A Good Day For the Republic

I’ve been asked several times these past few days what I think of the NIE that says that Iran stopped its nuclear bomb program in 2003. I’m making that up, of course. No one has asked. Honestly, it’s just a silly blog. Who cares?

But here’s what I think, no matter how silly. There are competing forces within Washington, and power shifts back and forth depending on who’s in office and other political considerations. The Pentagon is a massive organization, and there are factions within it, and power shifts within it too. Most within that building are concerned about the American corporate agenda – first go corporations, then follows the military. That’s the ideal they serve, and that agenda seems to carry on no matter who is in office.

But several times now I’ve seen a different faction work in the shadows, and for the good of the republic, interfere in normal political affairs. Once was Watergate, when we had a seriously deranged president. Once again was the exposure of Abu Ghraib – an attempt to do lasting damage to Rumsfeld and Bush. And now the NIE report on Iran. It exposes what has likely been known for years. The amazing thing is that the underlying facts came to light. Bush has been good at suppressing truth. But there are people within that building who care about decency and the rule of law. The report could have been buried, would have been buried save for some dynamic maneuvering.

Bush and Cheney have at once been stopped in their tracks and exposed as a liars. That’s what should have happened in 2003, but in the wake of 9/11, there was too much power in the Oval Office. This exposure is a sign of a weakened administration. It’s the kind of thing we expect, but never get, from our ‘probing’ media.

For the time being, Iran is off the table. There’ll be no attack in the final days of Bush. It took some serious finagling to make it happen. It’s a good day for the republic.