1960s was assisted by political infighting among the Sunnis and the Baath Party coup of 1963, which united working-class Alawites and Sunnis under one banner. Although Sunnis initially tolerated the growing clout of the Alawite

e report argued, that "undermines human development and is one of the most painful manifestations of lagging political development." U.S. President George W. Bush recognized this stark reality. "Are the peoples of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty? Are millions of men and women and children

ack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe -- because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty." Bush and the U.N. Development Program's analysis were right, and those who judged that the old regimes could survive forever were wrong. What has been c

ng political development." U.S. President George W. Bush recognized this stark reality. "Are the peop

reasonable bargain: they could have safety and be left alone so long as they led apolitical lives. He once gave away the crux of his worldview to a Baath Party functionary. People have "primarily economic demands," Assad said—they aspire to a plot of land, a car, a house. Those demands could be satisfied "

er of freedom, but nor did the Iraqi example prove the subversive beacon of hope its proponents had expected. It was said by Arabs themselves that George W. Bush had unleashed a tsunami on the region. True, but the Arabs were good at waiting out storms, and before long, the Americans EFTA_R1_00234068 EFTA0

he quest. An election in 2006 in the Palestinian territories went the way of Hamas, and a new disillusionment with democracy's verdict overtook the Bush administration. The "surge" in Iraq rescued the American war there just in time, but the more ambitious vision of reforming the Arab world was giv

ted. It was said by Arabs themselves that George W. Bush had unleashed a tsunami on the region. True

the Turks. Yet decades earlier, Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafez -- a man of supreme cunning and political skill -- had ridden the military and the Baath Party to absolute power, creating a regime in which power rested with the country's Alawite minority. The marriage of despotism and sectarianism begat th

rs into the invasion, he moved an armored force toward Kuwait’s border with Saudi Arabia, a key US regional ally, immediately prompting the President George Bush’s administration to go beyond mere verbal condemnation. With Saudi agreement, Washington dispatched a squadron of F-15s to the kingdom — the first step

ave to attack military action. I was sent to Washington along with Misha and David Ivri, a former air force commander, to deliver that message to the Bush administration. From the first days after Saddam’s attack on Kuwait, 236 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_011707 I’d been impressed by President Bush’s political ac

236 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_011707 I’d been impressed by President Bush’s political acumen in assembling an international

ddam. Our view, based on detailed intelligence analyses, was that the likely result would have been a fairly rapid takeover by a few top security and Baath Party figures and that, while the new Iraqi leadership might try to retaliate 246 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_011717 with terror attacks, a major military response w

rs into the invasion, he moved an armored force toward Kuwait's border with Saudi Arabia, a key US regional ally, immediately prompting the President George Bush's administration to go beyond mere verbal condemnation. With Saudi agreement, Washington dispatched a squadron of F-15s to the kingdom - the first step

ave to attack military action. I was sent to Washington along with Misha and David Ivri, a former air force commander, to deliver that message to the Bush administration. From the first days after Saddam's attack on Kuwait, 236 HOUSE _OVERSIGHT_028084 I'd been impressed by President Bush's political ac

36 HOUSE _OVERSIGHT_028084 I'd been impressed by President Bush's political acumen in assembling an international

ddam. Our view, based on detailed intelligence analyses, was that the likely result would have been a fairly rapid takeover by a few top security and Baath Party figures and that, while the new Iraqi leadership might try to retaliate 246 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_028094 with terror attacks, a major military response wa

mple, in the Iraq war — that furthered this democratic revolution, but rather its soft power — Twitter and Facebook — which was much maligned under George W. Bush and his neocon advisers. Silicon Valley, it seems, has more potency than the Pentagon. These digital tools from the United States became the instr

acebook — which was much maligned under George W. Bush and his neocon advisers. Silicon Valley, it seem

Facebook — which was much maligned under George W. Bush and his neocon advisers. Silicon Valley, it

e case in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Syria is a paradox in this Arab season of revolt. It has an authoritarian regime dominated by a corrupt Baath Party - a relic of the age of dictators that is being swept away in so many other countries. But President Assad, relatively young at 45 and wrapped in t