I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
.5 + .5
Second.
this is good to see-- and on the front page of the post, no less.
Army Col. Paul Hughes, who last year was the first director of strategic planning for the U.S. occupation authority in Baghdad, said he agrees with that view and noted that a pattern of winning battles while losing a war characterized the U.S. failure in Vietnam. "Unless we ensure that we have coherency in our policy, we will lose strategically," he said in an interview Friday.
"I lost my brother in Vietnam," added Hughes, a veteran Army strategist who is involved in formulating Iraq policy. "I promised myself, when I came on active duty, that I would do everything in my power to prevent that [sort of strategic loss] from happening again. Here I am, 30 years later, thinking we will win every fight and lose the war, because we don't understand the war we're in."
This is what rankles me, because it takes me back to the very beginning of this thing. The runup in 2002 and early 2003. Forget the fact that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.
The only difference between me and Col. Hughes is that I was saying, in August of 2002, we don't understand the war we're getting into.
But is there a way to "win" at this point? What's all this garbage I hear about the Israelis thinking about bombing Iran's nuclear facilities?
Ever seen that movie "The Perfect Storm"?
Army Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr. is a gay, communist who wipes front to back, never recycles, makes insurance bets in 21, hates his mommy, and is trying to build a time machine so he can go back and kill Jesus all by himself.
I hear there are some weird aspects to Maj. Gen. Swannack's personal life.
OH,
"The Perfect Storm" was in Iran? Wow, I gotta sober up.
w's cronies now control the second largest oil reserve in the world. He is building 14 permanent bases to protect them. America loses, but w already won.
The punchline is the best:
Asked about such antagonism, Wolfowitz said, "I wish they'd have the -- whatever it takes -- to come tell me to my face."
He said that by contrast, he had been "struck at how many fairly senior officers have come to me" to tell him that he and Rumsfeld have made the right decisions concerning the Army.
If Commander Bunnypants had to go on tee-vee and say 'we blew it', that would be it for him. He's way way overcommitted. I think even he is now bitterly regretting the Iraq adventure.
The punchline is the best:
Asked about such antagonism, Wolfowitz said, "I wish they'd have the -- whatever it takes -- to come tell me to my face."
He said that by contrast, he had been "struck at how many fairly senior officers have come to me" to tell him that he and Rumsfeld have made the right decisions concerning the Army.
These guys are trying to put the final nail in Rumsfeld's coffin.
You don't get to be a general without being an opportunist.
Holy fuck... I hope that those not familiar with the *unspoken* code of military conduct realize that these men may have given up any chance of advancement to voice these concerns. They will be shuffled out ASAP. My guess is that careers will end with their current assignments. Such public dissent is simply not tolerated.
Army Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division
This guy is huge!
Loved Wolfowitz the spineless bureaucrat desk job pencil neck (clearly modelled on Murdoch from Rambo) declaring, "I wish they'd had the--whatever it takes--to say it to my face."
Well, Wolfy, they are bound by law to not enjoy Freedom of Speech. They literally can't "say it to your face", not that you'd pay any attention. But if you're referring to a lack of balls, consider where they are and where you are, you fucking coward-warmonger UNFORGIVABLE DRECKGOLEM.
Here's a good place to start cleaning house:
WASHINGTON - A year before the Iraq invasion, the then-Army secretary warned his Pentagon bosses that there was inadequate control of private military contractors, which are now at the heart of controversies over misspending and prisoner abuse.
The author of that memo, retired Army chief Thomas White, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the recent events show the Pentagon has a long way to go to fix the problems he identified in March 2002.
"Clearly, there was a lot of work that had to be done and still needs to be done," White said Thursday.
In a sign of continued problems with the tracking of contracts, Pentagon officials on Thursday acknowledged they have yet to identify which Army entity manages the multimillion-dollar contract for interrogators like the one accused in the Iraq prisoner abuse probe.
Remember last year when the Pentagon "lost" $1+ trillion?
I vouch for the integrity of Thomas E. Ricks. He's one of my closest associates.
Army Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr. left his post without permission to teabag, smoke ketamine, have sex with diaper models, burn down an orphanage, fart in an elevator, piss and leave the seat down, perform an even 600 3rd-trimester abortions, sleep through church, and eat the last Chocodile.
"The worried generals and colonels are simply beginning to say what experts outside the military have been saying for weeks."
And what some bloggers have been saying for many months.
Many, many months.
If Wolfy doesn't think they have any balls, he'd surely be willing to meet vets released from the constraints of duty...shit, we'd even let him wear armor of his choosing...
OT:
k&y:
oh.
Paul Waffletitz will get to find out what his left nut tastes like if he ever meets one of us vets.
What do they know of international strategy and realpolitik? I have the inside track and I tell you, if we pull out, it will be the end of western civilization. Of course, the liberals will try to "spin" this as the opposite, but they are all liars.
What do they know of international strategy and realpolitik? I have the inside track and I tell you, if we pull out, it will be the end of western civilization. Of course, the liberals will try to "spin" this as the opposite, but they are all liars.
Hey FOX NEWS, didn't he also take newborn babies from incubators and leave them lying on the floor in Kuwait....
Oh, wait, that was Saddam.... Oh, wait that was a lie brought to you by Propaganda R US
OT, but Freeperville reports that freed hostage Thomas Hamill gave an interview to Fox's Rita Cosbey and said President Bush "makes him proud." Apparently a real company man for Halliburton.
but they are all liars.
Rahim | Email | Homepage | 05.09.04 - 12:20 am | #
Looks like Rahim is talking about his wing nutters...It's one of those cases of we do it, but blame the liberals of doing it.
Thomas Hamill "escaped" his diabolical captors just moments after a multimillion dollar ransom of cash, weapons, and HotPockets were delivered. He is glad he is safe, but regrets that he did not get so much as one delicious HotPocket.
Military Personnel: Don't Read This!
How a Pentagon email sought to contain the prison abuse scandal
http://www.time.com/time/world/a...00.html?
cnn=yes
Anonymous:
Escaped! He wasn't freed when the demands for his being freed were met... he escaped.
Jessica Lynch helped went in with guns blazing and they escaped him.
Dammit people, I tried to warn you, back in the 40s, but would you listen? But NOoooo.
Former Army Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr. a gay, communist sympathizer who was thrown out of the Army for alleged mistreatment of his aide was found dead in his Arlington home today the victim of an apparent suicide.
The general was found dead in his home, with 11 bullet holes in the back of his head and mid-back.
This discovery led to the Arlington coroner declaring "It was disturbingly obvious from the wound patterns and close clustering that Mr. Swannack, had shot himself 10 times, stopping once to reload. The 11th bullet wound clearly shows that Mr. Swannack but did not make it past the first round of his second magazine....Wounds are indicative of an extremely unstable and obviously un-American disgraced former Army General."
Strangely, in an unrelated matter, the White House released a brief statement stating that Bush advisor Karl Rove was in California for the past week.
This Just In: Thomas Hamill too fat to move, he could not have escaped. Apparently, his ransom was paid, and he was airlifted in a cargo net where he had a whole bunch of HotPockets.
hadenough, that story is CRAZY.
These people are simply insane.
Live, from Atrios, it's,
SATURDAY NIGHT!
I have the inside track and I tell you, if we pull out, it will be the end of western civilization.
Two questions. One, who is your "inside track" and, two, how will pulling out of Iraq end Western Civilization as we know it? Them's mighty bold claims, kemosabe; you mind backing 'em up?
mj, so, you want to link do you?
seen this
or this
or this, rather comprehensive, no?
can this be explained, or better not?
you dance fo'evva!!
black mimes in whiteface for Jesus (why else?)
and the inevitable Baby Jesus Butt Plug
mj,
At first I thought it was a joke.
I hate Wolfie so muckin' fuch! That last comment of his? he had been "struck at how many fairly senior officers have come to me" to tell him that he and Rumsfeld have made the right decisions concerning the Army.
They're either insane, lying sycophants or they've been using sarcasm and Wolfie's not understanding so much -
neocon theorists are the reason people are dying in Iraq - aaaaaaahhggggg
Fox News, re Hamill: that is just low. And we said "screw them" regarding the mercs and defended Rall regarding Tillman, but come on, they guy was a hostage, he can't help being a lardass, he was captured for participating in a occupation, not his diet.
Let me re-state the obvious again:
We do not understand the war we're in because we are not in a war. It's not a war.
The armed forces cannot achieve our aims. Yes, they can win a war, but they can't win this peace. It's not their fault; they are tasked to fight wars, but this is not a war.
W thinks it's a video game, and Cheney and Powell think they're playing "Risk". These idiots are led by a guy who said, "I don't think the military should be used for nation building" and at the first opportunity to do so, employed the military to build a nation on a grand scale. Is it any wonder the military can't achieve peace?
We need diplomats, and these guys scoff at diplomats the way smokers scoff at doctors: "Hell, doc, it ain't killed me yet!"
I am beside myself with rage and disbelief. Good night all.
This Just In: Kei & Yuri are seriously off da hook. Demmmmmm!
hadenough, GREAT link!
As the type-face switched to high-alarm red, the 180-word email continues: "THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT IS CLASSIFIED; DO NOT GO TO FOX NEWS TO READ OR OBTAIN A COPY."
DO NOT RIGHT-CLICK ON THE TAGUBA REPORT LINK. DO NOT SELECT "SAVE LINK TARGET AS...." DO NOT BROWSE TO YOUR C:\MY DOCUMENTS\ DOWNLOADED_CLASSIFIED_DOCUMENTS\ PRISON_ABUSE FOLDER. DO NOT CLICK OKAY. DO NOT DOUBLE-CLICK ON DOWNLOADED FILES. DO NOT READ THE DOCUMENT. DO NOT CLICK ON FILE|SEND TO...|EVERYONE.
do'uhhhhhhh! How old are these guys?
Okay, which one of you is the rabbit in the nightie?
Furries...go figger...
K & y- we'd have to have a lottery for the honor. I imagine millions of vets would want in....
I am skimming the Teguba report and I noticed this little tidbit:
"On 24 January 2003 the Chief of Staff of US Central Command (CENTCOM),. . . directed. . . an investigation into . . . detainee escapes and accountability lapses"
So as I read this I wonder are these investigations into "accountability lapses" imply that the "escapes" were those prisoners who were possibly killed yet class as escapes to account for it?
The author of that memo, retired Army chief Thomas White, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the recent events show the Pentagon has a long way to go to fix the problems he identified in March 2002.
and coming from someone who worked for both Enron and the Pentagon, he's a fine one to talk
In light of the whole prisonergate Negroponte is now the guy the US brings into Iraq as our "ambassador" to clean things up and get it all nice and tidy.
That's almost like bringing Joseph Mengele into a Jewish nursing home to help treat the residents.
Liberal faggots, bring it on! I will kick your ass out of MY country. Stay out, we hate yiou!
This is huge.
This cannot be underestimated.
Bush is destroying the Army with his insane scheme in Iraq, and the Army can no longer hold its tongue.
I can't see Bush lasting until July 4. He will be gone.
Wow. Someone certainly slipped a cog.
This Just In: Rahim, like everyman who ever made a homophobic statement, is a homosexual himself. Stop fighting the world, Rahim, and learn to like yourself and your feelings. There's someone out there for you. Love a little but do so with safety.
Wolfowitz actually said the men he sent off to die for a lie don't have any balls, while these same guys dodge bullets and shrapnel and suffer suspension of freedom of speech while working under pricks like him.
We sincerely hope a beautiful woman shows him one of the more interesting properties of male genitalia: the whole kaboodle actually pushes all the way back in. It can stay that way, too.
Stay out, we hate yiou!
A! E!
A-E-I-O-U!
And sometimes Y!
jack- why use the "almost".
say, it looks like wolfowitz is gone 
.
.....
He said that by contrast, he had been "struck at how many fairly senior officers have come to me" to tell him that he and Rumsfeld have made the right decisions concerning the Army.
Sounds like Wolfowitz is the grown up version of that kid from the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life", the one who was sending the grownups to the cornfield if they made him unhappy. I would imagine that the generals who want to keep their jobs
are constantly telling him "That's a good thing you did Mr. Wolfowitz! A real good thing!" .
Good thread on the Army getting brassed off at the Bushies here over at dKos.
OT, but Freeperville reports that freed hostage Thomas Hamill gave an interview to Fox's Rita Cosbey and said President Bush "makes him proud." Apparently a real company man for Halliburton.
Anonymous
has there been any reports of whether or not Halliburton has re-imbursed the US Army for his rescue and care at the hospital in Germany? why is a private contractor being treated as well, if not better than one of the troops?
Whoohoo - can I point in the picture?
Wow.
If there were a god, we'd definitely be able to tell because Wolfowitz would get strung up by his toes and have his balls slowly cut off by some high ranking guys with stars on their shoulders. He basically called those guys a bunch of eunuchs. The unfounded arrogance of these people is so extreme it is comical.
This article is illustrative of what has been one of the defining features of the Iraq Debacle -- the fact that incredibly authoritative and accurate criticism and dissent has bubbled up from within at every step.
In the past, dissent was largely limited to marginal groups like hippies, pacifists, and musicians. With the Iraq Debacle, we have heard dissent from high-ranking officers of the military, former Cabinet members of Bush's father's administration, even the CIA (amazing given what villains the CIA were in the 80's Iran-Contra era) and elements from within just about every other intelligence agency in the USG.
Wolfie wishes people would have what it takes to tell him how they really feel.
I have one word for that prick: Shinseki.
They killed the messenger and wonder why they have trouble getting the news. Stupid is as stupid fucking does.
just read posts, sorry for redundancy -
I saw the word realpolitik and it's a word we should invoke as we compare the platforms - Bush has proven he doesn't understand it's meaning - for that matter Wolfie, Perle, Condi (she'll come in handy if the USSR ever reunites) are clueles, and Powell is just window dressing (Belafonte's the house nigga', comment always comes to mind when I see him all annoyed and spinning away -
All that to say = the nyt has a story about some foriegn leaders who'd like to see Kerry win: http://nytimes.com/2004/05/09/in...ope/
09euro.html
we should be looking for more - Bush has so few god things to talk about he's still playing up this foreign leaders thing in his stump speech - let's take it away from him - (sorry it's always cut and paste)
Please read this article that obviously un-American dude Rahim is linking to(his homepage) the American Enterprise Institute...And then TELL ME IF there is any evidence that republican (or perhaps even democrat) congressmembers are moving away from central DC. Whether there is any evidence that we have massive moves by the members away from what this author would call the "blast zone" and if there are, in light of this article, would that be cause for concern?
Recipe for Sham Elections
By Norman J. Ornstein
Posted: Friday, May 7, 2004
Two years and seven months after Sept. 11, 2001--a day in which the U.S. Capitol and the House of Representatives narrowly dodged a disaster that could have left Congress without a working quorum for months at the worst possible time--the House finally conducted two hours of debate this week on how to provide a continuing constitutional system in the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack...
There are some obvious problems. What if most House members are incapacitated but alive--in burn units, intensive-care units, comatose or quarantined from a chemical or biological attack? That could leave Congress paralyzed without a quorum indefinitely...
Moreover, what happens in the 45 days and more before elections are held, winners certified and members sworn in? The answer is martial law, with no checks or balances. Under the worst of worst-case scenarios, the president invoking martial law might be, not the elected president, but a replacement under the Presidential Succession Act...
Such House leaders as Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Judiciary Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., who largely ignored the issue of continuity of government for two years after Sept. 11, are bringing up the constitutional amendment soon for a vote without hearings or serious debate--while applying strong partisan pressure to kill it.
There's something on the wing! It's? It's a? It's Rumsfeld!
I keep all my porn in my C:\MY_DOCUMENTS\DOWNLOADED_CLASSIFIED_DOCUMENTS\
PRISON_ABUSE folder myself
Why do the Generals hate America?
hey D&C (and everybody else who breaks Haloscan) here's the link for getting past cut & paste and long URLs
But when asked whether he believes the United States is losing, he said, "I think strategically, we are."
This statement says it all.Alot of the bobbleheads were wondering who would be the first to say the war is unwinnable,here it is.And they are a big enough outlet to get the attention of the country.I thinks it's hats off tonight.The war is comming to a close and the anti-war voters ought to be happy.It's all over but the shouting and the final exit strategy.I wonder who will be the first to come out with the final plans and who will take the fall for losing the war?
How long before we see OBL gloating on the teevee?
It's fairly awe inspiring, at this moment in our national history, to witness the long knives of the United States military thrust into the vitals of the Secretary of Defense, isn't it?
Most neo-cons (new cons as compared to the old cons) never served in the military. If they had they would not be so eager for war.
In Big Lies, Joe Conason went down the list and totally laid out the proof that not only do Democrats serve by a slight majority over non-serving Rethugs, but people who have served actually treat war and service with respect and don't trip all over themselves to get to war.
I've read it and people have cited it above but I have to see it again:
Asked about such antagonism, Wolfowitz said, "I wish they'd have the -- whatever it takes -- to come tell me to my face."
I wish Paul would go to Iraq and try, just fucking try, that kind of talk to these guys who are living and dying because of his bullshit lies. I'd want to see what happens. Just to see the look on his face.
Paul Wolfowitz is not a carbon based life form. He just can't be human.
Just to see the look on his face.
Did you see the soiled-BVDs look on his face after the insurgents fired 20 rockets at his hotel room? That's what war is like, Wolfie, every single day in Iraq. It's not Playstation 2.
I heard Gen. Swannack has porn on his laptop.
It's fairly awe inspiring, at this moment in our national history, to witness the long knives of the United States military thrust into the vitals of the Secretary of Defense, isn't it?
Sovereign Eye
Yes it is. But I am uncomfortble with ANY "Night of the Long Knives." Things are fast and loose.
LATEST BUSH FLIPFLOP:
Entering an agreement with Israel saying that it can keep its settlements in west bank and now saying that the settlement issue needs to be negotiated between Israel and Palestinians.
This needs to be added to the original list.
«Asked about such antagonism, Wolfowitz said, "I wish they'd have the -- whatever it takes -- to come tell me to my face."
He said that by contrast, he had been "struck at how many fairly senior officers have come to me" to tell him that he and Rumsfeld have made the right decisions concerning the Army.»
Too bad the only really senior officers who told him that were probably from the Air Force.
Of course, as Hudson noted, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army did tell Wolfowitz to his face that he was wrong. And Rummy and Wolfie sent Shinseki (and by extension, any other "fairly senior" Army officer) the Sicilian message about what happens to people who dare to speak Truth to Power.
Clinton stained a dress - Bush stains our nation.
The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Powell
"I do not believe we had a clearly defined war strategy, end state and exit strategy before we commenced our invasion," he said. "Had someone like Colin Powell been the chairman [of the Joint Chiefs of Staff], he would not have agreed to send troops without a clear exit strategy. The current OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense] refused to listen or adhere to military advice."
It is nice to see that the voice of the military is emerging above the neocon BS. For those keeping score at home:
Powell Doctrine in Iraq: 1
Bush Doctrine in Iraq: 0
The military folks know the score too. It is ironic that Bush ran on the premise that Clinton mistreated the military through prolonged peacekeeping deployments and underfunding. Soldiers under Bush are recieving less benefits and are being deployed in Iraq basically indefinitely. I hope Kerry throws that "Not Ready for Duty Sir" shit back in Bush's face and really steps up his outreach to military families and develops some high profile policies that would appeal to the brass.
What we really need is a war every 10 years so america doesn't get all freaked out about war.
Wish my anal cysts weren't so big and sore or I'd go right out there and show these young people how to die bravely for a needless cause.
It's fairly awe inspiring, at this moment in our national history, to witness the long knives of the United States military thrust into the vitals of the Secretary of Defense, isn't it?
It's like Seven Days in May!
When they invaded Iraq the Administration was gambing on two things:
1. Some substantial WMDs would be found.
2. The invasion and peace would be an unqualified success.
They utterly fucking lost both bets.
They need to go.
Shorter Wolfowitz: The lurkers support me in e-mail.
Bushies are in so much hooey, cheese louise, they are in frantic desperation, Bushie apollygized yet again, dudes are desperation city, they are frantically hoping for traction, they are frantically hoping the Dems will cause a commotion and annoy the communities, they are frantically hoping all the flak goes to Rummy, they are frantically hoping for just about anything.
Right now the communities are annoyed at Bush for dragging them into this, for creating chaos and confusion, for increasing the troop levels.
Bushies thought they were gonna do a hokey handover to a bunch of technocrats, today they dialled back yet again for the nth time and went tumbling to Unka Lakhdar, Unka, Unka, we gotta put in the Shia dudes and the Kurd dudes and yadda yadda yadda.
Meanwhile Wesley Clark spanked Bushie** soundly and the uniformed military spanked them too.
It’s beginning to look a lot like downhill,
Bushies downhill all the way.
.....
****Wesley Clark: We need new leadership in America to keep us safe at home, and to regain respect for America abroad.
We came to liberate not to occupy.
.....
The WaPo piece is just the first of many to come. The military brass (including the very top field commanders) have been quite clear for some time that they profoundly disagreed with both strategy and tactics coming from the civilian side.
The Army's disenchantment is well known since the public disagreement between Shinseki and Wolfowitz on force levels before the war started. But the feeling of havng been betrayed by the civilians -- Bush giving them a mission impossible in strategic terms -- has been unmistakable since before the war.
Remember, these guys grew up post-Vietnam. There were some key lessons they learned by heart.
1. Remember Clauswitz -- fighting and territorial control are done for political objectives, and if victories in battle move you further away from winning your political objectives (a la Fallujah), you're getting your strategic objectives seriously confused.
2. your tactics had also best be consistent with your political aims; in the post-combat stabilization stage, that means more focus on stabilization and less on body counts of bad guys (a lesson military intelligence seems to have had a problem applying)
3. low-intensity counterinsurgencies (guerilla warfare) require not just a local (Iraqi) face; containing the insurgents has got to be mainly a local show, and it will take a long time
4. post-combat stabilization has become a discrete stage in US military strategy, with its own dynamics, and its own resource-requirements and tactics; lessons from places like Bosnia have been explicitly incorporated into military doctrine; one of the most important lessons is commit a lot of forces to the early stage, and you won't lose as many lives in the long run, and you'll probably get to go home sooner
5. all of the above mean you'd better have broad and deep public agreement with the objectives of the conflict; one way of measuring that political commitment is the upfront willingness of Congress to commit resources -- size of forces, materiel, etc. -- not just for the major combat phase but for the politically-sensitive and personnel-demanding post-combat stabilization stage
The Powell Doctrine summarizes those various conclusions. Over the coming decades, we should expect every presidents who is sworn in to have the Powell Doctrine tatooed on their chest before they're allowed to take the oath of office.
But the military's opposition to what they're being ordered to do this isn't news. See Bob Novak's column of April 8 (?) about how the generals might not be ready to vote for Kerry yet, but they sure weren't going to vote for Rummy's boss.Novak reported that morale was worse than in decades (this after the Clinton years!), and they were d--m'd if they were going to take the fall for this crowd of jerks.
This sentiment has been building for quite some time, at least by last summer. If you've got family in the officer corps you probably have heard some of this. The difference
Meanwhile we will see what the spinneroni at Tinkerbelle Fox will be:
Today Kasich was shouting so loud, I think it was on the verge of creating a minor level earthquake. .
To the toon of Jingle Bell Rock:
Tinkerbelle, tinkerbelle, tinkerbelle Fox
Tinkerbelle Brit and Tinkerbelle Mort
Tinkerbelle Barnes and Tinkerbelle Ailes
That’s the Tinkerbelle Fox
I DID Rahim IN THE BOTTOM @ THE TOP.
WITH A CHEMICAL LIGHT.
Slightly OT
This commentary implies that the hearts and minds are irrevocably lost, and we're left with only one solution.
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
Depressing...
Taking bets on whether Suzy Collins and Liddy Dole are gonna try to be all serious school marms or all cute and cuddly and sending little huggles and baby kisses to their bumbly jumbly Rumsfeld 
.
.....
And we still have the Plame Affair to look forward to.
Mr X-we commented earlier on the Long Knives bullshit. Totally agreed. The Night of the Long Knives for those who don't know was another Kristallnacht kind of thing. Not very subtle, not very accurate, not very reasonable-unless you buy David Brooks' theory.
The generals are sure annoyed wif Bush.
.....
What should we expect to happen when we let the Devil's Advocates win?
Rasmussen poll-48% of Americans believe the torture at Abu prison was an isolated case. I predict 48% of Americans get their "news" from Faux and are in for a very rude awakening.
OT: everybody is happy for Thomas Hamill .
.....
The Night of the Long Knives was extremely pinpoint in its intentions; Hitler took out the lumpenprole elements in the SA around Rohm, and installed the SS as the leadership of his dictatorship. And the SS were the efficiency experts who mechanized mass murder. Not to say this has any relevance to what is happening here, but we should be careful with any historical analogies.
Also OT: I’m so happy 2 of my favorite actors are doing a remake of Inspector Clouseau.
Steve Martin and Kevin Kline although they could interchange the roles. Guys make sure you get it right .
.....
"THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT IS CLASSIFIED; DO NOT GO TO FOX NEWS TO READ OR OBTAIN A COPY."
I wonder if this means that Fox will now be advising readers/viewers to not go to their website and to not obtain copies either? Just asking. I know how much they like to tow the administration line and all.
I can see Fred Barnes on Fox News Sunday now, excoriating Fox readers/viewers for going to the Fox website and downloading copies of the report, because you know it is classified and all and to do so would interfere with their whole criminal investigation into this serious leak of classified information.
Hey, is it just me or shouldn't they have sent out a similar warning about people reading Novak's column leaking the secret information of the name of a CIA agent?
everybody is watching quite calmly, people on both sides are plenny capable of finding out the truth and making the corrections.
.....
When they invaded Iraq the Administration was gambing on two things
Nohoho...they were hoping that we'd swallow the factoids on the ground once our troops were there, institute the draft and go full decloaked imperialist plumes, epaulettes and cannon.
When you say Fred Barnes I assume you are referring to Tinkerbelle Barnes .
.....
Also OT: I’m so happy 2 of my favorite actors are doing a remake of Inspector Clouseau.
Steve Martin and Kevin Kline although they could interchange the roles. Guys make sure you get it right .
.....
MinnieB9 | Email | Homepage | 05.09.04 - 1:39 am | #
No, no, no. This should not be, as Bo Diddley might say. The Pink Panther movies are fine by themselves, and lest we forget, they've tried to do them without Peter Sellars, not once but twice. It wasn't good either time.
Hollywood, thy name isn't creativity or originality.
"Fox News" has to be Neal Pollack.
Thanks preznit -
If anyone noticed, my pismellings are telling - "Bush has so few god things to talk about (sic) - It led me to wonder, when he asked god if he should bomb Iraq to smithereens, did god mention this whole ugliness of war fallout thing? Is there other "stuff" in that conversation we should know about? Was it recorded?
Jerk.
http://us.gq.com/plus/content/?040429plco_01
here's the Powell gq interview - and a 2000 Bush profile from the nyt
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/
061000wh-bush.html
Not to say this has any relevance to what is happening here, but we should be careful with any historical analogies.
Yes. And things are beginning to move swiftly, so keep yer eyes peeled. Those who blah blah are doomed to blah blah, & etc.
"permission to teabag" Neal Pollack, no doubt about it.
Two guys out hitting the bars one night order a few rounds, finish and begin to settle their tab when they both realize they are way short in funds. Panicking, one guy says to the other "Wait here, I'll be right back." then runs across the street to a late night supermarket.
He comes back with a foot-long sausage and says "Ok, just play along." as he puts the sausage in his open zipper. "Get on your knees and just make like you're sucking me off."
The other guy says "What the hell are you talking about!" to which the other says "Look, this is a tough bar. Do YOU want to be the one to tell the bartender you can't pick up the tab?" "Fine." he says and proceeds to give the sausage a hummer.
Shocked at the site, the bouncer immediately grabs both of them and says "Take that outta here!" and kicks them out. Stunned, the doubter says "Man, it worked! Let's try another!"
Successful at the second bar as well, they proceed to do this all night, bar after bar, drink after drink.
By the 10th bar, with both of them stinking drunk, the one doing all the sucking finally breaks down and says "Dude, I'm wasted. I don't think I can get on my knees and do this again. We have to call it quits!"
The other concedes as well and responds "You're right, but how do you think I feel? I lost the sausage six bars ago!"
Chaud potato: The French have the Tagabu report, translated.
http://tinyurl.com/yrpyn
CLIQUEZ LE LINK, SAUVER LE DOCUMENT SUR LE HARD DRIVE, ENVOYEZ A TOUS, SURTOUT NOTER QUE RUMSFELD EST UN CON.
"I hate Wolfie so muckin' fuch! That last comment of his? he had been "struck at how many fairly senior officers have come to me" to tell him that he and "
We all need to remember that Wolfowitz is the one Bush is planning on tapping to head the CIA in the second Bush term. Think about it, Ashcroft and Wolfowitz in charge of all the spy agencies for the US.
Those of you bashing Kerry, stop and think before you spew.
Powell GQ Article
The best part about that article was when his aide said that he spent four days at Langley trying to get all of the intelligence lies out of his UN speech. It turns out he shouldn't have bothered, because the whole thing was a lie. So, so, sad.
The Salon article the other day mentioned that the Negraponte move as Ambassador was done in exchange for someone at the Pentagon going down and suggested it was Feith. It seems obvious that this is year of the Powell Payback. Powell has been on the offensive in print, Plan of Attack and now this article and Negraponte has been working behind the scenes to exact revenge.
I have to imagine that Negraponte was the laughing stock of the UN after the WMD debacle and I for one would hate to be the person to get him angry. He's bad enough as is, I bet once he's angry he goes from Bruce Banner to the Hulk. The man is looking for payback and chickenhawks should really consider ducking.
In the face of such horrendous failures in Iraq and the exposure to all the world of our gestapo tactics the repugs STILL insist, after all the facts in the world have been thrown in their faces about the miserable failure that is the bush regime that...It's still Clinton and the Democrats' fault when The House, The Senate and the White House are ALL controlled by them.
Party before country. It's the repug way.
Damned /i>!
No, no, no. This should not be, as Bo Diddley might say. The Pink Panther movies are fine by themselves, and lest we forget, they've tried to do them without Peter Sellars, not once but twice. It wasn't good either time.
Hollywood, thy name isn't creativity or originality.
Backslider
veering jarringly OT...
Jesus, I'd hate to be a freshman writer in Hollywood with stories to tell, only to be outsold by some FUCKING REMAKE of some mid-level crap/nostalgia/vehicle/bullshit that gets greenlit due to it's "built-in audience"-factor that is gleaned from the pathetic Boomer cohort by some friggin' focus group...
GAAAH! Sorry.
the time is now for Kerry to pick Clark. RESPECTED GENERAL to either be VP or defence sec.
we have to clean a whole mess of shit.
I went out and grabbed some Vietnames takeout this evening and the thought occurred to me:
Why haven't there been any articles asking Vietnamese-Americans what they think about the Iraq fiasco?
Instead the press dutifully tug their pubic forelocks when GWB says the "Vietnam-Iraq analogy is wrong".
By the way, that quote is on my petard watch. Ever ready to hoist.
If Bush doesn't do nuance, then I think he is incapable of analogy.
Hey kei & yuri --
The Night of the Long Knives was not "another Kristallnacht kind of thing." Kristallnacht was a pogrom. The Night of the Long Knives was one bunch of Nazis killing another bunch of Nazis.
If Bush doesn't do nuance, then I think he is incapable of analogy.
Bush can't even do allegory, unless it's biblical.
Hey squeaky, I would LOVE to see a similar event take place in the GOP. Wonder whose knives are longer in that group though, yet it would be fun to watch them kill themselves instead of real Americans.
Squeaky, so the Night of the Long Knives was kindofa "gay" Nazi on Nazi thing.
If Bush doesn't do nuance, then I think he is incapable of analogy.
incapable of nuance, incapable of analogy, incapable of figures of speech.
Wolfowitz, however, in using the metaphor of "testicles" to refer to the bravery of US army brass to speak to him directly will learn the difference between a figure of speech and the real thing.
His balls will be kicked up into his ass.
No more teabagging for Wolfowitz!
"Party before country. It's the repug way.
jack"
Which is the way of a fascist regime.
In Vietnam, grunts fragged Lts.
In Iraq, generals frag civilian commanders.
I have not read all the comments, and I hope I not spinning paranoid scenarios:
But the USA is based on civilian control of the military. If senior commanders revolt, other than resigning, we are in serious shit.
This post is extreme and may be considered provocational, but the current situation is unlike any I can think of.
Truman and MaCarthur. Lincoln and McClennen.
MacMillan and Wife. That's about it.
Chica, aye miha.
I hope they do it the Commanche way.
Cut them off and stuff them down the throat.
Backslider, I'm with you. Peter Sellars was the man!
Sellers, not Sellars
I thought the best part of the article was a sense I got that maybe Powell's at a tipping point:
sitting there in front of those preposterous PowerPoint presentations and blurry satellite images, he raised his voice in outrage and said things that simply were not true: that Iraq had stockpiles of chemical weapons, that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat, that the Baath Party was linked to Al Qaeda, that these were "not assertions" but "facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence," and that the evidence of it all was clear when he knew that it probably wasn't.
I mean that's gotta' hurt a man with integrity.
A couple of articles I've read about Straussians mentions how they depend on "the gentlemen", that breed of individual who do the duty, honor, sacrifice thing and never make speeches about, to do the fighting for them.
Some people put red, white and blue bumperstickers on their cars. And some people make a final trip in red, white and blue boxes.
The gentlemen have had it.
It's go time.
Industrialists, who had provided the funds for the Nazi victory, were unhappy with Roehm's socialistic views on the economy and his claims that the real revolution had still to take place. Many people in the party also disapproved of the fact that Roehm and many other leaders of the SA were homosexuals.
Adolf Hitler was also aware that Roehm and the SA had the power to remove him as leader. Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler played on this fear by constantly feeding him with new information on Roehm's proposed coup. Their masterstroke was to claim that Gregor Strasser, whom Hitler hated, was part of the planned conspiracy against him. With this news Hitler ordered all the SA leaders to attend a meeting in the Hanselbauer Hotel in Wiesse.
On 29th June, 1934. Hitler, accompanied by the Schutzstaffel (SS), arrived at Wiesse, where he personally arrested Ernst Roehm. During the next 24 hours 200 other senior SA officers were arrested on the way to Wiesse. Many were shot as soon as they were captured but Hitler decided to pardon Roehm because of his past services to the movement. However, after much pressure from Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler, Hitler agreed that Roehm should die. At first Hitler insisted that Roehm should be allowed to commit suicide but, when he refused, Ernst Roehm was killed by two SS men.
The purge of the SA was kept secret until it was announced by Hitler on 13th July. It was during this speech that Hitler gave the purge its name: Night of the Long Knives (a phrase from a popular Nazi song). Hitler claimed that 61 had been executed while 13 had been shot resisting arrest and three had committed suicide. Others have argued that as many as 400 people were killed during the purge. In his speech Hitler explained why he had not relied on the courts to deal with the conspirators: "In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the German people, and thereby I become the supreme judge of the German people. I gave the order to shoot the ringleaders in this treason."
Oy.
The 1860’s Civil War was not really a civil war, they just wanted to secede (they even had geography on their side) what we have is a problem, one that can’t be fixed with an election, plus it was further fouled with elephant excrement in 2000 anyway. What we might have is a real “civil” war in our country. (we are conveniently divided between ‘blue’ and ‘red’ states already)
The wingers are right, we do think the usa is evil, Our culture is a vacuous, zombified fraud leading to prescription medication use that fattens up “legal” drug companies wallets, (huge donors) via Britany, Survivor, SUVs, greed, malice, no foresight environmentally and that is inflicted with a fatal dose of unbridled capitalism
Culture Wars are being fed by groups that are typified by Fox, those who have a right wing infotainment arm and then an entertainment division that produces racy and rebellious programming, leading the uninitiated, busy wage-slaves into believing that there is a liberal bias in the media. The de facto poster girl of this strange juxtaposition is a very profitable corporate teen prostitute that tells her fans “not to question the president”
This is a divide against raw power indeed!
NASCAR types think we are naive, perverts, weak and wrong. Us AIR AMERICA types think they are torturing thugs, religious nuts, un-evolved and wrong.
And the icing on this fruit cake is that the press has completely failed as watchdog, they contribute nothing and we “liberals” know it…… fighting a losing battle or plan secession? Help me put a name on it please.
Hey squeaky, I would LOVE to see a similar event take place in the GOP.
Who wouldn't? I'm just annoyed at k & y for accusing anyone who makes a "long knives" allusion of insinuating antisemitism.
We all need to remember that Wolfowitz is the one Bush is planning on tapping to head the CIA in the second Bush term. Think about it, Ashcroft and Wolfowitz in charge of all the spy agencies for the US.
Those of you bashing Kerry, stop and think before you spew.
Javier Martinez
Shouldn't that read those of you bashing Bush, stop and think before you spew.
Since I am not Af-Am, I may be speaking out of turn. For Powell to sit in that meeting and hear the "tough guys" and their false bravado, it must've sounded like the counter talk at the diner the morning after a lynching 60-80 years ago.
How much more can this guy take?
Some officers say the place to begin restructuring U.S. policy is by ousting Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, whom they see as responsible for a series of strategic and tactical blunders over the past year. Several of those interviewed said a profound anger is building within the Army at Rumsfeld and those around him.
But but but Rummy insisted he was still effective?
hadenuf, old hat, great links. i can't read no more, my eyes are falling out my head.
get up, and watch timmy, and chrissy, and wolfie (the lezzie one) and stephie tell me what's goin on. and they better be talking about something other than bad catholic, french guys, throw'n ribbons over fences. i think they will.
wolfie (the dickless wunderkid) i wish he had the... that was a good one.
now rummy, i noticed he's kind of short, napoleonic complex? peace, good nite.
what the hell, one more. President Bush insisted that while the abuse of Iraqi prisoners was "a stain on our country's honour and reputation", it would not deflect his mission in Iraq.
vs. a stain on a dress, but you know, what's the difference!
To hell with naming the next war, I'm worried about surviving it.
I'm pulling a pacifist Sarah Conner on my son. Hacker, subversive, passive aggressive, moral, consumer-agnostic, free thinking, questioning, etc. He has "odd" talents that get him into trouble, I am trying to get him to understand that these are his strengths. From a strictly evolutionary point of view, he needs to fulfill his genomic destiny.
This was not a big decision for me, it came naturally in a way.
Last year my wife was a middle-school principal in a poor school district, she is the best, best. I did a little "Robotics Club" where I tried to get kids to see outside of the packaged world and remake it for themselves. My wife made a couple of political errors and her boss colluded with some others to get her out. The climactic meeting was the last day for the club, and I did not go, my wife's boss "went in my place", though she did not know.
The "Robotics Club" was basically a hack from the very beginning, to try to get them not to be robots. This bitch delivered the final lesson, that the system screws the best, the bravest, the truest. I thought I might get one or two kids to break out, I might have gotten three. The best was nicked Gizmo, "Sir, where's your wife?" He had it pegged.
These are our warriors. They will save us or slaughter us.
The next war does have a name, The Matrix Revolutions.
An Army of The One.
My wife recovered, another story, and her old boss should be fired in early June. At the meeting a year ago I remember looking at her and saying to myself, "My God, you just blew your career trying to destroy my wife's!"
But the USA is based on civilian control of the military. If senior commanders revolt, other than resigning, we are in serious shit.
Why? I think that would be great: a military that says 'no'. They have no say over budgets, medicare or anything else the government does, but when a war is brought to them that they see as poorly planned or lacking a clear objective, they get to say "Bzzzt, sorry, try again," and send the civilian war planners back to the drawing board.
To hell with naming the next war, I'm worried about surviving it.
I'm pulling a pacifist Sarah Conner on my son. Hacker, subversive, passive aggressive, moral, consumer-agnostic, free thinking, questioning, etc. He has "odd" talents that get him into trouble, I am trying to get him to understand that these are his strengths. From a strictly evolutionary point of view, he needs to fulfill his genomic destiny.
If I had kids, will all of the draft resurrection talk from Hagel and others, I would seriously consider starting to go to either Catholic Mass or Friendship Meetings every week to have a strong basis for claiming conscientious objector status.
I think there needs to be some sort of link between the Iraqi prison nightmares and the training that our military receives; maybe there is a connection to the recently renamed School of the Americas ? Think about it, torture, abuse, humiliation, an overall complicity of the powers that are/were in charge. These soldiers and the mercs could not have thought up all this stuff on their own. As bad as it is to have our soldiers doing this with military approval, the fact that mercs, I mean civilian contractors, were in a position to inflict harm, torture, abuse and kill jailed Iraqis is totally unjustified. Of course my favorite line so far is the military saying that they have no authority over the mercs; BULLSHIT ! If our military forces can arrest or detain Iraqis for violating curfews or whatever, do you think they stop and check to see if the brown skin people are actual Iraqi citizens? I'm sure anyone who doesn't look like an American is treated with no respect for rule of law at all. If civilian contractors are breaking laws, going against the military code of conduct, violating the Geneva Conventions, the military not only has the right to arrest them, they have the obligation to do so. The fact that there are so many "contractors" doing what is supposed to be military duties has had me pissed since day one of this mess. Don't you wonder how much of the $87 Billion has gone to all of the "vendors" supplying the troops, and doing what the military should be doing? This whole thing stinks, and it smells like collusion between GW, Cheney, and all of the no-bid suppliers. End of rant, thank you very much.
Conscientious objector status is the fastest ticket to a front line medic position. They'd be better off taking a band saw to their trigger fingers...
satiRic, Chain of Command. I see what you are saying, in fact that is why I made the comment.
Tommy Franks was pissed about having to start planning for Iraq and rightly so. Osama got away. He was given an order, he had to obey it. They wanted more troops, had to get by with what they were given.
It's much messier of course: military-industrial-political-media-complex. Watching Wolf Blizter during the war was like watching someone masterbate to porn. He practically deep throats Patriot missiles. Then you have the 2.3 military contractors left with their bought and paid for congressmen. Look at the last Boeing deal for tankers ("I can drive that tanker.")
We have to maintain the thin camo line.
Greece, Pakistan, Turkey, Chile, Argentina, the aborted coup in Russia, on and on. It can happen here.
Somebody should pass a law banning torture use in all US actions.
And somebody should start the initiative for US to join the international court.
followers of shrub, rush "pillbox" limburger, fox, toby keith... are right now going to the sports equipment stores and buying hockey grade cups for their jock straps. the real u.s.a. is not going down without a fight. maybe the wimpy liberals are not going to fight fair this time. (metaphoricaly speaking of course)
What do they know of international strategy and realpolitik? I have the inside track and I tell you, if we pull out, it will be the end of western civilization. Of course, the liberals will try to "spin" this as the opposite, but they are all liars.
Rahim
As your Dad has figured out by now ... pulling out doesn't work ...
Thank you ... I'll be here all week ...
I've talked to my son about the possibility that if Bush is re-elected, the Draft might be reinstated. Understandably, he thought that it would be unlikely that Bush would be re-elected and that there is general opposition to the Draft from all sides.
I agreed that both thoughts are unbelievably unpleasant. Then I reminded him of the Florida 2000 debacle and how much the outcome of that crime still feels like a horrifying nightmare. Wake up!
cheney_usa: maybe a tiny fear of military coup is just what the US needs. We've seen what a SCOTUS coup looks like -- could it be any worse? When the people being sent off to war happily trot off without complaint, the nation takes its cue from them and also says nothing. So who's left to point out the mistake? Elected leaders come and go so why should loyalty to them trump loyalty to the military and the nation, both of which endure.
Looks like Radio Rahim needs some new batteries.
As far as the timing of pulling out: the longer we wait the more organized the factions get. So, pulling out sooner will probably lead to more chaos ("more", what a fucking sick joke) and staying longer will lead to hardening of positions with a likely polarization between those Iraqis that help us and those that do not.
And then the elephant in the room nobody is talking about. How many bases and how many US service will remain in country? I've heard 14 bases, but no number on personnel (except 3000 Embassy staff. Somebody has to pick up all the flowers that are thrown!).
Wildass guess: each base will have more personnel than the Embassy number: between 5000-10000. Let's go with 6000. 6000 times 14, um, carry the 3, uh
84,000 troops.
I'm sure the oil will pay for them.
So, even assuming that the partial birth abortion of democracy is a success, what is the timeline plan for pulling out?
Pretty fucking simple question to me.
Democrats, where are you?
satiric, the more I think about it the more I could see large numbers of citizens think that a military coup would be a great idea.
There is only one military leader who can save our union: Janice Karpinski.
"I am responsible, but it is not my fault." Shit, she stole GWB's line!
Scott Ritter said many months ago that we have already lost. This man has been proven on the money time and again. Has anyone seen him on tv lately?
"The Night of the Long Knives was extremely pinpoint.. but we should be careful with any historical analogies". Anonymous
Agreed. But I did not-- repeat not-- allude to Roehms purge; I did not cite that historical marker. What I wrote, was:
"It's fairly awe inspiring, at this moment in our national history, to witness the long knives of the United States military thrust into the vitals of the Secretary of Defense, isn't it"?
And I believe that "long knives" is an apt characterization for what has occured; an unprecedented attack by senior officials of our military upon the credibility of a secretary of defence, currently teetering, as Rumsfeld is, on the precipice of personal and official ruin.
Ritter said something to the effect that the war was lost from the beginning. I saw it on CSPAN before AAR went on air. I heard Ritter on AAR later, but have not seen or heard anything from him since. Anyone?
satiRic air tanK: maybe a tiny fear of military coup is just what the US needs. We've seen what a SCOTUS coup looks like -- could it be any worse?
Do we even have enough troops stationed stateside for a coup to be possible? Could we be a wealthier version of Pakistan?
.
By the way, since I did not see it mentioned in the above comments, I saw the front cover of the Sunday NY Times come into a coffeeshop in Asheville late on Saturday night.
It's not the sort of thing one would want to end up on your doorstep for a young child to deliver to you (i.e. it has 6 or 8 very graphic photos of the dead from the Abu Ghraib prison).
Anyway, it really caught me off guard and I do not recall seeing these photos before, so they might be the first of the "worst is yet to come images".
if i had kids....well i can not even guess at the conversations.
it's quiet simple actually; the department of defense destroys what was left of our reputation completely and rummy is not fired= we are f**ked.
time to fire up my url...wwwhowtobecomeacanadian?
There are even suggestions that the murder of a prisoner has been recorded. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina questioned Mr Rumsfeld on Friday about why the abuse had not been detected earlier. "The American public needs to understand we're talking about rape and murder here. We're not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience."
Not just blowing off steam anymore, eh?
All this 'bracing' for these pictures is stressful. Every day I'm wondering what the hell am I in for tomorrow morning.
Do we even have enough troops stationed stateside for a coup to be possible? Could we be a wealthier version of Pakistan?
.
Jeffraham Prestonian
You think we're not already? Is a bloodless Supreme Court appointment of Bushie really very different than a bloodless military coup?
The front page can be see as a scanned image by clicking my homepage link. The NY times usually scans in the images of their front page fyi
Israel (another one that's pretty much controlled by the military) and Pakistan have immediate securtiy concerns. Israel's are pretty much self-inflicted while Pakistan's feud with India esp. re Kashmir is worrisome though probably not unresolvable.
The U.S. has no such enemies (except in neocons' imaginations). The only enemy the US has is terrorism, an ideology best fought with intel, not a country or individual. So I don't know if more power to the military would play much of a role in the nation's everyday life. I still contend that it would be largely invisible. Unless the military becomes overrun with guys like Gen. Boykin. Then you're screwed.
all this makes it easier to believe that *they* dressed up a flying bomb to look like a passenger jet, no?
wake up people *they* want WW4 sooooooo bad!!!!
wake up people *they* want WW4 sooooooo bad!!!!
It's the fulfillment of prophecy.
Semi OT... catching up with a week of blogs, caught this via lunaville and haven't seen it mentioned in what I've read so far, thought it curious:
No. 397-04
IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 30, 2004
--------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. Landis W. Garrison, 23, of Rapids City, Ill., died April 29, in Abu Gharb, Iraq, of non-combat related injuries. Sgt. Garrison was assigned to the 333rd Military Police Company, Illinois National Guard, Freeport, Ill.
The incident is under investigation.
For further information related to this release, contact Army Public Affairs at (703) 692-2000.
Wolfowitze is a liar and an immature neophyte. The fat-bastard of the Neocon agenda goes around bloating his gasseous, slimy excuses not knowing that with each one he simply reveals what a fata bastard he really is.
I mean really? To say that he has had many high ranking officers say he is doing the right job in Iraq smacks of being conjecture, not to mention a non sequitur if left to rest upon the details as seen so far.
We know there were a great many high ranking officers in Vietnam who made similar remarks, not to mention some whose definition of 'doing well' may rest on some pretty perverse conditions. If we have some nutcases out there who think we're fighting a war for god and christianity then that is indeed very similar to what some of my uncle's COs felt back in Vietnam when they insisted that the men fight for god and country against the godless communists. Both situations could drive already squirrely officers over the brink.
MYOB'
.
some people do have the patients to stick to a 2-4 thousand year old plan
and also i must hand it to them they did predict this whole scanning to buy or sell goods thing.
..man, the bible is better than Nostradomis (sp) when you think about it...
-
Thanks for yr. scan of NYT front page. Headline on art. is an ad for the draft. That's horseshit. Prison was designed to be part of the new Am. Gulag. Fuck Pravda-on-the-hudson.
I will label the coming domestic conflict a "Trivial War", because once the bullets start flying, everyone will wonder how the hell we got in this mess the first place.
Of course, all wars have stupid, trivial vectors. That's what make them so horrible.
Early alarm bells sounded, ignored. Abuse reports began almost at war's start
Amnesty International said Friday that its officials had warned U.S. and British occupation authorities about mistreatment of detainees as early as May 2003. The next month, Amnesty wrote Bremer after interviewing former detainees to criticize methods that spokesman Alistair Hodgett said "appear to facilitate cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment."
In August, Bremer became alarmed about the treatment of detainees and prison conditions. After interceding in one detainee's case, he urged both the U.S. military in Iraq and top Bush administration officials to improve conditions and avoid potential fallout, according to U.S. officials.
So much for Rummy's "if only we'd known sooner" bit.
not about oil, WMD, spreading democracy, safety of the "homeland" or safety and peace of the region???
maybe what they have in mind is the control of the american people. exploit the fear and fog of terrorism.
Don't pass a new law against torture, we have plenty of old ones that aren't enforced. The problem with a new law is Bushco would suddenly remember the Constitution and say no ex post facto.
The other theme on this thread of civilian control of the military is interesting as it appears what happen is exactly the opposite of what Jefferson and Washington were afraid of. They insisted on civilian control to keep the military from running amok. It appears in Iraq the military wanted to obey the law but it was the civilians demanding they run amok.
a senior military intelligence officer experienced in Middle Eastern affairs said he thinks the administration needs to rethink its approach to Iraq and to the region. "The idea that Iraq can be miraculously and quickly turned into a shining example of democracy that will 'transform' the Middle East requires way too much fairy dust and cultural arrogance to believe," he said.
well DUHHHHH!!!!
told ya so told ya so told ya so told ya so told ya so told ya so
a senior military intelligence officer experienced in Middle Eastern affairs said he thinks the administration needs to rethink its approach to Iraq and to the region. "The idea that Iraq can be miraculously and quickly turned into a shining example of democracy that will 'transform' the Middle East requires way too much fairy dust and cultural arrogance to believe," he said.
well DUHHHHH!!!!
told ya so told ya so told ya so told ya so told ya so told ya so
The Pentagon brass must be relishing the travail of Rumsfeld almost as much as we are. Enjoy your schadenfreude.
The other theme on this thread of civilian control of the military is interesting as it appears what happen is exactly the opposite of what Jefferson and Washington were afraid of. They insisted on civilian control to keep the military from running amok. It appears in Iraq the military wanted to obey the law but it was the civilians demanding they run amok.
George Johnston
I figured out last night that wing nuts are what Hamilton feared about 'mob rule.'
re our ignorance of "Night of the Long Knives": so fucking what? We originally complained about it being an attempt to cast neocon criticism as anti-Semitism, and we still see no validity in bringing up Nazis as often as possible except in light of disturbing parallels between Nazis and neocons.
Nazi violence is Nazi violence, murder is murder. Absolutely nobody on our side is violent or is threatening violence towards that war criminal (or anyone else in the Junta).
Recognize this as standard Heatherite hysteria-politics is never exciting enough for them, so they make lurid analogies and obsess over ribbons vs medals.
Nazism must be remembered and compared as a legitimate metric and it ceases to be this when you have such a comparison as this, where none of the facts match.
I have to agree with the Paul Wolfowitz quote,
"The goal has never been to win the Olympic high jump in
democracy." Obviously, the goal has been to win the limbo contest
in democracy.
As I posted in the temporary comments, this is the money quote in this piece:
"But a senior military intelligence officer experienced in Middle Eastern affairs said he thinks the administration needs to rethink its approach to Iraq and to the region. "The idea that Iraq can be miraculously and quickly turned into a shining example of democracy that will 'transform' the Middle East requires way too much fairy dust and cultural arrogance to believe," he said. "
Beautiful. Couldn't have put it better myself.
On Face the Nation yesterday, Bob Schieffer quoted from an editorial in today's issue of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Times -- a publication ready by people in the military and (of course) always supportive of issues important to soldiers etc. APJ's Pundit Pap quotes the editorial (as quoted by Schieffer) as follows:
"...General Myers, Rumsfeld and their staffs failed to recognize the impact the scandal would not only have in the United States but around the world. On the battlefield, Myers and Rumsfeld's errors would be called a lack of situational awareness-a failure that amounts to professional negligence. This was not just a failure of leadership at the local command level. This was a failure that ran straight to the top. Accountability is essential, even if that means relieving top leaders from duty in a time of war."
Yowzah.
The NeoCons are nasty scary folks but they seem to me to be merely used by the really scary folks, the corporate crime family friends and knaves and they and their idealogy will be abandoned when the time is right for the Bushies und freunden to really take over all oil producing states and global power.
Just speculatin'.
It's an orgy of self interest.
You can not look at the squirmy pile of meat and know who is getting more out of it.
You're not at the top of the Google search for "eschaton" today. Not even second. That's unusual.
Why you quoting May 9, 2004 articles?
Heh, for that matter, why we lookin' at May 8, 2004 Postings?
It is like Deja Vu all over again
...where is everybody ?
go to archives and pull up week of 2/7/05.
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