Meet Professor Juan Cole, Consultant to the CIA

[jakeXT]

Meet Professor Juan Cole, Consultant to the CIA
by JOHN WALSH

Juan Cole is a brand name that is no longer trusted. And that has been the case for some time for the Professor from Michigan. After warning of the “difficulties” with the Iraq War, Cole swung over to ply it with burning kisses on the day of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. His fervor was not based on Saddam Hussein’s fictional possession of weapons of mass destruction but on the virtues of “humanitarian imperialism.”

Thus on March 19, 2003, as the imperial invasion commenced, Cole enthused on his blog: “I remain (Emphasis mine.) convinced that, for all the concerns one might have about the aftermath, the removal of Saddam Hussein and the murderous Baath regime from power will be worth the sacrifices that are about to be made on all sides.” Now, with over 1 million Iraqis dead, 4 million displaced and the country’s infrastructure destroyed, might Cole still echo Madeline Albright that the price was “worth it”? Cole has called the Afghan War “the right war at the right time” and has emerged as a cheerleader for Obama’s unconstitutional war on Libya and for Obama himself.

Cole claims to be a man of the left and he appears with painful frequency on Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now as the reigning “expert” on the war on Libya. This is deeply troubling – on at least two counts. First, can one be a member of the “left” and also an advocate for the brutal intervention by the Great Western Powers in the affairs of a small, relatively poor country? Apparently so, at least in Democracy Now’s version of the “left.” Second, it appears that Cole’s essential function these days is to convince wavering progressives that the war on Libya has been fine and dandy. But how can such damaged goods as Cole credibly perform this marketing mission so vital to Obama’s war?

Miraculously, Cole got just the rehabilitation he needed to continue with this vital propaganda function when it was disclosed by the New York Times on June 15 that he was the object of a White House inquiry way back in 2005 in Bush time. The source and reason for this leak and the publication of it by the NYT at this time, so many years later, should be of great interest, but they are unknown. Within a week of the Times piece Cole was accorded a hero’s welcome on Democracy Now, as he appeared with retired CIA agent Glenn Carle who had served 23 years in the clandestine services of the CIA in part as an “interrogator.” Carl had just retired from the CIA at the time of the White House request and was at the time employed at the National Intelligence Council, which authors the National Intelligence Estimate.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/08/30/meet-professor-juan-cole-consultant-to-the-cia/

[Arctic Dave]

1. K&R

Juan is a tool. He recent writings all but confirm that he is a shill for the MIC.

[BlueMTexpat]

3. If anyone is a "tool," it's Walsh.

As someone who knows the ME and NA from firsthand experience, and who also knows Arabic, I share Juan Cole's POV on Libya.
As do those I know who live there.

Libya was on the "evil" countries list and "rehabilitated" by Bush Baby. That alone should make people think twice about the Qaddafi of later years - who bears little to no resemblance to the Qaddafi who originally came to power.

The original Qaddafi was no friend to US corporate interests in the ME/NA and would never have found common cause with the BFEE. Even then, he was eccentric. The current version is simply nuts. His own people have borne the brunt of his insanity for too long - in recent years, with our help.

[Arctic Dave]

5. The use of buzz words does not help you.

The guy is a shill.

Funny how we are friends with "evil" people who do as we ask.

I wonder what we will ask the new boss, other then oil contracts, now that they owe us.

[BlueMTexpat]

15. You seem to know all about "buzz" words since you throw around

words like "tool" and "shill" with abandon but little substance. Other than my repetition of your own word "tool," exactly what of mine do you maintain were "buzz" words and what facts can you present to refute my use of them? Are you simply looking for a fight? If so, I won't oblige.

Qaddafi, in his early years, was indeed a hero to many, funding and otherwise supporting independence movements. He was also an enemy of the entrenched western MIC - as epitomized by the BFEE and friends - and Libya was as a result considered a State sponsor of terrorism. It's interesting how quickly that situation changed after Bush II had illegally invaded Iraq and how conveniently his interests aligned with those of Qaddafi, who is nuts, but not stupid - at least not until this year when he began overtly attacking his own people.

The Qaddafi of today is a far cry from his earlier incarnation - and has been for some time. Those are facts. And I am no friend to the MIC. Neither is Juan Cole. Those are also facts.

Please learn some history too: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5425.htm#relations (which is the USG's POV)

Another POV: http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/as-u.s.-rebuilt-ties-with-libya-human-rights-concerns-took-a-backseat

And from 2008 (one reason why Qaddafi loves Leeza): http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2008/09/20089313243374690.html

[Doctor_J]

2. So Amy Goodman & DN are now right-wing operatives?

:rofl:

unrec

[EFerrari]

6. No but Amy sure didn't catch what was being said about Cole

even though his apologia for this latest aggression is old, stale and tired.

[spooked911]

17. No, she's a left-wing gatekeeper, long has been

she's good on some issues, but terrible on 9/11 skepticism and has a low level pro-war bent, as the article shows

[peacetalksforall]

4. Please don't tell me anything bad about Amy and DN. I can't take anymore

disappointing allegiances or deceptions.

If Cole got airspace on DN - he got way way way more screen space on DU.

I hope someone can make me feel better.

[EFerrari]

7. Remember that stories develop in time and space.

And Walsh is referring back to one segment of DN. I expect Amy will revisit Cole's support for the adventure in Libya. I'd be very surprised if she didn't.

[Doctor_J]

11. I'D be very surprised if she HADN'T

[EFerrari]

14. She hasn't. The story she was reporting at the time was

CIA surveillance of Cole. His complicity is a different story. And I trust Amy. She'll get to it.

[cprise]

8. Most Democrats like "humanitarian imperialism" too

All you have to do is look around DU to realize it.

This is where labels of Right and Left really fail us. And it especially true when you're talking about academics. It is more productive to call these people out for their hubris rather than trying to portray them as phony 'leftists'.

[cali]

9. that's another fucking disgusting lie from that piece of filth Counterpunch

No better than WorldNut daily. Fuck Cockburn and Walsh. They are both piece of dog shit.

[Doctor_J]

10. Alex Cockburn is the Alex Jones of the left

His ravings and those of Counterpunch should not be allowable at DU

[jakeXT]

12. How can someone compare Cockburn to Alex Jones ? Cockburn protects the official 9/11 story

with useless quotes and theories, that have been abandoned even by the official defenders of the 911 story.

“The towers were basically tubes, essentially hollow. Tubes can be very efficient structures, strong and economical. The Trade Center tubes effectively resisted vertical loads, wind loads and vibrations and could probably have done very well against earthquakes. However, the relatively thin skin of the hollow tube must be braced at intervals to prevent local buckling of the skin under various possible loads, otherwise the tube itself can go out of shape and lose its strength.

“For their interior bracing, the thin-walled tubes of the Trade Center towers depended primarily on the interior floors being tied to the outer wall shells. These floor beam structures were basically open web joists, adequate for the floor loads normally to be expected. These joist ends rested on steel angle clips attached to the outer walls.

“As the floors at the level of airplane impact caught fire, the open web joists, which could not be expected to resist such fires, softened under the heat, sagged and pulled away from their attachments to the walls. Their weight and the loads they were carrying, caused them to drop onto the next lower floor, which was then carrying double loads also becoming exposed to the heat. Then that floor collapsed, and so it went. But as the floors dropped, they no longer served as bracing for the thin-walled main tubes.

This loss of bracing permitted the walls to buckle outward in successive sections and thus the house of cards effect.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/09/02/the-911-conspiracists-vindicated-after-all-these-years/

[EFerrari]

13. Fine. So, what about Cole's ridiculous claims about Libya?

It's not about oil, there is no AQ in the rebel ranks and anyone who disagrees with him is a poopy head?

Knock Cockburn all you like, both of them if you want, but Juan Cole's defense of Libya is embarrassing. His fluffing of the MIC should not be allowable in any serious discussion.

[spooked911]

19. that's BS-- he's no conspiracy theorist like Jones

why do we need to censor people so much?

[spooked911]

18. Hardly. Did you read the piece?

It's interesting. While some of Counterpunch is bad, not all is, imo.

[Mosby]

16. Wow, so DU is throwing juan cole off the bus.

Sounds good to me.