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I see that FFFH and his intellectually indolent op-ed penpal Michael Gerson, are at it again this morning. It’s bad enough that Gerson cites the failed Iraq stylings of Fred Kagan and Ken Pollack, but then he does something so dishonest, I am simply aghast:
Eventually, between 1 million and 2 million Cambodians were murdered by the Khmer Rouge when “peace” came to Indochina. Matak, Kissinger recounts, was shot in the stomach and died three days later.
Why yes, that is a sympathetic quote from Henry Kissinger about Cambodia. You know, the very nation that Kissinger had secretly bombed when he was the National Security Advisor during the Nixon Adminstration, which bombing so destablized the country that it led to the rise of the evil Pol Pot regime, which the US continued to prop up for years afterward. And yet Gerson treats Kissinger as some sort of Cambodian savior. Revisionist history, anyone?
Jeebus, are these people so utterly used to their subordinates taking marching orders that they think the rest of the world will ignore history altogether?
Gerson and FFFH and their ilk are so entangled in their own version of the way the world ought to be, that they refuse to see the world as it really is. Things like Iraqi ministers allegedly hiring out a hit on other members of the Iraqi parliament. Or the fact that the rose-colored-glasses no longer fit a whole lot of key GOP supporters, including Sens. Lugar and Warner. Or the fact that our nation’s soldiers are still being asked to play whack-a-mole in some sort of perverse Groundhog Day nightmare.
America’s soldiers are not pieces on some chess board to be moved around at the whim of the President without some substantial commitment to them and their families that what they are being asked to do has been well-planned and well-considered, both for worst case and best case scenario. The fact that Gerson, Kagan, and Pollack, among others in the Cheney apologist neoconman wing of the GOP never quite get to the point where they realize that these men and women are sacrificing much more than we should ever have asked of them is appalling enough.
That Gerson does so today with a paean to Henry Kissinger is downright blasphemous. What a sorry excuse. What’s more, he’s making this insulting argument on the backs of heroes. (H/t to reader cee for the link to these heartbreaking photos. And huge thanks to FlowrBx for taking them. Beautiful shots, even though the one with the soldier and his newly-born child breaks my heart.)
No wonder Duncan has already dubbed him wanker of the day. Pathetic.
(Photo by –morgan.)
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zunoed?
epu’d
& morning to you too!
This from the Politico via Raw story: LINK
A proper Good Morning Christy!
Hope you and yours are doing well.
Don’t get me started on Kissinger. ;0)
Good morning, Christy!
AZ Matt @ 3
is that shredders i hear in the bunker?
Yeah, the Ol’ “secret” bombing of Cambodia. ‘Cept a whole sh*t load of Cambodians knew all about the bombings. It was a secret only to the American public.
Henry Kissinger’s just another war criminal who has yet to pay for his crimes.
Morning all…Just got to the toobz.
AZ Matt @ 3
So when’s the audit?
Hi Biodun.
Better start another cuppa brewing.
This is another fun-packed newzday, sigh.
for christy and scarecrow – cbl sends you “a big sloppy smooch“!
I read the Gerson’s article last night. Obviously he has no kids or relatives serving over there. So he can go to the
CheneyDevil!The revisionist history never stops because we have been brainwashed since childhood into believing that this is “The Greatest Country in the World” and we can do no wrong.
This, and only this, are at the heart Michael Moore Hatred.
If I had a penny for every time heard in the course of my 60 years “IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT HERE WHY DON’T YOU GO TO RUSSIA!!!!” I would be a very rich man and able to pay for my own health care.
The secret bombing of Cambodia is one of the many genocidal crimes this country has committed in its recent history.
But what do you expect from a country that was founded on genocide?
Shorter neocon revisionist history: We could have saved a lot of lives if we’d just killed them all first.
AZ Matt @ 3
What line of defense do you think he will attempt now?
Nothing $peak$ to Darth quite like money.
Stephen Parrish, CPA @ 16
Executive Privlige.
You can probably tell this already, but this really pissed me off this morning. Now for a soothing cuppa tea…
just one bit to add… in an effort to “see the world as it really is” we shouldn’t forget carter’s role:
JF at 18 — You know, that would be funny if it weren’t so likely to happen. SIGH
Stephen Parrish, CPA @ 16
he’ll “lose” stuff. can’t you hear the shredders? never keeps notes, except in newspaper margins, no schedule, yadda yadda yadda
selise at 20 — If you click through on the “so destablized the country” link, you’ll find a wealth of resource links on the US role in this from the Nixon through the Carter years.
David Ehrenstein @ 14
what i want (not expect) is truth, amends where possible, and reconciliation.
Just goes ta show that bombing the shit out of another nation doesn’t ALWAYS win their hearts and minds.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 23
thanks!
The United States Airforce needs some fuckin target practice- let’s bomb the holy livin shit out of Iran- whaddya say?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 21
It wasn’t intended as a joke, although it would have been hilarious in a work of fiction.
What worries me is that if the USofA doesn’t go bomb the holy livin shit out of another third world country- the terrorists will kill us all.
Good luck with that soothing cuppa Christy.
I hope it works better than mine.
Oh, and any time you want to smack Kissinger upside his elitist, mass-murderer’s head again, please, be my guest.
i forget. why ISN’t he in jail?
selise @ 20
This incident and a few others (denying hurricaine aid to the Caribbean, because they would have shared it with Grenada) has me convinced that since (roughly) Truman, the Dulles mindset has had a stranglehold on foreign policy. Carter bucked them to give back the Canal, but there’s a whole lot of entrenched power there.
Hi Christy:
Henry Kissinger…*g*
Biodun at 32 — Thanks, I was peeved as I was typing and forgot to do a final spellcheck. Much appreciated.
rwcole @ 27
please, not enuf snark in the world to excuse that, – or is it just me….
FFFH! heheheheh. Thanks Christy. I needed a laugh this a.m.
Is it just me or does anyone else get the feeling that CheneyCo. is rounding turn 4 and heading down the home stretch with afterburners? The Supremes have totally knocked the wind out of me. Lugar? BFD! Voinivich? Again, BFD! Warner? Give me a break. That horse has had two hooves in the pasture for a couple of years now.
I long for 1/09.
Bomb babies or have terrorists blow us all up with weapons of mass destruction- them’s the grim choices- hell- it’s them babies or US.
Do you think the Palestinians trust Tony? Why didn’t ‘they’ appoint Henry the K instead? Or Negroponte? Makes about as much sense as Blair’s appointment. Kissinger the butcher of Cambodia, Laos, Chile and Vietnam and who knows where else. And Blair one of the two butchers of Baghdad.
JERUSALEM – Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday killed eight Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy, Palestinians said, the bloodiest fighting in the area since the Hamas militant group violently seized control two weeks ago.
The outburst of violence came as the “Quartet” of Mideast peace mediators was expected to name outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair as its new envoy.
Speaking from the bowels of academe (I am currently holed up in a library cell for some intensive reading on several obscure topics)the next big battle front will be the writing of the history of our past 50 years — i.e., since the election of President Kennedy. There is very little of this taught in our Universities, not to mention our schools. Even in my course (economic history) I tend to run out of time, if not out of steam, around 1955, and that’s racing against the clock.
Our young people simply do not know the history of my generation. They vaguely understand that we got into Vietnam as a mistake, and that Nixon was impeached –though they aren’t exactly clear why — and apparently believe that Reagan defeated the Soviet Union single-handed and that Clinton got a blow-job in the oval office. But beyond that all is blackness. That’s why Gerson and his ilk can get away with the crap they peddle to the press, and why the editors in their 40s are ready to publish it.
We need to see some books on this period that have the kind of impact that Arthur Schlesinger’s work on Jackson and FDR had for his generation. I’m too old and too highly specialized in other stuff to get into this area at the professional level; but it is pure gold for a talented and committed young person. We need some fighting liberal historians as well as fighting liberal politicians. If we don’t get this story straight, and in a hurry, we will be condemned to reliving our current nightmare.
Henry Kissinger is soaked in the blood of every Cambodian that was murdered by the Pol Pot Regime.
It was Kissinger’s realpolitik meddling that destabilized the regime of King Sihanouk, which precipitated the collapse into civil war and the rise of the Khemer Rouge.
Prior to that, Sihanouk had deftly played the neutrality card, maintaining an oasis of peace surrounded by a sea of war.
Yes, the NVA used Cambodia as a refuge and distribution network for the Ho Chi Minh Trail; that didn’t change after Kissinger destabilized the regime.
It should also be remembered that it was the NVA that brought peace back to Cambodia, by ousting the Pol Pot regime.
There are Lies, Damn Lies, and the spin of the Day from the Screeching Harpie Wing Nuts — these people are beyond disgusting.
Well- actually- I don’t think Nixon was impeached.
Knut Wicksell @ 38
amen.
Knut at 38 — I had a fantastic course with Anthony Lake on the history of the Vietnam War that has stuck with me since my college years. It was fascinating — partially because Lake was one of the NSA folks who resigned in protest over the bombing of Cambodia, but even more so because so many of the players in that arena were still so involved in politics and foreign policy (and are today, in some cases, as well). It was fascinating to see the development through both history’s lens and current actions and reactions. Lake went on to be the National Security Advisor in Clinton’s first term, and now teaches at Georgetown, if I remember correctly. But all this to say that modern courses can be done — they are difficult, though, because some of the information is still so fresh and evolving, even now.
Knut Wicksell @ 38
Amen. As someone who lived through it, I’ve realized I spent enough years (Nixon, Reagan) trying to hide from the news that my understanding is visceral, not intellectual. I have found both Maha and Digby to be very good at making sense of the period, but a whole lot more is needed.
rwcole @ 25
It NEVER did, believe me.
Good morning, everybody.
David Ehrenstein @ 14
Hmmm…So many things here.
I’m actually in the process of buying an apartment in Saint-Petersburg near the Economics University in the area of the city described in Crime and Punishment. For years I heard the same thing every time I would criticize the fascist tendencies of the imperialist state (OMG maybe I’m more Russian than I know!).
And the Cambodian thing….something I’ll never forget about the nightmare of Vietnam is how utterly frightening it is to be on the ground when B-52s make a bombing run. Abject, shit in your pants mind-numbing fear that they might just let an errant bomb go.
And then there’s the throat-searing oxygen-sucking war crime that is the use of napalm on human beings.
I’m out of that for more than 30 years and sometimes it’s like just yesterday.
I really fear for the sanity of the troops this administration has forced to go through their own hells so many times over and over by the multiple deployments. The images and horrors are always there and it takes just the slightest thing to trigger them, and I’ve already worked through my own personal PTSD problems…God help these poor kids.
The Trial of Henry Kissinger, by Christopher Hitchens.
A little off topic, but the editorial by Ruth Marcus in today’s WaPo infuriated me. Talk about trying to knock the legs out from underneath the four part Cheney series that the post has been running. Check out the first four paragraphs.
Let’s admit it: We in the media haven’t had this much fun with Vice President Cheney since he shot a man in the face and neglected, for a while, to tell the boss. And let’s admit: Like that episode, this one doesn’t matter much on its own.
So the vice president’s office wouldn’t report how many documents it had classified, and it wouldn’t let an obscure division of the National Archives look at its security procedures. In bureaucratese, OVP blocked ISOO from conducting an on-site review under Section 5.2 (b)(4) of Executive Order 12958, as amended.
Of all the vice president’s excesses, this one barely registers on the Cheney Scale. Its seismic impact, rather, stems from the combination of so many Cheneyesque attributes: mania for secrecy, resistance to oversight, willingness to twist the law and assertion of unreviewable power.
This is Cheney’s version of the $400 haircut/I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it/I invented the Internet — a moment whose importance is magnified because it fits with jigsaw precision into an existing template. In this case, as the Post series on Cheney has shown, those preconceptions are justified
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01686.html
Henry Kissinger, what can we say? War Criminal before it was cool. Removing democratic governments. Spying on US Citizens. (Oh yes he was part of Watergate.)
But more recently, we have Kissinger as a secret advisor pushing for war in Iraq. The Saudi Arabian kingdom is a wealthy client of his, and Prince Bandar is his good friend. He was appointed to lead the 9-11 Commission, but he had to resign. Some of the 9-11 families asked him if the Bin Laden family was a client of his. Iraq Study Group? It does not matter anymore.
What does matter is that the Gerson article does not contribute anything new to the debate. Just another bright shiny object. In fact, many of the Washington Post articles contribute nothing new.
EPU’d from prior thread:
Perris, Cheney does not preside over impeachments.
Impeachment is done by the House of Representatives, whose presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
–IF– the House votes to impeach, the resulting trial takes place in the Senate, –BUT– the presiding officer is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
(The Fournder’s theory being that no one from the Executive Branch would be unbiased enough to preside. It’s that “three branches thing” again. *G*)
Henry Kissinger, war criminal:
Christy Hardin Smith @ 42
And of course views of events change:
” when asked about the historical effect of the 1789 French Revolution, Chinese leader Chou En-lai replied:. “It’s too soon to tell.”
Stephen Parrish, CPA @ 16
Because I SAID so, that’s why.
justintime at 46 — There’s a bit of YouTube from the movie of the same name that is worth watching for the interview discussions.
Hi Christy!
kitty pics always take the edge off ;)
Rayne, if you’re around YGM -FB
There’s also a deep irony in this one, for obvious reasons:
My bold.
Elliott at 54 — That was the intent. I was peeved, and this was the least offensive picture I could find. *G*
Is Tony Blair noted for his credibility? Blair is just another ‘Republican’.
“Jeebus, are these people so utterly used to their subordinates taking marching orders that they think the rest of the world will ignore history altogether?”
In my darker moments, I suspect that is the intent of programs like ‘No Child Left Behind’ (I never hear that term without flashing to “Another Brick in the Wall”) – to create a generation that does not know its’ history. You know, fool enough people enough of the time.
With apologies to Santayana: Those who do not remember their history will have it crammed down their throats.
Janda @ 47
Ruth Marcus at her best is trivial tripe, and at her worst a total idiot, like today.
Hmmmmm.
IIRC, Kissinger was the National Security Advisor, and probably the head of the National Security Council, but never the head of the National Security Agency [NSA], which has to do with security of communications, i.e., the making and breaking of codes, rather than matters of bombing, etc.
But Michael Gerson is an evangelical Christian!
He wouldn’t lie us into war with stories about mushroom clouds, would he?
Elliott — you out there? Haven’t gotten your mail yet, but Yahoo is slow. Will be watching for it.
And thanks for the OpenSecrets link; yeah, the 800-lb. gorrilla is on the list, but none of the rest jump out at me in re: western grid. ??
There is really nothing new in the Gerson piece. It is just another attempt to foist responsibility for the failure in Iraq on to Democrats. It overlooks more than 4 years of Bush and Republican failures there, the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis already dead, and the millions displaced and forced into exile because of those failures. It play acts as if Iraq is not already lost so it can dump that loss on to Democrats. But let’s be clear. Iraq is already lost. It was never ours perhaps to win but Bush and the Republicans definitely lost it. The chaos that Gerson fears is already there.
I cite his second sentence to show how disingenuous Gerson is:
The “theory” was the neocons’. Force levels were never sufficient and the troops to make them so never existed. Gerson apparently has never heard of General Shinseki. He also conveniently forgets that de-Baathification and disbanding the Iraqi army effectively set Iraq on the course of no security and civil war. As for unrealistic planning, doesn’t Gerson know? The Bush Administration doesn’t do planning. It doesn’t need no stinkin’ planning.
What Gerson (and the Washington Post) are doing is trying to push the blame on to those who are left to clean up the mess and create a false equation between them and those who created the mess in the first place. In other words, the cleaning staff is just as culpable as the frat boys who trashed the place.
History has been overly kind to Henry Kissinger. I recommend Seymour Hersh’s The Price of Power, Kissinger in the Nixon White House for the real story.
And this one:
In 1972, in Beijing, Kissinger said “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac” to Chou En-Lai when the latter asked him how he got the girls.
wigwam at 61 — Thanks — I edited that sentence from “head of National Security Council” to NSA (as in National Security Advisor) but forgot to take out the “head of” part. SIGH Never write when you are peevish. Will fix that above — sorry for the lack of clarity on that. (Clearly need more caffeine this morning…)
David Ehrenstein @ 14
“The revisionist history never stops because we have been brainwashed since childhood into believing that this is “The Greatest Country in the World” and we can do no wrong.”
As a sub-set of that is the revision “We beat Nazi Germany” Uh..excuse me..The Russians inflicted 80% of the German casualties and sustained the same percentage of Allied casualties..The US did a hell of a lot to help..but the Russians were the ones who kicked the shit out of the Germans. This distortion of reality has had a huge and negative impact on how we view the world and the use of military power.
Predictably the Dems will announce defunding the OVP is off the table now and thus live up to their reputation as wimps. I can’t stand it.
selise @ 20
Carter also established “The Carter Doctrine”, upon which all our subsequent acts in the Middle East have been predicated. And Clinton established the policy of “regime change” in Iraq. It’s worth remembering that our ship of state does not turn on a dime, even when good men are elected.
Hugh at 64 you are right. Gerson’s post is just full of lies and falsehoods. The Cambodia comparison was odious, but just as much so was Gerson ignoring his own role in Iraq:
This clown shouldn’t be giving advice on how to make nice “bunny ears” with your shoestrings; he shouldn’t teach classes in “how to use a fork”; he isn’t qualified to write a book report on “Breathing for Dummies”.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 42
The art of doing this kind of history so that it matters is getting the story in perspective so that it fits into a longer narrative time line. The spadework is getting the facts straight, which historians and journalists like Conason are currently doing. A proper history of this kind would have to set the United States in its quite temporary context of economic and political dominance ca 1960, and follow through the logic of that situation to our present dismal state. We need to review the choices that were made and the paths not taken. In my generation economic and social history were the leading edge of historiography. Right now we need to write compelling diplomatic history.
And also this one from BBC (the Beeb or Auntie):
Biodun @ 56
I rarely truck in speculation about 9/11, but this was a factoid that made my antennae perk-up. What better day for a Straussian coup?
-GSD
I had to stop reading when Gerson quoted Kagan as an expert in the same sentence with the word Iraq. After seeing that, his op is not worth wiping your ass with.
Rayne @ 63
it was just that link, but I was afraid you’d gone off
And I’m stupid about the western grid, sorry
Biodun @ 66
Christopher Hitchens’ documentary, “The Trial of Henry Kissinger”, is decent, and is worth renting if only for the musical lead-in featuring Johnny Hartman’s version of (ironically enough) “Lush Life”.
Brisingamen @ 49
Unfortunately, I’m getting the sinking feeling that the Chief Justice believes he’s actually a part of the Executive Branch.
The amoral Bushies and the Neo-cons and their fellow travelers are feverishly working on setting the table for the “stabbed in the back” banquet of lies and misdirection and blame laying for the loss that is Iraq.
The Iraq war would have been won if……..
It’s barreling down the pike and we better be ready for it.
-GSD
From the Beeb, this gem conversation between Kissinger and his old friend/nemesis:
By the way, good riddance to The Poodle. Now he’s going to bring his schtick directly to the Middle East.
I am sure that most in the region will see him for the sycophantic lapdog that he is.
Blair as Middle East negotiator is like OJ as spokesman for battered wives.
-GSD
Nixon and Kissinger look pretty good in light of the current Cheney/Puppet regime.
Badwater
Uh- no- they don’t look good–they were several moral steps behind axe murderers.
GSD at 81 — Yep — and I have heard some interesting bits and pieces about the not-as-malleable Gordon Brown who will be taking over as PM. Should be an interesting dynamic for Shrub, in any case. Here’s hoping…
“…Gerson, Kagan, and Pollack, among others in the Cheney apologist neoconman wing of the GOP…”
Sorry Christy, but that ain’t just a “wing”. Tis most of the whole critter including the gizzards. At the very least, tis the northern end of that south-bound turkey.
GSD @ 79
This narrative is not addressed to the public at large in the short term. It’s to keep up the fighting spirit of Republican cadres.
In the longer term, you’re right: it helps efface historical memory and sustain the notion that “toughness”, i.e., military action, should be our default recourse, one that is always successful if enough “will” is exercised. Promoting the lie of the “stab in the back” also pushes our unanimity-seeking media to split the difference on the truth, as with Vietnam, where the war is now portrayed as tragically divisive, but never as the beserk criminality against the Vietnamese it was.
mc @ 78
I am not a lawyer so someone comment on this page please, is it correct?;
cheney would preside over his own impeachment]
The Constitution provides for only one exception in cases of impeachment: “When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside.” That’s because of the obvious conflict-of-interest of having the VP preside when the President is tried.
Obviously, a conflict of interest arises if the VP were to preside over his own impeachment. But there’s no similar provision for having someone else preside if the Vice President is impeached
sy @ 75
It’s known as “logrolling”.
If it ever occurs to americans that bombing the shit out of third world countries to steal their oil (or rubber) doesn’t make us any safer- there’s no telling how bad it could get for the military industrial complex.
Per Michael Gerson in WaPo op-ed:
That chaos has existed for four years, and our presence has neither prevented it nor stopped it. It is the result of our presence and the power vacuum we created when we toppeled and got rid of Iraq’s stable but cruel Baathist government.
As in the case of Viet Nam, stability will never come to Iraq so long as colonial forces remain on the scene.
For our “secret air war” on Iraq, check Nick Turse: The Air War in Iraq
and on Blair as savior of Palestine, Fisk nails it How can Blair possibly be given this job
wigwam @ 65
Does anyone else have suggestions for books covering the sixties to now? I’d love to read a great one or two.
And then this vulgar conversation about Indira Gandhi needs no comment:
I think of Blair’s going to the the Middle East as a rather transparent attempt at legacy rehab. And I thought finally we’d rid of this man. No such luck. What’s next for Bush after the White House? Perhaps head of the Peace Corps?
well, I have a great strategy whenever anyone brings up cheney’s bizzare position saying he’s not part of the executive branch;
they can chucle or gufaw even and use the old;
“the vice president has been wrong everytime he opens his mouth concenring war, strategy, economics, treaties America is signatory, opinion of law, and what he believes about this constitution.
pretty much if the vice pesisdent says it you can take it to the bank that statement is not true”
bing…get that going and begin the agnewafication of dick cheney
Frseh thread for everyone. :)
Blair, Bush and Kissinger are extremely distasteful men. And we’ll never get rid of them.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 84
Gordon Brown is interesting. He has a deep, nuanced knowledge of American culture and politics. He used to vacation in Cape Cod, is deeply acquainted with Ted Kennedy, and has socialized a lot with Alan Greenspan, who used to ask him (Brown) for economic advice when he (Greenspan) was at Federal Reserve.
Why doesn’t the Washington Post just merge with the Moonie Washington Times and be done with it?
Christy-
Is it too superficial to ask if Kissinger and Lieberman may have similar interests in world events?
perris @ 87
cheney would preside over his own impeachment]
The Constitution provides for only one exception in cases of impeachment: “When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside.” That’s because of the obvious conflict-of-interest of having the VP preside when the President is tried.
Obviously, a conflict of interest arises if the VP were to preside over his own impeachment. But there’s no similar provision for having someone else preside if the Vice President is impeached
If the VP were impeached, the President Pro Tem of the Senate (Byrd, I think?) would preside — due to conflict of interest on the part of the VP.
Didn’t read the subject op-ed yet, but I don’t need to…Kissinger’s reputation as a war criminal & despotic policy-driver are too well established for it to make a difference.
Not only is he responsible for a genocide in Cambodia, but he’s been the key force behind just about every government destabilization campaign that’s occurred in the last 40 years, from South America to Africa and beyond.
He should have been tried for crimes against humanity a dozen times already; instead he advises our President.
As for Christy’s comment “America’s soldiers are not pieces on some chess board to be moved around at the whim of the President…”, I disagree. They are JUST that. Not that they should be, simply that they are.
And I stand by my position (stated here before) that as the Iraq war devolves into a purely political exercise, the troops are being strategically throttled in order control the negative press (casualties) as it relates to Bush & Cheneys’ political needs.
Brisingamen @ 101
that’s what WE think and want but accoding to that page there is NO provision for anyone else presiding then the vp with the sole exclusion of a presidential impeachment
Badwater @ 82
No! No! No! No! Really No!
Frank33 @ 104
Kissinger is still the puppetmaster.
America’s soldiers are not pieces on some chess board to be moved around at the whim of the President without some substantial commitment to them and their families that what they are being asked to do has been well-planned and well-considered, both for worst case and best case scenario. The fact that Gerson, Kagan, and Pollack, among others in the Cheney apologist neoconman wing of the GOP never quite get to the point where they realize that these men and women are sacrificing much more than we should ever have asked of them is appalling enough.
I believe the term Rumsfeld used was fungible. there’s no reason to assume that the opinion of anyone in or in support of this administration has changed from that.
perris @ 103
Per the wikipedia:
The comments at the Post continues to amaze. Hundreds of thoughtful, fierce, rebuttals follow every wanktastic piece of drivel they publish.
There’s no sign that FFFH reads any of them, of course. But still, somebody must point out to the writers that they’ll become reviled far & wide. But it doesn’t slow them down….
Until somebody’s kid at a cocktail party starts laughing at them, will they even notice? I expect to see a truly twisted explanation when they finally disable comments.
A very successful Japanese businessman, who had nine manufacturing plants in Japan, was at the groundbreaking ceremony for his first American plant. The market for his services – precision metal fabricating – was saturated at the time.
I got a chance to talk to him at the luncheon afterwards through an interpreter. I asked him if he was worried about gaining marketshare as a start-up against the entrenched competition?
His reply? “At this point, it’s too early to tell. We are only in year three of our hundred year plan for this plant. It will be up to the grandchildren of these workers to tell us how we did.”
I love the smell of impeachment in the morning !
Paying Gerson to speculate on the consequences of leaving Iraq is like paying OJ to speculate on what might happen if he had visited….