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BTL:Bush Iraq Plan Confronts Difficult Military and Political Reality
by Between the Lines' Scott Harris Thursday, May. 27, 2004 at 3:50 AM
betweenthelines@snet.net (email address validated) BETWEEN THE LINES c/o WPKN Radio 89.5 FM Bridgeport, Connecticut

Interview with Wayne Madsen, investigative reporter, formerly with the National Security Agency, conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris

Bush Iraq Plan Confronts Difficult Military and Political Reality

Interview with Wayne Madsen, investigative reporter, formerly with the National Security Agency, conducted by Scott Harris

Almost daily, the Bush administration has been battered by bad news from Iraq. The focus on investigations into the U.S. military's torture of prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison was momentarily overshadowed by the assassination of Izzedin Salim, the president of the Iraqi Governing Council and the U.S. raid on the offices of longtime American ally Ahmed Chalabi, now suspected of passing sensitive intelligence to the Iranian government. All this, while U.S. troops continue to battle Iraqi insurgents and a Shiite militia group.

With growing questions about the administration's competency to successfully lead the nation out of an increasingly costly war, President Bush addressed the nation on May 24 to explain his goals in Iraq. At a speech delivered at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., the president summarized his plan to hand over sovereignty to a new, as yet unnamed Iraqi interim government on June 30, leading to U.N. supervised elections in 2005. But as President Bush's approval rating in public opinion polls continues to decline, there is great skepticism that the political and military realities on the ground will cooperate.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Wayne Madsen, investigative journalist and former National Security Agency officer, who assesses President Bush's Iraq policy, its chances for success and how the coming U.S. election may affect the conduct of the war.

Read Wayne Madsen's articles online at http://www.counterpunch.org

Related links:

"Chalabi and the Iranians: The Trail to the Iranians," by Andrew Cockburn, Counterpunch, May 26, 2004

"The Israeli Torture Template: Rape, Feces and Urine-Dipped Cloth Sacks," by Wayne Madsen, Counterpunch, May 10, 2004

"Bush and Hitler: Compare and Contrast," by Wayne Madsen, Counterpunch, Jan. 31, 2003 http://www.onlinejournal.com

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