Break out the tinfoil hats

More crazy conspiracy theories from those liberal wackos over at the Washington Post:

As an example of private industry's hunger for a Mars
mission, Steve Streich, a veteran Halliburton scientific adviser, was
among the authors of an article in Oil & Gas Journal in 2000 titled
"Drilling Technology for Mars Research Useful for Oil, Gas Industries."
The article called a Mars exploration program "an unprecedented
opportunity for both investigating the possibility of life on Mars and
for improving our abilities to support oil and gas demands on Earth,"
because technology developed for the mission could be used on this
planet. [...]
Halliburton's interest in Mars was first pointed out yesterday by the
Progress Report, a daily publication of the liberal Center for American
Progress. Administration officials scoffed at the idea that Halliburton
had anything to do with the development of the space policy, which was
headed by Bush's domestic policy adviser, Margaret Spellings, and
Stephen Hadley, the deputy national security adviser. Another
administration official said Cheney did not take a lead role in the
interagency work on the space policy but gauged support on Capitol Hill
and served in an advisory capacity. An industry official who spoke on
the condition of anonymity said the
oil and gas industry, including Halliburton, would benefit considerably
from technology that was developed for drilling on Mars, including the tools, the miniaturization, the drilling mechanism, the robotic systems and the control systems.

Halliburton getting a cut from the "Send Bush to Mars" program?? Where do they get this stuff? And get a load of this:

Foreign Policy Hurt by Intelligence Failures
The Bush administration's inability to find weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq -- after public statements declaring an imminent threat posed
by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein -- has begun to harm the credibility
abroad of the United States and of American intelligence, according to
foreign policy experts in both parties.
In last year's State of the Union address, President Bush used stark
imagery to make the case that military action was necessary. Among
other claims, Bush said that Hussein had enough anthrax to "kill
several million people," enough botulinum toxin to "subject millions of
people to death by respiratory failure" and enough chemical agents to
"kill untold thousands."
A range of foreign policy experts, including supporters of the war,
said the long-term consequences of the administration's rhetoric could
be severe overseas -- especially because the war was waged without the
backing of the United Nations and was opposed by large majorities, even
in countries run by leaders that supported the invasion. "The foreign
policy blow-back is pretty serious," said Kenneth Adelman, a member of
the Pentagon's Defense Advisory Board and a supporter of the war. He
said the gaps between the administration's rhetoric and the postwar
findings threaten Bush's doctrine of "preemption," which envisions
attacking a nation because it is an imminent threat. The doctrine
"rests not just on solid intelligence," Adelman said, but "also on the
credibility that the intelligence is solid." Already, in the crisis
over North Korea's nuclear ambitions, China has rejected U.S.
intelligence that North Korea has a secret program to enrich uranium
for use in weapons. China is a key player in resolving the North Korean
standoff, but its refusal to embrace the U.S. intelligence has
disappointed U.S. officials and could complicate negotiations to
eliminate North Korea's weapons programs.

Sure guys. All that stuff Bush said in his last State of the Union address was, like, a year ago. And we're supposed to believe it's affecting foreign relations now?

And how about a side order of crazy to round it out:

Bush Halts 9/11 Commission
President Bush and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) have
decided to oppose granting more time to an independent commission
investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, virtually guaranteeing that
the panel will have to complete its work by the end of May, officials
said last week.
A growing number of commission members had concluded that the panel
needs more time to prepare a thorough and credible accounting of
missteps leading to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon. But the White House and leading Republicans have informed
the panel that they oppose any delay, which raises the possibility that
Sept. 11-related controversies could emerge during the heat of the
presidential campaign, sources said.

Why, oh why, does the Washington Post hate America?

Posted by flow Frazao on January 19, 2004 at 01:37 PM | Permalink