Palace Courtiers Jumping Ship
So it was little noticed at the time, but Rand Beers, the Bush Gang’s top official at the NSC in charge of the War On Terror quit abruptly, timing his exit to coincide with the beginning of the invasion of Iraq. Apparently, for him, the beginning of a War On Iraq meant the end of a coherent War On Terror. Looks like Blair is not the only one having problems with lackey retention. Good staff are so hard to find these days.
“Randy said that he was ‘just tired’ and did not have an interest in adding the stress that would come with a war with Iraq,” the source said.
The source said that the concern by the administration about low morale in the intelligence community led national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to ask Beers twice during an exit interview whether the resignation was a protest against the war with Iraq. The source said that although Beers insisted it was not, the tone of the interview concerned Rice enough that she felt she had to ask the question twice … “There is a predominant belief in the intelligence community that an invasion of Iraq will cause more terrorism than it will prevent. There is also a tremendous amount of embarrassment by intelligence professionals that there have been so many lies out of the administration — by the president, (Vice President Dick) Cheney and (Secretary of State Colin) Powell — over Iraq.”
Earlier here.
CBS News Correspondent Phil Ittner reports that Army doctors who treated some Iraqi prisoners of war, believed to be some high-ranking Iraqi officials, found Cipro pills among the Iraqis’ personal possessions.
Cipro is meant to ward off the effects of a biological attack from several toxic agents, foremost among them, anthrax.