Cheney's former company named in report on soldier illnesses

Dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, the Pentagon's internal watchdog says.

A report obtained by The Associated Press said soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq.

Halliburton Co., then KBR's parent company, disputed the allegations even though they were made by its own employees and documented in company e-mails. In March 2006, the AP obtained an internal Halliburton report that, in one instance, the company missed contamination that could have caused "mass sickness or death" at Ar Ramadi.

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No link between Saddam and Al Qaeda: Pentagon study

A detailed Pentagon study confirms there was no direct link between Iraqi ex-leader Saddam Hussein and the Al Qaeda network, debunking a claim President George W. Bush's administration used to justify invading Iraq.

The US administration on Thursday tried to bury the release of the study, limiting distribution of the report and making it available only at individual request and by mail -- instead of posting it on the Internet or handing it out to reporters.

Other reports by the blue-ribbon September 11 commission and the Pentagon's inspector general in 2007 reached the same conclusion but none had access to as much information.

Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and top aides have insisted there were links between Saddam and Al-Qaeda, citing the alleged ties as a rationale for going to war in Iraq.

"The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al-Qaeda is because there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda," he told reporters in June 2004.

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Geraldine, come on.

Do these people (all politicians of all stripes) know when they start slogging through the muck they don't exactly come out spotless themselves? Always, always, always the purely personal insult and attack is a hallmark of extreme weakness on the part of the one doing it.

And if it is perceived that they speak on behalf of another candidate, even unofficially but simply perceived as being on "the other guy's side," they sure do leave an embarrassing stink in their wake that threatens to overwhelm their would-be leader's own message.

Today, Ms. Ferarro successfully weakened the Hillary Clinton campaign by standing up as a Hillary Clinton supporter to say she thinks Barak Obama is where he is because he's black. She thinks Barak Obama would not be running for President if he was a white guy.

And now Geraldine is parsing and re-parsing and re-shaping her remarks into a noble battle over freedom of speech. Geraldine, honey, certainly you have a right to hold any political view and share your opinions and especially to share your opinions about any politician.

The only people at this point who have a righteous motive for wanting to shut you up are the wise heads (if there are any) in the Hillary campaign.

Because, you see, just because you have the right to say something stupid doesn't always mean you should say it. Not if you care about the impression you make on behalf of the candidate you hope you are helping because remarks like that are like using a big fat crayon to draw a circle around your candidate and then a big fat arrow pointing to her with the caption, "This candidate is in trouble so let's try something desperate."

The more you throw the muck, the more you get on yourself and your candidate.

What you did was really, really dumb. Poor Hillary. With friends like you...

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