Jim Hightower on Paul Wolfowitz's return: frightening

I read the newspapers so erratically these days I'd missed any reference to Paul Wolfowitz back in an essential important Dept of State advisory capacity. This column by Jim Hightower in the 2/15/08 Austin Chronicle is terrifying.

THE HOWL OF THE WOLF

On a wintry night, in the pale light of the moon, the Wolf emerges to howl again.

Yes, Paul "Howling" Wolfowitz is back in government! The neocon political hack who was a top architect of George W.'s Iraq debacle, is being brought out of the shadows to chair a prestigious Department of State committee that advises the secretary on such matters as weapons of mass destruction.

You might recall that when Howling Paul was Bush's undersecretary of defense, he was vociferous in insisting Big Bad Saddam Hussein had WMD and had to be taken out before he dropped one right here in America. "Disarming Iraq," Wolfowitz solemnly declared just before Bush's invasion and occupation, "is a crucial part of winning the war on terror."

As Americans have learned the hard way, Paul, George, Dick, Rummy, Condi, and others were duping us. Saddam had neither WMD nor any connection to the al Qaeda terrorists we should have been fighting. Incompetent ideologues like Wolfowitz led our country into a disastrous war that has strengthened al Qaeda and weakened the U.S. As one leading nuclear-policy expert says, "The advice given by Paul Wolfowitz over the past six years ranks among the worst provided by any defense official in history. I have no idea why anyone would want more."

Yet, here he comes, newly appointed to head the 18-member International Security Advisory Board. There, he'll have access to highly classified material and leeway to affect our national policy on such explosive matters as Iran and Pakistan. A State Department official says simply, "We think he is well-suited."

Well-suited to do what – lie? A new report documents 935 false statements that Bush & Company made to justify their invasion of Iraq. Eighty-five of those were by Wolfowitz – even more falsehoods than Dick Cheney put out. Let's see, George W. ... Horse Thief. Works for me.