Could this (Franklin) be the beginning of a neocon purge?

[remfan]

Over the last few months I've seen several articles hinting that bush should/could/may/might purge the neocon faction from the DoD. Lots of conservatives are unhappy with the neocons influence, the war fuck-ups, and it does seem as if by doing that he could bring some of the conservatives back into the fold.

It's early in the developing stages of the story, and so far I've seen some weak reporting, mostly regurgitating of the same details, and the story seems to be hung up on the lousy initial characterization that this is about intelligence/spying (it's about policy influence or creation).

I'd guess that the next few days will give more insight into who's doing what, but right now we should watch to see who's talking and who's not, who's defending the actions of Franklin, and who's trying to keep the focus on it being an intelligence/spying story. I'd expect a flurry of articles from their think tanks and from their network of support in the punditocracy denouncing the very idea that there was spying going on, but if it's the beginnings of a purge I'd expect to see some articles from the more moderate/diplomacy conservatives outlining the neocons influence & contacts.

Could get interesting.

[sadiesworld]

1. I'm not entirely comfortable with this story either.

The fact that Rumsfield approves of the investigation should be a red flag, IMO.

[supernova]

2. If Rumsfeld is heading up the investigation

That means there would be a token purge of one or two people and then the neo-cons would retreat into further secrecy. They just wouldn't be as obvious about their plans. Nevermind the outright immorality of their insane ideas.

I'd like to believe that there would be a neocon purge, but Bush is too loyal.