I do not believe the representative from NY. This strikes me as a little crazy, not as accurate. He got some 'splainin' to do.

Remember that the CIA was torturing folks trying to get them to admit to a Iraq/AQ tie initially. That was going to be their selling point to go into Iraq, however when that couldn't gain foothold it became all about WMD's.

I don't think this is far-fetched.

if you are focused on an un-ending war, and you realize that the minute bin laden is captured the american people will lose interest in your un-ending war...what would you do? or what would dick do? (remember...w couldn't say no to dick)
i guess it's plausible...but it is actually giving them a lot more credit than they deserve...i still think the bush administration was simply incompetent.

Although I don't think there will ever be "definitive" enough proof for the nutjobs on the right, I think that there is a pattern of behavior that supports this theory/statement by the NY congressman--in fact-- I believe there is a majority of very reasonable people that would agree with the theory, but likely won't comment for fear of ridicule--as well they shouldn't until the facts are out. My compliments to the ballsy Congressman for setting the stage for great debate and fleshing-out of the facts. I've always suspected the Tora Bora debacle would be of historical significance in the march to the Iraq war. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've always thought the Iraq war was also a means to draw Iran into a conflict.

I have no doubt this is exactly true and have personally believed this for years. Wrapping up the 'war' wasn't in the play book. Cheney and his ilk couldn't milk the US economy if there wasn't a war going on, so catching Osama was entirely out of the question.

"At the time, Rumsfeld expressed concern that a large U.S. troop presence might fuel a backlash and he and some others said the evidence was not conclusive about bin Laden's location."

But we can use a drone a blow the shit out of wedding parties. And that's with less information than they had in 2001.

But I'm confident the new McCain/Obama Surge will work - do the trick.

To peek behind the veil of what the Dick Cheney's, Paul Wolfowitz's and Donald Rumsfeld's of the US have visited on our country one need only research two(2) items: 1. Bing: "Committee on the Present Danger" and then 2. Bing: "The Power of Nightmares"

On and On about the White House State Dinner crashers and nary a peep about this in the evening "news" reports. I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist. I yern for the day when the biggest conspiracy involves an illicit sexual affair.

As the events at Tora Bora began the CIA told liar bush our afghan allies would not pursue Osama very vigorously . Also at this time Brig. Gen. James N. Mattis, the commander of some 4,000 marines who had arrived in the Afghan theater by now. The general asked for permission to seal the border with Pakistan and go into the caves of Tora Bora.
The general was turned down. That is information that is easily verified.

The arguments for invading Iraq lacked plausibility from the very outset. This explanation for abandoning the trail of OBL are very credible. If Osama were dead or in custody, the claims about Sadaam Hussein's links to al Qaeda would have been irrelevant. The bait and switch from Afghanistan to Iraq would have been harder to finesse.

Why is this so hard for everyone to believe? Why is it so crazy?

I can totally see Bush Jr and Darth Vader doing this. They are that cynical and petty. They are that power hunger and elitist.

These guys truly believe that salvation can come only through them. If that means killing a few hundred thousand people, so what?

The constitution says that the president's job is to keep us "safe." Well I ask you, just who is Cheney holding in the man-sized "safe?" Just how long has it been since anyone has seen bin Laden?

Listen to me, America. It's because I love my country so much that I have to say it's time we all woke up! What ever happened to our America - the America of our founding fathers? The America we all treasure but we are in ever increasing danger of letting slip through our fingers? The America that we want to preserve for our children where we don't need man sized safes? We all seemed to do just fine with the kind you put in the wall behind the sofa picture.

Now listen and learn, my friends. That famous - or should I call it infamous - man sized safe. Some are saying that safe really contains a pixellator ray. I can't say for sure but a lot of others are asking that question. You all saw what happened to the Vice President's mansion on Google Earth. Do you really in your heart of hearts think that was an accident?

Just musing on how Glennie would handle all this.

????? My problem is with the story itself. TPM seems to be engaged in the same kind of sensationalistic journalism one can find on FOX at this point. No matter how strange Hinchey's one comment might be, why in goodness name does it merit a front page on one of Americas most prestigious websites?

I live in Hinchey's district. He is one of the toughest, brightest congressmen around -- he's sponsored a key piece of environmental legislation that has not even gotten a mention on TPM (it actually requires Halliburton to be accountable).

Sorry, but I read TPM regularly now and fail to find one story of ten actually relevent. It seems to be a political gossip sheet for liberals dressed up in an annoying "We Won the Polk Award" gloss.

Weeks back, they ran an anti-Paterson story. The article derided Paterson for wanting to seek re-election a year in the future when he had low poll numbers.

Now I'll admit to not knowing everything about my governor, so in a reasonable comment I asked for TPM (or ANYONE) to please tell me about Paterson's record, so I could make a reasonable jugement of a situation.

None was forthcoming.

I am quite sad. Hinchey is one of the most stalwart, hard-working honest people out-there. Has it become so easy to take people down?

My own current conspiracy theory is this: I think the progressive media has become lazy and has begun to get its information the same way the NYT does: through friendly sources. For this reason, they the Huffington Post has fully embrased swift-boater Pickens as an environmentalist, and TPM fills its pages with meaningless fluff about scandals and poll numbers. (How many truly meaningful stories -- aside from those regarding health care -- has TPM run? How often does it cover issues instead of polls and political scandal? How often does it really investigate truly strange political connections in Washington that matter. T. Boon Pickens is my red-flag, but TPM seems to spend more time with gate-crashers, Huckabee and with police forces in Montana than in reporting anything of relevency.

How in goodness name could they deride Hinchey by using one quick clip without ever reporting anything the man has done -- which is a good deal?

This is a gossip sheet looking for gotcha's: against conservatives, but anyone will serve.