Tag: Iraq

Soft Coup: Editorials in Military Papers to Call for Rumsfeld Ouster

Jon Ponder

Breaking: On MSNBC, Keith Olbermann is reporting that on Monday, the day before the midterm elections, editorials will run in the most influential military newspapers calling on President Bush to fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

The editorials will say they are giving voice to a silent majority of uniformed personnel who are are prohibited from speaking because of respect for the office of the presidency.

The editorials will run in Army Times, Air Force Times, Marine Corps Times and Navy Times, which are privately owned and not affiliated with government.

UPDATE: Here is the complete text from Monday’s editorials:

[…]

GOP Leader Boehner Blames Military for Iraq Fiasco

Jon Ponder

Here we have the double standard in American politics writ large. Sen. John Kerry is misinterpreted when he says that Pres. Bush’s stupidity got us stuck in Iraq and it leads the news.

Conversely, Republican House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Tobacco) means what he says when he blames the quagmire in Iraq on military leaders, rather than President Bush or his secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and his comments barely make a blip:

In an interview Wednesday on CNN, Boehner said, “Let’s not blame what’s happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld.”

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer replied, “But he’s in charge of the military.”

“The fact is, the generals on the ground are in charge, and he works closely with them and the president,” Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said.

It’s Chickenhawk Season Again

Jon Ponder
And as to Dear Leader himself, while men like Sen. Kerry went to Vietnam to fight for the United States, George W. Bush was laying about in Texas and Alabama, drinking, doing coke and chasing women.

The chickenhawks are back. Rightwingers who never served in the military are puffing up their chests and squawking about Sen. John Kerry’s faux pas on military intelligence on Monday.

Kerry told a college crowd that if they didn’t study and get smart, they might grow up to become president and do something stupid like getting a great nation stuck in a senseless war. Kerry mangled the statement, however, and now the chickenhawk chorus is accusing Kerry of telling the students that if they do not pursue their education they could end up stuck in the military.

Of course, John Kerry went to college and served in the military, with distinction. He is, in fact and by definition, a hero.

Now would be a good time to refresh their memories about the military service, or rather, lack thereof, of their own glorious leaders:

  • VP Dick Cheney – several deferments, by marriage and timely fatherhood.
  • Karl Rove, occasional Deputy Chief of Staff and alleged full time smear artist, escaped the draft and did not serve
  • Secretary of State and former NSA Condaleeza Rice – did not serve
  • Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist – did not serve.
  • Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert – did not serve.
  • Republican Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay – did not serve.
  • [Comedian] Rush Limbaugh – did not serve
  • Sean Hannity – did not serve
  • Ann Coulter – did not serve
  • Bill O’Reilly – did not serve

Also did not serve:

  • White House Press Secretary Tony Snow
  • RNC Chair Ken Mehlman
  • White House chief of staff Josh Bolten
  • Our favorite GOP 2008 presidential nominee, Newt Gingrich
  • Not-my-America’s-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
  • Every Gop’s favorite Dem, Sen. Joe Lieberman
  • Fox News anchor Brit Hume
  • Fox News chief Roger Ailes

And as to Dear Leader himself, while men like Sen. Kerry went to Vietnam to fight for the United States, George W. Bush was laying about in Texas and Alabama, drinking, doing coke and chasing women.

Anyone who knows otherwise should prove it. A $50,000 reward has been available since September 2004 to anyone who could substantiate young Bush’s claim that he fulfilled his military service. Two other rewards, one for $10,000 and another for $1,000, have also never been collected.

When they swiftboat John Kerry and Rep. John Murtha over their genuine service records, they are swiftboathing all military heroes.

Gen. Odom: How to Cut and Run

Jon Ponder
The public will sooner or later see through all of the White House’s double talk and compel a radical policy change. The price for delay, however, will be more lives lost in vain — the only thing worse than the lives already lost in vain.

Gen. William E. Odom:

The United States upset the regional balance in the Middle East when it invaded Iraq. Restoring it requires bold initiatives, but “cutting and running” must precede them all. Only a complete withdrawal of all U.S. troops — within six months and with no preconditions — can break the paralysis that now enfeebles our diplomacy. And the greatest obstacles to cutting and running are the psychological inhibitions of our leaders and the public.

Our leaders do not act because their reputations are at stake. The public does not force them to act because it is blinded by the president’s conjured set of illusions: that we are reducing terrorism by fighting in Iraq; creating democracy there; preventing the spread of nuclear weapons; making Israel more secure; not allowing our fallen soldiers to have died in vain; and others.

But reality can no longer be avoided. It is beyond U.S. power to prevent bloody sectarian violence in Iraq, the growing influence of Iran throughout the region, the probable spread of Sunni-Shiite strife to neighboring Arab states, the eventual rise to power of the anti-American cleric Muqtada Sadr or some other anti-American leader in Baghdad, and the spread of instability beyond Iraq. All of these things and more became unavoidable the day that U.S. forces invaded.

These realities get worse every day that our forces remain in Iraq. They can’t be wished away by clever diplomacy or by leaving our forces in Iraq for several more years.

The administration could recognize that a rapid withdrawal is the only way to overcome our strategic paralysis, though that appears unlikely, notwithstanding election-eve changes in White House rhetoric. Congress could force a stock-taking. Failing this, the public will sooner or later see through all of the White House’s double talk and compel a radical policy change. The price for delay, however, will be more lives lost in vain — the only thing worse than the lives already lost in vain.

Finally, ‘Winning’ in Iraq, Afghanistan, Defined

Buck Banks

Military intelligence: At a press conference last week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace said winning the war on terrorism will be determined by conditions, not a signature on a treaty. Well, duh!

‘Winning is having security in the countries we’re trying to help that allows for those governments to function and for their people to function.’

“Winning is having security in the countries we’re trying to help that allows for those governments to function and for their people to function,” he said. “Washington, D.C., has crime, but it has a police force that is able to keep that crime below a level at which the normal citizens can go about their daily jobs and the government can function. That’s what you’re looking for on the war on terrorism, whether it be Iraq, Afghanistan or anyplace else.”

So, the goal here, if I understand it correctly General, is to make Baghdad and Kabul as safe as our nation’s capital?

In 1960, there were about 27 crimes per thousand residents in Washington, D.C. In 2005, there were 62 per thousand. Of course, over that period of time, the population of D.C. actually fell from 764,000 to 551,000 — a reduction of 214,000, or 28 percent — while the crime rate increased by 57 percent. So Washington is actually a more dangerous place than it was 45 years ago. And Baghdad and Kabul are both more dangerous now than they were before we started the war on terror.

So maybe Washington is an appropriate benchmark for what constitutes a win in the war on terror, after all.

Girl in the War

Trish

If you haven’t heard “Girl in the War” by Josh Ritter, do yourself a favor and listen.

Peter said to Paul you know all those words we wrote
Are just the rules of the game and the rules are the first to go
But now talking to God is Laurel begging Hardy for a gun
I got a girl in the war man I wonder what it is we done

I’ve said from the get-go that this war is different because it’s not just young men dying, it’s men and women of all ages, from all walks of life. However you get your death toll (I usually catch it on ABC’s This Week), you can’t help but notice the 30-something, 40-something, and even 50-something ages listed, along with occasional names like Deborah or Maria.

I work part-time at UPS, and one of our drivers, a guy named Henry, got word a couple of weeks ago that his 20-something Army officer daughter is being called to Iraq in November. He’s spent the time since trying to locate the special knives, armor, and other protection her friends already there have warned her to bring.

After he gave money to another driver to pick up something at a gun shop on that driver’s route, I asked him how he’s doing with the whole thing. “I’m not really thinking about it,” he said. “I’m trying to make sure she has what she needs but it hasn’t sunk in yet.” He paused. “It’s pretty scary.” I tried to think of something to say along the lines of, “I’m sure it will be fine,” or, “It’s so wonderful that she’s doing this with her life.” I settled on a line that was at least true. “You must be proud to have such a brave daughter.”

Because the keys to the Kingdom got locked inside the Kingdom
And the angels fly around in there but we can’t see them
I got a girl in the war Paul I know that they can hear me yell
If they can’t find a way to help her they can go to Hell
If they can’t find a way to help her they can go to Hell

Iraqi Insurgent Snipers Target U.S. Medics, Engineers and Chaplains

Jon Ponder

The longer we stay, the more sophisticated the insurgents get at attacking us:

Enemy snipers in Iraq have improved their skills, and their attacks have become well-aimed and well-disciplined.

Insurgent groups have prepared instructional manuals and videos to train more snipers. Training materials obtained by U.S. intelligence show that snipers are urged to single out medics, engineers and chaplains for attacks on the theory that those casualties will demoralize entire units.

The manuals have been posted on the Internet. U.S. Central Command has verified the authenticity of at least one such training guide.

One recently captured insurgent sniper had a hole in the trunk of his car, which allowed him to fire at U.S. and Iraqi troops while hidden in the vehicle, said Brig Gen. David Halverson, deputy commander of U.S. forces in and around Baghdad. The sniper also mounted a video camera on his car’s rear window.

Enemy snipers in Iraq have improved their skills, and their attacks have become “well-aimed and well-disciplined,” said Col. Michael Beech, commander of the 4th Brigade Combat Team in central Baghdad. His brigade has lost two soldiers to sniper fire since September, he said.

GOP Sen. Graham Says Iraq Is ‘on the Verge of Chaos, and the Current Plan Is not Working’

Jon Ponder

Hard to know what to make of Sen. Graham. Every now and then he seems to grow a spine but it invariably whithers after a few days — probably after a heated phone call from Karl Rove:

“We’re on the verge of chaos, and the current plan is not working,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in an Associated Press interview. U.S. and Iraqi officials should be held accountable for the lack of progress, said Graham, a Republican who is a frequent critic of the administration’s policies.

Asked who in particular should be held accountable – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, perhaps, or the generals leading the war – Graham said: “All of them. It’s their job to come up with a game plan” to end the violence.

Bush Lies to ABC News: Our Position Has Never Been to ‘Stay the Course’ in Iraq

Jon Ponder

If a normal president were caught telling an obvious, bald-face lie in an interview on one of the big three Sunday news programs, it would be big news. But the media has simply stopped taking seriously anything President Bush says — everything that comes out of his mouth is dismissed as spin. That’s a shame because the country needs to know that our president is a congenital liar:

STEPHANOPOULOS: James Baker says that he’s looking for something between “cut and run” and “stay the course.”

BUSH: Well, hey, listen, we’ve never been “stay the course,” George. We have been — we will complete the mission, we will do our job, and help achieve the goal, but we’re constantly adjusting to tactics. Constantly.

ThinkProgress has a round-up of quotes from the president in which he advocates “staying the course” in Iraq:

BUSH: We will stay the course. [8/30/06]

BUSH: We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq. [8/4/05]

BUSH: We will stay the course until the job is done, Steve. And the temptation is to try to get the President or somebody to put a timetable on the definition of getting the job done. We’re just going to stay the course. [12/15/03]

BUSH: And my message today to those in Iraq is: We’ll stay the course. [4/13/04]

BUSH: And that’s why we’re going to stay the course in Iraq. And that’s why when we say something in Iraq, we’re going to do it. [4/16/04]

BUSH: And so we’ve got tough action in Iraq. But we will stay the course. [4/5/04]

ThinkProgress has a video of Bush caught on tape telling the lie.

If Andy Rooney Is Against You…

Trish

What does it mean for the Bush team when Andy Rooney uses his slot on 60 Minutes to ask, “What in the world are we doing in Iraq?” Hey Jon, you and everyone else in later time slots should tune into the the last three minutes of the show tonight. Believe me, it was accident that I caught it but I’m glad I did. Talk about the tide turning…

I just checked, and the transcript is up on the the CBS site.

I’d like to talk to you about something you probably don’t want to be talked to about.

Someone – and I guess it’s President Bush – has to tell us what in the world we’re doing in Iraq now. I don’t think any of us know. We did the right thing getting rid of Saddam Hussein, but what are we doing there now?

The Pentagon never tells us anything. Usually reporters and cameramen let us know quite a bit but it’s so dangerous for them in Baghdad now that even they can’t show us much of what’s going on.

So far almost 2,800 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq. I say “almost 2,800” because there is no exact number. It changes by six or eight every day. That’s how many of our young men get killed? And for what? Just tell us, Mr. President. For what? It hasn’t even been good for Iraq; it certainly hasn’t been good for us. The whole world thinks less of us for what we’re doing there.

This little war is costing us $2 billion a what? I forget, a day, a week, a minute? It’s the kind of money I can’t even imagine.

President Bush should stand up there in front of us on television and do the hardest thing of all for any president to do. Tell us the truth. He should just say “Americans, there’s something I have to tell you. You trusted me to be your leader and I thought I was doing the right thing when we went into Iraq. Well, I hate to admit it but I was wrong. I’m sorry but we never should have gone in and now we should get out.”

Well, I’m not holding my breath until President Bush says that because I’ve never heard him admit he was wrong about anything. It isn’t something presidents do. I don’t recall hearing Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter admitting they were wrong either.

I was asked to keep this short tonight. Fortunately it’s easier to be short when I’m serious. Funny takes longer.