No, seriously, whose side is he on? He comes out with his report on the US performing secret operations, scoping out Iran.
The Bush administration has been carrying out secret reconnaissance missions to learn about nuclear, chemical and missile sites in Iran in preparation for possible airstrikes there, journalist Seymour Hersh said Sunday.
The effort has been under way at least since last summer, Hersh said on CNN’s "Late Edition."
Not so secret now, eh Seymour? I repeat: whose side are you on? Iran is a threat. The Left, including John Kerry, have pontificated and bloviated numerous times about Iran. Guess what, Seymour? We were doing something about it, and now you have F*CKED that up. Great going. When does freedom of the press become treason? How many lives have you place in harms way with your report? I really do not care if it is "riddled with inaccuracies," as WH Communications Director Dan Bartlett stated. Especially since Hersh has gotten his information from unnamed sources. We all know about unnamed sources.
Hersh said Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld view Bush’s re-election as "a mandate to continue the war on terrorism," despite problems with the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
Yes, there were some problems. There were problems prior to 9/11/2001, as well. The Bush Administration is working to fix those issues. Gathering intelligence on Iran, which is a country that has used chemical weapons in the past, is developing nuclear weapons, and one of the largest supporters of terrorism in the world, is a smart move. Perhaps Seymour Butts Hersh has forgotten the lessons of 9/11? Perhaps he has forgotten that our goal after 9/11 is to eradicate all major terrorist groups, as well as those that sponsor them, through diplomatic and military means.
Hersh may have some axe to grind with President Bush and his Administration. Doing like this puts America and Americans in harms way. It makes citizens of other countries who help us gather intelligence reticent to do so. Exposure for them means torture and death. Thanks, Seymour, for harming the interests of the United States of America.
“When does freedom of the press become treason?”
Never.
OK, let’s say “responsibility of the press.”
The Press is able to print anything they want. That part of the 1st was about being able to critisize the gov’t without fear of reprisal. When a report gives aid and comfort to the enemy, though, it devles into the realm of treason.
That is a pretty loose definition of “aid and comfort to the enemy”.
I’ve seen it applied to those who criticize Abu Ghraib, too. Slippery, slippery slope there.
trea·son (trzn)
n.
1. Violation of allegiance toward one’s country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one’s country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies.
I don’t think this really fits Hersh (who, BTW, also exposed Abu Ghraib.
.
I applaud him for exposing wrong doing. I have never to this day stood up for the actions of the soldiers at Abu Ghraid. For the most part, what they did wasn’t really that harsh. BUT, it was certainly against the UCMJ, as well as just plain stupid. But, for Hersh to expose operations that benefit his country, and put people in harms way, is doing a great disserive to his country.
“what they did wasn’t really that harsh”
People died. Aside from that, though;
“for Hersh to expose operations that benefit his country, and put people in harms way, is doing a great disserive to his country.”
Do they benefit his country? Have you read his article, or are you citing third-hand?
I didn’t realize that people died at Abu Ghraib. I’m not trying to be sarcastic, I just honestly didn’t know that.
Yes. There are photos of the dead with guys smiling and “thumbs-upping” beside their iced-down bodies.
One had an official cause of death listed as “heart attack”. In the photo it is obvious he was beaten to a pulp.
Here is another case: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:AbuGhraibScandalHarmon55.jpg
.