Beers reappears

Rand Beers, that is.

When last we heard he had joined the Bush administration in 2002 [according to this site at the behest of Richard Clarke] to serve on the National Security Council. He then stormed out in protest five days before the invasion of Iraq.

Since then he's become the chief honcho at a left-wing outfit known as the National Security Network, which features a very interesting cast of characters, many of whom have been in the news lately. For instance:

Advisory Board:
Samuel R. Berger
Wesley Clark
Richard C. Holbrooke

Here's a slice of their policy position on Iraq:

The reckless strategy has taken our eye off Al Qaeda, weakened our military and squandered our leverage around the globe. It’s time to end the war, begin removing our forces from Iraq, ask the Iraqi Government to stand on its own and focus on our real security priorities around the world.

So, with proper background, Mr. Beers was back in the news today:

"So I think," he continued, "to some extent his national security experience in that regard is sadly limited and I think it is reflected in some of the ways that he thinks about how U.S. forces might be committed to conflicts around the world."

Let's recap--we've got Beers saying McCain's POW status nullifies his military experience; we've got Wes Clark saying McCain's military experience counts for basically nothing; we've got Richard Holbrooke apparently leaking a top level backdoor meeting that led to the recent deal with the North Koreans (presented to us by the McClatchey clan) designed to undermine that deal. It's as if they're coordinating.

Beers was in the news back in 2006 after an employee in the CIA's IG office, Mary McCarthy, was accused of leaking top secret information about the secret prisons to the WaPo's Dana Priest, who went on to win a Pulitzer. McCarthy's connection to Beers? Well, he was her former boss during the Clinton years. Note the other names that pop up at that link, such as Larry Johnson (of "whitey tape" fame), Larry Wilkerson, former associate of Colin Powell, and Ray McGovern, leader of the former spooks who hate Bush (VIPS).

All have come out strongly in the press against Bush and at least one, Johnson, has known ties to Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame. Most had ties to the Kerry campaign. It's a little more complicated vis a vis Obama and Clinton, since Johnson was/is an ardent Hillary backer while others are advising Obama. But we certainly seem to have a nexus of stories and players at the moment targeting McCain.

MORE 7/1/08

Hot Air has the audio of the comments, which were in response to an audience member ranting about McCain drafting his military age son to go free Syria, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, etc. Beers then answered by suggesting McCain's captivity in Vietnam somehow colored his judgment about warfighting in the 21st century. Seems like a stretch befitting Gumby.

It's also another attempt to paint Iraq with the Vietnam brush served with a side dish of discrediting an opponent's military service in the most bizarre and idiotic fashion imaginable. The fact that Beers was on team Kerry in 2004--a group never shy about mentioning their man's three purple hearts--and is now apparently supporting a candidate with precious little experience, military, executive or otherwise, is glaringly apparent. Is this very smart man really that stupid?

Or how about this: Beers, Berger, Clark, Holbrooke, Wilson, perhaps even Johnson were all likely in line for positions in a Hillary administration. Wonder how they are faring with Obama? What did Bill Clinton and Obama talk about in their nice chat meeting the other day?